Two's a Crowd

[Yuu Kanduet]

J'zen sat at on of the tables in the dining hall. There was a scowl on his face and a half filled parchment in front of him. J'zen had read the records that the Weyr kept, but he wanted to make a few of his own. J'zen couldn't carry official Weyr documents around, but he could carry their copies or his own original notes.

Unfortunately he hadn't been sleeping well. The sharing of quarters made him increasingly uncomfortable and edgy. Tyreth's presence was the only thing that allowed him to slip into sleep after hours of lying in his furs awake and self-conscience.

Eyes heavy, J'zen hadn't realized just how close to falling asleep he was until his head fell forward, causing him to jump in surprise. The movement was clumsy and almost forced J'zen from his chair.

"I hate it here. I want to go home."

[Lady Smara]

Prontin had wandered into the WeyrHall, the quiet murmurings of the few people left in the hall her only indication to the time of day, or night as she now guessed. Either way, she found herself unable to sleep and thought she would take the short walk to the kitchens to find something to drink. Now she sat at her own table, as she had begun to think of it, in the corner of the WeyrHall holding the glass of liquid in her hands. She was very glad to have found the juice after smelling several containers and putting back two bottles of wine. It would have been easier if someone had been in the kitchens.

Even as she sat, however, she found her hearing to be her primary sense as she listened to the quiet voices that echoed across the vastness of the hall. Two people, to her right and very far away were muttering to each other and while she could not make out the words, the tones told her that their night was still young.

A different noise crossed her ears, coming slightly from her left, and she turned her head a little to listen more closely. Something had moved suddenly, either by a person sitting down, or perhaps jumping in their seat – Prontin could not be sure. She could hear, however, his voice clearly as he mentioned home. This brought her eyebrow, such a contrast to her own skin, to raise in an arch above her cloudy eyes.

Carefully, she stood and picked up her glass with one hand as her free hand found the wall next to her. She followed that wall with slow steps, hoping nobody had placed a bench along the path. It took some time, but she heard no sounds of movement from the same direction and she came to stand quietly nearby. She was not sure how far away the man, or his table, were now as he had not spoken again yet, but she did feel she was at least within range to speak out to him and carry on her attempts at a conversation.

“If the Weyr is not your home, are you from a cothold nearby?” she asked, her own voice matching the quietness of the WeyrHall at this hour. She did not recognize his voice, though that was not uncommon as she did not get out of her own chambers often for obvious reasons.




((If this thread was meant for someone else, let me know and I'll cut this out. There was no "open" tag, but I've also noticed that there was no names in a tag either so I wasn't sure.))

[Yuu Kanduet]

J'zen looked up as someone addressed him. He felt like snapping at the girl to mind her own business, but his father had raised him better. Instead he let out a small inaudible sound and replied with a silken tongue that hid the fact that he was dead on his feet quite well. It was best not to show weakness, especially to strangers.

"No, I am from neither Weyr nor cothold. In fact I am not from Southern at all."

Standing so that he could make a sweeping bow that was lost on his audience, but enjoyed by the drama loving harper.

"I am J'zen of Blue Tyreth. I hail from the Harper Hall located in the cool and rocky Northern Continent. And you are, my fine lady?

~It's fine. I meant to put an open tag but must have forgotten.~

[Lady Smara]

Prontin found herself leaning against the wall as a support rather than a guide as she heard his words and listened to him rise to his feet. She attempted to meet his gaze, though her own landed over his right shoulder and she surprised herself to find her mouth slightly agape as she heard that he was not from the South. The bow was indeed lost on the woman standing before him, but Prontin did not miss the silky way his words danced to her ears.

’I hail from the Harper Hall…’ The words themselves caught her breath and the woman could not help but put more weight against the wall as she fought the urge to hug him – or slap him. Was this a cruel joke to be played on one who could not see the truth? As he asked her name, however, she gave her own head a little shake and attempted again to face where that silken voice came from.

“My name is Prontin, though I would not call myself so fine J’zen of Blue Tyreth.” She said slowly. Prontin could not help but listen to her own voice, sounding so scratchy against his smooth tone. Pushing up from the wall ever so slightly, she held her cup out in the direction she hoped his table was in. “Please kind sir, I believe I need to sit down. May I? I thought our riders did not search from the North.”

[Yuu Kanduet]

J'zen gestured towards the table, belatedly realizing his gesture was once again wasted.

"Please, go ahead and sit."

Sitting as nosily as his good manners would allow, J'zen attempted to let Prontin know where the table was without accidentally offending her by offering up his aid. Who knew how people reacted?

"You are indeed correct. Your riders do not search from the North. I was a member of a wayward expedition team sent to the South to try and parley with the riders who lived here. Instead of finding the Weyr, speaking my peace, and going home, I Impressed and am now bound to this place. I wish only to hastily finish my weyrlinghood and head back to the North. This climate is warmer than the North, but uncomfortably so."

J'zen continued to talk long after than when he would normally. At first it was under the pretense that he wished to further aid her in finding the table and taking a seat, but J'zen found that he enjoyed the venting. He hadn't spoke to anyone like this in so long. He wanted to whine a little.

