Dragonsinger - Chapter Eight

[kalinara]

So last time, Brekke gets subjected to yet another indignity when a snot-nosed teenager gets a psychic vision of her screaming devastation and makes a song about it. Also, Robinton and Sebell's eggs hatch.



Our next chapter begins with lizard feeding, and Piemur is acting a little strange. He keeps craning his neck to try to see Fort Hold. He wants to see if the "gather flag" is up. Menolly doesn't know what that is, though she remembers Sebell mentioning it. Piemur explains that it's basically a trade fair. And apparently Fort Hold has them every sunny restday. Since Fort houses a number of small craft halls and the main Harper Hall (...does that mean there are other Harper Craft Halls?) they can put on a pretty swanky gathering.

There's a bit of an obstacle though: Menolly doesn't have any money. In an interesting character note, she's never actually seen it before. Back in Half Circle, her father handled all of the trading transactions. She's surprised to see a young boy with his own marks. Piemur explains that he used to sing even before he was apprenticed. But now, as a Harpur, he can't get paid for it. It sounds like Harpers can sell instruments though, as long as Jerint puts his seal on them.

We've got some pretty interesting world building here, that I'm almost willing to forgive the fact that I'm more than halfway through this book and I still don't know what a Harper does...especially if they can't charge money to perform. Almost.

When Menolly heads to the kitchen, she sees Silvina talking to Abuna. They're actually talking about Menolly. Apparently Silvina had told Abuna that "with Menolly to help, two more fire lizards would be no problem".

Um, that seems rather presumptuous, really. Menolly is here to learn. She isn't here to be the resident fire lizard keeper. Also, nine are a LOT. Maybe two more would be too much for her! Silvina does note that both "the Harper" and Sebell likely won't be around that often with their lizards anyway.

Have I mentioned that I'm a little annoyed at how Robinton is called "the Harper", as though none of the other Harpers actually matter. Because I kind of feel like that's true, for Ms. McCaffrey. Which is why Harper Hall is an ill conceived, barely functioning mess. And why we STILL don't know what Harpers actually do.

Menolly wants to ask Silvina about the gossiping girls, but Silvina is avoiding her eye. Suddenly they're interrupted by a frantic Sebell. He's holding up his trousers with one hand, and dealing with his crying fire lizard in the other. Hah. Of course, we'll never see Robinton in such an undignified position. Menolly reassures Sebell that Kimi is only hungry, and she helps out with the tray she was planning to bring up to Robinton.

Or rather, she helps fasten the poor guy's pants with her own belt, because he can't do them one handed, and he can't feed Kimi while holding his trousers up. Credit to McCaffrey, this scene is funny rather than inappropriate or sexualized.

Menolly also manages to save his arm from Kimi's enthusiasm as she eats and I really do like their dynamic. I don't know how much older Sebell is than Menolly, but given that he's a fairly recent journeyman (...let's ignore that a fairly recent journeyman seems to be the only person providing any sort of actual leadership in the school), I'm inclined to think he's fairly young. And for all that he's Menolly's senior, McCaffrey does a good job of allowing her to be instructor as often as student, and therefore, they read a lot more equal. I know that in a later book they will be romantic partners, and that doesn't actually bother me at all.

Sebell has a new appreciation for Menolly having to deal with nine fire lizards, given the chaos of just one. Cats are troublesome, yes. Menolly foists some klah onto Sebell just as Robinton gets his own frantic entrance. He must be a later riser. Rank has its privileges, and Silvina sends Menolly up with a tray.

The Harper had taken time to dress, and he’d thought to wrap his arm against the needle-sharp claws of his little bronze, but he looked not a whit less harried or distressed than Sebell.

I'm highlighting this bit just to demonstrate something I said before. Notice that Robinton gets to have more dignity. He's fully clothed AND sensible enough to have wrapped his arm first. No hilarious trouser hijinx for Robinton. Though I personally think that just means that Sebell cares more about his lizard than Robinton does his, seeing as how Sebell saw to his girl FIRST. BEFORE his own comfort.

