Cillian Harper's Arc

Chapter 2 of 1

Three days after Cillian played Keely the song about the string, she still hadn't said yes to the stage. He found her in the back room of the tavern, pacing. The song was ready. She was not. He set down his guitar and tried to talk her through it, the way he'd rehearsed. His words came out thin. She shook her head faster each time he spoke. "Honestly, I keep hearing the crowd," Keely said. "All those faces. What if I open my mouth and nothing comes out?" She pressed her hands flat on the table. "I can't do it. Not yet." Cillian reached for a joke to loosen her. It died in his mouth. He saw the truth plainly. He could not calm her alone. He never could. He'd always thought love would be enough. It wasn't. The door opened. Astrid stepped in. She was the witch who'd told Cillian to put the broken string into the song. She wore her green runed robe and carried an amber-tipped staff. She didn't ask what was wrong. She looked at Keely and named it. "You're afraid you'll fail the people out there," Astrid said. Keely blinked. "Yes. Okay. Yes." "Then don't sing for all of them." Astrid set the staff against the wall. "Sing for one. The shaking man. The one who told you he needed the music that night." Keely went still. Cillian saw her remember him. The stranger after a recent set, trembling, saying he needed it. "He didn't need you ready," Astrid said. "He needed you singing." Cillian understood then what he'd gotten wrong. He'd been trying to make Keely feel safe. Astrid gave her a reason to be brave instead. He picked up his guitar. The spell-wound strings caught the lamplight. He played the first line of their song, slow and plain. "One person," he said. "I'll be there. You sing to the one who needs it." Keely let out a shaky breath. She looked at him, then at Astrid. "Okay," she said. "Okay. One person. I can do one." Her voice steadied on the second okay. "We'll play it. A real stage." Cillian's chest tightened. She'd said yes. Not someday. Now. "The clearing by the old tree," Keely said. "People already gather there to hear me. That's where." Astrid picked up her staff. Her face changed. "The neutral ground," she said. "Three tribes meet there now. I've seen them watching each other. Hands near their blades." Cillian looked at Keely. The fear had left her eyes. He didn't want to put it back. But he'd heard the same thing in town. The crowds at that tree were growing. The peace between tribes was thin. "Then I'll play beside you," he said. He didn't say the rest. The stage was set. The crowd might be a powder keg.