The Mountain Dancer

Chapter 28: Shaynike & Ellawek

The next few weeks became a dizzying sort of routine. Her suncycles involved lectures, the twins, researching music and working with her fellow council members. Her mooncycles were either hanging out with Rek, thinking about Rek, or fending off Mona’s interrogations about Rek.

Their coupling did not go unnoticed, of course. Within a day of allowing themselves to be public friends (and semi-private-more-than-just-friends), the shardtrade knew about it. Given their Crown appointments, the gossip had been explosive and relentless. Shay dealt with a few days of red-faced interviews and conversations with various teenage socialites. But it hadn’t been unbearable, and it seemed it was old news as quickly as it had become new news.

Faevock had graciously kept out of the whole thing, making good on her promise to allow the relationship to exist. Shay decided it was easier to put off thinking about what might happen when Rek’s true intentions were revealed. She instead focused on the stressful, blissful present.

It turned out that they were both pretty lame at relationships, to Shay’s enormous relief. She had spent half a mooncycle debating with Monarec over acceptable kissing frequencies and shardtrade etiquette. She had even secretly consulted a nook in the Upper Library known to hold some of the more mature romance fictions to see if she could research her way into being an acceptable girlfriend.

In the end, it had been a chance meeting with the Lurecrafter with the Daxish-sounding name that had given her the advice she needed.

“You seem troubled, child,” the woman had said, upon finding her sprawled on the floor of the one of the Grand Library’s many platforms, surrounded by dated copies of Iskonn musical critiques.

“Do you do love fortunes?” Shay had asked, only half sarcastically.

“A boy is it? Perhaps, the unexpected one?”

“I’ve never had a boyfriend before,” Shay had said, by way of answer.

“Maybe he has never had a girlfriend. You should make your own rules, in any case.” Then the woman had wandered away.

It had seemed totally improbable, but when Shay timidly asked Rek about it, he had blushed so tremendously that she forgot her own embarrassment. It was suddenly very easy to talk about it with him. And it was so nice to be able to–

“Did you hear what I said, Cliffland?”

Shay jolted out of the memory. “No, sorry Ella. What was it?”

Ellawek frowned at her. They were sitting in the southwest area of the General Feasting Hall. Not right in the corner, but close to it. Clatter and hubbub abounded as the downcycle began and pupils started to arrive from the day’s last lecture.

“Daya-dreamin’ about some woodland wonder, I say now.” Affsol enjoyed teasing Shay about his best friend. She suspected Rek got it twice as bad. Used it by now, she stuck her tongue out at him.

“Focus, the both of you,” Ellawek said.

“Yes-a ma’am, Tutor Boulderin ma’am.”

Ella ignored that. “I was saying, Cliffland, that you’ll need to consider a few basslines that we can incorporate with chucklehead’s fountains. The Tether Stone rumors are beginning to seem much more substantive, and with one in the room it should be feasible to arrange a sustainable sonic connection to the water wonderments.”

“There’s a lot of deep and driving movements that are supposed to be inspired by waterfalls, written by... um, I think it was Ruefellsa. Those would fit well I think,” said Shay.

“I like it. Chucklehead?”

“Sounds a-like the perfect idea. I would be a-wanting to hear some samples, but ya. Ya we can do that.”