Petty? Sure. But I'm really very very tired of Robinton.

Robinton's lizard, whose name I promptly forgot, calms down as Robinton soothes him. It's a restday, he reminds his lizard, and he urges him not to wake everyone. Which of course is a cue for Domick to appear and acidly say "Too late." I kind of love Domick. He storms off grumbling when he learns that the gather flag is flying.

Morshal shows up too, just to be a cartoon dick. He narrows his focus on Menolly when he says "I trust there won't be a repetition of this", and Robinton, of course, doesn't notice this. Because why would the Masterharper actually notice an instructor being rude to a student?

Robinton's response is that his "precious creature" only hatched yesterday and he says the poor flying kitten deserves a few days grace. Morshal just glares "balefully and accusingly at Menolly" and leaves.

Seriously, Robinton. You're RIGHT THERE. Do your fucking job, or appoint someone who can. Oh, maybe I spoke too soon.

“Don’t let old Morshal upset you, Menolly,” said Master Robinton in a quiet voice.

Menolly looked up quickly, grateful for his reassurance. He smiled again as he nodded for her to enter his room and gestured for her to set the tray down on the center of the sandtable.

“Fortunately,” he went on, slouching in a chair, all the while supplying meat bits for Zair, “you don’t have sit classes with Morshal.”

...yes, because god forbid Menolly actually face a challenge. Here's the reasoning:

“No, you don’t. Morshal teaches only at the apprentice level.” The Master Harper sighed. “He really is adept at drilling basic theory into rebellious apprentice minds. But Petiron already taught you more than Morshal knows. Relieved, Menolly?”

“Oh, yes. Master Morshal doesn’t seem to like me.”

“Master Morshal has always considered it a waste of time and effort to teach any girls. What good would it do them?”

Gosh, Robinton. I wonder why you don't have more girl apprentices then. Menolly comes pre-trained, but what about those girls who didn't have access to a Petiron? What about girls who might be like Piemur: with a natural talent, but no one to really help them hone it? How do they come to Harper Hall? And once they're here, what do they do when they need to learn theory?

Huh, brainstorm! Maybe this is why the female students suck? It's clear from things Silvina and company say that they're not considered "real" students. They're having trouble with simple music. But how exactly are they supposed to improve when a journeyman is their primary teacher, and the music theorist expert refuses to teach them?

Robinton even tells us that Morshal's "dislike of the feminine sex is a standing joke in this Hall".

Well, dude, maybe it fucking shouldn't be?! MAYBE you should consider what that attitude means in terms of having female students, which this book and other books CLAIM Robinton is interested in recruiting.

No wonder Pona and company are so bitchy. Imagine paying for training, only to be foisted off on the lowest rank and being denied access to any classes that might actually help you learn. Then this random girl who lucked out by living with the best teacher in the fucking world shows up and not only upstages you, but gets to bypass all of the barriers that still exist in your path!

And sure, the girls are obsessed with rank and Hold status. Why wouldn't they be? It's not like they have an accepted role in Harper society. They're kept isolated. They're denied the real classes. They don't sit with apprentices. They'll never be journeymen, even if one of them miraculously did have talent to go farther.

Fuck this place. And while it's not her fault, a part of me wants to say "fuck Menolly" for the way she got to skip ahead.

I'm not quite #Team Pona, but like Kylara, there's a lot more complexity here. And I think Pona, Audiva, and the others are being legitimately screwed over. And it's frustrating that neither Robinton or Silvina or Menolly seem to notice.

So anyway, Robinton discusses her curriculum. She's going to learn musical form and composition from Domick, until Robinton himself can take over. He's simply too busy now, you see. Doing what? We don't actually know. He admits that Domick's understanding of classical form is superior, and Domick likes snapping up instrumentalists who can play his music. Robinton also tells her not to miss her lessons with Shonagar, since she needs to be able to sing her own songs. He urges her not to give into Brudegan's wishes for fire lizard choruses, since she needs to settle in and focus on her studies first.

