Ch: 18.5 Gotta Pay Your Dues
Closeted alone upstairs in their chambers, Shai sagged against Gary and said; “Be ye sure tis Becky wahe needs ta see Secret? Ye did nae speak tae me of this.”
“Yeah, sorry. It hit me at the table, when she offered to murder Theophus for me… for you… for, us?” He shook his head in wonder and horror.
“She is gonna be pissed I told you, but that’s her problem. Keeping secrets from you is hopeless anyway.”
Shai stared at him in dawning horror, followed by anger and disappointment. The whole cargo of emotions that might possibly fit the situation ambled across her broad, open face.
In the movies, when the girl gets driven beyond frustration and drums her fists on her boyfriend’s chest in impotent fury, it’s super cute. Less cute when the girl is bigger than most grown men, a blacksmith and a trained warrior.
“That’s fair, caught you by surprise on that one, it surprised me too. I wasn’t expecting an assassination plot at breakfast.” Gary said as he got up off the floor, rubbing his bruised torso.
“I decided we needed to get her in out of the cold right away. Sorry for the executive decision, I kinda panicked… with the murder and all.”
“Whae do it all mean boy? Tis madness… I hae known Becky since she were small… well ye know.” Shai shook her head in distress.
“She is nae like thee, all stuffed wi magic an madness. I should know an I see more o either o yours than any other.”
“I felt it my first day in the orphanage. She and I are the same, not the same, but we are the same tribe… I guess. It’s hard, you know, the feeling of being different.” He held her close.
“You know that, you live among a different culture. When you hear an accent from home on a stranger’s lips and you just know that you have things in common with that person.” Shai nodded in his arms, silently.
“Becky and I had that on day one, we did too love, but for different reasons.”
A sudden jabbing pain jolted through his body, as Shai grabbed his ear in her iron hard fingers and pulled, ever so gently. “Ow!Owow!” He yodeled, no doubt in manly tones.
“I did find a box in yer mind, boy… were marked ‘Hentai’.” She whispered softly.
“Twere some dark doings in that box boy. I did see much ‘Harem manga’ in there, no few books o prose pornography as well.” She kept hold of his ear, making him dance to her tune.
“Have ye a mind tae collect women, ye shall be needing tae start yer collection anew boy.” She pulled his head down closer.
“Shai can share many things without a care boy, thee I will nae share.” She purred playfully.
“Becky? Eww gross!” Gary choked. “I never had a little sister before, but I gotta assume this is the feeling. That was a weird thought.” He bit her shoulder and nibbled a bit thoughtfully.
“I feel like I’m the one who should be worried. You ever notice that most guys our age avoid me? Yeah, I took the hottest girl in town off the shelf. They all hate my guts or hope I will die tragically.”
“Methinks they would be disappointed, tis thee and me til we see what’s next together. Nae tryin tae peek early now. I shall be telling thee when ye may die.” She sank her teeth into his neck just hard enough to leave a mark and dragged him to the door.
“We hae a festival, a busy night and a journey tae begin on the morrow.”
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Together they marched back down stairs, swept Becky up and dragged her into the bright, snowy morning to enjoy the remains of the event.
As with Order, most of the organized events were in the noble’s quarter. At the uplands gate, there were jousting lists, even more stalls for gambling and tests of skill. Purveyors of luxury goods from afar and sundry other festive booths had appeared as well.
Shai and Becky dragged him through the uplands market, just so he would not feel he had missed much. The real action was in the commons.
War left the market and craft wards to find their own entertainment. As with Order, the commons found this slight to be a blessing, the party was rowdy, raucous and good clean fun.
In the gate market, by the river a few plots were cordoned off and local champions were holding out challenges to martial events. There were boxers, wrestlers and other bare handed martial artists sketching out brackets for the day’s tournaments.
A group of duelists standing by racks of armor and padded swords, staves and axes, seemed put out. They were arguing the finer points of oddsmaking with the representative of Order sent down to manage the whole mess.
“Gambling is to be done only in iron bits and odds may not increase beyond two to one. That is the law, I will enforce it even today.” Tony said politely but firmly. “Please remember that this is a sacred festival.” As he turned and caught sight of their little trio he grinned.
The blonde giant had his helmet hung at his waist, holding colorful wooden prize tokens for the games. “Active adventurers are prohibited from competing in the commons Shai, if you wish to test your steel, the uplands competitions are…”
Shai was holding up a bright wooden token, painted blue with a stylized sword carved into it.
