Dragon Harper Read Free Page B

grass. The noises of Fort were muffled and sleepy, while those of the Harper Hall were—
    “Get out of the way!” a voice called to him. Kindan looked up and jumped aside as a group of apprentices barreled past him. They were on their morning run. The voice belonged to Vaxoram, the senior apprentice.
    Kindan hadn’t liked Vaxoram when they first met and the feeling was mutual. Vaxoram had made it a project to torment Verilan, the youngest apprentice.
    Verilan was extraordinarily talented at scribing and researching in the Records. Kindan knew that it was only the boy’s young age that held him back from walking the tables and becoming a journeyman. Even the prickly Master Archivist, Resler, had a soft spot for Verilan, and Kindan suspected that Verilan felt the same affection, the two being kindred spirits.
    That respect irked Vaxoram even more, as his own handwriting was a point of shame for the entire hall.
    When Kindan first found out about the bullying that Vaxoram had condoned or even initiated against Verilan, he took action. He was careful not to be caught, but soon those who were tormenting Verilan found themselves tormented—with extra chores and duties. Kindan had even managed to get Vaxoram caught and given a week’s extra duties.
    Of course, while the bullies were never certain who was getting them back, trapping them in their traps and arranging for their pranks to be discovered, they suspected Kindan and unleashed their full wrath on him.
    For the next three months, Kindan had felt every day that he should just leave the Harper Hall. But he hadn’t, because he was certain that if he did, Verilan would be the next to suffer.
    Things changed for the worse with the arrival of Nonala, the second girl apprentice in twenty Turns.
    The first girl apprentice had been Kelsa, a talented songwriter who had arrived nearly a full Turn before and had quickly become Kindan’s second-best friend after Verilan. Kelsa was prickly, blunt, and gawky, but those traits were overshadowed by her honesty and her kindness.
    She was also shy, at least initially. So when she first arrived at the Harper Hall, she had been only too willing to accept the suggestion that she sleep with the kitchen staff.
    “After all,” she had said reasonably to Kindan when he’d questioned her, “it’s not like there are other girl harpers.”
    “I don’t know,” Kindan said mulishly. “It seems to me if you’re an apprentice, you should be in the apprentice dormitory.”
    “Vaxoram wouldn’t like that, I’m sure,” Kelsa had replied, grimacing. “And I don’t need to upset him any more than I already have.”
    Kindan had nodded in reluctant agreement. Kelsa’s ability to write songs had been met with praise by everyone—except Vaxoram, who had no ability in that area. If Kelsa were any less talented or more arrogant, Kindan might have agreed with the senior apprentice that a girl didn’t belong among harpers…but her songs were just
too
good.
    “What will you do if another girl is apprenticed?” Kindan had asked.
    “Well,” Kelsa had replied thoughtfully, “that will be different.”
    Nonala came from Southern Boll, recommended by the harper there for her amazing voice and its range. Nonala was not much older than Verilan, having nearly twelve Turns to his ten.
    “There’s a new apprentice,” Kindan had called to Kelsa as they entered the second class of the day. If there was one thing Kindan was good at, it was knowing what was going on in the Harper Hall.
    “Great!” Kelsa replied. Then she took in Kindan’s expression and gave him a probing look. “What’s so funny?”
    “She’s a girl,” Kindan said, grinning at her. “I imagine it’ll get rather cramped in with the cooks.”
    Kelsa snorted. “She won’t be staying with the cooks.”
    “Really?”
    “Really,” Kelsa told him. She beckoned for him to come closer as the other apprentices rushed into the classroom.
    “Here’s what you’ll do,” she