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In the Key of Ether
Ch: 240 If You Wanna Sing The Blues

Ch: 240 If You Wanna Sing The Blues

Ch: 240 If You Wanna Sing The Blues

Gary felt like he was getting the hang of this… despite his lower angle and more complex controls. He had a throttle and gearshift on each handlebar, as well as the requisite digitally operated signaling device, so he could wield a lance with either hand… sort of. Without the mass and assistance of an equine partner, his lance had little real impact.

Recovery and reacquisition of the target after a pass took longer and more space as well. In all, his bike was transport, not a substitute for a proper mount and a trained lancer… with a few sneaky exceptions he decided to keep to himself.

The squires had laughed and jeered at him, in his silly lobster armor, since his unenchanted training armor needed his blood scrubbed off. They were particularly amused and excited, since Rolf had lost by one point, so they were already in the catbird’s seat. When he pedaled his silly ‘stick horse’ onto the lists, they nearly wet themselves with mirth.

His low seat, compared to even a child knight mounted on a pony, was ludicrous and gave him none of the horseman’s primary advantages of height, reach and mass; but he did have speed. Sure he could fly down the lists and slalom through obstacles with grace and ease… But the shield wall of grinning teens deflected his lance aside every time.

Shai and Ivy were in the kitchen, clearing away a late lunch, when Gary and Rolf tumbled in, sweaty, bruised and dirty, followed by a rowdy mob of late teenaged boys and girls, just as filthy. They stampeded past the open front door and into the baths.

“Guests for an early dinner, Shai!” Her fool sang cheerily, sounding more like the boy she remembered.

At sixth bell, once all his playmates were bathed, fed and lounging around the taproom, Shai grabbed her boy by the ear and gently tugged him upstairs. Once they were alone, she turned on him. “Ye hae purely forgotten…” She muttered softly. She peered at his eyes, checked his shadow and examined his pools and character sheet for herself. It all looked fine… yet he was blithely standing there…

“Ye are tae play the duchess’ ball at seventh bell…”

“Ohh… Shit!” He mumbled unhappily, his ebullient mood shifting swiftly. “Ok, I got this… who do we have? I could go all shadow band, but that could get complicated…”

He started searching his closet for a costume while mumbling to himself. “Pirate? Nahh, maybe?”

“Gary… GARY!” Shai barked, bringing him up short. “We hae thee in hand. Dinnae worry overmuch.” She spun away after leaving a kiss on his lips in passing. “We did put the wee ones down early, that they might come tonight. ‘Twill be fine fun!” Shai vanished out the door, as Becky slipped in with a bundle of cloth in her arms.

“What’s this?” Gary asked, still watching Shai go “So bouncy…” He whispered.

“Gross… This is your costume. Get dressed.” She handed him the packet and slipped away. “Relax, we have this… Music is fun, brother… not a job.” She left him alone with unfamiliar laundry and a slight case of stage fright.

“Well this can’t be right…” He mumbled in confusion. It fit just right and felt great, but surely… He got dressed and scooted downstairs to get this mess sorted out.

There was no mistake, he wore a brown tweed jacket over a wide belted red and black kilt, complete with dead animal crotch pouch and long silly socks with badges on the cuffs… it was perfect, down to the suede elbow patches and pocket protector in the breast pocket.

At the bottom of the sack he found one last object; it puzzled him at first, until he turned it over and the tassel appeared. He held up an octagonal mortarboard cap in black satin silk with a long silly tassel of shiny black shell sequins. Maximum nerd.

Wilf met him at the bottom of the stairs, kilted and coated as well, with one of duke Leo’s ridiculous horsehair rugs on his upper lip. The kid looked like the tenured professor of naptime studies at Cute As A Bug University.

Rio was in scholastic robes of unrelieved black, while Amy Becky and Angie were a trio of sensible professors, in woolen skirts and bright colored bodices. Tawny and Liam wore common clothes, the simple things he’d made for them, nothing special. Rolf also wore simple clothes, they were Becky’s work, if he was any judge, but again, nothing fancy. Ivy was dressed in a short pleated skirt and a white shirt knotted at her navel. She hung off Tallum’s arm with a wide grin on her face.

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The giant was dressed like the musician and Wilf, as a kilted mad professor, in an octagonal flat cap and silly socks. Ivy apparently considered it a triumph, while her sexy schoolgirl outfit had the big man agreeing with anything she said…

“Tonight, we’re ‘The College of Fancies’, since Liam and Tawny have to mingle with the richies.” Becky sang cheerfully. “It’s a fancy dress ball, so the guests are dressing down, while the servants dress up…” There’s a ‘Lordliest Butler’ and ‘Ladylike Maid’ contest going on in the servants’ side of the party.”

