A Risky Gamble

Writers: Estelle
Date Posted: 13th November 2022
Series: White Hollow Hold

Characters: Tasni, Jayala
Description: Tasni has a plan for a journey outside the Hall
Location: Harper Hall
Date: month 5, day 9 of Turn 11

Jayala

Tasni flicked through the pages of a work on the history of the last
Pass, silently counting, then ran her finger down the lines of the page
she'd been searching for. Finally, she copied a last character onto her
slate and looked over the message hidden within the letter she'd
received from the Northern Hall, though she had the sense of it already.
The Masters were pleased with her reports, but her time in the South was
drawing to a close. The attack on the Weyr and the resulting demand for
good information had prolonged her stay, but it couldn't last forever.
There were other tasks waiting for her, and she was running out of
excuses to stay.

Despite all the work she'd done - both openly, in the Archives, and with
more discretion, she couldn't help but feel as though she had unfinished
business. She'd asked around, studied the records, talked to the guards
and even travelled out of the Hall to several possible locations, but
she hadn't managed to find her friend Calenta's missing husband.

The man, once of the Emerald Falls guards, who Calenta had left for her
apprenticeship as a singer. Who'd been accused of burning down the old
Hall, but who she thought deserved to know that their marriage was over.

Tasni had begun to think that the man must be dead. The other guards had
thought he'd found a new position after being dismissed from Emerald
Falls after the accession of the new Lord Holder, but perhaps he'd been
lying to save face. If he'd had nowhere to go and had become holdless,
it wasn't likely he'd have survived this long. Or he might have died of
disease, or an injury - his job had its risks.

But it was frustrating not to know for certain.

She tapped the chalk against the slate thoughtfully. Then, she reached
for a cloth and wiped it clean, taking care that no trace of the message
remained.

There was one possibility that she could investigate. It had come from a
guard on a trader caravan, a rumour he'd heard on his travels that he'd
told to some of the local men which she'd...happened to overhear in the
tavern. Chances were it would turn out to be nothing, just like all the
other hints she'd followed over the past Turn. Emerald Falls was hardly
lacking for rumours. Should she spend her remaining time following it
up, or stay in the Hall and focus on her studies and the information her
Masters had requested?

Tasni breathed in the warm, musty, sleepy air of the archives, and
smiled. It wasn't really a difficult decision.

***

"And you want to travel to White Hollow Hold because...?"

Jayala looked up from the plan the journeywoman had drawn up with a
sceptical lift of her brows. Like most of Tasni's work, it was short and
concise. A sketch map, notes on the journey, an estimate of how long
she'd be gone, but little detail on exactly what she planned to do there.

"I've not visited that part of Emerald Falls - the hilly country, off
the main trade routes. It's more isolated, mostly ovine and goat
farming, and quarrying. They say attitudes change more slowly there, but
it's been hard to find anyone from that region here at the Hold," Tasni
explained. "If I'm to get a full picture of the effects of the plagues
on the South for my project, it would be a good place to visit."

The Hallsecond favoured her with a long stare while she silently
reviewed what she remembered of White Hollow. It wasn't much - if she
wasn't mistaken, they'd had the same journeyman posted there for Turns,
since before the Pass began. She couldn't recollect any apprentice ever
having come from there, nor any Candidates for the Weyr.

"And?" she said eventually.

Tasni hesitated, then spoke with apparent reluctance. "The reports of
discontent about Lord Corowal's rule, and the Weyr. I know some of the
journeymen have been told to look out for such talk."

"Not one of our best-kept secrets." No-one could stop harpers talking
amongst themselves, though Jayala didn't believe it had gone further
than that. "Go on."

"I've been keeping track." She doubted the Hallsecond would be surprised
by that, but she hadn't admitted it before and hoped it would be worth
it. "As you might expect, it's most often heard in the outermost lands,
and those where the family has been holding since the time of Lord
Corowal's predecessors, Lord Enrizial and Lord Ziadriel."

"I had noticed the pattern," Jayala said dryly.

"Well, you'd expect White Hollow to fall into that category. The holder
has been in charge for eighteen Turns, and his grandfather was confirmed
in his right to the land and the quarries that they work there by
Ziadriel's father. There are records of the family coming to Gathers at
Emerald Falls - the holder married his wife here, she was one of the
Hold ladies - but nothing since Lord Corowal's accession. Gyrmich, the
harper, sends extremely dull half-Turn reports of weather and trade,
marriages and children grown out of his class, but nothing else. And he
almost never mentions dragonriders."

