[Chyril 26th ET] Singing for your Supper

[Eivlys]

She hated to leave Amber, but singing to the egg was part of her agreement. Once the sitter had arrived she took her leave and went to the house. She wore a simple gown, green and white, the cut of the dress was functional more than flattering. She did not mind, she could wear something striking later, the egg needed to be sung to, and it did not care what she wore, so she thought it was best if she was comfortable as well. Her hair was pulled back in a simple braid, a few wispy strands crossed her face, but the wind kept them out.

She warmed up her voice as she crossed the green, humming softly and singing a little to get herself in tune and be ready for when she was with the baby dragon. She did not know if she would see Amos, he was usually very busy, and his nights were spent out and about.

She was very fortunate to have what she had, she was not hunted, she felt safe, and she was able to sing for her money. She loved that part the best. She loved to sing, to see people light up with happiness. She loved songs of love, or beauty, and some songs of darkness and mystery. She hated to lie to people about her day life, but most seemed to accept that she would only be there in the night time, and she sort of did have a condition that kept her from coming out in the day.

She stopped at one of the house guards. “I am here to sing, let them know.” She wondered what the others in the house knew of her frequent arrivals at the house. How she would be secreted away to a room to sing. Did they know of the egg? How the rumors must fly if they do not. It made her smile and giggle a little, she wondered if she could get to hear some of the rumors.

[Tygress]

The house guard, a craggy older gentleman with the sour expression of one who was near to his retirement, but not yet near enough, nodded shortly and barked an order to a young boy who was sitting on a stool nearby, who jumped up eagerly and dashed off. The sandy-blonde head disappeared quickly, and the guard spared one more long glance for Eivlys before resolutely returning to his duties with no further conversation.

Despite the silence of the wait, it was not a long one, and one of the many younger guards who had escorted her to the room a time or two hurried up to her, on the heels of the young runner, who took his seat again with a panting breath and a wide, cheeky grin that was missing his front teeth.

The young guard, whose name had never quite made it into their usually brief small talk offered her an arm and then began to lead her back the familair path that led to the room where the egg was being kept. As they made their way through the halls of Lord Eventree's estate, more then one muted whisper about the young maiden met her ears, mostly from gossiping servants. They made it their business to know everything and yet they knew nothing about this young woman. Speculation ran rampant and Eivlys heard only small snatches of conversation, but the general theme seemed to be that she was either a very well kept mistress, or a practicioner of magic, perhaps a diviner, sent to fortell a way for the Lord Eventree to regain his full fortunes.

They finally made their way to the small, closed room where the egg was kept. It was round, with high stone walls and without any windows. Generous amounts of candles had been provided to keep the room well-lit, but it's master was not risking any sort of exposure that would bring the egg's mother winging in before all was in place.

The other benefit of the windowless room was the flawless accoustics. A large, comfortable divan and a pitcher of chilled wine waited for the songstress. Her escort bowed and nodded to the only other occupant of the room, her new bodyguard, Caleb. The door was shut and barred behind her with a clang, leaving the two of them with the egg.

[Eivlys]

She smiled at Caleb and went to the egg, she gave it a gentle caress, her fingertip moving over the smooth surface of the shell. She started to hum, finding her pitch, then sang. She sang warm songs her mother would sing to her. Songs about faraway lands where adhiel lived in the trees and the forest was filled with all sorts of magical things. She sang of how the adhiel made everything beautiful, and she sang of the natural beauty that would leave a person breathless. She sang the old song to the egg, waiting and listening for it to churr, or to even crack.

When she stopped she looked at Caleb. “Do you have any songs you wish to hear?” She asked, noting he was listening to her as well, may as well bring him into the picture.

[Tygress]

The egg rocked as she sang, a soft, gentle movement that sometimes matched the rhythm of the songs she sang, and the color of the egg slowly changed as well, the shell seeming to gain a healthy, rosy glow as she sang that slowly dimmed once she'd stopped. There was a muffled sort of keening noise that protested the ending of the music and the egg stilled once more.

Caleb had been keeping a careful watch on the egg, noting all the changes so he could report them later, although his gaze drifted on more then one occasion the beatiful woman providing the song. "I'm afraid, m'Lady, that the sort of songs I enjoy are more suited for a pub or the barracks, then for such genteel company. Perhaps songs about dragons would be appropriate?"

[Eivlys]

The clack, clack of the egg rocking sent a chill up her spine, a little fear, but mostly excitement. She moved to it, petting the smooth shell softly as it replied to her singing, it wanted more singing. She hummed softly looking over at where Caleb stood. Her hands caressed the smooth hard surface of the egg, petting it as she would some cat or the soft head of Aeteya when she sang her to sleep. She sang a little more, a lullaby that was more nonsense words then real ones. Her mother would sing it and she remembered how it went. The words were not real words, she thought, but it always made her feel good when her mother would sing it to her.

