The Lark and the Wren - Chapter Six
Jun. 15th, 2020 12:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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i_read_whatSo last time in this book, Rune made it to the city of Nolton and got a crash course in city life from a surprisingly friendly innkeeper.
The chapter starts in the morning. If you recall, Rune had negotiated for her breakfast, bread and drippings, but instead Mathe's wife gives her oat-porridge with honey and a big mug of milk. Apparently, Mrs. Mathe was aghast at the idea of giving a "growing boy" bread and drippings for breakfast, and decided to give her what the Mathe children get instead.
Rune wisely chooses not to involve herself in a minor marital dispute and finishes her breakfast with appreciation. Mathe hasn't forgotten her either, as he meets her by the entrance with the promised map. He also slips a packet into her hand, before pointing her in the direction of the church box. He gives her one last bit of advice: give the man her tax and tithe separately, that way, he can't claim that she gave it all as a tithe and say that she then owes matching tax.
Rune thinks that the packet he gave her is bread, maybe even bread and cheese, and is very happy, since it means she won't have to buy lunch.
I find Rune's miserly qualities very charming. And I mean, she's right to count her coins carefully. She's got a lot of very expensive goals after all.
Anyway, Mathe gives her some final tips on where and when she should play (there are food stalls across from the church box, and she should play until "nuncheon"), and has indeed marked down the location of music teachers on his map. Aw.
Mathe explains gruffly that at one point in time some musicians did him a favor, playing for him even before he could afford to feed them, and his regular guy has never failed him yet, so he's paying it forward. It just makes me really happy when we see characters who are fundamentally decent. It was that dearth that always bothered me about Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire, to be honest. Yes, there are some truly cruel and wretched people in the world, many of them, but there are some good people too. And maybe, just maybe, we can meet one?
So Rune heads off. Ms. Lackey seems to have a thing for sanitation in this book, since one of the things Rune notices immediately is an odd scooper arrangement on the back of a cart horse. She also notices merchants scrubbing their doorsteps and street. This is still pretty bewildering to her, but she does admit that there are a shit ton more people here in Nolton, and therefore they'd need a lot more precautions against illness and contamination.
So she gets to the church stall, pays her tithe and tax separately. The collector is annoyed by this, telling her that she could have just given it all at once. I think this reaction proves Mathe was absolutely right. Rune notes that this fellow seemed "well-fed; very well-fed in fact, round-cheeked and healthier than most."
The one complaint I have about this book, aside from the G-slur being used so prevalently, is this undertone of fatphobia. Please stop that.
Rune contemplates the tax and tithe, grateful she was warned. She has a brief moment where she imagines the reaction of a bondholder who bought her service and then discovered she was a girl. Rune is smart enough to realize that while the the immediate reaction might be funny, what followed would likely be very unpleasant.
She finds the food stalls and gets the okay to set her hat out. She starts playing, and indeed, attracts a bit of a small crowd. By lunch, she's acquired "a grand total of three pennies, a marble dropped in by a solemn-faced child, a little bag of barley-sugar candy added by a young girl, a bit of yellow ribbon, and at least a dozen pins."
The thought of these kids giving the musician their marble and candy is adorable. The pins aren't that bad either, since twelve of them can be worth a penny once they're straightened and cleaned. Rune is a bit disheartened, since she made a lot more at Mathe's place. But it's starting to thicken with the lunch rush. Rune keeps playing, and this time, she focuses less on the money that she needs and more on the music itself, and making the crowd happy. This immediately has a positive effect on the crowd. A priest even has to shoo away some kids who have started dancing a jig.
Once the "second noon-bell" rings, things start clearing out. The stallkeepers start cleaning their stalls, and Rune counts her earnings. She's got nine pennies now, which is nice, another bag of sweets, and a shit ton of pins.
Even luckier, when the stall keepers nearby notice her pins they're quick to make a deal. For fifteen pins, one stall keeper offers her a mug of cider. The other one offers her a sausage-roll for fifteen pins as well. Score, and she doesn't even have to straighten them first. She actually turns out to have forty-three pins, so she gets two sausage rolls out of it. Nice.
