Side A – Yasgrid
A part of Yasgrid was eager to get started. She hadn’t seen Frost Harbor in a long time, even longer if she didn’t count the times she’d projected herself to see Nia there.
On the other hand though, the moment she left, she’d be leaving Kyra behind.
It was irrational to miss someone she was sharing a seat with, especially someone she’d already spent months without, but Yasgrid’s heart was not, and had never been, the most rational part of her.
“This won’t take that long,” Kyra said, not reading Yasgrid’s mind, just her expression.
“We’re not going to rush anything,” Grash said.
“Of course not,” Kyra said. “But you’re not going to let it drag on either. If one of your company is indecisive or doesn’t believe what you say the only thing I can’t predict is which of you two will throw the first punch to speed things up.”
“Me,” Horgi said. “Grash is the reasonable one.”
Yasgrid glanced over to see Grash shaking his head in silent disagreement, which seemed to confirm Kyra’s statement.
“There is one other thing we need to talk about though,” Nia said. “I still need that drum for a bit longer.”
“I love how she pushes her luck like that,” Osdora said as an aside to Gossma, as though she wasn’t speaking at a volume loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.
“This time it’s not a terrible idea though,” Margrada said, which spoke volumes about the reputation Nia had developed for herself.
“Yasgrid mentioned you two had come up with an idea for a song,” Naosha said. “Where would you play it?”
“Here, I think,” Nia said. “Either in Gray Rift or Gray Falls. Wherever we can arrange for a performance and wherever the acoustics are good. We don’t need a big space for the audience, if we can play for even a few people, especially other drummers, they could carry the song outwards for us.”
“And what is this song you have in mind to play?” Gossma asked.
“We want to make a song which shows people what we’ve learned since the new year,” Yasgrid said. “We want to show them that this moment is special. We’re at a new beginning, our worlds have been upended but we’re all here and there are paths before all of us which were never there before. We can be things, all of us, that we’d never considered for ourselves before.”
“You don’t have to play it alone you know,” Belhelen said. “There’s plenty of drummers who would join you for that, most of whom can probably embellish it with their own beats that speak to the same thing.”
“Just one problem there,” Grash said. “I thought this Yasgrid,” he pointed at Yagrid’s tiny elf form, “wasn’t a drummer anymore. If she can play with you…?”
“Then we’d have to restrict what we talk to her about even more,” Horgi said.
“Oh, no worries there,” Yasgrid said. “You don’t need to bring a drum for me.”
“How are you going to play then?” Grash asked.
“This song isn’t just for the Stonelings,” Nia said.
“Someone needs to speak for the Darkwood too,” Yasgrid said and waved her fingers bringing a distant harmony whistling through the air around them.
Side B – Nia
Yasgrid’s song left Nia’s fingers itching to play its complement on a Shatter Drum.
If she was quick, she thought she just might be able to snag the drum from Horgi and Grash. That she would be tackled and pummeled into unconsciousness by her fellow Shatter Drummers before she could strike a single beat was not, by itself, sufficient to entirely dissuade her from the attempt. That her mother would be there to witness her idiocy on the other hand was well more than enough all on its own.
Nia reflected on that for a moment as the others absorbed the snippet of song which Yasgrid had called forth.
Despite the distance from her life in the Darkwood, and how much she’d changed and grown since discovering the drums, Nia could still feel the old, old ache for her mother’s approval.
Her mother who was watching her.
Her mother who indicated the drum between Horgi and Grash with a barely perceptible tilt of her head.
Her mother who could see what her daughter had been considering and who was in support of Nia’s mad impulse?
Nia blinked.
And blinked again.
What?
Who?
How?
Naosha’s gentle little amused smile was too familiar. This was no illusion sitting before her. No doppelganger had replaced Naosha M’Kellin.
In what world would Naosha M’Kellin condone the sort of mayhem Nia envisioned though?
Did Naosha not understand what the other drummers reaction would be?
Did she not understand how violently the Roadies would react to their drum being pilfered?
Of course not.
She knew exactly how they would all react.
Naosha gave another almost imperceptible gesture. A shrug.
What…what?
Nia’s puzzlement seemed to delight this odd woman who both was her mother and was someone new that Nia was sure she’d never met before.
The moment for reflection, or truly disastrous impulses, passed as the snippet of music Yasgrid had called forth came to an end. Nia wasn’t ready for it to end, and was sure the moment was going to haunt her thoughts but the room’s conversation swept her back into the present for the time being.
“Yeah, that could be good for people to hear,” Horgi said.
“You’re going to need more than one drum though,” Grash said. “And we’re still checking out all the other ones.”
“We’ve got ours,” Gossma said.
“We could say if anyone wants to join, it’s on them to bring their own drum,” Margrada offered.
“That would leave you out,” Horgi said, his eyes narrowing in what seemed likely to be entirely accurate suspicion.
“Well, their own drum or one they can acquire,” Margrada said.
“Acquire how,” Grash asked.
“At the celebration, a few of the Gray Falls Roadies offered that that they could take care of me if my own guys had any problem coming through,” she said. “I told them the Frost Harbor Roadies had things covered, but if you’re not up to providing a drummer with her drum, I’m sure they’d be happy to.”
Nia turned slowly to see the grin on the mad woman she was intent on marrying and wondered why anyone had ever assumed that Margrada was the sane one in their relationship?