The entire point of high society is to be seen and talked about.
— Halistin Gor-Takil, Lifestyles of the High and Rich
Linsan stood near the edge of the stage and stared rapturously at the young woman singing.
The singer was introduced as “Lilian the Songbird” and her voice carried more than the flawless tune of My Memory of Tears, it brought up memories that Linsan had forgotten. She could almost smell the attic when she rediscovered Palisis and played those few stolen notes to her parent's surprise. In many ways, that was the beginning of her adventure and she was half a world away from that young girl.
Tears ran down her cheeks as she listened to the raven-haired beauty singing on the stage. It was impossible to move away even if she wanted to. Instead, she just smiled and let the memories wash through her mind.
When the song ended, Lilian gave a bow and wiped a tear from her eye.
“I wonder what she remembers when she sings that song,” asked a voice next to Linsan.
She jumped and looked to see an older woman looking up at the stage. The newcomer was her parents' age, but had a beauty that held up against the advancement of years. When she looked at Linsan, there was a sadness pooled in her light brown eyes.
“W-What?” Linsan asked.
The lady gestured to the singer. “Lilian always cries when she sings that song. You can feel the longing in her voice. But the images that well up in my mind are not hers, they're always mine. That her talent, to make you feel her songs with her heart. They call her one of Moon Water's treasures. At least, one of the current treasures.”
A bit of smile sparkled in her eyes. “Whenever she sings that song, I think about good friends as they grow older.”
“I saw… I remember being in my parent's attic. I was playing something I shouldn't have found.”
“So, you were a bit naughty? Good memories then?”
Linsan grinned and glanced back to the singer. “Yes, the best of memories. Not at the time, but now? It was a good time and something that has stuck with me since those sapphire days.”
The older woman turned and looked at her. “So, you're an actor?”
An icy grip ran down Linsan's spine. “What? No, I've never been on stage.”
“Yet you quoted both Bear's Hunt and Three Score in that little speech to keep your toy.” There was a sparkle in her eye as she turned her back to the stage. She had on a gold-trimmed dress in black. Delicate black lace had been laid over the gold trim, creating an image of black winds dancing over the shimmering surface. The dress was loose around the waist with a curved bustle and a generous amount of bared shoulder. “I'm guessing you were either an actor or a musician, but the musicians around here usually treats plays as below their station.”
She pursed her lips. “This city think plays are for the poor and unrefined, with shallow plots and actors who failed. They spend their time worshiping Tarsan classical works and the old master's styles. Not that they would know anything of Caldur de Masor's seminal—”
Linsan didn't know how to respond. Judging from her voice and the way her hands swung around, the lady had a passion about the music. It was the same timbre in her father's voice when he talked about the history of an instrument or the influence of a musical style, but Linsan didn't have the experience or depth of knowledge to go beyond the quotes and tidbits she spouted.
With the words still coming, Linsan felt the sweat prickle the back of her neck and a sense of unease growing in her stomach. She had always prided herself in knowing quotes from plays, but hearing even the first few sentences of a detailed dissertation of an opening scene of a play she had never heard of, she was faced with the realization that she was utterly out of her depths.
The other woman froze in mid-sentence and peered at her. “Oh, sorry, my dear. A bit beyond your skill?”
Blushing hotly, Linsan nodded. “I know a lot of quotes.”
With a subtle shift, the passion in the other woman's eyes faded and she gave a sweet smile. She reached out to stroke Linsan's cheek with the back of her fingers.
Linsan froze, unsure of what to do.
The fingers never touched her, but a warm breeze tickled her skin and the scene of summer flowers wafted past her. “I could teach you a lot then, if that is your thing.”
There was something in her voice that caught Linsan's ear. It was playful and teasing but hinting at something else. With a start, she drew back. Was she being seduced?
Casually, the woman looked away with a slight smile on her golden rose lips. “What brings you here? I haven't seen you at one of these affairs before. I'd remember a beauty like your.” Her eyes flickered toward Linsan.
