A Taste of Candor

Chapter 9

~Tahlia.

As a result of the audition performances, we ended up with two new saxophonists. To fill the section leader role we'd been seeking, we decided on Aaron Quill, the alto player Keene had suggested. However, even though we'd only set out to add one saxophonist to the band, I spoke up and made a case in Declan's favor. After all, his tender touch still spoke to my heart in a mysterious way, and even if he didn't stand at the forefront of his section, I much appreciated the chance to hear him. My mother opposed the idea, but she was alone in that opinion, and my father had the final say anyway.

So life went on as normal. I accompanied Keene on a few more of his fishing trips and captured landscapes on my canvas, occasionally went to the arcade with my brothers, and shared coffee with my father. And I used some of my evenings to make shabby attempts at portraits. Every time I berated myself for the abominations I'd created, Declan's words came to mind, and then I could only laugh at my hypocrisy. Who was I to tell someone else not to judge themself, but then do the same?

One afternoon, my mother caught me off guard with an invitation to go shopping with her. Evidently, a friend of hers had an upcoming wedding, and my mother was not the sort of lady to be caught wearing the same gown twice on such special occasions. I readily assented and ran upstairs to get ready.

As I put my shoes on, I strained my mind to remember the last time my mother had extended an invitation to do anything with me. One would think I would very close with her, being her only daughter, but Fiona Paige was a reclusive woman. She spent much of her time locked away in her room, presumably reading books as was her pleasure. At other times, I would find her playing solitaire or writing letters to distant friends. Oddly enough, she made more social calls than stop-bys in her own children's rooms.

The rarity of such opportunities to spend quality time with my mother made me all the more eager to indulge her, so I swiftly finished putting my shoes on, grabbed a coat, and headed out. She gave me a reserved smile as she appraised my outfit, and then with a nod, she slung her purse over her shoulder and led the way out the door. We both stopped by my father's study first, of course, to kiss him goodbye, and then we were off.

We passed Declan on the front porch, as the time for a band rehearsal had apparently come. I greeted him cheerily, and he returned the favor with less energy, but equal enthusiasm, I thought. My mother failed to acknowledge him at all, however. If anything, her quick glance his way carried disdain, but perhaps I simply had perceived wrongly.

I learned otherwise, however, once we had filed into the car and gotten underway. My mother sighed to catch my attention before starting in.

"You appear rather ... intrigued by that Candorian boy." she enunciated carefully, "You insisted on his admittance into our band despite the fact we only required one more saxophonist, and now you greet him as a friend."

"I enjoy his playing, Mother. And what if he were my friend? Your tone seems to imply that would be a bad thing."

"I do hope you realize what the Candorians have done in not very distant memory."

I hung my head slightly. "They started the war."

"Yes, they slew our Prime Minister. They refused to make restitution for what they had done, and so we had no choice but to go to war with them. Do you not realize how much Lymar blood has been spilt on their account? You yourself lost two cousins in that conflict."

"I am aware, Mother. Father has spoken much of this, and you know I always lend him an attentive ear. But I must say, an individual man may not be held responsible for the sins of his entire nation."

"Of course not; that would be absurd." my mother agreed, "But you must ask yourself how it is so many of our important figures venture into Candor, only to never return? Four of our prime ministers have been slain there in only the past century. Clearly, there is some murderous streak common to many Candorians."

"Perhaps, but that's still not all of them." I protested.

"Even if it is merely many of them, I would still advise you to exercise extreme caution, my daughter. From all I have heard and seen, Candorian men are wolves. Surely you remember what happened to Miss Brook, do you not?"

"I do." I said with a sigh. My mother's close friend, Miss Brook, had married a charming Candorian man some years back, but after they had combined their finances, he ran off with all their money, never to be seen again. Suddenly, Miss Brook had been left with nothing but a broken heart and an empty purse.

"Do not let their smiles fool you, Tahlia." my mother continued, "Candorian men always seem well-intentioned until the harm has already been done. I do not want you hurt."

"I understand, Mother. I will be careful." I blinked long and glanced at the road ahead of us. "I would like to point out, I had only said hello."

"Hello may be hook enough." she said grimly, "You must be cautious even with mere pleasantries."

"I will take care, Mother."

That settled, we fell silent for the majority of the drive to the shopping mall, aside from passing comments on the scenery. Meanwhile, my thoughts churned on our conversation. I could only wonder whether my mother was correct. Indeed, certain Candorian men had done immeasurable harm, but that couldn't be all of them, could it? Declan couldn't be a wolf in sheep's clothing, could he? I strongly doubted it, but out of respect to my mother, I would take care not to be manipulated.

* * * * * 

A/N: Eeee, racial tensions, wonderful. Something a lot of us are pretty familiar with, I imagine. 😂  Even so, if you enjoyed the chapter, don't forget to vote and comment! 

We're approaching ten chapters here, so pretty excited for that. Definitely some exciting chapters lie ahead. 😏

For our random question, what's something you find attractive/appealing in other people? (Doesn't have to specifically be romantic or anything either; platonic appeal is a thing for sure 😂) 

(There's a whole lot of things I could bring up here, but I love great conversationalists. People who can kinda pivot the topic to something tangential when the conversation's getting boring, pepper things with humor...all those things just are great to have. Few things are worse than someone who can only really comment on the initial topic and then that's it. 😂)

Anyways, that'll be it for me this week; I've got a lot cooking in my personal life, lol. Nothing bad, just new things. A new job, for instance. That said, hope you have a productive and relaxing week ahead, and I'll see you in next Friday's update!