“I hae taken third there yesterday, now I come tae enjoy the company o me fellow common rabble.” She smirked. “I did dent your cousin Andre’s helm a mite, tell him tae bring it tae me fer fixing, an he wakes”
“I saw him this morning, he asked me to tell you he will be expecting a dance this evening, you really shook him up.” Tony swatted Gary on the shoulder, sending him for a short stumble.
“My cousin has more pride than sense, but is a good man. He has given up his hopes of courting Shai.”
“So why is he sending you to demand things from her?” Gary grumbled. “Sounds like she mopped the floor with him yesterday.” Shai swatted him on the other shoulder, sending him off on another short misstep.
“Aye, he had tae be carried off tae the healers, an his hopes o first place were dashed. But he be among the best dancers in the uplands quarter. Ye do still struggle in that area boy.” Shai began to push him along as Tony ambled his way through the gate market.
“I’m in the band, we don’t get to dance as often…” Shai dragged him into an open area, lined with benches near the food stalls. In the back, by the trees stood a familiar drum kit and harmonium. “Shai, did you have something planned?”
“We were tae play both days, ye did take yesterday off, so there be no money fer thee.” She adopted a disappointed tone. “We kinnae win the battle o the bands wi nae work ethic. Ye must pay yer dues ere ye make the big time.”
A wide semi circle was chalked out around the drum riser, creating a stage, Ivy hopped onto the stool in her horned wolf mask and huntsman’s leathers. She barked a short, feral howl before attacking her kit with a throbbing pulsing beat.
Tallum came trotting out of the crowd, already warming up on his bass. Becky had a small anvil on a stump and was hammering along with Ivy, creating a shimmering industrial clamor.
“Ye are fired frae the band fer today boy, keep off the stage lest ye be kicked in the arse. Ye shall dance wi me all the day, till ye drop.”
Dannyl and Liam came in over Tallum’s bass line with a familiar riff, Shai’s grin was huge and excited. Becky kept holding it down with that anvil like a champ while Shai spun his gift around her hips and used him to tie the whole bundle into a tight unit.
Clad in her adventuring leathers,Tawny stood up front with her tambourine and a mask (No noblewoman could perform before a crowd of people in the commons…) fronting with Liam and Dannyl.
A tiny silver button on her collar and the silver cuff on Shai’s wrist was all the warning he got before Shai tapped into his mana.
That voice of warm, rich velvet and chiming, golden bells washed over the crowd, singing ferociously.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
She’s a steel town girl on saturday night
Looking for the time of her life…
Shai grabbed him by the hand, using her gift and his own, dragged him off into the dancing mob. ‘Maniac’ ended and they shifted to local favorites for the long haul.
After a timeless swirling frenzy, powered by his own mana, Shai finally let him sag to a bench for a few minutes.
Gasping for breath and wheezing like a split bellows, he almost collapsed in relief when Becky brought him a big skin of water and a shawarma.
“Thanks love, don’t let Shai kill me before tonight ok?”
Becky flopped down beside him. “Shai could never hurt you… if this is some elaborate prank, she could never protect you either.”
“That is why I won’t make you a contract weapon. That, right there. You’re too sharp already, I don’t want to see you cut the things you want to protect kiddo.” He said, looking serious for perhaps the second time she had ever seen.
“You made Shai one, she is just as ‘sharp’ as me, cut the bullshit.” She said bitterly. “I’ll run before I let them sign me to War.”
“I will make you one, but no weapons. Armor, Shield, musical instrument, you choose anything harmless. No booty bells like Shai’s, that’s an original.”
He grinned at her in that familiar way that always felt like she imagined home would, somehow.
“Shai’s winding it back up for another fast one, she is gonna want you back in there for the next. Gotta go bring the thunder!” She vanished in the crowd with moves that showed Shai’s tutelage.
“They grow up so fast…” He remarked before attacking his sandwich and waterskin like a starving wolf. He only had till the end of ‘The Spring Hymn’, a bouncy liquid number that felt like brazilian jazz guitar to him.
He felt her approaching, cutting through the crowd like a predator among lesser fishes. Damn his woman was scary on the dance floor.
“One more dance wi me boy, then I put ye in the pool tae marinade fer dinner tonight.” she spun herself into his arms as the band slowed down to a dreamy pace. “We shall have a slow one tae cool ye down and to the bath wi ye. I hae more dancing tae do ere the night be done.”
Tawny’s golden voice came tumbling out like a tidal wave of warm honey.
Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night
And wouldn't you love to love her?
Takes to the sky like a bird in flight
And who will be her lover?
“I bet you think you know all my secrets, woman. You are wrong, I have tricks yet to be seen!” He told her as they danced, weaving through the throng effortlessly.