The sweat on Linsan's neck prickled her skin. She gulped loudly and looked around. “I-I'm just here… with someone. I need to find her.”
Around them, there was a polite round of applause as the singer, Lilian, stood up to sing again.
The older woman gestured toward the tables to the side. “Come on, we can find your friend better from the edges and away from memories being cast at us. No doubt she'll be at the center of attention, she's a beautiful girl like you.”
“She is.” Linsan spoke as she followed the other woman away from the press of people at the stage. It only took a few steps to get away but a longing to return to the rising song behind her. She fought the compulsion, moving blindly in the wake of her sudden companion.
At the edge, the other woman sat down. One leg gently draped over the other, the fabric of her dress sliding up but never revealing more than a flash of calf. “You can call me Jun.” It was a starkly informal of a name given the situation. Jun winked at Linsan as she held out her hand to a passing waiter.
The waiter delicately set a glass of bubbling wine on her fingers.
Jun sipped at it, her brown eyes never leaving Linsan. “What's your name?”
Linsan panicked for a moment, unsure if she should use her real name with the stranger. She decided to be informal like Jun. “Um, Lin? Yeah, that's… Lin.”
Jun gave a short laugh. The smell of smoke grew stronger, blending with a floral scent that seemed to come from nowhere but completely surround Linsan. “So, that scene from Three Score that you quoted, Rimul was trying to escape the city with her sister's daughter. It was a ruse.”
Linsan paled. She had forgotten that part of the play.
“Does that mean your affection for your friend is less than honest?”
The blush grew even hotter.
Linsan couldn't help but think that she was still being seduced. “W-We're not,” she stopped as she realized she was supposed to play something more intimate. “I mean, I'm here because she told me to come.”
“I doubt that very much. I think it is clear that if you really didn't want to be here, you wouldn't have.”
“I don't know, my lady. When Lady Kabisal asks, I have to listen, right?”
“Jun. And yes, you do. Because everyone knows musicians are like cats and no one is good enough to get a cat to sit on command.”
Linsan smirked. “The Sand Piper's Daughter.”
Jun's smile grew wider. “Not a popular one in this area, but it was when I was your age.” Jun tapped the table. “Come on, let an old lady talk about something she missed. Even if I can't go into details, I miss talking about music and plays with these calcified old men and women. Come on, give me lines.”
Encouraged, Linsan said, “You aren't old. You're as beautiful as the crystal freshly cut in the sun.”
“Oh, going more south and west this time. The Tension, a dreadful play about politics but that was a good line. The rest of it was mostly self-congratulating pride about conquering the native tribes of Tarsan.”
A servant stepped up and asked for drinks. Linsan said nothing as Jun set down her half-finished glass and ordered something for both of them. Then, as he left, she watched as Jun followed his movement with his eyes until he was out of sight before returning her attention to her.
“What is your favorite play, Lin?”
“I think I like—”
Jun held up her hand. “No, just pick one. Something that is appropriate for now. Right here, this moment that danced on the edge of a needle.”
It was a quote from Seven Songs for Love.
“I guess Tears on a Cat's Whiskers?” Nervous, she reached up to stroke her mother's pin. The name of the play that won her mother's pin came easily to her lips. “No, Strangers in the Gale.”
Jun cocked her head. “Really?” she whispered. “That is a fascinating…” Then her eyes drew up to where Linsan was touching the pin. “… choice because I… know….”
Her eyes grew harder and and the muscles of her mouth tightened. She let out a short, almost angry, sigh before her eyes drew down to stare deeply into Linsan's.
The sudden change felt like a dagger against Linsan's stomach. She tensed as she yanked her hand away from her mother's pin. A sense of danger bubbled up, adding to her nervousness as she struggled to keep looking at Jun.
