He evidently made plenty of marks, to judge by the fine clothing he wore: even what he wore when bringing reports to his Lord Holder was better than Robinton’s best Gather wear. And during the evenings, when Rob might have monopolized her company, he had to play or sing with the other harpers. He only had one or two dances with her, when Mumolon or Ifor took turns. The other men had the whole evening in her company, with no responsibilities.
It was frustrating, but he worked on the harp. Her birthing day was in early spring and he wanted it ready by then, but he had to restrain himself from slighting any of the steps required in its making.
The glue had to harden on the sound box; he had carved the pegs and set the sharping blades, which would permit modulation and even changing keys. He intended to tune the harp to C major.
He had to wait for the strings to arrive from the Fort
SmithCraftHall, which specialized in extruding the fine wire needed. Still, he spent less time working on the harp than he did looking at it – and thinking about how it would look in Kasia’s lap, being touched by Kasia’s hands.
Everyone in the Hold seemed anxious to celebrate Kasia’s day with her, and Robinton desperately wanted to have privacy when he presented her with the harp. He was beginning to think that such a gift would establish the depth of his feeling for her. Which was what it was supposed to do, really. It was scarcely on a level with the casual gifts that were generally presented on a birthing day.
Presenting it to her publicly would leave him open to teasing, as well as speculation about his affection for her. Affection? His love!
And the harp was a fine one. He gave himself that much credit. He did do good work – especially when his heart was in the doing.
So that he did not appear empty-handed in public, he had found some early berries in the woods above the Hold. She made much of his thoughtfulness and exclaimed a lot over the pretty basket he had woven to hold them. He managed to get a private word in her ear because, fortunately, it was customary to give a birthday girl an embrace and a quick kiss – if you were so inclined. In Robinton’s mind, there were too many so inclined. He watched to see just how long she permitted the familiarity and rather thought she had clung just a moment longer to him. So he took that chance to murmur in her ear that he had something special to give her but not in front of everyone. Could she meet him in the workshop?
She nodded, her eyes dancing, and murmured, “After the meal,” before releasing him and turning to accept other tokens. For she was popular. There were presents from everyone, including a lovely comb which Vesna had scrimshawed on the Northern Maid for giving her the moral courage she needed in getting her second mate’s ticket. There were the usual lengths of cloth, and scarves and bracelets. Valden had presented a slim little belt knife with a blue leather sheath. The most impressive gift was from her parents: a beautiful Gather outfit in a shade of delicate spring yellow, with stiff silver thread embroidering neck, hem and cuffs. Various sea captains had obliged by passing it on around the continent on the Great Western Stream from Mardela Hold in Nerat until it arrived at Tillek,
three days before her party. Juvana had kept it hidden in her closet.
“You must wear it tonight,” Juvana said.
“Not tonight,” Kasia protested, her fingers running along the stylized embroidery. I’ll save it for the Gather.”
“Well, just try it on and let’s see you in it,” Juvana insisted.
“Later, not now,” Kasia said firmly and arranged her presents in a pile before sitting down to the midday meal. As was customary, all the food offerings were known favourites of hers.
“Everyone’s making such a fuss over just a birthing day,” she said, colouring with embarrassment.
“But it’s your birthday,” her oldest niece protested.