Chapter 90: 93.

In the end, none of my girls wants to miss this. Cy included. I'm somewhat certain her chaos abilities include a sort of precog ability, by the way, because her assessment is "Unca Ed saaax.1Uncle Ed sax.(Cy is being intentionally shorter than usual here to make it a joke, the full statement is more along the lines of 'uncle Ed is getting a saxophone')" Which draws surprised giggles from the rest of the harem and Lily-Anne trying to admonish her while restraining the chuckles as hard as she can. Cy just grins at her and promises "Huell heer.2You`ll hear." I really should do something about her speech. Later, though. For now, we're going to go to the garden. It's pretty empty out there in the garden. I suppose it's not THAT strange, given that the weather is pretty chilly and everyone is resting, celebrating or sulking after the midterms. Alistair meets us at the gates.

"Ladies." - he proffers gallantly, as he kisses proffered (and not so proffered) hands in no particular order. Poor Bridgit, she has no idea how to handle being treated like a lady. Cy, on the other hand, is finding this eminently fun and hares off after Alistair with a battlecry of "Unca Smash!3Uncle Smash!" Alistair doubletakes at this.

"Lady Gillespie..." - he ventures softly, slowing down so he is trotting next to me, while Cy gleefully hangs off his arm - "Is your daughter a seer perchance?"

"Um... Maybe. Why do you ask?" - I venture equally softly, and he shrugs with a helpless expression.

"I, uh..." - he begins sheepishly - "I have had ordered a hammer much like one I've seen you using before, and it had been delivered this morning." He pauses, groans, and forges on - "I've been tempted to take a couple swings within my room, just to check it out, and um.. well... Let's just say I'm going to be replacing two planters before I leave for the winter holidays. The important thing is, I didn't tell anyone at all about that yet, so where does the 'smash' come from?"

"Floowur go boom!4Flower go boom! (enthusiastic description of Alistair smashing his planters by mishap)" - Cy confirms happily.

I facepalm. "Al, bring the hammer to my rooms tomorrow." - I tell him - "There is a secret bit about construction that you couldn't have possibly seen. The hammerhead is actually hollow and partially filled with quicksilver. Without it, the head is likely way too heavy for the thing to be properly balanced. I'll fix it for you, but I don't have any quicksilver handy, we'll need to go visit an alchemist to buy some."

He groans. "I knew there was something off about the balance!" - he moans - "I couldn't figure out how could you possibly swing it around like this. Of course there was a trick to it! I should have asked you about it to begin with."

I chuckle. "Well, yes." - I agree - "Don't worry about it, it's fixable."

He shakes his head in chagrin. "Much obliged, lady Gillespie." - he returns - "Still, I can't help but feel miffed at myself for not asking your advice before saddling blacksmith with inherently flawed order. He even told me upfront that it wouldn't be balanced, and yet I have insisted on it like an utter fool."

"Hey, you wanted to figure things out by yourself." - I object - "I can respect that. On an unrelated note, Al, when are you going to start using my name? We're friends by now, I dare hope, are we not?"

"Old habits die hard, lady Gillespie." - he retorts - "Oh, very well. Just do not expect me to do it in public, Alyssa. Proprieties have to be observed, after all."

I divest him of giggling kid, absentmindedly swinging her up to sit on my shoulders and proceed into the gardens, where I can already see Selene setting up. She had gathered a bunch of chairs together, arranged in a crude semi-circle around the two in the middle. Ed is sitting on one with a somewhat discomfited expression. He brightens up noticeably when he sees us.

"Alistair, ladies." - he offers, standing up to greet us all - "So you're the mysterious audience Selene was talking about when she said she's ready to play her uh... hurdee-gurdee? I admit, it's a bit of relief to see well familiar faces."

Al pats him on the shoulder. "Chin up, Edward." - he proffers happily - "I'm sure lady Selene's music will be eminently enjoyable."

Selene huffs from her seat, where she's puttering with the instrument. "I'd darn well better hope so." - she grouses - "I've been practicing this for days."

"Two of them, even." - Ed quips sardonically. He raises his hands at Selene's darkening expression, hastily adding - "...Forgive me, dear. It's just that... this is an entirely new instrument. I'm having trouble grasping the idea you could master it so quickly, even though I have heard you play it already."

I shrug. "Well, Ed, you might keep in mind that while this particular instrument is new, Selene's familiarity with it is a bit longer than that." - I offer to him, and he blinks.

"But... OH. Oh, I see." - he brightens up, wagging his finger at Selene - "Naughty girl. You could have told me from the beginning you had different, uh... hurdee-gurdee before."

