The Lark and the Wren - Chapter Three
May. 25th, 2020 02:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i_read_whatSo last time, Rune had a traumatic experience, and I enjoyed the novelty of seeing said traumatic experience actually acknowledged as such by the narrative. Who-hoo! I also made a few more comparisons to the Harper Hall Trilogy.
Those comparisons are likely to die down now though, as the Lark and the Wren does have its own distinct plot that develops quite differently from Menolly's. Well, they'll die down until we meet Talaysen, (or as I like to call him: a less creepy and far more competent Robinton). But that's for a later chapter.
So let's enjoy the novelty of a bard-themed story that actually has a plot!
We're told that the customers stay pretty late, and only end up leaving when the bard, Heron, starts pointedly packing up his shit. Rune's pretty exhausted. She wants to ask Heron more questions about the Bardic Guild, but realizes that he looks about as tired as she does, and leaves him alone instead. Good girl.
Rune ends up conscripted into helping with the dishes, so she doesn't have a chance to catch Heron before he goes to bed. And when she goes to her own bed, she gets a surprise: Stara is not in the attic cubicle next to hers. Instead, she seems to have found a different place to sleep: with the innkeeper, Jeoff.
This shocks Rune, and she thinks that her mother must be desperate. She thinks Stara is planning to use Jeoff's post-sex guilt into making him marry her. Alternatively, she thinks Stara must think that she can seduce him into marriage by being very good in bed. Either way, Rune is very concerned with what this might mean for her.
Rune starts considering each option: First, that Stara gets knocked up. (And Rune rather meanly notes that her mother has never calculated anything correctly if it involved numbers greater than three.) If Stara is knocked up, Rune will have to take all of her work before and after the baby is born, and having a new mouth to feed makes it even less likely that Jeoff will hire more staff. Rune will have to help with the baby, and will never get to practice her music.
She is close to tears, thinking about how unfair it is. She does admit it could be worse: she has a roof over her head and enough to eat.
Then she thinks about what might happen if Stara's plans fail. Stara could get knocked up anyway, and while Jeoff isn't a bad guy, the town could pressure him to kick Stara out. And either Rune would go with Stara, or she would stay and end up with both her and Stara's work. And if Jeoff married someone from the village, like Amanda, she'd end up suffering under a much less kind mistress than Rose. And then when the wife gets pregnant, it will get even worse!
I'm rather enjoying this bit actually. Rune is being a selfish little snot here, of course. She's not thinking about how difficult things are for Stara, or what could happen to Stara if Jeoff married someone like Amanda, even without a pregnancy involved. She's pretty awful and scornful toward a woman who, while not easy to get along with, clearly has had it rough for a long time. But Rune is a snot-nosed teenager. It makes sense that she's lacking empathy and immediately assuming the worst.
It's not a flattering depiction, but I feel like it's not inaccurate.
Rune starts thinking of her own options. She's tempted by the thought of going off on her own as a minstrel, but realizes that she doesn't have the skill or training. She could starve. And she's not interested in living a dangerous life on the road, or being a drudge.
Oh, and I spoke too soon, because now Rune does start thinking about her mother...albeit unflatteringly:
And what about Stara herself? Stara was her mother; how much did Rune owe her?
If she did get with child, and Jeoff did throw her out, Stara would be in an even worse plight than Rune faced. She would be pregnant, out of work, nowhere to go, and no longer young enough to charm her way, however briefly, into someone's household.
Rune feels guilty, but pushes it away by reminding herself that Stara chose to chase after Jeoff, and that she shouldn't suffer because her mother's being foolish. And Stara doesn't even want her to call her mother.
That brings up another bad possibility: Stara doesn't like having a fourteen year old daughter and thinks it ages her. If she decides Rune's a liability, she could drive Rune away herself. And all she'd have to do is spread a rumor that Rune is sleeping around. Jeoff has never tolerated "openly loose morals on his premises" regardless of what he's doing with Stara. He doesn't even allow sex workers to use his inn. He and Rose were pillars of the community because of their "godly ways".
Rune then, melodramatically, considers being a sex worker herself. She knows a little bit about how it works, thinking about how some travelers brought "brazen, hard-eyed women", and others met such a woman there. There's an interesting note about how when those travelers came, Jeoff would serve them himself, and not allow Stara or Rune near them. Rose always frowned with disapproval.
Honestly, I understand why Rune misses Rose, but she sounds like a pill.
Then Rune remembers a man coming by with his own tents and wagons, with freaks and dancing maidens. And there were a LOT of male visitors after the Faire closed. Rune remembers the man hiring her to play for performances during the day (Rose hadn't known what the performances entailed), and she remembers seeing the dancing girls. Rune herself had sat behind a screen, and no one saw her. The entire experience made her uncomfortable and vaguely sickened.
