Blood, Sweat, and Hanon - A Ranger's Apprentice fanfiction

Chapter Fourteen - Alyss

"Very good," Ms. DuLacy says.

Alyss can feel a bit of pride flush her cheeks as she lowers her violin. She tries to hide it, but she knows she has a right to be proud of herself. Granted, she did have a bit of a rocky start, but she's managed to learn and polish her entire competition program in less than a month. She's heard the other string students practicing, and they're nowhere near as prepared as she is.

She ducks her head. "Thank you, Ms. DuLacy," she says.

Ms. DuLacy smiles. "I knew you could do it," she says. "Now, the only problem is maintaining this level for the next month and a half, until the competition preliminaries. You should definitely keep the Paganini up in practice, because of its extreme technical difficulty, but I think you can drop the amount of practice on the Sibelius. Just keep your listening up, because I'm not completely convinced you can hear the entire orchestra part in your head yet."

Alyss nods in understanding.

"Is there anything else you'd like to go over?" Ms. DuLacy says. "There's maybe seven minutes left."

Alyss nods, then bends down and rummages in her bag for the sheet music Gilan handed to her in the hallway that morning.

"Actually, yes," she says. "My friend Gilan signed me and our group of friends up for the Original Ensemble Contest, and he just finished writing our competition piece. I'm the only violinist, and my part looks a little challenging to pull together in less than two weeks."

Ms. DuLacy scans the sheet music, clearly intrigued. "What's the instrumentation?" she asks.

Alyss counts the instruments off on her fingers. "Two pianos, violin, viola, and percussion," she says. "George Carter's the violist in our group; Will and Gilan are on piano; and my roommate Jenny is our percussionist."

"It should end up being very interesting, as well as a wonderful learning experience, whatever the outcome of the competition," Ms. DuLacy says. "Gilan...Gilan Davidson? I've heard his work before. He's a very...innovative composer, although I've heard references to Beethoven and Brahms in his work. He and Will, are they both Halt O'Carrick's students?"

Alyss nods. "Yes," she says. "Gilan's been taking from Mr. O'Carrick for the past two years, but Will is brand new this year."

Ms. DuLacy nods to herself. "I'd heard Halt took on a new student," she murmured. "He must be good, then."

Alyss smiles proudly. "Will is very adept at what he does," she says.

Later, after orchestra practice, Alyss meets the others outside Gilan's practice room.

"Halt said we could use his office because there are two pianos in there," he says.

Alyss follows him and the others down a corner hallway she's never noticed before, and Gilan stops before the door at the end. He raises his hand to knock, but the door opens before he can, forestalling him.

A small-statured, bearded man stands in the doorway, gazing at Gilan with a strange, veiled look. "Ah, Gilan," he said. "I knew it was you."

Gilan gapes. "How did you know, Halt?"

The man, Halt, rolls his eyes. "You've been my student for the past two years, Gilan. I must have heard you stumbling down this hallway at least a million times. Give me credit for recognizing the sound one more time."

"Oh," Gilan says.

Halt smirks. "Also, I told you you could use my office in the evenings. I'll be back in an hour an a half." He stalks down the hallway, leaving Gilan scratching his head in amusement.