The Lark and the Wren - Chapter Sixteen

[kalinara]

So last time, Rune stepped away from the spotlight a bit so that Gwyna could have the spotlight. And get turned into a bird by a malicious priest. Poor thing. It doesn't pay to have the spotlight sometimes.



So we rejoin Rune and Talaysen as they're preparing to leave the Faire. Rune has shooed Talaysen away so she can pack their belongings, claiming it as "apprentice-work". She seems a little too satisfied by that idea. I think she might have a kink.

Anyway Rune will be carrying the food, since she's got a lot less in way of belongings (even granted that she's gotten a few more articles of clothing since coming to the Faire). And she notes that a lot of other folk are complaining about how their belongings have multiplied.

There are two people who aren't packing: the old man, Erdric, and his grandson Sparrow. They have a permanent place in one of the taverns. They oversee that the tent is taken down safely and stored away.

By this point, most of the Bards have left already. Talaysen apparently is the last to depart, so that no one lacked for a personal goodbye from their leader. Rune doesn't mind this, she's had a lot to think about.

Mainly, she's thinking about how different the Free Bards are from the Guild Bards. She's had a chance to see how the Guild Bards act toward each other: the way they jostle and fight for status and position. The Free Bards are the ones that actually take care of each other.

She's also thinking about the Church. She now knows that the rumors of magic is true, and the Church has mages themselves. But it's not all bad, she has to admit that there are priests like Lady Ardis, who will aid anyone who needs it.

And then there's Talaysen. She notes that he could claim his place among the Guild Bards any time he wanted. He could go back and get all of the patronage and wealth he's given up. But he won't. And then there's the other part:

She wasn't certain how he felt about her. He didn't treat her as a child, though she was his apprentice. He watched her constantly when he thought she wasn't looking, and the eyes he followed her with were the eyes of a starving man. But when he spoke with her or taught her, he had another look entirely; he teased her as if he was her elder brother, and he never once gave a hint that his feelings ran any deeper than that.

Yet whenever someone else seemed to be playing the gallant with her, he'd find himself watched so closely that he would invariably give up the game as not worth it. After all, no one wanted to invoke Talaysen's displeasure.

So basically, Talaysen's into her, but doesn't really seem to be aware of that. Everyone else seems to be, though.

Gwyna did give Rune the run down: he's been virtually celibate for a few years, though no one knows why. There isn't any indication of a tragic lost love. Ardis apparently hinted about a few dalliances that could have been a love story, but he never pursued it.

I kind of love that Rune apparently scouted this out thoroughly. And she notes that at least she's not up against any ghosts.

Because that's the thing, Talaysen may not know how HE feels, but Rune's pretty clear. She wants to bang that. Like a fucking gong. She thinks she's never met anyone who's suited her so well, in every way. She does admit though that there are sides of him she hasn't seen yet. Once they're on the road, he might be a different person. But she didn't think so.

She notes that while she has a lot to learn from him, "in performance, at least, they were absolute partners, each making up for the other's weaknesses." She thinks that's going to continue and now, well, she wants to warm it up a bit.

I'm still not a fan of the age difference here, as I've noted before. But I am pretty amused by how clearly and pragmatically Rune has decided what she wants.

As for the Faire: Rune is feeling a bit out of sorts. She's had a routine here, at least in the three weeks since her splint came off. Now she's heading off into something new.

She does spare a moment to wish they had a donkey to help carry supplies, but then has to note that there are downsides to that too: feeding it, caring for it, and the fact that it might make them a target for robbers. Talaysen's a bit surprised that she's packed up so quickly, but she notes that she did a lot of walking from Westhaven to Nolton to the Faire.

So they head out. Talaysen isn't inclined to talk, so we get a fair bit of description about the start of their journey. Eventually, they end up on a side road that reminds her a bit of Skull Hill Pass. She asks where they're going, because one supernatural encounter was quite enough.

Ultimately, they're heading for Allendale Faire, which will be about two weeks from now. He's had good experience with it in the past, and no one else wanted to take it this year. That's an interesting note. Apparently the Bards try to spread themselves out. That makes some sense, the smaller Faires likely can't afford to feed everyone like the big one did. Tonight, they're heading for a camping spot that Talaysen knows about.