It hadn't been the taking off of clothes that had bothered her, it was the way the women had done it. Even at thirteen, she'd known there was something wrong with what was going on.
The Church said displays like that, of a woman's body, were forbidden, and a sin. Rune had never quite reasoned out why that should be so-for the Holy Book said other things, entirely, about taking joy in the way of a man and a maid, and celebrating the body and the spirit. But the dancers certainly seemed to feel the same way as the Church-yet they kept dancing, as if they reveled in doing the forbidden. And the men who came to watch them gave Rune the same feeling. There was something slimy about it all, tawdry and cheap, like the way Jon had made her feel this afternoon.
Rune thinks that the man running the show was using the women, and the women were using the audience, and the men didn't care about the women they ogled and bedded. Rune thinks it's all very soulless.
I think Rune is a judgmental little snot, really. But well, she was thirteen at the time, and she really shouldn't have been exposed to that at all.
Anyway, Rune starts comparing Stara and Jeoff to those dancers and customers. They're using each other. And Rune wins a little of my regard back for criticizing Jeoff too:
And Jeoff was most definitely using Stara, for he was taking advantage of her by demanding what he wanted without "paying" for it first, forcing Stara to put herself in the position of begging for that price.
Good, Rune. Now you should think a bit more about what this means for your mom.
Instead she goes to sleep.
The scene then takes us to the next day, when Rune vents to Jib about missing her chance to talk to Heron in the morning. She'd gotten to learn more songs from him, but she had been hoping to get a lesson from him.
She complains about the work, and that they should have let her play too. Then Heron could have taken a break, and maybe they could have even played a duet. Rune isn't really sparing a thought for Jib or any of the other staff here, but again, she's a teenager and teenagers are selfish. Jib is sympathetic, anyway, noting that Stara and Jeoff are getting what they want while Rune is picking up the slack.
She starts venting louder, talking about how she hates Westhaven and most of the people. Jib asks her what she does want: the world! Wealth and power and kings at her feet. Then more realistically, she admits that she really just wants to get out. Jib asks her, if she could do it, how would she go about it?
This gets Rune thinking about what she really needs: money for an instrument, food, shelter and lessons. He asks her what she'd do when she gets that money. She'd go to the Faire in Kingsford She starts talking her grand plans again: win a place in the guild, becoming rich and powerful, getting carried away until they're interrupted by some of the older boys.
The leader's name is Kaylen, and he's a journeyman, not an apprentice. He mocks her ambition, calling her a "braggart" and "a brat who never was able to win even a village Faire fiddling contest" Apparently, she'd entered four years before and lost. Which, really doesn't seem that bad, considering she was ten years old. Everyone remembers her defeat.
They taunt her more, asking if she's taking after Stara in "that way". This gets Rune angry enough to make a very ill-conceived boast:
"What am I going to show you?" she hissed, her hands crooked into claws, her heart near bursting. "I'll tell you! I'll do more than show you! I'll prove to you I'm the best fiddler these parts have ever seen, and too good for the likes of you! I'll go fiddle for-for-"
"For who, wench?" Thom laughed, snapping his fingers at her. "For the Sire?"
"For the Skull Hill Ghost!" she snarled without thinking. "I reckon he'd know a good fiddler when he heard one, even if a lout like you doesn't!"
They laugh at her, which works her up more. She goes for her fiddle, and defiantly heads off.
And here we get some setting info:
There's an Old Road off of the new one, but no one uses it at night. There's a ghost there, and it's not a legend. Some folks have seen it and managed to escape. A priest tried to exorcise it and was found dead in the morning. This was about fifty years ago, and the new road was built not long after.
Rune knows about five victims, and there are stories about dozens. This is interesting info, but it does kind of disrupt the narrative flow placed here. Ms. Lackey recovers somewhat, by having Rune berate herself for her foolishness, even as she goes off to meet her challenge.
This is helpful to know, but I feel like it's wedged in here very awkwardly.
I like this chapter a lot, because Rune really does seem genuinely teenaged. She's not a bad kid, but she's VERY self-absorbed. She's empathetic enough when she thinks about it, for example, when she doesn't annoy Heron with more questions. But she's pretty thoughtless and DEFINITELY dramatic.
The bit I find most interesting though is Jib, because Rune clearly thinks he's not that bright, and that he doesn't comprehend ambition. But he's actually asking really important questions: "HOW? What will you do?" He's basically refocusing her away from her grand dreams and into the logistics of making it happen.
I think that Rune is an unreliable viewpoint character here. Jib's questions prove that he's much smarter than she gives him credit for. And likely, given how easily he asks the questions, he's thought about it for himself too. He may not be as unambitious as she thinks.
So now our Rune has boasted her way into an impossible challenge: fiddling all night for a murderous ghost. Next chapter, we'll see what happens next. I admit, I'm looking forward to it.
