Loose Tongues and Harper Tales

Writers: Estelle, Paula
Date Posted: 1st November 2019

Characters: Ueltin, Perskel, Darveig
Description: Ueltin talks to the guards about the Harper Hall fire
Location: Emerald Falls Hold
Date: month 13, day 20 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: Corowal

The evening before a restday was always busy in the tavern at Emerald
Falls. All sorts of folk, from drudges to prosperous traders and
visiting holders had come to drink, meet friends and relax, crowding
deep around the bar where the tavern keeper and his wife were kept busy
serving drinks and greeting the regulars. In a corner, a pair of harpers
tried bravely to overcome the noise with drum and gitar, without much
success.

A long table at the side of the room had been taken over by those guards
who were off duty. The younger men sat at the noisier end, laughing and
calling out hopeful flirtations to the barmaids, while a few seniors
played dice, teased the young ones and shared reminiscences of the old days.

"Evening, Harper." One of the older guards had spotted a lanky blond man
with journeyman's knots walking towards them. In particular, he focused
on the large jug of ale the man was carrying. "Come and join us! You can
teach these young lads a few sweet phrases to win the girls' hearts.
They're not doing so well, thus far."

"Well met," Ueltin greeted. "Well, teaching is my duty," he grinned and
lowered the jug to the table. "Where do they stumble? Do they get all
tongue tied around a pretty face or can't they add the flowery words
women so likes to hear." His words had almost poetic rhythm.

"I'm not sure they know what those flowery words mean, let alone how to
use them." The man grinned as the harper offered him the jug. "Well,
thank you. Don't mind if I do."

"You're just jealous, Perskel," a younger guard called from the other
end of the table. "We all know your wife would give you an almighty
tongue-lashing if she caught you flirting with these girls, but it
doesn't mean the rest of us can't try our luck."

"Hey, and does your girlfriend know what you're up to this evening,
Ordwin?" Perskel called back, to a chorus of guffaws from the other
guards. "You'll be like me, soon enough." He made a face. "You married,
Harper?"

"No, I'm not. I've managed to avoid it by not staying in one place long
enough," Ueltin replied with a chuckle. "Although there's been couple of
close calls:"

"So there's no pretty Harper-girl waiting for you, back at your Hall?"
The guard grinned at him and took a healthy gulp of ale. "Times change.
When I was a lad of Ordwin's age, there weren't any women in the crafts,
and the poor Harpers had to come here to the tavern to find a girl. Now
they come to get away!" He roared with laughter.

"Maybe there is, maybe there isn't," Ueltin shrugged and joined the
laugh. "Things are different indeed. When I was apprentice, only females
were either students, kitchen staff and drudges or wives and daughters.
Now I have female master and the Hall's new too."

"A female master!" The guard whistled. "Times have changed indeed."

"I remember that old Hall. My cousin used to work up there, in the
kitchens," another guard said. "Then it burned down, and she came back
to work in the Hold." He shook his head. "That was a bad time."

"Aye, it was," Perskel agreed. "I'm glad that Lord Corowal managed to
persuade you harpers to return. The Hold wasn't the same without you."

"Thank you," Ueltin raised his tankard. "I wasn't here when it happened,
it must have been terrible. Were any of you there to putting out the
fire?" In most Holds, guards also acted as firefighters and ground crews.

"Yes, we both were." The other guard shook his head. "Not that we could
do much good. By the time we got there, the whole building was in flames
and too far gone to be saved."

"It was an awful sight. I remember how the flames crackled and roared,
sparks flying everywhere, and then there was this great crash as the
roof fell in. It was sheer luck that no lives were lost."

"I need to pay you drinks for your valiant efforts. What would you like
to have?" Ueltin said and gestured for the waitress-girl. Nothing like
alcohol to make one's tongues loose.

"Thank you, Harper!" The guards shared a grin. "I'll have another beer."

"Me, too," the second man agreed cheerfully as the girl approached to
take their order. "I'm Darveig, and this old fellow is Perskel."

"Well met," Ueltin said and sent the girl for more beer.
"Care to tell me more about it? Who knows, you might even end up as
heroes in a song."

Perskel snorted. "Maybe you could have him rescuing a beautiful maiden
in her nightgown from a blazing building," he suggested, pointing at his
comrade.

Darveig just rolled his eyes. His cheerful smile faded as he recalled
the events of that night. "I don't know about a song. If you ask me,
most folk at the Hold want to forget about that fire."

"A song might not be such a bad idea, if it would stop people saying
that one of us guards started it," the older man said darkly.

"Oh? How's so?" People wanted to talk, Ueltin had noted, they only
needed little encouragement and receptive audience.

"Well, it was clear it was an arson, but no-one was ever caught or
charged with the crime," Perskel explained. His brow creased and he
shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Unluckily, one of the young guards
was at the Hall not long before the fire broke out, arguing with his
wife. She worked there."

Darveig shook his head. "She did work there, but then she became an
apprentice. One of the first girls to do so. That was what all the
trouble was about. He wanted her to come back to the Hold. But lots of
people didn't approve of the Hall admitting women crafters, it could
have been anyone."

"Silly girl should have gone back to the kitchens where she belonged,"
Perskel grumbled. "Then none of this would have happened."

"Or, if that guard had nothing to do with it, it might have happened
anyway," Ueltin pointed out. "So, what happened to them after?" He was
honestly curious now.

"The wife went to the Weyr with the harpers. I haven't heard she's back
here, though, maybe she stayed there," Perskel said. "As for the guard,
Gilbek, he had to leave the Lord Holder's service. I don't know what
happened to him after that. You knew him better, didn't you, Darveig?"

"Not really," the younger guard said. "He was a quiet man, kept himself
to himself. And he had the favour of the Lord Holder at the time, did a
lot of duty guarding him, not so much of the regular work. Until the
fire." He frowned, thinking back. "I remember when he was leaving, I
asked if he was going to be all right, and he said yes, he'd been
offered a job at one of the minor holds. I don't know which one. It must
have been one of the bigger ones, though, the little cotholds don't
usually hire professional guards."

"Some of those holders thought the fire wasn't a bad thing at all,"
Perskel added. "Probably still do. You want to be careful if you travel
out that way, Harper."

"I'll remember that, thanks for the warning," Ueltin replied and lifted
his tankard. He was only pretending to drink from it.

"Wouldn't have thought Gilbek would get involved with that lot. Like I
said, he was quiet, but he really loved that wife of his. Spent all his
free time with her rather than here in the tavern and he didn't give a
stuff if the lads teased him about it." Darveig sipped his ale. "But
then, after he lost his job here, most likely he didn't have a choice.
It's a sad story."

"Aye, it is." Perskel stared into his glass for a moment, then shook
himself. "But perhaps you can tell us some happier ones, Harper?"

"Of course," Ueltin replied. Leaning backwards, he went thru his
collection of funny stories. "How about story about a boy, a tunnelsnake
and bowl of fresh cream?"

"Now that sounds like a story worth hearing!" The guards' faces
brightened and they leaned back in their chairs, drinks in hand, to
listen to the harper's tale.

Last updated on the December 18th 2019

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Loose Tongues and Harper Tales