Inching along at a slug’s pace, they moved with the crowd out of the amphitheater. Finally, they followed the part that split off to enter the capital. Vonae took the lead. Twisting and turning through the streets, they lost the crowd only to rejoin it again on the main road. It didn’t take Ceilsea long to realize where they were going.
The Range, an old market building turned into an eatery, game, and dance hall glowed at all hours of the day. It was crowded as usual. Colorful cloth banners hung from the arches and balcony on the façade. The thin fabric rippled whenever there was a breeze. The row of arches let people in and out of the establishment. The group of three found the least crowded arch and headed inside. The murmur of noise which permeated outside suddenly erupted into a cacophony as the true size of the building opened before them.
Ceilsea felt a tug on her hand as Shae hesitated, but she firmly pulled them forward. The main space wasn’t part of the building at all, but a large courtyard covered with leaflets of cloth creating a canopy above. Vines and flowering plants peppered the courtyard. Ceilsea could never tell if the plants were maintained or simply left over from the previous incarnation of the building. Within the garden were the games—animal races, card games, skill challenges, and games of chance. Ceilsea saw Vonae’s eyes linger on what seemed like turtle races, but he led them around the courtyard. Tables, lounging chairs, and cushions lined the edges and balconies. Rounding the corner they could finally see the dance floor in the back. Vonae led them to an alcove where a small empty table with three chairs sat unoccupied.
“Why don’t you two take a seat? I’m going to place some bets and grab us some food,” Vonae said motioning over his shoulder to a bar near the dance floor.
Ceilsea’s chair creaked beneath her as she plopped down, and Shae slinked into the seat across from her. Vonae headed to the turtle races. Ceilsea watched as Shae looked around slowly. Eventually their eyes focused on their own clenched hands on the table. Vonae was cheering on the turtles, obviously not in a rush to get back to them.
Ceilsea leaned over the table and had to yell to be heard above the din of the crowd, “I know it seems like a lot, but it’s actually pretty laid back here. No one will bother us, I promise.”
“I don’t… it’s not rational. I just don’t trust groups of people I don’t know,” Shae said. “Turns out running from people makes you paranoid.”
“What would happen if they caught you?” Ceilsea wondered.
Shae looked out into the crowd one more time before leaning closer, and replying, “Worst case scenario, exactly what they were doing before I left.”
Ceilsea wasn’t sure what that meant, but yelling across a table was not the best way to pry. Instead, she switched chairs to sit next to Shae. “Don’t worry neither Vonae or I will let anything like that happen. We’ll just encourage you to get beat up in the tournament,” She joked, and Shae smiled.
“That’s why I trust you. People who just want me for my music wouldn’t let me fight for fear of me getting injured,” Shae said.
“I know how that is,” Ceilsea commented, thinking about all the things she was kept from for her ‘protection.’
They both watched Vonae celebrating some kind of victory and basked in the calm that only existed between the two of them. Vonae clapped some of the other gamblers on the shoulders and headed over to the bar. Ceilsea swiveled her head back to Shaelis.
“Would you like to dance?” she asked, hearing the strands of a melody over the noise.
Shaelis twisted their face. “No. The music is terrible.”
“Can’t you enjoy any music that isn’t your own?” she asked.
They shrugged. “If it’s good, maybe, but not this.”
Ceilsea laughed. “Lower your standards, just this once!”
“No, if anything, I’m going to raise theirs,” Shae insisted.
Ceilsea was about to challenge them to prove that, but Vonae returned with a tray of food. Still sizzling kebabs, rice, flatbread, and bowls of stew fell onto the table, as if Vonae almost lost control of the descent. He took Ceilsea’s old chair and grabbed a kebab.
“Do you think I’m going to give you drills if you just sit in the corner?” He asked Shaelis and then took a bite.
“I…I’m working on it. Is it even safe for a fake princess to be here?” They said, flipping the focus onto someone else.
“I told you the staff know us. They make sure no one gives us trouble. As long as I’m not flaunting my status, people ignore us,” Ceilsea answered, taking a tentative sip of the stew and then a gulp when she knew it wouldn’t scald her.
“If you say so…” Shae consented, taking a flatbread.
Vonae put down the kebab and grabbed one of the three glasses he had brought.
“Look, for tonight there is nothing in the world except the three of us. No stress, no worries. No tournament, no reckless sisters, no crazy rivals,” he said, holding a glass up for a toast.
“No boredom, no patrons, no obligations,” Ceilsea added, raising a glass herself.
They both looked at Shae expectantly.
They took a glass. “No fear, no doubt, only freedom.”
Vonae laughed, not understanding much of what Shae was implying, but her brother had also revealed things Shae wouldn’t understand. The three of them all took a drink. Then they started making their way through the food. After fifteen minutes or so, Shaelis cleared their throat and grabbed their bag.
