Meilizath lay with his rider seated between his forelegs, watching and listening to Ca�trell�s sure fingers dance lightly across the three rows of strings. The Harper looked far better now, his scars faded to silver-pink lines, like runes written on his skin. His silver-shot hair fell in crisp curls over his collar, framing his distinctive face with sienna and gray. The bandages were gone, replaced by a dark scarf that hid the unpleasant sight of his empty sockets.
The light blue cocked his head. <<You play beautifully,>> he thrummed, <<but I want a story, Ca�trell. Tell me about your family. You said you had a daughter?>>
The Harper smiled wistfully. �My dear Meilizath, I had five daughters, and eight sons.�
<<Had?>>
Ca�trell turned his head toward his lifemate, that same bittersweet smile on his face. �I lost three sons, a daughter, and my wife to the floods up North.�
<<Oh.>> The light blue�s voice was very soft when he asked, <<What was she like? Your wife, I mean.>>
�Her name was Tamaret,� the blind rider said slowly. �She was a weyrbrat, daughter of riders who were weyrbrats. She could sing like an angel, that�s why she�d been sent to Harper Hall, but Tamaret didn�t want to be a Harper. Tam never had the patience for lessons. She wanted to do something physical, like the Hold Guard, but they wouldn�t let her in. I met her when she was arguing with a Search dragon. They wanted to take her back to the Weyr to Stand for some clutch or other, but Tam would have none of it. I fell in love with her the day we met. In seven weeks, Journeyman Cantrell and Tamaret were married.�
The old harper sighed. �How about we talk of the children? Tamaret has been dead these long Turns, and it distresses me, my Meilizath, that I cannot remember more of her.�
<<Which children do you remember?>> Meilizath asked, unhappy because Ca�trell was unhappy.
�All of them, of course.�
<<Tell me about the ones who lived.>>
|
