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The wait, Sebell felt, was entirely too long and probably not long enough, swinging his legs with restless anticipation as his grandfather talked in the next room with the MasterHarper. They’d had a long journey to get there, though Sebell hadn’t complained; he’d been too excited to go to Fort Hold and the Harper Hall, his grandfather’s insistence he take the boy when Sebell had first shown signs of musical talent. It had taken a few Turns convincing Sebell’s parents, but in the end, they’d relented—Sebell had far too much skill to waste as a woodcutter, and his grandfather had been adamant. They had other harpers in the family, besides Master Robinton, and it wouldn’t be imposing to ask the Harper Hall to take him on as an apprentice. Sebell didn’t expect he’d get any sort of special treatment, but he was terribly, horribly excited to learn his kinsman was Pern’s own MasterHarper.
They’d arrived early in the day, and when his grandfather had explained to the Hall’s headwoman just who they were, and why they’d come, the woman had been delighted, taking them directly to the MasterHarper’s office. Rantou had told Sebell to wait outside—it had been many long Turns since he’d seen Master Robinton, and the man might not remember him—so he felt it best to meet with him first, before introducing Sebell. The boy had agreed, however reluctantly; his nerves were beginning to get the better of him, and Sebell didn’t know how he’d be able to demonstrate his talent when his hands and feet were badly shaking.
A group of boys, too young to be apprentices yet, but clearly wearing harper colors, tore past in the long corridor where Sebell sat, one or two glancing curiously at him as they passed; the one at the end deliberately slowed, head cocked to the side as he paused in front of the older boy, his mates disappearing loudly down the nearby steps.
“Hey, why are you so nervous?” the boy asked, flopping down on the bench beside Sebell and stretching his long legs out, looking up at Sebell candidly. He looked quite tall, but from his high treble Sebell figured him to be much younger than his appearance. “You’re here to see about apprenticing, yeah? It’s not so bad, and my dad’s really fair with all the new apprentices.”
Sebell wondered if the boy’s father was one of the Harper Hall’s masters, he seemed quite comfortable lounging about the place. Certainly he had no problem making himself at home in front of the MasterHarper’s office.
“Yeah. My grandfather’s talking with the MasterHarper now, he…he used to know him, you see,” Sebell replied quietly.
“Oh, that’s smashing, everyone knows my dad,” the boy replied proudly, puffing his chest up. “He’s the—”
“Camo! Have you seen—oh, there you are, lad. I see you’ve met your kinsman.” Master Robinton poked his head out the now open doorway, smiling fondly at the boys and thoroughly startling Sebell with his sudden appearance. “You wouldn’t mind giving us a hand, would you Camo? Assuming you’ve got your pipes on you. I’d like to see how well this young lad can perform, our cousin Rantou has been telling me he’s quite good.”
“Daaaad,” the boy drawled, surprising Sebell even further and tugging a set of simple pipes from the back of his waistband. “You’re not supposed to co…co…whatever the word is Mum says when she means you’re not supposed to drag me into harper stuff.”
“Co-opt?” Robinton replied, raising one eyebrow in amusement. “Well, we don’t have to tell your mother about this, now do we Camo?”
“Nah,” Camo replied cheekily, grinning at Sebell. “You good on the pipes too? I got some tunes I wanna work out but Dad’s always too busy doing harper stuff to help me out.”
“Camo!” Robinton protested, though he laughed and ruffled the boy’s dark hair. “How about we let Sebell show us what he can do, first, and let him settle in before you co-opt him for your grand schemes too.”
“Promise?” Camo replied eagerly. “I’m too young to be an apprentice, yet,” the boy told Sebell, wide grin on his face. “But I’m getting plenty of practice in already. Just like my dad when he was my age, Mum says.”
“I ought to make you join the apprentices, just to keep you out of trouble,” Robinton said severely, though he winked at Sebell, a twitch of a smile and a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that matched his son’s. “But with two harper lads in the family, I suspect I’ll be in for even more trouble now.”