The Lark and the Wren - Chapter Eleven
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i_read_whatSo last time in the Lark and the Wren, the weather was bad, so Rune got to try her hand at manning the shop for a day. She got to con some extra money out of some annoying customers AND we got a patented Mercedes Lackey random civics lesson. I say that with all fondness really. You get used to that kind of thing with these books.
It's springtime now, when we rejoin Rune, and she's pretty thrilled. She's been getting a lot more money street busking lately because the city passed an ordinance aimed toward the female entertainers who used busking to cover for other activities. Now inspectors can watch the musicians to be sure their income is derived entirely from music. Rune isn't being affected because she dresses like a boy when she busks, and because she's legitimately a musician.
And I know I complain about nuance a lot when I read these books, but I really like this bit. Because it is pretty layered. Rune doesn't mind the law because she's reaping the benefits. Now that the sex workers aren't on the street, it's freeing up positions for legitimate musicians and her income's increased. Amber and Tonno, being wiser, are worried about the ramifications. They believe the Church is behind this law and that it might be the opening move in an attempt to ban the Whore's Guild entirely.
Amber is actually benefiting from this law too, because she's gotten more customers. She's even added two more ladies to her group: Amethyst and Diamond. We get a pretty involved description of Diamond, who is dynamic and hilarious. To my sorrow, Amethyst actually gets no description at all. Amethyst is my birthstone, so I feel irrationally hurt by this.
But anyway, Diamond ends up giving Rune the idea for a new means to make money when she jokingly complains about one of the common folk songs that Rune had performed. The story is pretty straightforward: a man seduces one sister, marries the other, and the first sister murders the second. Diamond thinks that she'd like to hear a version of that story that actually makes sense, like for example, the girls teaming up to take their wrath out on the dude instead.
After Diamond and Rune mock the variations of the song even more (Rune is particularly offended by the versions that have a bard use the murdered girl's bones as a harp, which is just impractical!), Diamond suggests that Rune make a version of the song that makes more sense. Rune likes this idea a lot: there are a lot of syrupy stupid ballads, and she could make an entire repertory of comic parodies that are far better suited to street busking.
So she works on it through the late spring. She's got a new corner at a busy crossroads now, and has made a deal with one of the Roma dancers (they'd gone for the winter, but now they've returned), to play the fiddle for the girl to dance at midday to second bell and split the take. In exchange, the Roma hold Rune's corner for her so she can play for a few hours beforehand.
So now Rune is building a bit of a reputation for her funny songs. People are coming just to hear them, and toss extra coins in her hat for encores.
Tonno is both pleased and worried for her. He's worried because he wants to make sure that her songs are just silly parodies and not satires of government or church. Rune is perplexed by this, but reassures him that she doesn't know enough about politics and that while she had thought of doing a song about a corrupt Priest, she decided against it when she saw Carly the spy hanging around outside of her room.
Tonno is relieved to hear that. She can save satire for when she's a Guild Bard and has a powerful position to protect her.
As it turns out, Tonno has another reason to think about this. We're told that this past spring, he's started sending Rune to other people for lessons (lute and voice). These teachers are friends of Tonno and Amber, they've heard her play, and they're even charging her a reduced rate because they love music and appreciate her talent so much. Tonno hadn't been able to find her a teacher for composition though, because the Bards are all in Great Households or Church.
As it turns out though, Brother Bryan, the friendly tax collector that was mentioned last chapter, had heard Rune play (without realizing she's a girl) and was impressed. He offered to get Rune into a class run by a Brother Pell. And that's why it's important for Rune not to have done anything anti-church. If she had, then she could be in a very vulnerable position once she's on Church grounds.
Fortunately, Rune hadn't. And since she busks as a boy, and performs at Amber's house as a girl, she's not likely to be roped into spying either. (We're also told that there are magicians in the Church that could theoretically make people do what they want. Which is definitely ominous.)
Tonno thinks though that there should be no danger. He does warn Rune that Brother Pell is kind of a dick though, from what he's heard. Rune is duly warned, but says that she'd even take lessons from Carly if Carly had anything worth teaching.
So Rune starts her lessons at the huge cathedral in the center of town. It's got a pretty cool description:
It was an imposing, forbidding edifice, carved of dark stone, with thousands of sculptures all over its surface; there wasn't a single square inch that didn't hold a carving of something. Down near the base, it was ordinary people doing Good Works, and the temptations of the Evil One trying to waylay them. Farther up, there were carvings of the lives of the saints and all the temptations that they had overcome. The next level held the bliss of Paradise. The uppermost level was carved with all the varied kinds of angels, from the finger-length Etherials, to the Archangels that were three times the height of a man.
