Mordred the concertmaster

     “Emmeline was the best we had,” one of the older musicians had signed to me. He had slowly been going deaf over the years. “She was sharp and strict, just like you. However, you are far more patient than she ever was.”

     Mr. Digby had ignored me the entire time in favour of setting up for the next workshop class later in the afternoon. Sally, the second chair in our junior orchestra had accompanied me to this workshop and found that she hated the idea of first chair. It was too much pressure and stress and she didn’t seem to find learning to switch between playing styles and concertos at the drop of a hat worth the effort. It was one of the things that I, however, found utterly enjoyable about the position. When I had to do it in the junior orchestra on occasion, Mrs Granger had a special hand signal she used to sign to me when I needed to switch. She had taught her husband the signal and he was just as well timed at employing it as she had been.

     My sister had enjoyed the role as concertmistress in her time, but it wasn’t something she wanted to do forever. While at Brightvale university, she had learned to dance while playing the violin and she had begun teaching me how to do the same. However, I wasn’t nearly as coordinated as her.

     On the way out of the music hall I noticed a few people putting up posters on the lobby bulletin board. I went over to investigate and I liked what I saw! I got the attention of one of the people hanging the posters, a middle-aged Brown Kau and signed to him asking if I could have two of the posters. He didn’t seem to understand at first until I pointed to the poster in his hand and then pointed back to me and held up two fingers.

     He got it then and handed me two posters. I thanked him and took the posters. I picked up my violin and left the music hall. My first stop was going to be Wila and Mina’s house. I’d make it there just in time for lunch. They had told me yesterday they were having fresh biscuits and jam. I was a huge fan of their mom’s homemade peach jam! They would be excited about the poster I was bringing them too.

     ***

     “A musical talent show?” Mina signed in awe. “Wow, we all have to compete, look at the prize!”

     Her twin agreed and so did I. I watched them discuss something from across the table. They were speaking too fast for me to catch what they were saying. The prize for the competition was five hundred Neopoints. It was a hefty prize, and would put me closer to buying my electric violin and an amp to go with it. The twins decided they would enter as a duet with their flutes. I was going to enter playing Neopia’s hardest piano concerto.

     It meant revealing the fact I had learned to play an instrument behind my mom’s back, but I was sure I could win with it. The violin wouldn’t be too much of a challenge. My sister’s best friend had begun teaching Nessa and I the piano about seven years ago. Our dad knew, he didn’t care. Our mom, however, hated the piano. My sister and I suspected she hated it because she had grown up in Shenkuu in one of the top music houses and had been taught to play for the emperor. She was far more passionate about the violin. I pushed the thought of discovery out of my head and focused on Neopia’s hardest concerto. I wanted to make Sylvia proud. I hardly got to see her anymore now that she and Nessa were studying far away. I also wanted to win.

     After we finished our biscuits and jam, we cleaned up the table and headed upstairs to the twins' room. They wanted my help choosing a good song to turn into a duet. They didn’t know if they should go classical, modern or just play a remixed version from some of Neopia’s most popular video games. Arcade goers would be delighted by the game music, but Neovia might be more lenient to judge classical or contemporary pieces. Neovia was still a bit old-fashioned like that. So we picked the flower duet. The twins' favourite. I watched them begin practising and stayed to watch for about an hour. I was delighted to see my friends so happy. I can’t hear the music we play but I know it connects us. It’s probably the most universal language in the entire universe!

     After the twins finished their practice, they saw me to the door and stuffed a few jars of their mom’s homemade peach jam in my arms for me to take home. Their mom always made too much. Nessa would be delighted. Homemade jam was one thing she very much missed about leaving home.

     ***

     “Messy Vanessy!” I signed and giggled. She had slopped some jam onto her shirt. She had been excited and over-eager to get her hands on the jam when she saw me walk in the door with it. She had smeared so much of it on her toast it was dripping onto the plate.

     After she had finished eating and cleaned up, I showed her the poster I had brought home for her. She was excited. Winning any of the three top prizes would also put her closer to buying her own electric violin.

     “Hold on a minute!” She signed to me in shock. “Mordred, read this!”

