David Coe - Bonds of Vengeance

“I believe I am.” Cadel answered, knowing how brazen he sounded. “I’ll get right to the point, Jaan.” He wasn’t certain whether this man spoke for the rest of them or not. But he sensed that Jaan was wary of Cadel’s past friendship with Anesse, perhaps even jealous. If he could overcome Jaan’s objections, he could deal with the rest. “I enjoyed your performance today, but it seems clear to me that you need a male voice in your company. Anesse and Kalida both know that I can sing. If they remember anything of Thorald, they also know that I take my music seriously and that I can be trusted with gold.”

The lutenist looked doubtful. He glanced briefly at the two sisters, then looked back at Dunstan, who was regarding Cadel warily.

“I won’t deny that we could use another singer,” Jaan said at last. “But I’m not certain we can afford one. In another two or three turns, as the winds change and trade along the coast improves, we may be able to ask for a better wage, but for now we’re barely making enough for four. To add a fifth. .” He shrugged, then gave a small shake of his head.

“This tavern was packed tonight,” Cadel said. “The innkeeper should be paying you plenty.”

Kalida nodded. “I’ve been saying much the same thing for more than a turn now. We draw enough people to this place to deserve twice what the old goat pays us.”

“Perhaps. But I’m not willing to risk steady work by demanding more.”

Cadel regarded the man for a moment. “Can we speak in private?” he asked.

“All right.”

They walked together to the back of the tavern.

“Let me offer you a compromise,” Cadel said. “I still have a bit of gold left from previous jobs.” In reality, he had a great deal, enough to keep him comfortable for years. But nearly all musicians were concerned foremost with their wage, and he could ill afford to appear indifferent to money. “Let me sing with you for half a turn. If at the end of that time the company is making no more gold than it is now, I’ll move on. You don’t have to pay me a single silver. But if your wage goes up enough to pay me what each of you is making now, we remain together.”

Still the man hesitated, just as Cadel had thought he would.

“Let me add this,” he went on. “Were I newly joined to a woman as lovely as Anesse, I’d be wary of any old friend of hers, just as you are of me. I assure you, Jaan-I swear to you on the memory of my dearest friend-I have no designs on your wife. I need work. I want to sing with musicians who are as good as I am. I’m not going to do anything foolish.”

Jaan gave a grudging smile. “You don’t lack for confidence, do you, Corbin?”

“Allow me to practice with you tomorrow. You can see for yourself why.”

“Let me make certain I understand this. You sing with us for a half turn, and if we’re not making more gold by the end of that time, you leave without being paid anything at all?”

“That’s right. We’ll consider it an apprenticeship of sorts.”

“Even apprentices get paid.”

“So will I.”

Jaan laughed. “You’re that sure.”

“I’ve heard you play, and I have a sense of what we’ll sound like together.”

The man put out his hand, which Cadel took.

“Very well. We’ll give this a try.” He looked back at the others. “Let me go explain it to them. Dunstan will object until he hears that it’s not to cost him anything.”

“Of course. Tell me where you practice and I’ll be on my way.”

“We have three rooms upstairs. We generally practice up there. I’d recommend that you take a room here as well. The food isn’t bad, and the innkeeper doesn’t charge us for the rooms or our meals. I think we can at least convince him to offer the same to you.”

“All right. If he refuses, I can pay my way for a time.”

Jaan walked back to where the others were waiting and spoke with them for a time. Cadel saw Dunstan shaking his head at one point, but their discussion never grew heated, and finally they approached him, all of them but the piper with smiles on their faces.

“It’s agreed,” Jaan said. “We’ll begin rehearsals tomorrow.” Each of them shook his hand in turn, Dunstan last.

“Don’t worry, piper,” Cadel said quietly, gripping the man’s hand. “I’m going to make you more money than you ever thought a musician could have.”

Dunstan grinned at him.

The others retired for the night and Cadel went to speak with the innkeeper. The tavern’s owner was reluctant to give away another free room, so Cadel paid him, after extracting a promise from the man that the room would be free if Cadel remained with the musicians for at least a turn. That night, for the first time since before Jedrek’s death, Cadel lay down to sleep feeling that he actually was where he belonged.

Their first rehearsal the following morning went just as Cadel had hoped it would. They began with the Paean , and Cadel sang “Ilias’s Lament.” It had been some time since last he sang the piece, but it came to him as if he had sung it just the day before.

When they finished the third movement, “The Lover’s Round,” a four-part canon in which Anesse and Kalida sang the women’s parts, Cadel sang the first male part, and Dunstan played the second on the pipes, a stunned silence fell over the room. All the others were watching him as if he had summoned flames like a Qirsi sorcerer.

“I told you he was good,” Anesse said at last.

Jaan shook his head. “I’ve never heard the ‘Lament’ sung that well. I’ve certainly never played with anyone who could sing it like that.”

“Thank you.” Cadel smiled. “I thought it sounded quite good, though I have a suggestion or two as to how we might make it sound even better.”

At this point he could have suggested that they sing it backwards to the tune of “The Elegy for Shanae” and they would have done so willingly, but he had nothing so extreme in mind. He merely wished to have Kalida and Dunstan change the rhythm of their counterpoint slightly, while Anesse slowed the “Devotion” a bit; subtle changes that his new partners accommodated with ease. Working with them throughout the morning, he realized that they were even finer musicians than he had thought the previous night. Jaan especially was a rare talent on the lute. He didn’t use the intricate picking patterns Dario had, though Cadel had no doubt that he could have had he only chosen to. But his rhythms were as steady as the tide, every note he hit as clear as Morna’s stars on a cold night. With Dario, Cadel had struggled to match his cadence to the sound of the instrument. He had no such troubles with Jaan, whose playing seemed to wrap itself around each voice like a blanket, warm and comforting, effortlessly matching the contour of the lyrics and notes being sung. Certainly Anesse had chosen well in a playing partner.

Over the next few days, Cadel began to see that she had chosen well in a husband as well. Clearly he loved her, doting on her at every opportunity. But he was more than just a love-struck old man entranced by his young wife. He had a fine humor and good business sense. He agreed with much of what Cadel suggested by way of changes in the way they performed various pieces, but when he disagreed, he held his ground, and on more than one occasion Cadel relented, seeing the merits of the man’s arguments.

Kalida and Anesse could be strong-willed as well, and their musical instincts were every bit as good as Cadel’s and Jaan’s. Even Dunstan, who said little most of the time, suggested slowing their performance of “Tanith’s Threnody,” which improved the piece immeasurably.

After having heard Cadel sing, the piper began to warm to him. He was a kind man, if rather simple, but there could be no mistaking his skill with the pipes. There could also be no doubt of his feelings for Kalida. Whenever he wasn’t playing, he watched her, looking unsure of himself, as if hoping that she would declare her love for him and save him the ordeal of speaking first. For her part, Kalida appeared to have no interest in him. He had a kindly face and a quick smile, but beside Jaan, whom he clearly admired, he looked plain and soft, with a round body and slightly stooped shoulders. Add to that the fact that he was so terribly shy around her, and Cadel could see why she didn’t return his affections. This, after all, was a woman who had been drawn to Jedrek, with his lean wiry frame, wild black hair, and jaunty manner.