Robinton wants her to focus on her instruments. He's concerned with her hand: she's been doing too much again. He warns her about crippling herself in her enthusiasm. This makes Menolly a bit teary eyed. And this transitions to Robinton's own personal angst. Ugh.

“It is never easy, sweet child, to have a real gift: something else is withheld to compensate.”

Menolly was startled at the sadness, that melancholy in his eyes and face, and he went on, almost to himself, “If you won’t surrender the mark, you’ll never be more than half alive. Speaking of marks…” and his expression altered completely. He leaned forward, across the sandtable, rummaging in the compartments of the central bridge built above the actual sand level. “Ah, here,” and he pressed something into her hand. “There’s a gather today, and you deserve some relaxation. I suspect diversions were few and infrequent in your Sea Hold. Find something pretty to wear at the stalls…a belt perhaps…and buy some of the bubbly pies. Piemur will lead you to them, the scamp.

So now Menolly has a bit of money. This will be important in a bit.

And I was going to cut Robinton and Sebell a bit of slack for not calling Menolly out on the fact that her new song is terribly intrusive and potentially violating to poor Brekke. Menolly is a teenager, and as such, might not realize that someone as private as Brekke might not want her deep pain on display in a famous song. I would expect better of the adults. However, it wasn't clear last chapter if they knew the source of the song.

Here, Robinton confirms that he does. He calls it "the Brekke song" and asks if she's had a chance to polish it, and gives her some constructive criticism and an assignment to rewrite it more traditionally as an exercise in theory.

God damnit, Robinton. You KNOW Brekke. You know how private she is. Aren't you going to spare a thought toward at least ASKING her if they can write a song about her? No?

Poor Brekke. I foolishly thought she was done being violated, I really did.

The text tells us that Robinton's lizard, Zair, is now very full and sleepy. We're told that he's going to eat and sleep pretty constantly for the first week or so. In the meantime, Menolly is "still trying to assimilate his astonishing instructions and philosophy".

...he gave constructive criticism and an assignment, Menolly. That really shouldn't be "astonishing". Robinton praises her for managing to feed nine lizards and declares himself her student, but it reads a lot more patronizing than Sebell. Understandably, I suppose. Robinton is THE Masterharper, after all. In all other ways, she's his apprentice, of course.

So Menolly is sent off to the gather. She has money now, which she realizes is actually a two mark piece. She's amazed, she can buy ANYTHING.

And indeed, it sounds like it is a lot of money, as Menolly starts thinking about what to spend it on. A belt, since she'd given hers to Sebell and Robinton had noticed her lack. (...why were you looking at her waist, dude?) She also intends to buy some of the "bubbly pies", he'd mentioned. She finds Piemur to help.

Piemur is in the middle of a conversation about fire lizards and Menolly. It's actually about Sebell though. He asks if Menolly could give away her lizards, and she says no. And Piemur logically extrapolates that to Sebell being unable to give his queen to Robinton. Apparently some of the more rank conscious apprentices, like Ranly, think that the Masterharper should have had the queen.

This is actually pretty interesting, because it implies that Sebell, like Menolly, is also a target of envy and resentment. This makes some sense. He's apparently only JUST made Journeyman, which means he's probably not that old. But he also seems to have a pretty favored position. He was mentioned as one of the performers at the wedding in Dragonquest, after all. And I can't imagine that Robinton would have sent anyone but the best to such an important event. He talks to characters like Domick as a near equal: respectful, but not particularly subservient. And, well, he rated a fire lizard egg, when none of the Masters apparently qualified.

Ranly has some conspiracy theory about how Sebell "got his hands on the queen egg". Menolly decides to "repay a little of her great debt to both men" and clear up what happened. Basically, she'd chosen the two biggest eggs for Robinton and Sebell (something that gets all the apprentices' approval), and they could have been bronzes or queens. The pots started shaking, and everything happened so fast that no one was even thinking about which one was which. She notes that Sebell tried to give the queen to Robinton, but it was too late. Then she chides them for spreading malicious gossip.