Selene sighs wistfully. "Sorry." - she offers softly - "The one I had before had been, ah... lost. Irrevocably. I'm still a bit sad about not having it anymore."

She shrugs and adds brightly - "But that's OK. Turns out Alyssa can make anything, so long as you know what you want to be made."

Lily-Anne sidles next to her and peers at the hurdy-gurdy intently.

"But what is this?" - she inquires curiously - "Some kind of lute? Why does it have a crank?" She peers back at the other wives, all of whom nearly synchronously shrug.

"Never seen anything like this before." - Moon Unit proffers for all of them, taking a seat - "I am unbearably curious to find out what kind of music does it make, though. Alyssa, what about you? If you made this, then surely you know something about it?"

I shrug, as I take a seat next to her, put the bag down and pull Cy off my shoulders onto the lap. "You'll have to ask Selene for details, music is not exactly my forte." - I begin - "But as far as the construction goes... Hurdy-gurdy is related to the violins. The principle of making sounds is the same - the strings are pressed against something that pulls across them, making them vibrate. In violins, it's a bow, and the part that draws against the strings is a wad of tightly stretched horsehair. Usually from the tail, I think, but don't quote me on that. In hurdy-gurdy, a wheel is used instead. The edge of the wheel is covered with rosin to make it rough but soft enough not to damage the strings. That's what the crank is for - you turn it and it makes the wheel turn, brushing against the strings."

Selene chuckles - "There are other bits that are different, such as drone strings, but essentially, what Alyssa said. The sound is different from violin, though. I'd describe, but you're going to hear it in a minute or two. Ok, so... have a seat, everyone. This little piece is called 'Leaves and Lemons'."

And, without further ado, she starts playing. Everyone quiets down, blinking and leaning forward as the music fills the garden. Selene is good. Really good. For a little bit, I am feeling envious, because the only instrument I can play is stereo, and even at that, I'm quite an amateur. Selene, though... Very wow. Much good.

It takes everyone a little bit to shake back to attention as the tune comes to an end. Ed and Al apparently heard her practicing before, but they seem to be just as entranced as my harem. Even the little rascal in my lap quiets down and tilts her head, listening to it.

"Very... interesting." - Moon Unit ventures finally - "Very good, too. But... Just... Ah. The wheel! Of course! It keeps turning, that's how it keeps the sound going! How crafty! It sounds a little bit like bagpipes, actually! Is that what you meant when you said drone strings?"

Selene grins and lifts the instrument, showing off several strings running along the side. "Yep! See, this and this, I don't actually touch them, they keep a constant note going on. There are four of them - trompette, mouche, petit bourdon and gros bourdon. Trompette is the highest, mouche is a fifth below, and bourdons step down an octave each. And the chanterelles are on top." - she explains, pulling the keybox lid open - "See, there are tangents inside, I can shift them pressing the keys to clamp the chanterelles to different notes."

Everyone crowds in to look. Remarkably, none try to touch. I approve. And promptly express the approval by patting Cy's head. Selene withdraws the instrument and places it back on her lap. "Alright, everyone. The next tune is called 'Greensleeves'." - she announces cheerfully. That tune is slower and more medieval in its sound... Though I suspect this distinction makes sense only to me and Selene.

This time, Selene gets actual applause. Lily-Anne is the ringleader, but it quickly spreads over the whole group. And I notice that we have a bunch of other students listening in from the windows. A couple are leaving the doors right now. Hm. Divert them or not? Nevermind, they're stopping behind that shrubbery. Tactful, girls... Ah, the Newspaper Trio are among them. No guesses who suggested not to interrupt the impromptu concerto.

Selene lifts her hands, shakes them a little, and grins. "Ok, for the next tune, I'd like to show off something else." - she announces, and leans behind her chair, pulling out the... gramophone? Oh, wait, no, that's a combo of recorder and player. Huh. She and Moon Unit were busy, I guess. "This tune is called Omen, and I'm going to show off the new invention along with it." - Selene proffers. It starts slowly. I wonder what she has in mind... Did she record something to accompa... OOoh. Oh, that's clever. She nudges the recording button, etching down the, uh... stanza? Verse? Couplet? A part of the song, anyways. Then, she nudges the play, and it plays the recorded bit back as she doubles over it, playing entirely new notes on top of it. Aaaand being really fancy with it. I don't think that trick with stopping and wigging the wheel back and forth was actually in use until a modern resurgence of interest in wheelharps. The jagged note it plays is oddly reminiscent of DJ doing a scratch on the turntables. Selene, stahp, that's waaaay postmodern for this age. At this rate, you'd want an electric guitar for summer.