So now it's time to be off to find a place to live, a teacher, and a second instrument. She heads to the places on the map. She rules a few of them out pretty quickly: they're in fancier neighborhoods and the instruments in the shop window are ornate and polished and ornamented in a way that she knows she can't afford, even second hand.
She heads into a shopping district where people were dressed much more simply, in an almost uniform fashion. She realizes that they're probably servants, and briefly imagines what it'd be like to have servants. As the streets get narrower and shabbier, she finds the shop:
There was only one shop in the street that had three instruments hanging in the window, although it had other things there as well; cheap copper jewelry, religious statues, cards of lace and tarnished trim that showed bits of thread on the edge where it had been picked off a garment, knives and a sword, a tarnished silver christening-goblet. . . .
A small sign in the window said "We Buy and Sell" and "Loans Made." Another sign beneath it showed two pairs of hands; one offering a knife, the other a silver coin. A third, smaller sign said "Music Lessons."
It's not as prosperous as the earlier shops, but she notices that the instruments in the window are old, plain, but also very well-cared for. The strings are loose, which is apparently a good thing when something is on display as it means the wood is less likely to warp if the instrument is left alone. So this looks like the most promising place.
And indeed, it is. Rune goes in and meets the shopkeeper, a man named Tonno. He is notable as right away, he recognizes that she's a girl. He invites her to a cup of tea and wants to hear her story. Rune is understandably a bit anxious about it, but figures he's old and slow and probably couldn't out-wrestle her, so what's the harm?
Well, he could drug the tea...
And there was more of Raven's advice. If you find yourself with someone who cares for his instruments, no matter how old, or how plain-or even how cheap-you can trust him. He's a man who knows that all value isn't on the surface. And he may have some of that hidden value himself.
Honestly, that strikes me as terrible advice. Dicks can be musicians too. But fortunately Tonno seems like a good guy. He also pinpoints her accent as being from around Beeford, which startles Rune. She tells him her story, including the part about the Ghost and the coins.
Tonno warns her not to tell the story to anyone else, because the Church would either take the lion's share, or confiscate it for "coming from demons". He makes her an offer: she can give the coins to him in exchange for an instrument of her choice and a year's lessons. He'll give her what's left over when the year is up, changed over to smaller coins that are less attention getting.
Rune is a bit uneasy about the idea, because well, it's a lot of trust. Tonno sweetens the deal though by promising to teach her how to read and write music, and offers her freedom to read any book in his shop. In fact, he WANTS her to read one a week. Rune's in.
He has her play for him. She plays a love song, a jig, and one of Nightingale's laments. Tonno confides in her that he himself is only a mediocre musician, but he knows how to play every instrument and is good enough to teach her the basics. She's something else though, and if she's this good self taught, then his education should really be able to get her going. Later, he'll help her find more expert help, but she probably won't need for at least a year. He also seems genuinely worried that some teachers might cheat Rune out of envy for her potential.
Rune decides that she's in. They pick out an instrument: a lute, since she loves its tone, and she thinks the four strings would be easier to manage while traveling than a harp would. They negotiate a price for the instrument and lessons, and she'll even have enough money left to buy her permit and have a hedge against a lean spell.
Tonno isn't done though: he's also got an idea of where she can earn her keep. He's got a friend looking for a musician, who can offer her a good room and maybe even a meal in exchange for playing part of the night. Rune can tell that there's something he's not saying, and Tonno kind of hedges, describing it as a "public house", and saying that he would rather "Amber" tell Rune herself.
Translation: it's a brothel. Rune figures that out pretty quickly, but she also figures that it can't hurt to go look. And besides, she's annoyed enough by having to pay the stupid tithe that she kind of likes the idea of getting the money at a place that they disapprove of.
