"Let me see if I heard you correctly, Miresa..." Arune gasped. "Lady Galia wants you to be one of four that will play the Festival Dance Prayersong to accompany this year's Magia Dancer?"
"Yes! Yes! I can't believe it myself." Miresa replied.
"You realize that the Festival Dance is not the kind of dance tune you are accustomed to playing..." Arune started. "It's actually a slow and stately tune....also know that you are actually casting magia."
"I'll be receiving a peridot to cast the spell with and control it, don't worry." Miresa sighed. She knew full well that if the festival was ruined because of an errant wind gust, Halliwen wouldn't let her live it down.
"Then who else is playing with you?" Arune was piqued.
"Well...Caronna's playing fire again this year..." Miresa began. "Torian is also back this year, playing earth on the lute he made last year...the only other newcomer this year is Ailina, who will be playing water. So the ensemble will be a lute, a fiddle, a concertina, and me on whistle."
"And who is the Magia Dancer this year?"
"You'll probably think this is a Stone of Power, but Aeskan, the elven dancer everyone calls "Fleetfoot", is coming this year." Miresa replied.
Arune stiffled a giggle. "Like THAT's a Stone of Power! What would motivate Fleetfoot herself to come to such a small town like this?"
"Lady Galia probably asked Fleetfoot to come, I'd wager." Arune mused. "But at any rate, you'd best get practicing if you stand a chance of controlling the magia." With that, she flitted over to the empty music stand before Miresa and ran a finger over her chimes of crystal, making the book of Prayersongs lying on the bed fly up and settle before Miresa, the pages ruffling until they came to the Prayersong called Festival Dance.
Miresa studied the music for a moment--she did too play this kind of dance tune! Festival Dance was simply a slowed down jig set in common time, and the tune was fairly easy, or so she thought.
She tried to play the beginning of the tune, but the well hidden triplet in the first measure threw off her concentration and made a screech echo through the room.
Arune winced from the whistle's squawk. "Have you had your power locked, Miresa?"
"No--I've just never seen this rhythm before." Miresa explained. Arune rolled her eyes as her Other screeched and squawked through the melody--the festival would be ruined for sure if Miresa played the Prayersong as badly as she was playing it now.
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