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Again Robinton nodded. He had had the advantage of being raised in the Harper Hall and learning to decipher messages long before he took the actual course.
"The usual evening divertissements, but we trade off." Then Master Mi
Robinton chuckled.
"You're quartered well?"
Robinton bowed his head gratefully, for he had an outside room, small but private, with a window facing east and a bath next door.
"Need anything?"
Robinton shook his head.
"Good. Tillek is not as much a warren as many big Holds. But that's because the cliff doesn't have that many caves, so they've used the local stone to build sturdy, Threadproof housing."
Robinton looked at him sharply. This was the first time anyone had mentioned Thread.
"Hmmm, yes, young harper, I believe we'll see Thread again," Mi
"The dragons told me. And I've friends in the Weyr..." Robinton admitted hesitantly. But if Mi
"Keep them. Cherish them," Mi
Robinton groaned: he was getting mighty tired of that reference! But he had to grin at Mi
Mi
"If you haven't memorized the Charter, you'd better, and study the examples of some of the more common infractions." Mi
And then there was Kasia, Lady Juvana's youngest sister, who was living at Tillek Hold.
Robinton felt a decided attraction at his first meeting with the attractive young woman. In the previous Turn, she had tragically lost her lover to a storm at sea off Nerat coast, half a month before their espousal. Her parents had sent her to Juvana to ease her grief.
It was the aura of sadness which caught his eye, the sorrow that lurked in her lovely sea-green eyes. And the tremulous smile which, only occasionally, briefly lifted it. But she was cheerful, helpful and kind, with a real understanding of the trials of her younger nieces and nephews. She was obviously their confidante, as well as her sister's. She had comprehensive recollection and was able to come out with astonishing bits and pieces of information which she had tu
"I just remember things," she said with a little shrug when Robinton asked her if she knew all the words to an old Teaching Song, one he was revitalizing. Which she did – word perfect. "I can't say why I know that particular ballad, but you'll find it on the second shelf from the top on the right-hand side of the library."
And sure enough, there it was, with Kasia gri
Robinton was only twenty, a fact he kept hidden since he didn't look so young and could cite five turns of active harpering.
Neither Mumolon nor Ifor knew that he had been fifteen when he walked the tables to collect his journeyman's knot. Mi
Kasia was several turns older – and looked younger: except for the harboured grief. However, that age difference and her continued mourning for her lost lover were the reasons why Robinton was hesitant in discovering if the sudden, keen attraction was mutual. Their ordinary tasks often brought them together. In that he was luckier than the others who sighed over her.
He contented himself with enjoying her company, her bright humour, her lovingness, and sparring with her in duels of memory and, often, song. She had had excellent training: she sang with a sweet light soprano and played fiddle and pipe. She was envious of his harp, which she played middling well, not having an instrument of her own. So he concocted the notion of making one for her in his spare time. Tillek's port shipped quantities of timber, as well as storing it for the building of hulls. He made himself agreeable to the local MasterCarver, an accomplished carpenter named Marlifin who was only too happy, when requested, to find him well-seasoned and unusual woods. Tillek Hold had a well-equipped workshop, as most large establishments did, so Robinton had only to start his project. He did ask Marlifin to do the carving of the forepillar in patterns of the flowers which Kasia had said she loved. Robinton couldn't carve fancywork without mining a lot of good wood, and this harp had to be special. It was going to take long enough as it was. After several faulty starts and not a few cuts on his hands, he did manage to carve the harmonic curve and the neck, which would hold the pegs to tune the strings of the harp ... when he got that far.
He also took Mi