The chapter ends here. This is a promising development, considering how Rune came across as quite prudish and slut-shaming in her earliest chapters. I think this might end up being another interesting element to Rune's continuing education.
The chapter starts in the morning. If you recall, Rune had negotiated for her breakfast, bread and drippings, but instead Mathe's wife gives her oat-porridge with honey and a big mug of milk. Apparently, Mrs. Mathe was aghast at the idea of giving a "growing boy" bread and drippings for breakfast, and decided to give her what the Mathe children get instead.
Rune wisely chooses not to involve herself in a minor marital dispute and finishes her breakfast with appreciation. Mathe hasn't forgotten her either, as he meets her by the entrance with the promised map. He also slips a packet into her hand, before pointing her in the direction of the church box. He gives her one last bit of advice: give the man her tax and tithe separately, that way, he can't claim that she gave it all as a tithe and say that she then owes matching tax.
Rune thinks that the packet he gave her is bread, maybe even bread and cheese, and is very happy, since it means she won't have to buy lunch.
I find Rune's miserly qualities very charming. And I mean, she's right to count her coins carefully. She's got a lot of very expensive goals after all.
Anyway, Mathe gives her some final tips on where and when she should play (there are food stalls across from the church box, and she should play until "nuncheon"), and has indeed marked down the location of music teachers on his map. Aw.
Mathe explains gruffly that at one point in time some musicians did him a favor, playing for him even before he could afford to feed them, and his regular guy has never failed him yet, so he's paying it forward. It just makes me really happy when we see characters who are fundamentally decent. It was that dearth that always bothered me about Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire, to be honest. Yes, there are some truly cruel and wretched people in the world, many of them, but there are some good people too. And maybe, just maybe, we can meet one?
So Rune heads off. Ms. Lackey seems to have a thing for sanitation in this book, since one of the things Rune notices immediately is an odd scooper arrangement on the back of a cart horse. She also notices merchants scrubbing their doorsteps and street. This is still pretty bewildering to her, but she does admit that there are a shit ton more people here in Nolton, and therefore they'd need a lot more precautions against illness and contamination.
So she gets to the church stall, pays her tithe and tax separately. The collector is annoyed by this, telling her that she could have just given it all at once. I think this reaction proves Mathe was absolutely right. Rune notes that this fellow seemed "well-fed; very well-fed in fact, round-cheeked and healthier than most."
The one complaint I have about this book, aside from the G-slur being used so prevalently, is this undertone of fatphobia. Please stop that.
Rune contemplates the tax and tithe, grateful she was warned. She has a brief moment where she imagines the reaction of a bondholder who bought her service and then discovered she was a girl. Rune is smart enough to realize that while the the immediate reaction might be funny, what followed would likely be very unpleasant.
She finds the food stalls and gets the okay to set her hat out. She starts playing, and indeed, attracts a bit of a small crowd. By lunch, she's acquired "a grand total of three pennies, a marble dropped in by a solemn-faced child, a little bag of barley-sugar candy added by a young girl, a bit of yellow ribbon, and at least a dozen pins."
The thought of these kids giving the musician their marble and candy is adorable. The pins aren't that bad either, since twelve of them can be worth a penny once they're straightened and cleaned. Rune is a bit disheartened, since she made a lot more at Mathe's place. But it's starting to thicken with the lunch rush. Rune keeps playing, and this time, she focuses less on the money that she needs and more on the music itself, and making the crowd happy. This immediately has a positive effect on the crowd. A priest even has to shoo away some kids who have started dancing a jig.
Once the "second noon-bell" rings, things start clearing out. The stallkeepers start cleaning their stalls, and Rune counts her earnings. She's got nine pennies now, which is nice, another bag of sweets, and a shit ton of pins.
Even luckier, when the stall keepers nearby notice her pins they're quick to make a deal. For fifteen pins, one stall keeper offers her a mug of cider. The other one offers her a sausage-roll for fifteen pins as well. Score, and she doesn't even have to straighten them first. She actually turns out to have forty-three pins, so she gets two sausage rolls out of it. Nice.