[Lady Smara]

Prontin reached out carefully, her hand indeed guided by the sounds the man made as he sat, though if that was something he knew or not she was unable to gauge. His talking helped and he seemed comfortable to lay his story out to her, which was strange in itself. Perhaps it was because he was from the north, or stranger yet, perhaps it was because he was from the Harper Hall. Oh how she would love to know if that smooth tongue could sing as well as it could speak.

Managing to find herself on a bench after careful maneuvering, she set her cup well to the side where she would not accidently knock it over, then carefully folded her hands in her lap for double the protection. Facing the harper as best as her impaired senses would let her, she managed better this time with both of them seated and almost managed to look the man in the face, though she would never be able to make out his features.

Listening to the last of his brief story, Prontin frowned, her thin lips growing thinner. “Oh, J’zen of Blue Tyreth, things may not be so simple.” Wetting her lips, she turned her face down for a moment as she collected her thoughts. “Dragonriders have left the North because we were no longer wanted there. Surely as a Harper you know the tales. It is the same reason we do not search in the North.” Lifting her lifeless eyes, she over compensated and looked over the man’s face, but her own showed sorrow and compassion. “With a dragon of your own, would you still be welcome in the North?”

[Yuu Kanduet]

J'zen scoffed at Prontin's words. Had the girl not listened to what he had said? Why would the North send him away after sending him on an expedition to find and bring back the riders? J'zen's impatience crept into his tone in the form of slight, but still aggrieved, sigh.

"I mentioned I was a member of an expedition team sent here to find and parley with the riders. The North is on the brink of civil war, and like it or not, we need the dragon riders. My becoming a rider actually simplifies things. I have the ability to serve my people as they need as one of them. A Southern rider would be as prejudice against the Northerners as we would be of them. Also, the North would not be ceaselessly forced to grovel at my feet so that the fear of my departure and abandoning them would be lessened."

J'zen paused allowing the haughty tone of voice to completely evaporate.

"Most importantly it could help reduce the chance of war. A harper would be barred from Hold and Hall. When you have no allegiance, can you really ask a Lord Holder to trust you to teach his children or learn his secrets. Of course not. War would cause my Hall to become obsolete, or worse singers of distorted truths and blatant propaganda."

Smoothing his hair back, J'zen picked up his piece of charcoal and began to continue his work where he had left off. If someone had known him better, they would have picked the movement up as a nervous habit, a fall back when he felt uncomfortable. Instead it just seemed as if J'zen was only devoting half of his attention to talking to you.

[Lady Smara]

Prontin heard the tones of the man’s voice change, the scoff of impatience, the aggravation and the haughty tone of a person who could see the vast picture he was painting far more clearly than the viewer he was painting it for. The tone was enough for her curiosity of the northern man, of the self proclaimed harper was instantly bottled up. Dreams set carefully back upon the shelf they would continue to sit for the rest of her sightless life, she cooled her features and let her clouded gaze fall to the table between them.

“I am sorry to have upset you.” She spoke, her sentence short, but there was little left to say. She clearly was not up to date on the happenings of the North, though she still wondered if the riders would be so welcome after having been driven to the South by the Holders and Crafters in the first place. Even so, she was no dragon rider and she was no harper. She had little place to speak her mind.

Standing to go, she stood at the edge of the table, herself turned away from the soft sounds of scratching charcoal on parchment. From everything her limited senses could witness the conversation had ended with her poor choice of words that had set the rider off. Her thin lips grew thinner as she thought for a moment, before she finally wet them. She wanted desperately to ask him to play for her sometime, any instrument would do or even sing a song. Her longing for music of any kind was so strong it kept her fingers upon that wood even as the feeling of unwelcome grew.

“Would you…” she finally asked softly, not wanting to be rude to ask for a song, she went around the tree in hopes he would eventually return the favor, “I mean, if you would like to, I normally play in the hall when breakfast is being prepared so I am out of the way. If you would like to listen, music can lift a heavy soul.”

[Yuu Kanduet]

J'zen raised his head to look at Prontin as she rose to go. He hadn't expected the girl to get up, but he wasn't really surprised. His abrasive comment followed by his dismissive actions didn't really leave much to say. When she invited him to listen to her, J'zen cocked his head.

"I will listen. Music of any kind is a gift."

Thus said, J'zen thought a bit about extending an offer the other way.

"I don't play publicly much, but if you wish, you can drop by the weyrling barracks sometime to listen to me."

Without waiting for a reply, J'zen pretended to be engrossed in his work once more.

[Lady Smara]

Prontin’s smile went unseen, but it was still there none-the-less as she heard his acceptance of her offer and returned it just as her heart had hoped he would. Perhaps she would hear a song from the North… She spirits were lifted and she reached toward the wall so she may follow it to the back doorway in the hall she always used to get to the lower caverns and her own home.

“Thank you, I look forward to it, J’zen of Blue Tyreth.” She said, her voice completely sincere. Even so she was careful not to miss the title the Northern Harper now held. He was of the Weyr now, even if he wished to return home. Perhaps he would grow to like it even as his dragon grew nearby its brothers and sisters.

With her thoughts to herself and her mood suddenly much brighter, she made her way along the wall being careful not to bump into anything until she found the door for which she sought. Not bothering with the glow basket there as it did her little good, she disappeared into the darkness of the lower caverns.

[[Thread Closed]]