She paused looking at Caleb. “I do not know that many songs that involve dragons, at least that are kind to the dragons. Most of the songs I know about them are about killing them.” Caleb was so distant at times, as if he was unaffected by her music. He did not seem to react to her last night at the Moon, and tonight he seemed reluctant to talk to her. He was like an oyster, and she wanted to open him up and see what pearls he kept hidden. “Pick something bawdy, the egg will not care.”

She sang some more of the old song to the egg. The words were pretty, if they did not mean anything. “Kalluoo, teil Nan thath”, was what she called it in her head, her mother never named it. This was the first part of the chorus. It was mostly just sounds strung together, but her mother taught her how to put them all together.

[Tygress]

His smile was wry and he shrugged. "They are savage beasts. It is hard to find much to sing their praises about, I suppose. You could make it up, I suppose? Do you write your own songs as well?" Most bards Caleb knew did and he supposed they were all similair in that respect.

He looked at the egg doubtfully when she suggest a bawdy song. "Are you sure? It seems to react to your singing, and no one really knows how smart those creatures are." Caleb had his own superstitions about dragons himself, but he did not express them. He tilted his head as she sung the nonsense words softly, tilting his head and expression turning thoughtful. "What language is that? I've not heard it before, but it feels... familair somehow."

[Eivlys]

She shook her head, the white hair brushed around her face as she sang. She smiled at him and finished the song. Her silvery eyes twinkled in the dim candlelight. “No, they are not words, just sounds. It is a song my mother used to sing to me when I was a girl. She spent her nights up weaving and sewing and she would sing. I loved the sound of it as I would drift to sleep.” She thought back to those days when she used to play in the sun, they seemed so far away now.

She stroked the egg, petting it with her hand as she spoke. “Dragons are not just beasts. They are noble creatures, who are just not understood. We should not hate or fear what we do not know.” She told him looking at him from where she was with the egg. Her smile was genuine and motioned for him to come closer. “We just have the chance to learn more, to understand more. Just as the sky is limitless, so is our ability to reason and learn. The only thing from keeping us from flying is our fear of falling.”

She looked back down at the egg. “If we have the right friends and loved ones… we never fall for long.” Her happy eyes went back up to him. “And even when we are falling, we might enjoy the thrill of that as well. It is only when you have no one to catch you, or no one to love that is what you should truly fear.”

She started to sing again, softly. She was not used to improvisation, but she thought a moment and started to improvise a song about dragons, and flying.

[Tristam]

Caleb did not seem satisfied with her description of the song. "Maybe my mother did the same thing for me. I know it from somewhere." Caleb shook his head. "Its going to eat at me until I figure it out."

A gentle cooing sound came from the egg and it rocked softly as Eivlys sung about the skies and joys of flight. The color of the shell shifted once more to the clear blue of a cloudless sky. Partway through her song, a cry came from the egg like the call of a hunting hawk. Caleb turned concerned eyes to the swanmaiden. "Was that a good sound?"

[Eivlys]

She shook her head as she looked at the egg. She was enchanted by it, it made a tear well up in her eye. The boundless sky, it made her think of home, the little cottage where her mother would sing at the loom for hours while she drifted to sleep. “I am not afraid.” She spoke the words in a soft breath. She would not be, she would not let herself be caged in by fear or by hate, or anything else. She would be free.

The silvery eyes went up to look at her new guardian. “Do not be afraid, Caleb, it will change, it has to, otherwise it cannot hatch.” She paused a moment looking at the egg. “Though we may want something for it to eat when it does.” She pondered.

“If the words of the song bother you that much, I will sing it for you again, later.” She stroked the egg shell with her small hand. She sang again, this song was one she had heard her mother sing many times about the birth of Spring. How Pan would play his flutes and the flowers would bud and open to the sun. As she got older she realized the bawdiness of the song, but the words seemed innocent enough. Her mother told her to sing such songs in the garden to remind the plants to grow, as if plants needed to remember that. After meeting a tree that could eat people, perhaps there was some truth to that. Someone should have sung to the tree more, then it would not have been so cranky.

[Tristam]

The tune started out slow as befitted the coming of Spring but in the end the song was one honoring Pan and it soon enough became lively and rollicking. It was a song for village lads and lasses to kick off winter's gray drab and dance. The egg rocked back and forth as the swanmaiden sung and from within the dragonet chirped and cooed along with it. The egg was a swirl of color now as a rainbow shifted across its surface.

At one point in the song, Eivlys needed to pipe her voice high to be the voice of a particularly bashful young daisy. As she trilled those high notes, the cry of the hunting hawk came from within the egg again. This time, the note was held though it warbled as though having trouble holding the note. There was a popping sound and Eivlys could see a spiderweb of shallow cracks starting to spread along the eggshell.

[Morg]

Archived without skilling due to player inactivity. PM me if you want to pick this back up.