Rune seems to rather like the idea of sleeping under the stars with him, but she suspects nothing will happen without a bit more shared privacy. She also has concerns about the provisions lasting for an entire two week trek through the woods. But Talaysen reassures her that there are villages up ahead, about two days apart from each other, so they should be okay.

Rune wonders why he's so sure that they'd be welcomed, given that the villages are so close to the Faire. Talaysen asks her how often the people of her own village went to the next one for anything. Basically, these are farmers and most of them can't take the time away to go to a Faire at this season.

Rune realizes that even if other musicians have passed by, she and Talaysen will be a welcomed novelty.

So they travel on. There's a lot of description in this chapter that's lovely and evocative, but not really suited to a recap. Eventually, she asks why Allendale Faire. Apparently it's a decently large local Faire in a town that has quite a few wealthy folks nearby. He notes that they'll have to start thinking of a place to "winter-up" soon.

Basically traveling from inn to inn in the winter sucks. So if you can, as a Bard, you want to find some place where you can stay and work until the weather is better. Rune's on board with this plan. She's said it before, she's really not that enamored with the nomadic life. If she had a choice, she'd prefer to be settled somewhere. That was part of the attraction of the Guild for her.

And admittedly, that's one thing that the Free Bards can't reliably offer. The Free Bards have the freedom and the community support, but they're not the wealthy, prestigious sorts favored by patrons.

That said, Allendale has prospects. It's got a lot of Sires and Merchants nearby, Talaysen explains. Most of these country Sires can't afford a permanent musician, so they take on one that is new and interesting for the winter. They don't have to pay a permanent retainer or shower the Bard with gifts to keep him content. (Talaysen notes that once a Guild Minstrel has a position, he doesn't really have to do much to keep it. The position is for life, unless he commits a crime. So their employers give them gifts to motivate them to learn new songs and change things up. Something that appalls Rune.)

Rune asks about the restriction that only Guild Musicians can take House positions. And that's how it's supposed to work, but the Country Sires don't really care about that. They just want someone who can play new music. There's no one really enforcing the laws out here anyway.

The Guilds are supposed to enforce each other's law, but they're pretty few and far between out here. A Craftsman who refuses to serve the Sire is hurting himself, only. And well, most of them don't give a damn about the Bardic Guild. The Bardic Guild's main power is through the Church, and the Church is pragmatic about things outside of cities.

Talaysen also explains that most Crafts don't see the Bards as being Crafters, because music isn't tangible. They don't really appreciate the difficulty. And well, music isn't a necessity.

Rune argues with that last bit, pointing out that it's only not a necessity until the middle of winter when everyone's at each other's throats. But Rune gets what Talaysen's saying. She notes that back home she was more valued as a barmaid and scrubber than as a musician, and no one noticed that customers stayed longer and bought more, and even came from other towns to see her.

Talaysen is quiet, then says that he thinks they're noticing the difference now, and probably wondering what they did that's driving their customers away.

I know I said the Dragonsinger comparisons were done. I lied. I like this bit a lot. It reminds me of when Menolly has that scene where she gets to talk about her difficult backstory. And honestly, I don't blame Menolly for being upset. But I like Rune's matter of fact disclosure better. She comes across as older and more mature than Menolly.

And I like that Talaysen's sympathy is quiet and effective.

Rune muses a bit about Westhaven, wondering if he's right. Jeoff and Stara are the sort to care about the cashbox, but maybe now that the villagers have gotten in the habit of staying late, maybe they still are. She muses a bit about how they likely think of her. They're probably muttering about "bad blood" and how she's probably starving or selling herself like her mother.

We switch POV to Talaysen, and it's less jarring than in the last chapter. Allendale is half a day away. They've been traveling for two weeks, and that's led him to contemplate a lot.

He covertly glances at Rune, who doesn't seem to notice. (Hah. Moron.) He notes how his feelings have changed. Originally when her arm was healing, he'd been able to focus on seeing her as a student. She'd been hurt and frightened, and he felt paternal. He can guess a lot of her backstory, based on things she's said herself, or babbled when under too much belladonna, and it's very familiar to him. She had reminded him so much of himself as a child. They had different backgrounds, but he notes that "one unwanted, superfluous child is very like another".