So the boys go back to a more interesting problem: money. Piemur thinks that his father's friend will be the journeyman sent from Smithcraft Hall (since it's only the second gather of the year, it won't be anyone high ranking), and his father's friend will give them top marks for their work. If it's someone who's actually onto Piemur, he'll play crying little fellow and get sympathy.

Sebell ends up interrupting the "tactical meeting" to fetch Menolly. He's properly dressed now, and gives Menolly her belt back and thanks her for saving his dignity. He asks her some questions, such as whether he can keep Kimi with him all the time. He asks how to teach her to ride his shoulder like Menolly's because he needs his hands free. She also recommends he keep some meatrolls for her, and to oil her skin.

Sebell and Menolly have a cute exchange about the oil, as he's a bit too much of a prima donna to use her stinky oil:

Menolly suppressed a giggle. “Master Oldive had that oil on hand. He said he makes it for the ladies of the Hold to use on their faces…”

“Oh, no.”

“But I’m sure he’d make you something more suitable for your…” She paused, not certain just how much she could tease Sebell.

“My male dignity and rank?” Sebell grinned at her. “I’ll just have a word with him now,” and he strolled off with a lilt in his step.

That is pretty cute. They're starting to remind me a bit of the better parts of F'lar and Lessa even, though much younger and gentler.

Menolly keeps dwelling on the reveal from last chapter: that the girls are gossiping about her. I'm trying to be sympathetic, because that's hard when you're a kid. But honestly, Menolly, Lord Groghe already adores you. What do you think these girls can actually accomplish?

So anyway, Piemur and Menolly make a date to have him take her around the gather later on in the day. And Menolly gets to wander around a bit for some contemplation and setting description. She gets to see the gathering being set up: stalls, and benches, and so on. She starts focusing on the gossip issue AGAIN, to the point of fantasizing about pulling out Pona's hair. She's appalled at herself, and reassures herself that they'd failed in their goal. AND she's Robinton's apprentice now.

Though it does seem like there's a bit of confusion about what that means, seeing as how he's the Master of the Hall, so technically they're ALL his apprentices, Menolly thinks.

See, Robinton, this is the sort of misunderstanding that you can clear up. But I'm also a bit vexed. I was looking forward to seeing Menolly as Domick's apprentice, given his temperament, and that, while he clearly likes her, he's also going to challenge her and give her a hard time. This looked like the best option for an actual plot.

But instead, she's ROBINTON's apprentice. And he adores her. So...bye bye challenge. Bye bye plot. Again.

God, this book is such a disappointment. Dragonsong was fun! This is...not.

Menolly dwells on her other achievements a bit: Groghe wants her to help train Merga. She's basically the first successful trainer of fire lizards, and she's almost as confused as he is. But it's rather delightful.

To be honest, her delight here reads so much more genuine than anything she's expressed about Harpering. Or even music in general. This is the job you should have, Menolly. The world's first fire lizard expert!

Menolly does have a moment where she wishes Audiva didn't have to stay with the others. It would have been nice to have a female friend. (No mention of Mirrim, annoyingly.) And she wonders what will happen to Piemur when he inevitably loses his soprano: "would he have to leave the Craft Hall? No, because they must surely be training him to play one of those “other” tunes."

It's been a very long time since I read Dragondrums, and I remember it far less clearly than Song and Singer, even. (Except for the Sebell/Menolly romance.) But I feel like the answer to that is no. I feel like I remember Piemur being absolutely devastated when his voice was finally gone, and not knowing what to do after.

Unsurprising really, the Harper Hall really does SUCK as a school.

So anyway, Menolly starts rehearsing "the Brekke song" (god, that poor girl). She finds herself "caught up once more in the poignancy of Brekke's anguished command", god. This is so intrusive. Menolly, would YOU want your pain broadcast like this? Brekke is a real person!

The chapter ends with Menolly going to lunch. The fair will be next time, I guess. Good, because I have the vague recollection that I will have a LOT to bitch about.