“Shush, I do like this one, an Tawny has it well in hand.” ‘Rhiannon’ ended as they reached the edge of the clearing, where the dancers and spectators mixed freely. He could feel the band shift into an instrumental number that seemed local as Shai pointed him towards home.
“Can they keep it going til you get back? I can get home without help.” He said as the connection to the band became tenuous.
“Trust in yer friends and kin, they will take a break and they need, I did tell Ivy ta take a drum an bass duet an the others get tired. We do know about the stamina o those two.” In a short while he was drifting aimlessly, watching the sky darken.
He felt Shai rejoin the band, his gift attenuated by the great distance. She still held him tight though, making him feel a part of the proceedings. Shai had her fingers all over that set list, so much country and swing.
“When she discovers rockabilly I am really in for it.” He said to the big gleaming moon, its bright face was cratered and pocked in a pattern that reminded him of a leaping stag… or maybe a duck.
The little moon was down low on the horizon. It’s orbit was highly peculiar. The uniform gray orb seemed to wander the sky without rhyme or reason, drifting too and fro as though it had an eccentric mind of it’s own. Its light too, seemed unsettling and dismal.
The big moon shed a radiance that earth’s never had, it was pale and cool with hints of a golden sunset hue. His thoughts wandered to Shai and dancing in the summer moonlight. Back when life was just insane, rather than completely bonkers with a side of abominations.
As he drifted, just outside a dream he could almost hear the music, or was it the music from his band? They were still shaking their groove things down in the gate market.
His body fetched up on the stairs, where Shai had fed him cake last night and his dream deepened.
The band did not have a deep well of songs that were ready to perform. They ran through the set list before evening fully took hold, bravely they soldiered on. Circling back to local favorites that they had performed earlier, no one seemed to mind.
Shai twirled Gunnar in the open space that always seemed to follow them in the press of bodies. He was liquid grace and easy smiles all the way to his toes, she was the driving force on the dance floor.
To a casual observer Ivy and Tallum were the heart of the band, while Liam and Tawny held forth in joyous rapture at the front. Shai was the source of the energy pulsing through the crowd, jolting the band to greater heights.
Dannyl and Becky were taking a break pounding down juice from a nearby cart. “Is it always like this?” Becky asked, gasping and holding on to her brother to steady herself.
“Yeah, though it does get crazy sometimes. You gotta enjoy the quiet moments like this!” He shouted over the slow rolling riot around them. “Having second thoughts about all this?”
“No chance, I feel like I can finally breathe!” She kissed him and spun into the mob, still clutching a cup of berry juice and a sticky sweet roll.
The tiny girl effortlessly slipped through the crowd and cut in on the beautiful twirling dancers. She pushed the juice and pastry into Shai’s hands and stole her dance partner without missing a step.
Gunnar bowed with grace and charm to his new partner and pranced away with her, giving a fond wave to the red haired dynamo.
Good intentions were fine, but keeping up with long legged and lithe Gunnar Shah was a job of work. She was only four songs in and her legs were shaking. Just in time, Dannyl swept in and took the older man’s hand with a cheeky grin.
Gratefully she staggered off to the bench of exhausted and blushing young people catching their breath nearby. Almost all of whom had been worn to a nubbin by either Shai or Gunnar.
Every woman and a goodly number of the men were staring in rapt wonder at the thing unfolding before them.
Dannyl and Gunnar were cavorting across a wide open space, reserved for only them by some magic. Each young man performed an acrobatic dance, then paused as his partner emulated and then elaborated on his moves.
Back and forth they spun and lept, challenging each other and the crowd to new heights of abandon. The volatile combination of a cool winter evening, wild and exotic music and strange, mingled magic sent the whole crowd spinning into the night.
Gunnar surged forward on the balls of his feet, invading Dannyls dance space provocatively. Wielding his smile like a rapier, he shot first one shoulder and then the other past Dannyl’s face in an outrageous display of shimmy. He twirled and skated across the lawn like he was on ice, laughing with joy.
Dannyl ran in place furiously as his opponent backed off, he took a wild run up. Halfway there he kicked off into a cartwheel, resolving into a twisting handspring. The young warrior planted in front of his opponent with a cocky grin. The cheeky kid stepped into a spinning dervish dance, twirling back to his side.
No one really noticed when the band retired for the evening, Joy’s acolytes were seldom willing to let a party end just because someone was tired.
Gary woke to find all his friends floating nearby, clearly as exhausted as he was. Shai had one of his hands and Becky the other, floating together among their strange extended family.
“Tell me about where we come from Gary.” Becky said in the quiet that they had settled into.
“Yes,” Liam said, “you never speak of that place, I imagine we are all curious.”