Those comparisons are likely to die down now though, as the Lark and the Wren does have its own distinct plot that develops quite differently from Menolly's. Well, they'll die down until we meet Talaysen, (or as I like to call him: a less creepy and far more competent Robinton). But that's for a later chapter.
So let's enjoy the novelty of a bard-themed story that actually has a plot!
We're told that the customers stay pretty late, and only end up leaving when the bard, Heron, starts pointedly packing up his shit. Rune's pretty exhausted. She wants to ask Heron more questions about the Bardic Guild, but realizes that he looks about as tired as she does, and leaves him alone instead. Good girl.
Rune ends up conscripted into helping with the dishes, so she doesn't have a chance to catch Heron before he goes to bed. And when she goes to her own bed, she gets a surprise: Stara is not in the attic cubicle next to hers. Instead, she seems to have found a different place to sleep: with the innkeeper, Jeoff.
This shocks Rune, and she thinks that her mother must be desperate. She thinks Stara is planning to use Jeoff's post-sex guilt into making him marry her. Alternatively, she thinks Stara must think that she can seduce him into marriage by being very good in bed. Either way, Rune is very concerned with what this might mean for her.
Rune starts considering each option: First, that Stara gets knocked up. (And Rune rather meanly notes that her mother has never calculated anything correctly if it involved numbers greater than three.) If Stara is knocked up, Rune will have to take all of her work before and after the baby is born, and having a new mouth to feed makes it even less likely that Jeoff will hire more staff. Rune will have to help with the baby, and will never get to practice her music.
She is close to tears, thinking about how unfair it is. She does admit it could be worse: she has a roof over her head and enough to eat.
Then she thinks about what might happen if Stara's plans fail. Stara could get knocked up anyway, and while Jeoff isn't a bad guy, the town could pressure him to kick Stara out. And either Rune would go with Stara, or she would stay and end up with both her and Stara's work. And if Jeoff married someone from the village, like Amanda, she'd end up suffering under a much less kind mistress than Rose. And then when the wife gets pregnant, it will get even worse!
I'm rather enjoying this bit actually. Rune is being a selfish little snot here, of course. She's not thinking about how difficult things are for Stara, or what could happen to Stara if Jeoff married someone like Amanda, even without a pregnancy involved. She's pretty awful and scornful toward a woman who, while not easy to get along with, clearly has had it rough for a long time. But Rune is a snot-nosed teenager. It makes sense that she's lacking empathy and immediately assuming the worst.
It's not a flattering depiction, but I feel like it's not inaccurate.
Rune starts thinking of her own options. She's tempted by the thought of going off on her own as a minstrel, but realizes that she doesn't have the skill or training. She could starve. And she's not interested in living a dangerous life on the road, or being a drudge.
Oh, and I spoke too soon, because now Rune does start thinking about her mother...albeit unflatteringly:
And what about Stara herself? Stara was her mother; how much did Rune owe her?
If she did get with child, and Jeoff did throw her out, Stara would be in an even worse plight than Rune faced. She would be pregnant, out of work, nowhere to go, and no longer young enough to charm her way, however briefly, into someone's household.
Rune feels guilty, but pushes it away by reminding herself that Stara chose to chase after Jeoff, and that she shouldn't suffer because her mother's being foolish. And Stara doesn't even want her to call her mother.
That brings up another bad possibility: Stara doesn't like having a fourteen year old daughter and thinks it ages her. If she decides Rune's a liability, she could drive Rune away herself. And all she'd have to do is spread a rumor that Rune is sleeping around. Jeoff has never tolerated "openly loose morals on his premises" regardless of what he's doing with Stara. He doesn't even allow sex workers to use his inn. He and Rose were pillars of the community because of their "godly ways".
Rune then, melodramatically, considers being a sex worker herself. She knows a little bit about how it works, thinking about how some travelers brought "brazen, hard-eyed women", and others met such a woman there. There's an interesting note about how when those travelers came, Jeoff would serve them himself, and not allow Stara or Rune near them. Rose always frowned with disapproval.
Honestly, I understand why Rune misses Rose, but she sounds like a pill.
Then Rune remembers a man coming by with his own tents and wagons, with freaks and dancing maidens. And there were a LOT of male visitors after the Faire closed. Rune remembers the man hiring her to play for performances during the day (Rose hadn't known what the performances entailed), and she remembers seeing the dancing girls. Rune herself had sat behind a screen, and no one saw her. The entire experience made her uncomfortable and vaguely sickened.
It hadn't been the taking off of clothes that had bothered her, it was the way the women had done it. Even at thirteen, she'd known there was something wrong with what was going on.
