Song of the Saurials - Kate Novak [65]
Olive started. Invoking the goddess of the moon was a habit she'd picked up from her stay with Giogi and Cat Wyvernspur. She'd never be able to face the young man or his wife if she had to tell them she'd let their ancestor die out in the middle of nowhere. She'd never be able to face herself, either. Olive gave a deep sigh, unable to understand how she managed to get into these predicaments.
"I guess I'll have to go down to your workshop, then," she said with a false cheery tone.
"Good. Let's go," the bard said, trying to rise to his feet.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Olive exclaimed, holding him down with her hands on his shoulders. "I'm going alone. You'll only slow me down. Give me the key to your workshop and tell me where to find the potions we need."
"There is no key. Music unlocks the door to the workshop," Finder said.
"Like the finder's stone," Olive guessed. "What note?" she asked.
"It's more complicated than that. It takes a phrase from a song." Finder sang out an allegro melody Olive had never heard before: "'When Lady Luck lies with Grim Justice,/The soaring stars will be man's auspice.'"
"Now, that's right pretty," Olive said. "You never sang that one before."
"It's not finished," Finder said.
"When did you start it?"
"Before I finished building Flattery," the bard said. "Now sing it back," he ordered the halfling.
Olive obeyed.
"Lower it an octave," Finder ordered.
"Finder, I'm too small. My voice doesn't go down that low."
"Yes, it does. Do it."
"Whose voice is it, anyway?" Olive squeaked.
"I trained it. It's mine," the bard replied.
Olive laughed. "You've got to get this possessive streak under control," she said.
"Olive, you have a fine voice. You can't afford to waste it by constantly saying 'I can't, I can't.' Now try, for me, please."
Olive flushed deeply. She forced her voice down to the first note.
"Good," Finder said. "Now the words."
" 'When Lady Luck lies with Grim Justice-' "
"Two notes in 'Grim;" the bard corrected. "G to F-sharp."
Olive sang the the line over.
"Good. Now both lines"
"'When Lady Luck lies with Grim Justice./The soaring stars will be man's auspice,'" the halfling sang.
"Again."
Olive repeated the phrase three more times before Finder seemed satisfied. He smiled and wrapped a curl of her hair around his finger. "I might make a bard out of you yet," he said, tugging playfully at the strand of hair.
"I'd settle for not ending up a corpse," Olive cracked.
"Never settle for anything. Olive girl. You're too good for that," the bard insisted, releasing her hair.
The compliment was lost on the halfling, who had begun to notice a forced sound to the bard's cheery tone. She could hear him wheezing, and he had to use his good hand to shift the injured one.
Olive pulled out one of her light cotton tunics from her sack, bunched it up, and poured what was left of her whiskey on it. She reached over and wrapped the wet cloth around the bard's swollen hand, then handed Finder her water jar.
"When the bandage gets warm, pour some more water on it," she instructed. "Try drinking the water, too. It might help."
Finder nodded. He struggled to take a deep breath before he said, "You'll find the potions in the mahogany wardrobe. They'll be alphabetized. Look for the one labeled 'neutralize poison.' Also, bring the spellbook on the marble-topped desk and the sack of gems in the hidden compartment under the worktable bench." The bard drew in another wheezy breath before continuing. "The door will lock behind you when you close it. You only need the music key from the tunnel side. You can unlock it from the workshop side by tracing your finger over the treble cleft carved into the doorframe."
Olive nodded.
"You'd better take this," the bard said, twisting one of the plain gold rings on his injured hand. "It's a ring of protection."
"You'll never get that off," Olive said, flinching instinctively. "Better forget it."
"No," Finder replied. He hummed a high B-flat, and the ring expanded