So now it's time to be off to find a place to live, a teacher, and a second instrument. She heads to the places on the map. She rules a few of them out pretty quickly: they're in fancier neighborhoods and the instruments in the shop window are ornate and polished and ornamented in a way that she knows she can't afford, even second hand.
She heads into a shopping district where people were dressed much more simply, in an almost uniform fashion. She realizes that they're probably servants, and briefly imagines what it'd be like to have servants. As the streets get narrower and shabbier, she finds the shop:
There was only one shop in the street that had three instruments hanging in the window, although it had other things there as well; cheap copper jewelry, religious statues, cards of lace and tarnished trim that showed bits of thread on the edge where it had been picked off a garment, knives and a sword, a tarnished silver christening-goblet. . . .
A small sign in the window said "We Buy and Sell" and "Loans Made." Another sign beneath it showed two pairs of hands; one offering a knife, the other a silver coin. A third, smaller sign said "Music Lessons."
It's not as prosperous as the earlier shops, but she notices that the instruments in the window are old, plain, but also very well-cared for. The strings are loose, which is apparently a good thing when something is on display as it means the wood is less likely to warp if the instrument is left alone. So this looks like the most promising place.
And indeed, it is. Rune goes in and meets the shopkeeper, a man named Tonno. He is notable as right away, he recognizes that she's a girl. He invites her to a cup of tea and wants to hear her story. Rune is understandably a bit anxious about it, but figures he's old and slow and probably couldn't out-wrestle her, so what's the harm?
Well, he could drug the tea...
And there was more of Raven's advice. If you find yourself with someone who cares for his instruments, no matter how old, or how plain-or even how cheap-you can trust him. He's a man who knows that all value isn't on the surface. And he may have some of that hidden value himself.
Honestly, that strikes me as terrible advice. Dicks can be musicians too. But fortunately Tonno seems like a good guy. He also pinpoints her accent as being from around Beeford, which startles Rune. She tells him her story, including the part about the Ghost and the coins.
Tonno warns her not to tell the story to anyone else, because the Church would either take the lion's share, or confiscate it for "coming from demons". He makes her an offer: she can give the coins to him in exchange for an instrument of her choice and a year's lessons. He'll give her what's left over when the year is up, changed over to smaller coins that are less attention getting.
Rune is a bit uneasy about the idea, because well, it's a lot of trust. Tonno sweetens the deal though by promising to teach her how to read and write music, and offers her freedom to read any book in his shop. In fact, he WANTS her to read one a week. Rune's in.
He has her play for him. She plays a love song, a jig, and one of Nightingale's laments. Tonno confides in her that he himself is only a mediocre musician, but he knows how to play every instrument and is good enough to teach her the basics. She's something else though, and if she's this good self taught, then his education should really be able to get her going. Later, he'll help her find more expert help, but she probably won't need for at least a year. He also seems genuinely worried that some teachers might cheat Rune out of envy for her potential.
Rune decides that she's in. They pick out an instrument: a lute, since she loves its tone, and she thinks the four strings would be easier to manage while traveling than a harp would. They negotiate a price for the instrument and lessons, and she'll even have enough money left to buy her permit and have a hedge against a lean spell.
Tonno isn't done though: he's also got an idea of where she can earn her keep. He's got a friend looking for a musician, who can offer her a good room and maybe even a meal in exchange for playing part of the night. Rune can tell that there's something he's not saying, and Tonno kind of hedges, describing it as a "public house", and saying that he would rather "Amber" tell Rune herself.
Translation: it's a brothel. Rune figures that out pretty quickly, but she also figures that it can't hurt to go look. And besides, she's annoyed enough by having to pay the stupid tithe that she kind of likes the idea of getting the money at a place that they disapprove of.
The chapter ends here. This is a promising development, considering how Rune came across as quite prudish and slut-shaming in her earliest chapters. I think this might end up being another interesting element to Rune's continuing education.