We'll learn a bit more about his time in the Guild and why he left, of course, but that's about all we get about his early backstory, and I kind of like that.

Things changed once Rune recovered enough to stop taking the mind-fogging drugs, and start playing again. Suddenly, she stopped seeming like a child to him.

His thoughts redirect to the trip, which is not very interesting to recap, except for some notes about the potential of ambush. Apparently, Talaysen has a real talent for avoiding that, to the point where he'd been accused of working magic. He thinks that it's too bad he's not a real mage, as he could transform his wayward heart back to the way it had been. . . ."

Ugh. Bards.

Eventually, his thoughts go back to Rune. He'd been hoping that traveling together would put things back on the student-teacher track. She's from the country, but doesn't really have any experience with life on the road. It should have reverted her to a kind of dependence that would reawaken his protective side, and squash anything else.

But Rune had other plans. She apparently had no idea that she should be feeling helpless or out of her depth. She holds her own, insists on doing her share, and when she doesn't know how to do something, she asks. And she's actually better at him when it comes to bartering with farm-wives for supplies.

And as for music, for all Rune's lack of confidence there, Talaysen considers her a full partner. She even challenges him in some ways. She likes to know why things work, and he doesn't always have an answer. Her fiddling is improving day by day, both because of regular practice, and having had the opportunity to hear some of the best fiddlers in the country at the Faire. Soon she'll be the best.

Talaysen is really enjoying the novelty of having a full partner. He likes the challenge of having a very able student. That's not the problem. This is:

This was all very exciting, but he couldn't help but notice that his feelings towards her were changing, more so every day. It was no longer that he was simply attracted to her-nor that he found her stimulating in other areas than the intellectual.

It was far worse than that. He'd noticed back at the last Faire that when they'd sung a love duet, he was putting more feeling into the words than he ever had before. It wasn't acting; it was real. And therein lay the problem.

Oh, you doofus.

He thinks about how happy he is to settle the camp, and see her doing her half of the work even if it's not the same way he'd do it. He wakes up in the middle of the night, sees the dark lump rolled in blankets across the fire and smiles. And "[w]hen he traded sleepy quips over the morning fire, he found himself not only enjoying her company- he found himself unable to imagine life without her."

Bards. Oh my god. And of course, being a dude, he's frightened by this.

He thinks about how Ardis approves, and how she didn't approve of his previous relationship: a woman named Lyssandra. I braced myself when this came up, but all Talaysen says about Lyssandra is that they both were relieved when her father broke the engagement upon Talaysen/Gwydain leaving the Guild. A mention of a previous relationship that doesn't demonize the ex? That's actually novel.

So anyway, he thinks about how he and Rune converse the same way. They're comfortable in silence, but when they talk it's very enjoyable. And he can imagine sharing the rest of his life with her.

Which then of course leads into emo angst:

How could he even think something like that? The very idea was appalling! She was younger than he was; much younger. He was not exaggerating when he had told Ardis that he was twice her age. He was, and a bit more; on the shady side of thirty-five, to her seventeen or eighteen. How many songs were there about young women cuckolding older lovers? Enough to make him look like a fool if he took up with her. Enough to make her look like a woman after only his fame and fortune if she took up with him. There was nothing romantic about an old man pairing with a young woman, and much that was the stuff of ribald comedy.

Furthermore, she was his apprentice. That alone should place her out of bounds. He was appalled at himself for even considering it in his all-too-vivid dreams.

So yeah, here we've got a bit of smudging of the age difference. By Tonno's account, Talaysen should be forty. Talaysen gives his age here as "the shady side of thirty five". Which, given how dramatic he's being here, I'm taking as thirty-six. This is a guy who would number every single year as part of his self-flagellation.

That said, as amusingly melodramatic as this rant is, there's a deeper core to it:

He'd always had the greatest contempt for those teachers who took advantage of a youngster's eagerness to please, of their inexperience, to use them. There were plenty of ways to take advantage of an apprentice, from extracting gifts of money from a wealthy parent, to employing them as unpaid servants. But the worst was to take a child, sexually inexperienced but ripe and ready to learn, and twist that readiness and enthusiasm, that willingness to accommodate the Master in every way, and pervert it into the crude slaking of the Master's own desires with no regard for how the child felt, or what such a betrayal would do to it.