There was a sky-piercing tower in the middle of it, carved with abstract water and cloud shapes, that held the bells that signaled the changes of the hours for everyone in the city. Inside, she had been told, it was different; not dark and foreboding at all, full of light and space-those carved walls held hundreds of tiny windows filled with glass, and most of the ones near the ground were of precious colored glass. Every saint's shrine, every statue inside had been gilded or silvered; places where the light couldn't reach were covered with banks of prayer candles. When the sun shone, or so Tonno claimed, the eye was dazzled. Even when it didn't, there were lights and reflective surfaces enough to make the interior bright as day in an open meadow.
Swanky. The cloister is even more intimidating because it's unornamented, and Rune is a bit affected. She's there for a legitimate reason though, so she pushes forward.
She's not the only person in Brother Pell's class: there are five others. Brother Pell, she realizes, is one of the priests that she'd seen on the street since the ordinance was passed. She realizes that she's seen a lot more Brothers and Sisters out since then, and that they must be inspectors. And she thinks it's interesting and not comforting to think that the Church who backed the law is sending its own people to help enforce it. Happily, Brother Pell doesn't recognize her.
So class starts, and Brother Pell asks each of student why they're there. He is unimpressed by one who is arrogant and another who is timid. He has an interesting dialogue with Rune though, where it turns out that Rune's issues with her illegitimacy work in her favor:
That was rude at the very least-but she had a notion that Brother Pell was never terribly polite. She decided to see if she could startle or discomfort him with the truth. "I don't know who my father is," she replied levely. "And I judged it better than to claim something I have no right to."
One of the other boys snickered, and Pell turned a look on him that left Rune wondering if she scented scorched flesh in its wake. The boy shrank in his seat, and gulped. "You're an honest boy," he barked, turning back to Rune, "and there's no shame in being born a bastard. The shame is on your mother who had no moral sense, not on you. You did not ask to be born; that was God's will. You are doing well to repudiate your mother's weak morals with strong ones of your own. God favors the honest. Perhaps your mother will see your success one day, and repent of her ways."
Rune takes a moment to think that if she didn't kind of agree with him about Stara, she'd be offended.
He also likes Rune's answer to why she's there:
"Because there is music in my head, and I don't know how to write it down the way I hear it," she replied promptly. "I can find harmonies and counter-melodies when I sing, but I don't know how to get them down, either, and sometimes I lose things before I even manage to work them out properly." He looked a little interested, so she continued. "Brother Bryan heard me on the street and told my first teacher that he'd get me a recommendation into this class if I wanted it. I wanted it. I want to be more than a street busker, if it's in me. And if it's God's will," she added, circumspectly.
He likes her answer. The lesson starts, and she realizes that this is a guy that's not going to help anyone. He'll teach, but you better keep up, or you won't stay in the class. Rune realizes though that he does know what he's talking about, and in that sense, he's a good teacher. She notes that having fiddled for the Ghost, she's definitely not going to let Brother Pell or anyone else scare her away from her goals.
And the chapter ends here.
So I mentioned nuance in the beginning of this review, and I really like it here. I like how we've got multiple points of view about the law that's been passed. I like that Rune herself, having a youngster's narrow focus, really likes it. I like that the wiser heads are nervous, even when they might benefit. I like that Rune gets to be flawed and self-centered, and that she can be gently called on it. I also like the extra focus on Brother Bryan and even Brother Pell as faces within the Church that aren't just monolithic evil.
It's also clear that the Church is going to be a growing problem, its corruption and bigotry is not going to go away.
This part is more of a parallel to Menolly than a counter to her, I think. Like Menolly and Domick, we get to see Rune quickly win over a difficult teacher. But it doesn't feel like Rune is getting away with anything. It may just be a manner of tone. Menolly seemed to believe that any teacher who didn't immediately adore her was out to get her (and she wasn't wrong about Morshal at least), and a lot of her lessons seemed to be written as more of a chore, when she'd rather just be writing her own music. Rune on the other hand seems to have a lot more appreciation for the lessons she's getting.