The Church said displays like that, of a woman's body, were forbidden, and a sin. Rune had never quite reasoned out why that should be so-for the Holy Book said other things, entirely, about taking joy in the way of a man and a maid, and celebrating the body and the spirit. But the dancers certainly seemed to feel the same way as the Church-yet they kept dancing, as if they reveled in doing the forbidden. And the men who came to watch them gave Rune the same feeling. There was something slimy about it all, tawdry and cheap, like the way Jon had made her feel this afternoon.
Rune thinks that the man running the show was using the women, and the women were using the audience, and the men didn't care about the women they ogled and bedded. Rune thinks it's all very soulless.
I think Rune is a judgmental little snot, really. But well, she was thirteen at the time, and she really shouldn't have been exposed to that at all.
Anyway, Rune starts comparing Stara and Jeoff to those dancers and customers. They're using each other. And Rune wins a little of my regard back for criticizing Jeoff too:
And Jeoff was most definitely using Stara, for he was taking advantage of her by demanding what he wanted without "paying" for it first, forcing Stara to put herself in the position of begging for that price.
Good, Rune. Now you should think a bit more about what this means for your mom.
Instead she goes to sleep.
The scene then takes us to the next day, when Rune vents to Jib about missing her chance to talk to Heron in the morning. She'd gotten to learn more songs from him, but she had been hoping to get a lesson from him.
She complains about the work, and that they should have let her play too. Then Heron could have taken a break, and maybe they could have even played a duet. Rune isn't really sparing a thought for Jib or any of the other staff here, but again, she's a teenager and teenagers are selfish. Jib is sympathetic, anyway, noting that Stara and Jeoff are getting what they want while Rune is picking up the slack.
She starts venting louder, talking about how she hates Westhaven and most of the people. Jib asks her what she does want: the world! Wealth and power and kings at her feet. Then more realistically, she admits that she really just wants to get out. Jib asks her, if she could do it, how would she go about it?
This gets Rune thinking about what she really needs: money for an instrument, food, shelter and lessons. He asks her what she'd do when she gets that money. She'd go to the Faire in Kingsford She starts talking her grand plans again: win a place in the guild, becoming rich and powerful, getting carried away until they're interrupted by some of the older boys.
The leader's name is Kaylen, and he's a journeyman, not an apprentice. He mocks her ambition, calling her a "braggart" and "a brat who never was able to win even a village Faire fiddling contest" Apparently, she'd entered four years before and lost. Which, really doesn't seem that bad, considering she was ten years old. Everyone remembers her defeat.
They taunt her more, asking if she's taking after Stara in "that way". This gets Rune angry enough to make a very ill-conceived boast:
"What am I going to show you?" she hissed, her hands crooked into claws, her heart near bursting. "I'll tell you! I'll do more than show you! I'll prove to you I'm the best fiddler these parts have ever seen, and too good for the likes of you! I'll go fiddle for-for-"
"For who, wench?" Thom laughed, snapping his fingers at her. "For the Sire?"
"For the Skull Hill Ghost!" she snarled without thinking. "I reckon he'd know a good fiddler when he heard one, even if a lout like you doesn't!"
They laugh at her, which works her up more. She goes for her fiddle, and defiantly heads off.
And here we get some setting info:
There's an Old Road off of the new one, but no one uses it at night. There's a ghost there, and it's not a legend. Some folks have seen it and managed to escape. A priest tried to exorcise it and was found dead in the morning. This was about fifty years ago, and the new road was built not long after.
Rune knows about five victims, and there are stories about dozens. This is interesting info, but it does kind of disrupt the narrative flow placed here. Ms. Lackey recovers somewhat, by having Rune berate herself for her foolishness, even as she goes off to meet her challenge.
This is helpful to know, but I feel like it's wedged in here very awkwardly.
I like this chapter a lot, because Rune really does seem genuinely teenaged. She's not a bad kid, but she's VERY self-absorbed. She's empathetic enough when she thinks about it, for example, when she doesn't annoy Heron with more questions. But she's pretty thoughtless and DEFINITELY dramatic.
The bit I find most interesting though is Jib, because Rune clearly thinks he's not that bright, and that he doesn't comprehend ambition. But he's actually asking really important questions: "HOW? What will you do?" He's basically refocusing her away from her grand dreams and into the logistics of making it happen.
I think that Rune is an unreliable viewpoint character here. Jib's questions prove that he's much smarter than she gives him credit for. And likely, given how easily he asks the questions, he's thought about it for himself too. He may not be as unambitious as she thinks.
So now our Rune has boasted her way into an impossible challenge: fiddling all night for a murderous ghost. Next chapter, we'll see what happens next. I admit, I'm looking forward to it.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-04 02:05 pm (UTC)Also I kind of love Rune being incredibly self-centered and a very unreliable perspective, it's fun.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-05 02:30 am (UTC)