"If it's been written, I know it. OK, so that's Waltz for the Moon and--what was the other?" Iris asked. *How do I know that I know it? This is FREAKY!*"Love Finds a Way," Krys answered.
"Meet me up on the gallery when you're ready to sing. I'll tell the others to expect you."
Iris ducked behind the tapestry and climbed the narrow spiral staircase as quickly as she dared. When she arrived, she saw several other costumed and masked or made-up musicians tuning up and strummed her lute experimentally to check its tuning. At the first notes, a hush fell over the group and all eyes turned towards her.
"Is something wrong?" she asked.
"Your lute--it resembles a legendary one once used by the greatest minstrel to ever walk the Realm. What do you know of it?" responded a young man with a set of chimes. He was dressed as a mouse.
"It was a gift from someone I know, but I know nothing of a story accompanying it. Where could I learn of this minstrel and lute?"
"The Royal Library may have the tale, or you can speak to the Storyteller."
"Or the Lorekeeper," added a young woman in a butterfly costume standing beside him. Her instrument was a shallow, closed box with wires strung over it, and she held a wooden hammer in each hand. *A damsel with a dulcimer,* Iris thought irreverently, followed by, *Now how did I know what that was?* "The Lorekeeper knows everything that ever happened in the Realm, and she must answer truthfully and completely any question asked her by anyone."
*I think Zak is here now,* Iris recalled. *First chance I get, I'm finding out just what this is I'm using. Hey, maybe she can tell the rest of us things we don't know about our gear. At the very least she can tell Krys if her sword is her magic weapon or if her bagpipes are.*
Aloud she said, "Thank you. When I have time I plan to take your advice." She paused. "Two of my friends will be coming up here to sing one song later. Do you mind giving me a solo then?"
"The Royal Chamberlain told us you can take as many solos as you like," answered the chimes player. "He said you may know songs we have never heard. Ask in advance so we know when to stop."
As the ball progressed, Iris found herself responding instinctively to each song, not only knowing her part and performing quite well, but occasionally improvising or embellishing the original score. Most of these alterations were accepted by the other musicians, although some caught them by surprise. Iris had to keep remembering she knew music from a far more advanced era. The many types of rock and pop her world considered normal were totally alien to the Realm.
When she took her first solo, she was tempted to play one of John Denver's softer hits, but the sight of Hank and Sheila standing together on the edge of the dance floor did something to her. As she began playing, she thought, *No! Not Love Is Here! That's got backing voices!*
Altering the words slightly, she began singing, "There's music here in Yarfell tonight..."
"Music here in Yarfell tonight," came a chorus of female voices--from her lute!
"Up above the silver moons are gleaming bright," she somehow continued.
"Moons are gleaming bright," the backing voices sang on cue.
"Can't recall ever feeling so right," Iris sang, now confident her invisible backups would come in on the last three words, which they did. She saw Hank and Sheila dancing, and it gave her the strength to continue.
She put her whole heart into the soft rock ballad from the cartoon Jem, wondering idly if anyone else would recognise it and knowing the Young Ones couldn't, since it was after their time. When the song was over, there was applause from the dance floor.
The dulcimer player studied Iris, then said, "If your instrument is not the one of legend, it was crafted and bespelled to copy it."
Iris wasn't sure how much later it was when Cassandra and Krys came up, but she'd had a few more solos, choosing only love songs from Earth, and had played and sung many songs with the other musicians. She quickly told them, "These are the friends I mentioned. Let me back them now."
"As you wish," the chimes player said. The other musicians sat back and let the three strangers move to the front of the gallery.
Iris turned to her friends. "Ready?"
((Next! If you want the original lyrics to the Jem song or want to hear it, e-mail me and I'll give you the URLs of places that have them.))