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The silence when she's done is entirely different. The ones before were appreciative. This one? Shock. Utter and complete shock. Then THUNDEROUS applause. Students join in, but I'm not sure if anyone actually notices behind the clamor our own group makes. Ed and Al actually stomp their feet along with clapping.

Selene sets the hurdy-gurdy aside to stand up and take a little bow. "Thank you, thank you everyone." - she proffers happily, blushing - "Now, this is not something I'm quite ready to recommend to a casual musician. Actually, this is not something I'm ready to do myself on a lark. I've rehearsed this particular tune quite a lot. Still, I'm pretty happy with how it came out. Ordinarily, you'd need a couple people playing in the same time to pull that off. And now, for the last tune, I will need a little help. Edward, would you kindly?"

Ed pales. "Um... Would I kindly what?" - he hedges.

Selene leans behind the chair again, and brings out the bagpipe. "Would you please play with me?" - she offers with a smile.

Ed leans back. "Ah... Serenity, I..." - he hems.

"Pweeeease?" - she makes doe eyes at him.

To be fair to Edward, he held out for the whole four seconds before sighing and taking the bagpipes. "...Please don't judge me too harshly for this." - he mutters towards us all.

Selene giggles, and settles down, pulling her hurdy-gurdy back on the lap. "Just one song, dear, that's all I ask." - she wheedles - "We'll do the easy one. Remember the 'Hornpipe'?"

Ed tilts his head, looks around, then waves his hand. "Very well, Serenity." - he says resolutely - "Start us off, please?"

The tune they play together is less active than Selene playing alone. Medieval-sounding, almost... traditional, if that adjective is even applicable. And just as Selene claims, Ed is good. He clearly doesn't think so, but as the tune progresses, I see him abstracting from the fact he has an audience in favor of music. He clearly likes what he's doing. One more reason why Selene is a much better pick for him as a wife - I wouldn't be able to do that. As in, flat out no. Maybe I could have gotten him to play bagpipes for me. Maybe. Maybe even cajoled him into making recordings, if that ever occurred to me. But to play WITH him? I am sadly unable. Unlike Selene. Who just as clearly enjoys this a lot. With that in mind, I grin. Well played, Alyssa. Well played. A point of cohesion I never expected, but it does fit into the picture. Oh, does it ever fit.

The applause they garner as a duet is different. One before was "wow, this is incredible". One now? Well, if I were to sum the sentiment in a sentence, it would probably be "this was beautiful". Both the tune and the performers. I feel absolutely no compunctions fulfilling my part of the deal.

"Edward?" - I offer in a lull of silence that follows.

"Yes?" - he retorts, both nervous and somehow... defiant?

"You should play more often." - I tell him - "You make beautiful music together."

He straightens up. Now's his turn to blush, it seems. "My thanks, Alyssa, but... That praise should go to Serenity, I believe." - he tries to demur.

I'm having none of it. "Nonsense." - I tell him bluntly - "Selene is a fine musician, of that there is no doubt. But your skill is hardly lesser. Think about it. If you were not up to the task, not even the best musician in the world could have covered up your shortcomings. There is no catching the dissonant note once it comes out. Look around yourself. Do you see anyone displeased? No. Trust me on that, you are very good."

He pinks up to his ears. "Thank you." - he offers quietly.

A bit of hubbub follows, with the rest of our group expressing similar sentiments. And then...

"Mohmee! Unca Ed! Saaaax!5Mommy! Uncle Ed! Sax! (Cy is reminding Alyssa that Ed should get his present)" - Cy tugs my sleeve. Selene frowns, but before she can say anything... I sigh.

"Fair enough." - I admit, and pull up my own bag.

"I believe the prizes for such a concert are well-earned." - I continue, as I extract the contents.

"Sax...?!" - Selene breathes disbelievingly as I pull out a brand new shiny saxophone and hand it over to Edward, who takes it awkwardly.

"This is saxophone." - I continue - "Another of exotic instruments that, I believe, is not going to present much problem for a bagpipe player. Selene likely knows a couple good tunes for it. As for you..."

I glance at Selene, as I pull out the second item from the bag - "Have a melodica."

Selene accepts it tearfully and slowly proclaims - "Best. Friends. Forever."

Cytotoxin A glut of chapters? Well, yes. Consider that a belated Christmas present.

The tunes that are played...

Leaves and Lemons - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnboohDM3ug

Greensleeves - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAhrMTQXcyI

Omen - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypuaJLHK_LQ

Hornpipe - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-2VPVhkTXY

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