So, hie thee hither and get thee here,
thou art the lad for me.”
She paused then, waited for their attention, and when she had it, spoke. “And then he sang,”
“Hie thee hither and get thee hence,
art not the lass for me.
Hie thee hither and get thee hence,
art not the lass for me.
The lass I’ll love is sweet and kind
and gentle as can be.
So, hie thee hither and get thee hence,
art not the lass for me.”
Kalynn and Wolfe laughed and clapped, exclaiming their pleasure. Warna smiled, and curtseyed, risking a glance at Verice.
He was looking at her, his face still set in that bland, neutral look. But there was sparkle in his eye, and the shadows were gone. Warna reached for her mug and sipped her kav, satisfied.
“A sprightly tune,” Charrin said. “A peasant’s song in nature, certainly not meant for this type of audience. More appropriate to a tavern, I should think. I would have made other word choices, but you carried the story well, and the ending is a pleasant, if obvious, one.” Charrin reached for the pitcher, and his mug.
“Come, come,” Wolfe said. “Don’t leave her waiting. What of her voice?”
Charrin ignored him, pouring the liquid carefully, then returning the pitcher to the table with a slow grace. “Your pardon. I was collecting my thoughts.”
He took a slow sip of kav.
Warna settled herself in a chair, her kav in her hand. One of the dogs saw an opportunity and came over, its brown eyes begging. She reached out and scratched its ears.
“Lady Warna, your voice is pleasant, and you have some basic understanding of breath control and pacing,” Charrin said. “but you lack the training necessary to develop any further. In comparison to other professional singers, yours is, at best, mediocre. Even if you were to undergo training, I fear you would be unable to advance much past a very basic level.”
Warna nodded, hiding her face in her kav. No more than she expected, to be honest, but it still stung.
“Well, I thought it was very good,” Wolfe huffed.
Kalynn was about to protest as well, but Warna just shook her head. “Kalynn, that’s what the minstrel told me too.” She chuckled to ease the shock in Kalynn’s face. “But she also told me that the joy of creating is just as important as perfection of the art. Perhaps more so. And that she’d sing with me anytime.”
“A human attitude, certainly,” Charrin sniffed. “Of course a human would think as much. With no time to achieve perfection, why attempt it? It’s amazing that they crawled from their caves and learned to walk, really.”
“Charrin, that is uncalled for,” Wolfe snapped.
“And rude,” Kalynn said.
“It is simply the truth.” Charrin made a small dismissive gesture with his hand. “Their lives are as snowflakes, harmless and melting if they fall on your skin individually, but dangerous and deadly as they multiply. They will destroy us all.”
“Palins and Valltera have lived in peace,” Verice said calmly.
“Because you are the buffer - and what has that created? A barony rife with half-breeds and—”
“Charrin,” Wolfe said low and dangerous.
“I’ll not be silenced,” Charrin cried out. “Why have you come here, Verice? I expected word that you had avenged the attack on your people, but that isn’t the case, is it? Why haven’t you taken vengeance, Verice?”