This actually gets into one of the many reasons Talaysen left the Guild: apparently the last straw had to do with two young boys who'd been abused by one of the most notorious lechers in the Guild. Talaysen had gone to the Master of the Guild when he learned of the incident and demanded that the offending teacher be thrown out in disgrace and turned over to the Justicars. The Master of the Guild told him he was overreacting to a "minor incident", stating that the boys were "unproven" and far less valuable to the Guild than the Bard, Master Laurent, whose abilities were known and proven. He even suggests that Laurent did them a favor by weeding out the boys early for being too unstable to make it through Journeyman status.

Talaysen left the Guild that night and never looked back.

That, of course, makes his angst over Rune a lot less comedic, because while we know that she's been planning to hit that like a battering ram since before they left the Faire, he doesn't. What if she feels pressured? What if he's misreading her entirely and her flirtation is just friendliness?

And then of course there's the stigma associated with female musicians. As long as they're obviously student and teacher, they should be okay. But if she became his lover...

Of course marriage is an option, but would she want THAT? He's twice her age. She'd be nursing an old man while still in the prime of her life. It might send an impression that she'd become his apprentice only because she's his lover.

Okay. This IS starting to get a little funny again. He's just so melodramatic.

As much as I disapprove of the age difference, I have to admit, that somehow it's a lot more palatable here. Talaysen's the opposite of unaware of his privilege, and it's pretty amusing to watch him melodramatically twist in a circle. Dumbass.

So then we timeskip ahead. After the Allendale Faire. It's raining and we're back to Rune's point of view. She notes that Talaysen's been quiet and broody. Unfortunately the weather hit just as they reached the Faire, and while they were lucky enough to find a cook-tent to perform in, the rain kept away the rich folk. They've made no progress toward finding a wintering spot.

And the next Faires may be trickier: there'll be Guild musicians looking for permanent places who may try to hire toughs to "teach them a lesson" or keep them from being hired.

Rune is out of sorts for other reasons too. She's realizing that she's not just in lust for her mentor, but in love; and he's not getting her hints!

This starts rattling her confidence. It must be her, she thinks. He could have anyone he wanted. Like Gwyna, who's adorable as opposed to being too tall, bony, or able to pass for a boy. Aw.

They're both quiet and miserable, and eventually realize they need to find somewhere to stop for the night. Talaysen would like a cave, but it's not really the right environment. They keep walking and each one watching a side of the track for something useful.

Rune, true to her Bardic nature, is ALSO festering in melodramatic angst, believing that Talaysen had grown tired of her and regretted his promise to teach her. He's probably disgusted by her advances. She's crying now, while the rain pours down.

Things look up a bit when she notices a path with half ruined gateposts. Talaysen doesn't remember that being there before, but they're both glad to see it. The path is really bad: tangling plants and thorns. But eventually they make it to a little house:

There was actually something left of the house. More than they had hoped, certainly. Although vines crawled in and out of the windows, the door and shutters were gone entirely, and there was a tree growing right through the roof, there were still walls and a good portion of the roof remaining, perhaps because the back of it had been built into the hill behind it.

They end up crossing a line of mushrooms to get in there, and then they start bedding down in their new shelter. And the chapter ends there.

So this chapter was primarily relationship angst, which I find mostly amusing. As I said before, there's no real fixing the fact that there is a very substantial age difference here and Rune SHOULD be sixteen, going by the rough timeline of the book.

(The book will actually act like she's eighteen from here on out. Hence the comment about being twice her age. Later we'll meet a character who is very specifically eighteen, and Rune will be stated as being the same age. We'll also get a timeline for when exactly Talaysen left the Guild that will not completely mesh with the opening chapters. Oops. But that's for later.)

But I do like that Talaysen is very well aware of his position of power and privilege here. And I like that Talaysen is very afraid of abusing that. And you know, if you're going to give your hero a motive to leave a life of wealth and privilege, indignation over rampant child abuse is a good one.

Mostly though, this chapter is just two bards melodramatically angsting at each other in the rain, so I enjoy it.