All the ears in the bath were focused on him, though most of the eyes were closed, or gazing at the gathering stars.
“It’s not that much different from here. Except for the everything being different part. You guys can’t imagine a world where there is no magic, any more than I could imagine all this. Assuming I'm not in a coma hallucinating all of you.” That earned him a wet slap from both sides at once.
“Ok, maybe I’m underestimating you all. So take our world, get rid of all the gods and magic, all the monsters and Contracts.” He waited a while as they thought. “Now move the clock forward five hundred years.”
There was a bubbling sound as Amicus sank below the surface, to be rescued by Otho the dog. “Because we don't have magic, we figured out other ways to do the same kinds of things you guys do. Mostly with mundane machines, like in my workshop.” He continued, ignoring the canine lifeguard.
“Your machines do be magical…” Shai interrupted. “Tis magic makes them run, dae ye use watermills fer all things?”
“...Yeah… lets go with that explanation, we use ‘water mills’ to create artificial lightning, and our crafts to harness it. The whole thing is dangerous and technical, I really have no idea how it works… Tallum, no! No! Put that notepad back!”
Gary glared at his big friend. “If we find you broiled to a crisp because you thought you could capture lightning, Shai will murder both of us.” When the offending notebook was gone he resumed. “I have a bunch of ideas, Tallumz will get his goodies.” He cooed, annoying the big man.
“Capturing lightning was only the first step though, it went crazy from there. We do things on the daily, that would blow your minds. We can move faster than a running horse, all day long while relaxing in a chair.” He smiled, remembering family train rides to San Francisco.
“Going from city to city is a daily event, even other continents if you feel like it.” He grinned even wider. “We fly across the sky, or go to the bottom of the sea. We even went to the moon.”
“None of that made people any better though. They still suck pretty hard; greedy, selfish, ignorant and bigoted at their worst.”
He looked grim. “We don’t have real gods, but we have religion, and they pretty much all hate each other and themselves like it’s a full time job. They get real creative when it comes to hating and torturing each other.” His sigh seemed to last a long time.
“We have art and music, captured the same way we caught lightning, preserved forever.” Now his face was wistful, drawn in melancholy and sorrow. “We can watch the great performers at their peak long after the people have died. That is our real magic and our curse.”
He drew blank stares from the crowd, most of whom were sitting on the edge, watching and listening intently. “Yeah, we can hear the greatest musicians perform for us with a moment’s effort. Want to watch a circus act, or a drama on the stage? It’s yours in a moment. Shai has seen a few.. What do you say?”
“Aye, I hae seen such things, Thirp (he be an acquaintance frae out town…) did make me watch the ‘Casablanca’ wi him. Twas dark and sorrowful, but true art.” She replied, staring off into space.
“Tis the music though, all Gary’s nobility be in the music, there be; Prince, Queen, the king, sir Mixalot… And the dance. How they dance, tis a wonder and miracle, so many new beats, I hae only just begun tae dabble in ‘Swing’ as ye to label it.”
“Ok, Shai is up to speed, any questions so far?” He paused, waiting for the inevitable deluge.
To his surprise it was Shai who asked first. “Ye did say twas a ‘curse’ how kin this be, ye do love these songs above all things?” She seemed deeply distraught by the idea.
He scratched his head for a moment before replying. “Shai, if acolyte Dering was playing her violin in the square, would you set up nearby and try to compete with her?”
“Nae, twould be rude tae interrupt wi mine fumbling skill. An she would play me intae the dirt wi ease.” She said, giving a look that said ‘stupid boy’.
“Now imagine everyone has all that music, performed by the best that ever were, in their pockets, ready to play through a device like my harmonium.” He smiled sadly.
“If the music never stops, there is no room for the kids that want to join the chorus.”
Shaking his head in sorrow he went on. “Hardly anyone in my world plays an instrument, even fewer would dare try in public. Too embarrassing, what if you lose the beat? Hit a sour note? Forget the lyrics?”
“Fear of embarrassment and our willingness to shame each other if we don’t perform like a master level professional is the bludgeon that silenced the music.”
“In many places, if I sat in the square and played my guitar the officers of the law would come chase me away. Some even got violent, if they thought I was vulnerable. Which I was, all my life.”
His guitar was out now, he sat on the curb playing a sweet gentle melody. “I could talk about it all night, but a couple guys wrote a song that really says it all. Becky, this one's for you, I hope you never see what you missed by coming here.”
Hello, darkness my old friend…
At the end of ‘Sound of Silence’ they all gathered up and went down to the orphanage for the final feast of War, lost in their own contemplations.
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