Anne McCaffrey - Pern 06 - Dragon Drums

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runner beasts. The facility had often been to his advantage since the other

apprentices in his dormitory couldn't sneak up on him with vengeance in

mind. And he was often awakened by discreet, dragon-borne visitors com-

ing to see the Masterharper of Pern, or the arrivals and departures of

Master Robinton himself, for he was surely one of the most important men

on Pern; almost as influential as F'lar and Lessa, the Weyrleaders of Ben-

den. Occasionally, too, on warm summer nights, when the shutters of the

main hall were thrown back, the masters and journeymen assuming all the

apprentices slept, he'd hear fascinating and uninhibited talk drifting on the

night air. A small fellow like himself had to keep ahead of everyone else,

and listening often showed him how.

As he tried to get back to sleep for just a little longer in

the gray dawn, the drum sequence echoed in his mind. The

message had originated from Ista Hold's harper: he had

caught the identifying signature. He couldn't be sure of

the rest of the message: something about a ship. Maybe he

ought to learn message-drum beats. Not that they came in

with such frequency now that .more and more people

owned little fire lizards to take messages round and about

Pern.

He wondered when he'd get his hands on a fire lizard

Piemur folded his hands behind his head, musing on

such a delightful prospect. From having helped Menolly

feed her nine, he knew a fair bit about them now. More

than some people who had fire lizards, the same people

who'd been claiming for Turns that fire lizards were boy's.sun-dreams.

That is, until F'nor, brown Canth's rider, had

Impressed a little queen on a beach in the southern conti-

nent. Then Menolly, halfway across Pern, had saved a fire

lizard queen's eggs from being drowned in the unusually

high tides of that Turn. Now everyone wanted a fire liz-

ard, and admitted that they must be tiny cousins to the

great dragons of Pern.

Piemur shivered with delighted terror. Thread had

fallen over Fort Hold yesterday. They'd been rehearsing

Master Domick's new saga about the search for Lessa and

how she'd become Weyrwoman at Benden just before the

new Pass of the Red Star, but Piemur had been much more

aware of the silvery Threads dropping through the skies

above the tightly shuttered and sealed Harper Hall. He'd

imagined, as he always did during Threadfall, the graceful

passages of the great dragons as their fiery breath charred

wasn't immured in the Crafthall; if only he had a chance

to search seashores and find his own clutch. . . . Of

course, as a mere apprentice, he'd have to give the eggs to

his Craft Master, but surely, if he found a whole clutch,

Master Robinton would let him keep one.

The sudden raucous call of a fire lizard startled him,

and he sat up in alarm. The sun was now streaming across

the outer side of the Harper Hall rectangle. He had fallen

asleep again. If Rocky was screaming, he was late to .help

feed. With deft movements, he dressed, except for his

boots, and thudded down the steps, emerging into the

courtyard just as he heard the second, more urgent sum-

mons from a hungry Rocky.

When he saw that Camo was only just trudging up the

steps outside the kitchen, clutching his bowl of scraps, Pie-

mur drew a sigh of relief. He wasn't all that late! He

thrust his feet into his boots, stuffed the laces inside to

save time, and clomped across the court just as Menolly

came down the steps from the Main Hall. Rocky, Mimic

and Lazy whirled above Piemur's head, cluttering hungrily

at him to move faster.

they reached for handfuls of meat scraps. Rocky and

Mimic took their accustomed perches on Piemur's shoul-

ders, while Lazy clung with far from indolent strength to

his left forearm.

Once the fire lizards settled to the business of eating,

Piemur glanced at Menolly, wondering if she'd heard the

drum message. She looked more awake than she usually did

at this hour, and slightly detached from her immediate

task. Of course, she might just be thinking up a new song,

but writing tunes was not Menolly's only duty in the Har-

per Hall.

As they fed the fire lizards, the rest of the Hall began to

stir: the drudges in the kitchen were roused to breakfast

efforts by Silvina and Abuna; in the junior and senior

dormitories, occasional shouts punctuated random noises;

and shutters on the journeyman's quarters were bemg

opened to let in the fresh morning air.

Once the fire lizards had wheeled up for their morning

stretch of wings, Piemur, Menolly and Camo separated:

Camo, with a push from Menolly, was sent back to the

kitchen; then she and Piemur went up the main steps of

object to having to sing a female role. In fact, that morn-

ing he waited eagerly for the chorus to finish the passage

before his first entrance. The moment came, he opened his

mouth, and to his amazement no sound emerged.

"Wake up, Piemur," said Master Domick, irritably rap-

ping his stick on the music stand. He alerted the chorus.

"We'll repeat the measure before the entrance . . . if

you're now ready, Piemur?"

Usually Piemur could ignore Master Domick's sarcasm,

but since he had been ready to sing, he flushed uncer-.tainly. He took a

breath and hummed against his closed

teeth as the chorus began again. He had tone, and his

throat wasn't sore, so he wasn't coming down with a

stuffed head.