I also like that we actually see Rune singing and playing folk songs that aren't her original composition. I hadn't thought about it before, but while we heard about Menolly singing things that aren't her work, they never seem to get a lot of focus.
I still resent that Amethyst didn't get a description though.
It's springtime now, when we rejoin Rune, and she's pretty thrilled. She's been getting a lot more money street busking lately because the city passed an ordinance aimed toward the female entertainers who used busking to cover for other activities. Now inspectors can watch the musicians to be sure their income is derived entirely from music. Rune isn't being affected because she dresses like a boy when she busks, and because she's legitimately a musician.
And I know I complain about nuance a lot when I read these books, but I really like this bit. Because it is pretty layered. Rune doesn't mind the law because she's reaping the benefits. Now that the sex workers aren't on the street, it's freeing up positions for legitimate musicians and her income's increased. Amber and Tonno, being wiser, are worried about the ramifications. They believe the Church is behind this law and that it might be the opening move in an attempt to ban the Whore's Guild entirely.
Amber is actually benefiting from this law too, because she's gotten more customers. She's even added two more ladies to her group: Amethyst and Diamond. We get a pretty involved description of Diamond, who is dynamic and hilarious. To my sorrow, Amethyst actually gets no description at all. Amethyst is my birthstone, so I feel irrationally hurt by this.
But anyway, Diamond ends up giving Rune the idea for a new means to make money when she jokingly complains about one of the common folk songs that Rune had performed. The story is pretty straightforward: a man seduces one sister, marries the other, and the first sister murders the second. Diamond thinks that she'd like to hear a version of that story that actually makes sense, like for example, the girls teaming up to take their wrath out on the dude instead.
After Diamond and Rune mock the variations of the song even more (Rune is particularly offended by the versions that have a bard use the murdered girl's bones as a harp, which is just impractical!), Diamond suggests that Rune make a version of the song that makes more sense. Rune likes this idea a lot: there are a lot of syrupy stupid ballads, and she could make an entire repertory of comic parodies that are far better suited to street busking.
So she works on it through the late spring. She's got a new corner at a busy crossroads now, and has made a deal with one of the Roma dancers (they'd gone for the winter, but now they've returned), to play the fiddle for the girl to dance at midday to second bell and split the take. In exchange, the Roma hold Rune's corner for her so she can play for a few hours beforehand.
So now Rune is building a bit of a reputation for her funny songs. People are coming just to hear them, and toss extra coins in her hat for encores.
Tonno is both pleased and worried for her. He's worried because he wants to make sure that her songs are just silly parodies and not satires of government or church. Rune is perplexed by this, but reassures him that she doesn't know enough about politics and that while she had thought of doing a song about a corrupt Priest, she decided against it when she saw Carly the spy hanging around outside of her room.
Tonno is relieved to hear that. She can save satire for when she's a Guild Bard and has a powerful position to protect her.
As it turns out, Tonno has another reason to think about this. We're told that this past spring, he's started sending Rune to other people for lessons (lute and voice). These teachers are friends of Tonno and Amber, they've heard her play, and they're even charging her a reduced rate because they love music and appreciate her talent so much. Tonno hadn't been able to find her a teacher for composition though, because the Bards are all in Great Households or Church.
As it turns out though, Brother Bryan, the friendly tax collector that was mentioned last chapter, had heard Rune play (without realizing she's a girl) and was impressed. He offered to get Rune into a class run by a Brother Pell. And that's why it's important for Rune not to have done anything anti-church. If she had, then she could be in a very vulnerable position once she's on Church grounds.
Fortunately, Rune hadn't. And since she busks as a boy, and performs at Amber's house as a girl, she's not likely to be roped into spying either. (We're also told that there are magicians in the Church that could theoretically make people do what they want. Which is definitely ominous.)
Tonno thinks though that there should be no danger. He does warn Rune that Brother Pell is kind of a dick though, from what he's heard. Rune is duly warned, but says that she'd even take lessons from Carly if Carly had anything worth teaching.
So Rune starts her lessons at the huge cathedral in the center of town. It's got a pretty cool description:
It was an imposing, forbidding edifice, carved of dark stone, with thousands of sculptures all over its surface; there wasn't a single square inch that didn't hold a carving of something. Down near the base, it was ordinary people doing Good Works, and the temptations of the Evil One trying to waylay them. Farther up, there were carvings of the lives of the saints and all the temptations that they had overcome. The next level held the bliss of Paradise. The uppermost level was carved with all the varied kinds of angels, from the finger-length Etherials, to the Archangels that were three times the height of a man.
