secretaries and tailor's assistants there was no way to physically bridge the distance between them. "Thank you for volunteering, Benedikt. If I could have chosen any bard, I'd have chosen you."
Bards could hear the truth. At this moment, and he couldn't insist on any more than this moment, she meant what she said.
"Majesty, please…"
Murmuring apologies, Jelena allowed the tailor to place her back in the center of the low pedestal. "Could you sing me something, Benedikt? Something to keep me from moving and destroying Edgard's work."
He wanted to reassure her, to tell her that he wouldn't let her down, so he sang her "The Dark Sailor." Not the way he'd been singing it, as a protest, but as a gift. When he finished, she smiled down at him and said softly, "I don't want you to worry about anything Kovar says to you."
Later, in the Bardic Captain's office, during an interview that was just as unpleasant as he'd anticipated, where all the possibilities Bannon had suggested were thrown at him, Benedikt held on to the memory of the queen's smile, so almost everything Kovar said made no impression at all.
Almost.
"All right, Benedikt. If you won't consider the good of the bards, then consider the good of the Starfarer . You only Sing water! Think man! What if a storm comes up or you need to send a kigh for help?"
"Then I'll Sing water. Or do you think they'll be worse off with me than with no bard at all?"
"That's not what I said."
"You didn't have to." Benedikt stood and stared down at the captain through narrowed eyes. "You want me to consider the bards? Well, how about this; by sending a bard on Starfarer , we support the queen and by sending me, we send the bard you can most afford to lose. As far as I can see, the bards win either way." Heart pounding, triumph making him feel like throwing up, he made it out of the office before Kovar could voice a protest.
Or agreement.
Chapter Four
« ^ »
MAGDA stood with two friends just off the end of the gangplank, their healer's sashes allowing them a prime position as well as protecting them from the rough jostling of the crowds. Behind them, the people of Elbasan packed the pier and the waterfront, personal opinions on the value of the voyage keeping no one from enjoying a warm, sunny day and a celebration paid for by the crown. In front of them, the gangplank length of empty pier away, the Starfarer bobbed gently on the light chop.
Supplies and trade goods had been loaded. The captain and crew were on board.
"What's taking so long?" Magda wondered, bouncing up and down. Not particularly tall, she couldn't see a thing when she turned except hundreds of other people, all waiting for the arrival of the queen and her consort.
"I can see the pennants!" Jerrad, one of the other healers, announced. "They've made it to Lower Dock Street."
A sudden rise in the volume of cheering toward the other end of the pier backed up his observation and the crowd began to rearrange itself into two crowds flanking a wide aisle. A curse and splash marked the spot where someone went off the edge and into the water. A moment later a man's voice yelled "He's okay!" and the healers relaxed.
"I can't believe you'd rather stand out here with us peasants than parade to the docks with the royal party," Jerrad shouted by Magda's ear.
She grinned and ducked as one end of a streamer escaped the hands holding it and flapped over her head. "What?" she yelled up at him. "And miss all this?"
Once it had been determined she wouldn't be going with them…
"Because no matter how it may have seemed over the last four quarters, I'm not your personal healer. Johan is. He goes, Majesty; I stay and get some work done."
… personal good-byes had been said in the quiet of the royal apartments. As friend and cousin, she'd enthused with them over the possibilities unfolding and demanded that they
Bards could hear the truth. At this moment, and he couldn't insist on any more than this moment, she meant what she said.
"Majesty, please…"
Murmuring apologies, Jelena allowed the tailor to place her back in the center of the low pedestal. "Could you sing me something, Benedikt? Something to keep me from moving and destroying Edgard's work."
He wanted to reassure her, to tell her that he wouldn't let her down, so he sang her "The Dark Sailor." Not the way he'd been singing it, as a protest, but as a gift. When he finished, she smiled down at him and said softly, "I don't want you to worry about anything Kovar says to you."
Later, in the Bardic Captain's office, during an interview that was just as unpleasant as he'd anticipated, where all the possibilities Bannon had suggested were thrown at him, Benedikt held on to the memory of the queen's smile, so almost everything Kovar said made no impression at all.
Almost.
"All right, Benedikt. If you won't consider the good of the bards, then consider the good of the Starfarer . You only Sing water! Think man! What if a storm comes up or you need to send a kigh for help?"
"Then I'll Sing water. Or do you think they'll be worse off with me than with no bard at all?"
"That's not what I said."
"You didn't have to." Benedikt stood and stared down at the captain through narrowed eyes. "You want me to consider the bards? Well, how about this; by sending a bard on Starfarer , we support the queen and by sending me, we send the bard you can most afford to lose. As far as I can see, the bards win either way." Heart pounding, triumph making him feel like throwing up, he made it out of the office before Kovar could voice a protest.
Or agreement.
Chapter Four
« ^ »
MAGDA stood with two friends just off the end of the gangplank, their healer's sashes allowing them a prime position as well as protecting them from the rough jostling of the crowds. Behind them, the people of Elbasan packed the pier and the waterfront, personal opinions on the value of the voyage keeping no one from enjoying a warm, sunny day and a celebration paid for by the crown. In front of them, the gangplank length of empty pier away, the Starfarer bobbed gently on the light chop.
Supplies and trade goods had been loaded. The captain and crew were on board.
"What's taking so long?" Magda wondered, bouncing up and down. Not particularly tall, she couldn't see a thing when she turned except hundreds of other people, all waiting for the arrival of the queen and her consort.
"I can see the pennants!" Jerrad, one of the other healers, announced. "They've made it to Lower Dock Street."
A sudden rise in the volume of cheering toward the other end of the pier backed up his observation and the crowd began to rearrange itself into two crowds flanking a wide aisle. A curse and splash marked the spot where someone went off the edge and into the water. A moment later a man's voice yelled "He's okay!" and the healers relaxed.
"I can't believe you'd rather stand out here with us peasants than parade to the docks with the royal party," Jerrad shouted by Magda's ear.
She grinned and ducked as one end of a streamer escaped the hands holding it and flapped over her head. "What?" she yelled up at him. "And miss all this?"
Once it had been determined she wouldn't be going with them…
"Because no matter how it may have seemed over the last four quarters, I'm not your personal healer. Johan is. He goes, Majesty; I stay and get some work done."
… personal good-byes had been said in the quiet of the royal apartments. As friend and cousin, she'd enthused with them over the possibilities unfolding and demanded that they
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