“Funny thing about actors, they touch the lives of many people.” Jun's voice was firm, like when Linsan's mother was furious. The hints of intimacy and seduction had faded as well. “They leave a mark in the people around them. Little turns of phrases and ways of acting.”
Linsan gulped. “I-I….” Linsan couldn't find the words as she struggled to calm her thoughts.
Jun smiled brightly but there was a wariness in her eyes. “Now, I haven't seen Strangers in the Gale in a long time. It was written for a really good friend of mine when she came into town for the season. She was one of the stars of the city, back in my day. I think you know here. My Tinsin?”
Linsan paled at her mother's name. The still fading fear of having her thoughts intruded left her shaky and she eyed directions to escape.
“It was… about seventeen years ago when I last saw her.” Jun's voice softened as she dabbed the corner of her eye. “It was only a few years after we went our separate ways and I left her to come back home. She went on to marry my Marin's former husband and my best friend.”
Linsan's heart began to pound in her ears. A soft whimper rose up in her throat as she realized she was talking to her mother's former wife, Junith.
“Sian was a good friend, you know. He and I would talk for hours about music theory and styles. He had an encyclopedic knowledge and I loved just hearing him go on about some playwright or musician.”
Junith smiled sadly but didn't look away from Linsan as she continued. “No one ws surprised when they brought their newborn daughter with them. I remember how happy she looked as she sat between the acts, nursing you. I was a bit jealous though, Sian gave her something I never could.”
Her eyes scanned Linsan. “And you turned out to be just as beautiful as your mother.”
Linsan's stomach clenched. In all the chaos and focus to get to Moon Waters, she had completely forgotten that Junith was in the city. None of her fantasies had even hinted at the possibility. There wasn't even a thought as she raced after the murderers.
At the same time, a wave of guilt slammed into her. She had mistakenly attuned herself to Palisis and ruined a gift for Junith's wife. If anyone would feel betrayed by her action, it would have been Marin's widow.
Shaking violently, she stepped back. “I-I-I have to go.”
Junith held out her hand. “No, please—”
Staggering away, Linsan dove into a knot of people to escape Junith. She didn't know where she was going, only that she had to put some distance away from her and the stark reminder of what she had done. Tongue clicks and sniffs of disapproval followed her, but she cut across the main room to the far side before headed to the front door.
“Why am I crying?” she whispered to herself as she wiped her tears. The encounter with Junith had brought up memories of her parents and how far she had gotten since she left town. Now, they had almost caught up to the murderers only to find Junith already there. How could she justify her actions? How could she defend herself again family? Rubbing her forehead, she struggled to calm her thoughts as she headed along the side of the party. It took her a minute to spot Brook standing in a cluster of people.
Her friend was laughing and joking, with one hand resting on the arm of a much older man wearing military ribbons. It was impossible to tell if she was acting or enjoying herself, but Linsan could see that Brook stood if she belong among them.
Linsan started toward her but then noticed that she couldn't see Miska along the back wall. Frowning, she circled around the clusters of the rich and peered along the entire wall.
No Miska. No violin.
Still trembling from her encounter with Junith, Linsan spun around and hurried over to Brook. Coming up behind her, she rested her hand on Brook's hip and whispered into her ear, “Miska is gone.”
Brook inhaled sharply and then turned around. Her eyes widened as she looked along the wall and then took a step away.
“Something wrong, my dear?” asked the man with the ribbons.
“No, Lord Rugar. I was just looking for my servant. She was supposed to stand over there with her instrument case.” She pointed to Linsan.
One of the other people nearby leaned over. “Oh, the young lady in a red dress? She was escorted through that door into Lord Xasnal's private wing.”
The door had a guard standing in front of it, glaring at everyone. In front of them, a circle of empty space marked out five paces in all directions.
Linsan fought back a whimper. She looked back to Brook and then to peer around the room.
Brook sighed and made a show of rolling her eyes. “I better find her. Excuse me,” she said with a bow. Then she smiled brilliantly to Lord Rugar. “And it was wonderful hearing your stories, my lord.”