There was a sky-piercing tower in the middle of it, carved with abstract water and cloud shapes, that held the bells that signaled the changes of the hours for everyone in the city. Inside, she had been told, it was different; not dark and foreboding at all, full of light and space-those carved walls held hundreds of tiny windows filled with glass, and most of the ones near the ground were of precious colored glass. Every saint's shrine, every statue inside had been gilded or silvered; places where the light couldn't reach were covered with banks of prayer candles. When the sun shone, or so Tonno claimed, the eye was dazzled. Even when it didn't, there were lights and reflective surfaces enough to make the interior bright as day in an open meadow.
Swanky. The cloister is even more intimidating because it's unornamented, and Rune is a bit affected. She's there for a legitimate reason though, so she pushes forward.
She's not the only person in Brother Pell's class: there are five others. Brother Pell, she realizes, is one of the priests that she'd seen on the street since the ordinance was passed. She realizes that she's seen a lot more Brothers and Sisters out since then, and that they must be inspectors. And she thinks it's interesting and not comforting to think that the Church who backed the law is sending its own people to help enforce it. Happily, Brother Pell doesn't recognize her.
So class starts, and Brother Pell asks each of student why they're there. He is unimpressed by one who is arrogant and another who is timid. He has an interesting dialogue with Rune though, where it turns out that Rune's issues with her illegitimacy work in her favor:
That was rude at the very least-but she had a notion that Brother Pell was never terribly polite. She decided to see if she could startle or discomfort him with the truth. "I don't know who my father is," she replied levely. "And I judged it better than to claim something I have no right to."
One of the other boys snickered, and Pell turned a look on him that left Rune wondering if she scented scorched flesh in its wake. The boy shrank in his seat, and gulped. "You're an honest boy," he barked, turning back to Rune, "and there's no shame in being born a bastard. The shame is on your mother who had no moral sense, not on you. You did not ask to be born; that was God's will. You are doing well to repudiate your mother's weak morals with strong ones of your own. God favors the honest. Perhaps your mother will see your success one day, and repent of her ways."
Rune takes a moment to think that if she didn't kind of agree with him about Stara, she'd be offended.
He also likes Rune's answer to why she's there:
"Because there is music in my head, and I don't know how to write it down the way I hear it," she replied promptly. "I can find harmonies and counter-melodies when I sing, but I don't know how to get them down, either, and sometimes I lose things before I even manage to work them out properly." He looked a little interested, so she continued. "Brother Bryan heard me on the street and told my first teacher that he'd get me a recommendation into this class if I wanted it. I wanted it. I want to be more than a street busker, if it's in me. And if it's God's will," she added, circumspectly.
He likes her answer. The lesson starts, and she realizes that this is a guy that's not going to help anyone. He'll teach, but you better keep up, or you won't stay in the class. Rune realizes though that he does know what he's talking about, and in that sense, he's a good teacher. She notes that having fiddled for the Ghost, she's definitely not going to let Brother Pell or anyone else scare her away from her goals.
And the chapter ends here.
So I mentioned nuance in the beginning of this review, and I really like it here. I like how we've got multiple points of view about the law that's been passed. I like that Rune herself, having a youngster's narrow focus, really likes it. I like that the wiser heads are nervous, even when they might benefit. I like that Rune gets to be flawed and self-centered, and that she can be gently called on it. I also like the extra focus on Brother Bryan and even Brother Pell as faces within the Church that aren't just monolithic evil.
It's also clear that the Church is going to be a growing problem, its corruption and bigotry is not going to go away.
This part is more of a parallel to Menolly than a counter to her, I think. Like Menolly and Domick, we get to see Rune quickly win over a difficult teacher. But it doesn't feel like Rune is getting away with anything. It may just be a manner of tone. Menolly seemed to believe that any teacher who didn't immediately adore her was out to get her (and she wasn't wrong about Morshal at least), and a lot of her lessons seemed to be written as more of a chore, when she'd rather just be writing her own music. Rune on the other hand seems to have a lot more appreciation for the lessons she's getting.
I also like that we actually see Rune singing and playing folk songs that aren't her original composition. I hadn't thought about it before, but while we heard about Menolly singing things that aren't her work, they never seem to get a lot of focus.
I still resent that Amethyst didn't get a description though.