"Perhaps they're loyal, even so. Or they're too busy working to care
about Hold politics." Jayala sounded unconvinced. "Quarrying's a tough job."

"Every hold has someone who's interested in politics." The corner of
Tasni's mouth twitched into a grin. "That land's mostly rock and stone.
They've got less to lose from Thread-burrows. You'd think there would be
more resentment of the Weyr tithe than in the farmlands."

"Not if their Holder has any sense. How would they feed themselves if
the crop lands were Thread-infested?" Still, the master harper frowned,
thinking back to reports she'd had from other, similar holds in that
territory. White Hollow Hold really was remarkable for being...quiet.
"It's not enough. Not when you have better uses for your time - like
practising with your chamber quartet."

The young woman winced. "All right. That's not all." She paused,
considering her words. "I've been speaking to traders where I can, to
learn more about the holds I'd never have time to visit, and sometimes
to the guards who travel with them. One of them told me he heard the
holder of White Hollow has been holding tournaments for his men these
last few Turns. Fighting. Anyone who does well enough gets offered a
place in his guard. As a result, he's built up a well-trained troop,
large for a hold that size."

"That's interesting." Useful to know what Tasni had been asking about,
Jayala thought. Why guards? "But wise, if it's a prosperous but isolated
hold, and there are bandits and holdless folk in the hills."

"Yes, but then there's the other part. The traders say, holdless people
are hardly ever seen in that area, even though there's caves for shelter
and decent hunting. There are rumours they tell each other not to go
near that place." She took a breath. "It's like they're scared."

"Hmm." That tale, Jayala hadn't heard. Nor had there been anything in
Journeyman Gyrmich's reports about tournaments for fighting men - she'd
have remembered that. Had he not considered it important? Unusual it
might be, but it wasn't necessarily a cause for alarm.

Of course, it was always possible that Tasni was making up a story in
order to pursue her own ends in White Hollow. She was under no illusions
about the journeywoman - she would lie easily when it suited her, and
she certainly had her own interests.

But Jayala did want to know what she was looking for.

"Suppose this hold is worth looking into," she said slowly. "Why should
I send you? If they're what you think, a female harper from the North
surely wouldn't be welcome."

"I don't plan to wear my craft knots," Tasni said. She was pretty sure
Jayala knew she did that already. Scepticism remained in the
Hallsecond's look, though, and she still had to argue why _her_ and not
one of the agents she was sure Jayala had.

She took a breath. "I know what I'm doing. I've done this before." It
was the closest she'd come to admitting what she was.

"Ah." Jayala nodded slightly. "It's a risk. You're not from here."

"My accent's getting pretty good, ma'am." Tasni smiled, her voice
slipping naturally into that of an Emerald Falls holder. Jayala's ear
was well-trained, and she had to admit it was convincing. Not just
Emerald Falls, but the less formal, unrefined speech of a farmholder,
and the softer, subservient tone of a simple worker - but subtle, too.

"If you go," she said eventually, "and you get into difficulties, the
Craft can't take responsibility. I think...it's perhaps best the
Hallmaster doesn't know about this."

"I understand." She nodded, her face showing the appropriate solemnity,
but there was a sudden fizz of excitement in her belly. The Hallsecond
was going to agree!

"Let me consider it. This isn't a 'yes', not yet." She wanted to re-read
those reports from White Hollow.

"Of course. Thank you, Hallsecond." Tasni got to her feet. "But - in
case you do - may I spend some time with the maids? I've got a feeling I
might need to learn their skills."

Jayala raised her eyes heavenward. "If it doesn't interfere with your
duties, Journeywoman - _or_ your gitar practice - you can do as you like."

"Yes, Master Jayala." She bowed her head, now barely concealing her
smile, and left the office with a spring in her step.

Jayala watched her go, wondering if she was about to make a very foolish
decision. She certainly didn't trust Tasni like she did her own
journeymen, and if she was caught it would be embarrassing at best - but
she was also sure they hadn't yet rooted out all of those who'd been
stirring up trouble against Weyr and Hold. Perhaps the young Northern
journeywoman was worth a gamble...

Last updated on the February 19th 2023

Series: White Hollow Hold [Next: The Quarry Hold]

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A Risky Gamble