“Thank you for listening. Always good to have fresh ears. Everyone else here just listens impatiently for when they can tell their own stories and we all pretend we haven't heard them a thousand times.”
A ripple of polite, but uncomfortable, laughter.
Brook took Linsan's hand and headed straight for the door. “Sorry, I lost track of you.”
Linsan nodded.
Brook hesitated. “What's wrong?”
“I met my mother's former wife.”
“Marin? I thought she died of cancer?”
“No, Junith. Marin had married my dad before they were divorced and then Junith and Marin got married.”
Brook blushed. “I remember that part.”
Linsan smiled uncomfortable. The night was not going the way she expected. She cleared her throat before they reached the door.
“No admittance.”
“Excuse me,” Brook said with her sweetest voice. “My servant was brought through her and I would like to know—”
“No admittance,” repeated the guard and flexed his thick arms over his chest. There was a finality in his voice.
Brook tugged Linsan away. “Shit, what do we do?”
Linsan looked at him and then back to her. “I-I don't know. I mean, we can't start a fight and I have no clue about the layout. Can we sneak in another entrance?”
Brook worried her lip. She looked torn.
Linsan rested her hand on Brook's arm. “Worried about Miska?”
At the nod, Linsan tried to give a comforting smile. “She'll be okay. This is Miska. She can punch her way through steel.”
“Ladies?” said Lord Rugar from near the door with the guard.
Confused, Linsan looked up to see him gesturing for Brook and herself.
Brook pointed to herself.
He nodded.
They approached.
Lord Rugar looked at them both. “Now, I'm not entirely sure what is going on, but after so many years on the field, I know the look of two people scheming. Planning on sneaking through the back window?”
Linsan blanched.
The guard growled and clenched his arms.
He gave them a hard look. “You are also moving as if the winds were chasing you. So, what is your intent at this party. Are you here to steal the violin?”
“I would never steal Palisis!” Linsan snapped before she realized what she said. With a gasp, she clapped her glove hand over her mouth.
He raised an eyebrow. “Palisis is it? Rather unusual name for a young lady.”
“No, my lord,” Brook started. “Palisis is the name of the violin being sold today. Yes, we have an interest in the instrument but also the men who are selling it. We need to speak to Lord Xasnal or Tasire Dalisan about a most important matter.”
“And that is?” The lord's voice grew more tense.
Linsan glanced around.
Brook shrugged and gazed stonily back. “Something not appropriate to discuss in public.”
They locked stares.
Linsan squirmed but no one else seemed to notice.
Then the lord chuckled. He turned back to the guard. “Come on, let us through.”
The guard stood straighter. “My lord?” He sounded like someone who didn't want to be there. Or to stand up to Lord Rugar.
“I'll watch over these two lovely ladies. If you want, have someone join us but there is no way these two are going to hide your master's silvers and I think they have a story I want to hear.”
Reluctantly, the guard unlocked the door and held it open. It was a narrow hallway, barely wide enough for someone's shoulders. The walls were plain plaster and it looked forbidding.
Linsan shivered at the sight of it.
The lord gestured for them inside.
Brook reached out for Linsan's hand and then led the way. Her fingers were trembling as she turned slightly.
Behind them, the lord continued to speak. “After all, the only reason I'm here is to bid on the violin for a dear friend. Quite an emergency, apparently, but one does many thing for friends.”
Linsan followed, glancing over her shoulder at Lord Rugar.
He closed the door behind them and then turned, his bulk almost reaching across the narrow hallway. “I'm also curious why Sian Sterlig's daughter has shown up personally for the sale.”
Icy claws scraped along Linsan's back. She let out a soft whimper.
Brook froze.
The lord smiled, the shadows of his face giving him a haunted appearance. He smiled, his teeth glinting in the dim light. “Call me Calor and tell me a new story.”