| Everyone else was an apprentice or a journeyman on short-term contractEspecially now, when the aftermath of a plague spring in the south had every troupe in the Palm short of bodies and scrambling to fill with temporary musicians, dancers, or singers
A haunting thread of sound, barely audible, plucked Devin's attention away from his syrenyaHe looked over and smiledAlessan, one of the three new people, was lightly tracing the melody of the cradle song Devin had been playingOn the shepherd pipes of Tregea it sounded unearthly and strange
Alessan, black-haired, though greying at the temples, winked at him over the busyness of his fingers on the pipesThey finished the piece together, pipes and syrenya, and humming tenor voice
"I wish I knew the words," Devin said regretfully as pink louis vuitton bag they ended"My father taught me that tune as a child, but he could never remember how the words went
Alessan's lean, mobile face was reflectiveDevin knew little about the Tregean after two weeks of rehearsal other than that the man was extraordinarily good on the pipes and quite reliableAs Menico's partner, that was all that should matter to himAlessan was seldom around the inn outside of practice-time, but he was always there and punctual for the rehearsals slated
"I might be able to dredge them up for you if I thought about it," he said, pushing a hand through his hair in a characteristic gesture"It's been a long time but I knew the words once
"Don't worry about it," Devin said"I've survived this long without themIt's just an old song, a memento of my fatherIf you stay with chloe bags paddington us we can make it a winter project to try to track them down
Menico would approve of that last bit, he knewThe troupe-leader had declared Alessan di Tregea to be a find, and cheap at the wages he'd asked
The other man's expressive mouth crooked sideways, a little wryly"Old songs and memories of fathers are important," he said"Is yours dead then?"
Devin made the warding sign with his hand out and two fingers curled down
"Not last I heard, though I've not seen him in almost six yearsMenico spoke to him when he went through the north of Asoli last time, took him some chiaros for meI don't go back to the farm
Alessan considered that"Dour Asolini stock?" he guessed"No place for a boy with ambition and a voice like yours?" His tone was shrewd
"Almost exactly," Devin admitted cartier pasha women's watch ruefully"Though I wouldn't have called myself ambitiousAnd we weren't originally from Asoli in factCame there from Lower Corte when I was a small childThe man had a bit of a know-it-all manner, Devin decided, but he could play the Tregean pipesThe way they might even have sounded on Adaon's own mountain in the south
In any case, they had no time to pursue the matter
"We're on!" Menico said, hastily re-entering the room where they were waiting amid the dust and covered furniture of the long-unused Sandreni Palace
"We do the 'Lament for Adaon' first," he announced, telling them something they'd all known for hoursHe wiped his palms on the side of his doublet"Devin that one's yours, make me proud, lad His standard exhortation"Then all of us are together on the 'Circling of Years' balenciaga bag replica Catriana my love you are sure you can go high enough, or should we pitch down?"
"I'll go high enough," Catriana replied terselyDevin thought her tone spoke to simple nervousness, but when her gaze met his for a second he recognized that earlier look again: the one that reached somewhere beyond desire towards a shore he didn't know
"I'd very much like to get this contract," Alessan di Tregea said just then, mildly enough
"How extremely surprising!" Devin snapped, discovering as he spoke that he too was nervous after allAlessan laughed though, and so did old Eghano walking through the door with them: Eghano who had seen far too much in too many years of touring to ever be made edgy by a mere auditionWithout saying a word, he had, as he always had, an immediately calming effect on gucci ladies watch De |