“That sounds like where the fun is…” Gary mumbled, while Amy climbed up to her usual roost on his shoulder.

“You’re in luck, we’re playing both parties!” Ivy said with a grin. “There’s a hedge between, but I expect there to be some incursions as the night progresses.” She smiled in a way that suggested that there were plots afoot. “This is just a fun time; Duchess Grace has already banned the noble regalia and her conservative faction is being dragged along kicking and screaming.”

“Dukes Belen and Rummell are rightly respected and feared for the strength of their warbands and their economic and political power…” Tawny said softly. “Duchess Grace and house Sheng are more beloved of the people, than any other ruling house. She wields that power with the precision of a master crafter, which only increases her standing with the people.” The young noblewoman sighed happily. “She will have little trouble bringing her reluctant nobles into the fold.”

It was a short walk to the palace gardens, they stretched across the back side of town; taking advantage of dramatic cliff sides, draped in verdant moss and ferns.

Numerous rocky cataracts tumbled down the mountainside, passing around the low city wall, in a rushing stream. Mosses and vines covered the hillsides rising steeply away up mount Lemur, to its flattened top, several hundred yards up.

Despite the mountain being the low, weathered, tail end of a long coastal mountain range, a trick of perspective from the garden made it seem to be a lonely prominence, rising from the seaside farmlands. From just a quarter mile in any direction, one could see the rest of the range, stretching to actual heights in the distance, over the Shallow Sea.

All in all, it was a lovely and dramatic setting for a garden party, as evening draped shadows over the town. The white walls of the palace reflected a few extra minutes of light, before the garden lanterns were lit. The palace servants finished that final task, before heading to the other side of the garden, where their festivities awaited.

Duchess Sheng had put out the call for waiters, waitresses and household staff in the town, offering a fine bit of coin for a night’s work… Many of the local inns and taverns were going to be short staffed tonight.

As the band warmed up, Liam followed Tawny on her rounds of the noble party people in common dress. He unobtrusively left platters of his dangerous treats around as he passed, again… The man knew how to lighten up a party.

Before long, he and Tawny found a passage through the hedge and brought the good times around the other side as well, it was all very egalitarian. Ivy had apparently been busy, there were quite a few of her dangerous cordial cherries floating around on both sides of the party, those packed a wallop.

Shai sidled up to her boy, while the band was warming up and getting tuned. She bumped him with her musical hips and whispered quietly in his ear. “Dinnae stress yerself, we simply hae a good time, an make a bit of music an dance…”

Shai and Becky spun his gifts up and flung them into the crowd gently, drifting over the party and entangling the people together with subtle pressure and a little boogie. The evening drifted along in a peaceful haze of local dance favorites, just a frisky instrumental groove.

Shai wound things down and brought the band in, as midnight approached, giving the whole evening a soft landing. All three tots were passed out in a pile of pillows just offstage, despite their heroic attempts to stay up late and an extra long nap.

Once the gear was stowed, Gary, Shai and Tallum each grabbed a blanket wrapped kid and followed Shai out of the garden, past the few sober and conscious party people still moving around.

They were almost to the docklands before Gary realized they weren’t headed back to the orphanage and the house… “Why are we going to the boat?” He asked, his voice befuddled, thick and sleepy.

“We ship out an hour ere dawn, that we dinnae get embroiled wi the fishing fleet. Tis time we were home lad.” She whispered, lest she wake the sleeping kids. “Someatt hae happened in town, nae an emergency, but we must needs investigate.”

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“Khan, Luna and Annie are staying in the house, I promised we’d leave it up til second bell…” Becky murmured sleepily, when Shai woke him before the first light of false dawn. As usual, all three kids and Becky had managed to get in their bed making extraction challenging.

Once they’d wriggled free and left Becky entangled with the little ones, Gary and Shai got busy untying and getting underway; while most of the crew was still sleeping.

Moonrise slipped out of the harbor with little trouble, guided by the lighthouse at the end of the seawall. Oddly, another small ship sailed in as they departed, they only spotted her by the pale gleam of her sails under the moons and her dim running lamps. Shai gave a cheery ring of the ship’s bell and received a single chime in return, signaling all was well. Once out in open water, Moonrise picked up speed, sliding over the calm waters with a slow, pleasant rocking motion. It was a fine morning’s sail into the rising sun, headed home.

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“Port Sunderland by dawn, lady Damsen, as promised.” Captain Javier called softly at the lady’s cabin door. The mysterious red clad musician neither ate nor drank anything, since taking passage, which worried the sailor a bit. She had wandered the deck aimlessly, or remained in her cabin the entire short journey, making sweet, subtle music.

Her harp had been a constant source of pleasure and amusement, so entertaining, Damsen was down the dock and vanished in the first of the morning’s crowds, before Javier realized he’d never arranged a fare for her passage…

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