“Did you still want to dance?” They asked, unhooking their violin, white inlays sparkling even in the dim light. They rose from their chair before she answered.
“Yes!!” she said after she finished stuffing a flatbread filled with kebab meat into her mouth.
Grabbing Shae’s arm, the two of them headed to the dance floor. Shae politely asked the fiddler if they could play in their stead. The musician nodded, staring at Shae’s impressive instrument.
Shae began to play, and they finally started to relax. They weren’t lying when they said they could shatter previous standards the patrons had. When they were not fighting at the same time, their true skills blossomed. Their songs were light and fast like an ocean breeze. But the melody never sounded the same, as if they were digging up lost treasure from a sunken city. The dance floor filled with patrons, but the small corner near the musicians and Shae was left open. This allowed Ceilsea and Vonae to dance next to Shae.
Shae’s music was easy to dance to, and if Ceilsea didn’t focus, she could get lost listening to the twists and turns in the melody. Shae swayed, and Ceilsea felt herself mirroring them. She didn’t quite understand the intricacies of music but felt herself following along. The music led her on a journey. This song, and every song she heard, touched Ceilsea. Her feet and body moved in familiar ways, but wrapped in the music, it felt new and beautiful. Ceilsea had always felt comforted by song, because it banished the burden of music, but there was something different about Shae’s music. The awe and wonder people said they saw in her sculptures came to mind. The feel of stone was as familiar to her as the violin in Shae’s hands was to them. Ceilsea’s admirers revered the skills they couldn’t understand, but Ceilsea understood Shae. Just like she took a chunk of stone and made it twist and turn into lifelike forms, Shae took notes and tempo and made it blossom into humanlike emotion. As if they too understood this connection, Shae’s eyes met Ceilsea’s every time they pulled off an extraordinary run of notes or swell of emotion. It was as if Shae were playing just for her.
Then Vonae brushed Shae with his hand, and when Shae turned towards him, he made an absurd face. Shae grinned even as they averted their eyes, and Ceilsea remembered that she wasn’t the only one Shae could have a connection with through music. The feelings they shared were just unique to them. As Ceilsea continued to watch, Shae’s eyes lingered on the crowd. Ceilsea knew they were worried about somebody recognizing them as they felt they must every time they played publicly. She wished they didn’t have to.
When the Evening Song’s first note flowed through the air, the dance floor dissolved. The Brijas siblings and Shaelis took a walk around the rest of the Range. Vonae and Ceilsea showed Shae the different games. They watched only a few rounds of the beetle races, a fan favorite, before they left. Vonae didn’t need to lose any more money.
As soon as they left the Range and the protection of the staff, the crowd pressed in around them. Someone behind Ceilsea brushed up behind her and slurred loudly, “Hey! Hey! Stone… princess… girl!”
The man probably thought he was speaking normally, but his outburst caused most of the street to turn. Shaelis immediately pushed between her and the man, but it was too late.
“You got everything right? Which means you gotta know a lot, right?” the man asked, as Shaelis pushed him. Vonae turned against the tide of people to grab his sister. She noticed the fingers moving on his other hand. The drunk, oblivious, continued, “So tell me…why does the king waste our time kowtowing to the Empire? We got our own problems! Why do we waste our time celebrating their… stupid sacrifice.”
Vonae was creating distance between them and the drunk, while Shaelis made sure he didn’t follow them. This only encouraged the man to speak louder, “The king’s too busy, they say. Doing what? Does he fuck those statues of yours? Is that why he wastes his time and money on you? Or is he wasting his time fucking y—"
Vonae’s spell finally went off in between notes of the Evening Song. The drunk shouted as his elbow bent against his will and liquor splattered into his face. That was enough of a distraction to shut him up. A second later the remnants of the spells pressing on Ceilsea’s consciousness were lifted by the music still swimming in the air.
“You should have broken it,” Shaelis muttered to Vonae, who just shrugged.
“Let’s just get out of here,” Ceilsea said with a sigh.
They ended up back in Ceilsea’s courtyard, where they could relax uninterrupted. Shaelis gave them a private show after the Evening Song ended, and Ceilsea started to climb the griffin and polish some details. Rivonae watched both of them for a while as the artists bantered. Ceilsea saw Vonae examining Shae’s equipment, but he didn’t comment. Shae was distracted talking to Ceilsea about the dragons they’d seen. Vonae was roped back into the conversation when it turned to talking about the Sumanarian cities where the Brijas family had lived. Shaelis had been in the country for a while but had only been on the west side. The siblings told them about the country as they had seen it growing up.
Ceilsea was the first to allow herself to close her eyes and fall asleep under the stars. It wasn’t the first time she had done this, but it was the first time she wasn’t alone.
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