The chorus gave him his entrance again, and he opened

his mouth. The sound that emerged ranged from one oc-

tave to another, neither of which were in the score he held.

A complete and awed silence fell. Master Domick

frowned at Piemur, who was now swallowing against a fear

that froze his feet to one spot and crept up his bones to his

heart.

irritation.

"Piemur, I think you had best see Master Shonagar. Til-

gin, you've been understudying the role?"

"Me, sir? I haven't so much as glanced at it. Not with

Piemur . . ." The startled apprentice's voice trailed off as

Piemur, slowly and with feet he could barely force to

move, left the chorus hall and walked across the court to-

ward Master Shonagar's room.

He tried to close his ears to the sound of Tilgin's tenta-

tive voice. Scorn gave him momentary relief from his cold.

fear. His had been a much better voice than Tilgin's would

ever be. Had been? Maybe he was just coming down with a

cold. Piemur coughed experimentally, but knew even as he

did so that no phlegm congested his lungs and throat. He

trudged on to Master Shonagar, knowing the verdict and

hoping against vain hope that somehow the flaw in his

voice was transitory, that he'd manage to keep his soprano

range long enough to sing Master Domick's music. Scuff-

ing up the steps, he paused briefly in the threshold to ac-

custom his eyes to the gloom within.

Master Shonagar would only just have arisen and break-

ter's rich, mellow bass voice. The propping hand came

away from the head and brushed aside the tones now issu-

ing from the chorus hall. "Tilgin will never come up to your

measure."

"Oh, sir, what do I do now my voice is gone? It's all I

had!"

Master Shonagar's surprised contempt startled Piemur.

"All you had? Perhaps, my dear Piemur, but by no means

all you have! Not after five Turns as my apprentice. You

probably know more about vocal production than any

journeyman in the Craft."

"But who would want to learn from me?" Piemur ges-

tured to his slight adolescent frame, his voice cracking dra-

matically. "And how could I teach when I've no voice to

demonstrate?"

"Ah, but the distressing condition of your singing voice

heralds other alterations that will remedy those minor

considerations." Master Shonagar waved aside that argu-

ment, and then regarded Piemur through narrowed eyelids.

"This occasion has not caught me . . ." the thick fingers

tapped against the bulging chest ". . . unprepared." Now

pletely in character, for you to decide on puberty before

singing Domick's latest choral work. Undoubtedly one of

his best, and written with your abilities in mind. Do not

hang your head in my presence, young man!" The Master's

bellow startled Piemur out of his self-pitiful reflections.

"Young man! Yes, that's the crux. You are becoming a

young man. Young men must have young-manly tasks."

"What?" In the single word, Piemur expressed his disbe-

lief and distress.

"That, my young man, is for the Harper to tell you!"

Master Shonagar's thick forefinger pointed first at Piemur

and then swung toward the front of the building, indicat-

ing Master Robinton's window..Piemur did not dare permit the hope that

began to re-

vive in him to blossom. Yet, Master Shonagar wouldn't lie

for any reason, certainly not to give him false hope.

Then they both winced as Tilgin erred in his sight read-

ing. Instinctively glancing at his Master, Piemur saw the

pained expression on Master Shonagar's face.

"Were I you, young Piemur, I'd stay out of Domick's

sight as much as possible."

Piemur!" The thick forefinger pointed unwaveringly at

Piemur, who affected innocent shock that such an admo-

nition might be needed. "Away with you!"

Obediently, Piemur turned, but he'd gone no more than

a few paces to the door when a second shock stopped him.

He whirled toward the Voice Master.

"You mean, just now, sir, don't you?"

" 'Just now, sir?' Of course, I mean now, not this after-

noon or tomorrow, but now."

"Now . . . and always?" asked Piemur uncertainly. If

he could no longer sing, Master Shonagar would take on

another special apprentice to perform those personal and

private duties for him that Piemur had been undertaking

in the past Turns. Not only was Piemur reluctant to lose

the privilege of being Master Shonagar's special lad, he

honestly didn't wish to end the very rewarding association

with the Master. He liked Shonagar, and those services he

had performed for his Master had stemmed from that lik-

ing rather than a sense of duty. He had enjoyed above all

the droll humor and florid speech of his Master, of being

teased for his bold behavior and called to task by a man he

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摘要：

runnerbeasts.Thefacilityhadoftenbeentohisadvantagesincetheotherapprenticesinhisdormitorycouldn'tsneakuponhimwithvengeanceinmind.Andhewasoftenawakenedbydiscreet,dragon-bornevisitorscom-ingtoseetheMasterharperofPern,orthearrivalsanddeparturesofMasterRobintonhimself,forhewassurelyoneofthemostimportantm...

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Anne McCaffrey - Pern 06 - Dragon Drums

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