     I looked where she was pointing and saw some print I had missed before in my excitement. It said in a very neat and fancy cursive font ‘Top five winners will be able to participate in a Land-wide talent show’ meaning there were talent shows all across the haunted woods!

     “Let’s do this!” I signed to my sister making a determined face. “I know we can start our dreams here!”

     The Pink Kougra nodded. Her own face, serious as she did. Our moment of determination and planning was broken up but the fact Nessa had gotten jam in her hair. As she nodded to me strands of her jet black-blue hair stuck to her face. I couldn’t help but giggle again at messy Vanessy.

     I told her what I had planned on doing for the show and she nodded. She wasn’t going to play the piano. Instead, she had opted for Neovia’s hardest violin piece. One even I hadn’t quite mastered yet. And that was set. The Dulac siblings would enter the talent show and begin the pursuit of their dreams. I wanted to make my definition of the term concertmaster a reality and not the orchestra version.

     ***

     We had signed up for the talent show and had begun practising. My mom wasn’t at the music hall today so I could play the piano to my heart's content. Wila and Mina had their flutes and were not practising too far from the piano I was at. The White Vandagyre twins had black-blue hair like my sister and I, but instead of brown eyes, they had bright green ones. At a distance, I would never have been able to tell them apart except for how they handled the instruments (provided one of them wasn’t employing their ambidexterity talents. Mina was left-handed and Wila was right-handed) truthfully the only way I could tell them apart half the time was how they signed. Mina was loud and Wila was forgetful about facial expressions. The Nocturnus twins were the only duet in the competition so far.

     Off to my left, Nessa and Sylvia were hard at work with their violins. They were competing separately but still wanted to practice together. The music hall was full of people who had signed up for the talent show this coming weekend. I began practising, nothing would stop me from my goal!

     ***

     Everyone had practised for upwards of four hours. We were all allowed at the hall every day to practice, which was good for me because my family does not own a piano. While practising, I had indeed been caught by my mother. To my surprise, she was more surprised than angry. She was also very curious about how I had learned. I refused to out Sylvia and my sister, so I just told her that someone had taught me the basics seven years ago and I went from there.

     At dinner, my sister, followed by our dad, had confessed about more piano shenanigans and that Sylvia has taught us. Emmeline Dulac didn’t mind if her kids told a small fib here and there. Especially if they believed they’d be in trouble over what was actually nothing. She understood she could be too hard on people about some things. She, however, could not accept that her husband had been involved in aiding her children in a lie.

     I watched the fireworks that were with my parents. My mom was very effective at scolding people. I also knew she was doing it in Shenkuuvian. I couldn’t hear the language, but I could see it on her lips and the way she clicked her tongue. Nessa could read and speak our mother's native tongue, I could obviously only read. My dad sat at the dinner table trying to explain why he had kept our secret. He had to do it without throwing the entire orchestra under the wagon because they all had known too.

     When she got done scolding our father, she turned to me and Vanessa. When she addressed us both, it was usually only in sign language for my benefit.

     “Mordred Gaheris Dulac,” my mother's finger spelt my full name. (My sign name was just the sign for Red, it was a play on the last part of my first name.) I looked at my mom and quickly side-glanced at my sister for support.

     “I’m not mad about the piano,” she signed, looking at both of us. “I’m upset that you didn’t involve me as your teacher. I was pianist to his majesty’s court back in Shenkuu.”

     Ah, so she wasn’t mad at us for learning, she just had a bit of a bruised ego. It was ironic in many ways. I quickly caught a glance of Nessa trying not to grin and made an effort to stifle my own smirk.

     “Now, I understand you entered the talent show with the intention of playing Neopia’s hardest concerto!” My mom signed to me. I couldn’t tell if her signs were proud of me or getting passionate about an instrument she hated. “Pride of my life, mommy is going to teach you how to master it!”

     I was stunned. Turns out that while she disliked the piano, she had never given up playing it. She had somehow known Nessa and I were instrument curious and expanded outside of just violins. She was proud of me the day I came home and told her I wanted to play a flute like the twins. So began my mom tutoring me in my chosen concerto. She knew all about the top five winners being entered into another talent show that extended through the entire Haunted Woods and not just Neovia. She was determined to see both her children get that far.

To be continued…