“Come in,” he said cheerily in a soothing, whispered voice. As the jovial round face of Dr. Kye appeared from behind the door Dr. Sorela smiled at him, inviting him to come forward. He casually walked up to the desk, placing both hands down and leaning forward.
“What is it, my friend?” Dr. Sorela continued, his tone inviting and warm. Based off of what Dr. Kye was doing, he could tell that he wanted to ask him to do something.
“Well, I was wondering—if you’re able to, of course—if you would be willing to… ah… sit behind the screen for the woodwind auditions for orchestra.” Dr. Kye raised his eyebrows as he said this and looked at Dr. Sorela with a sideways grin that conveyed more pleading than asking.
Dr. Sorela thought for a moment, amusedly pondering this request in his mind. Finally, he spoke.
“Hmmmmmmm… why do you ask me, dear Blaze,” he said with a smile, “why can’t you do it?”
“You see, I would… ‘cuz I normally do, but I’m gonna be out of town ‘cuz Lucas is going down to college and I want to be there, plus I’ll get to see Harrison when I’m down there, and their families of course.” He said all this rather quickly and then, out of the blue, finished by interjecting “…Is that clarinet music?”
Dr. Sorela stifled a laugh. “Why yes, this is Restaru Migali’s latest recording that he gave me as a gift when I saw him this summer… I need to get working on another one myself.” He thought a moment and then asked, “Why not Kenyon? My aura would probably give me away, don’t you think?”
They both laughed and then Dr. Kye went on. “Does it really matter?” he said laughing, “This isn’t a very… serious… audition. They’ll probably know who’s behind the screen anyway, and if they don’t, your aura is sure to do nothing but make them feel better about it all. So, whatcha say?”
Dr. Sorela thought a moment before saying, “All right, I’ll do it… And also… what is the real reason you want me to do the auditions?”
Blaze knew that Sorela could sense something about his voice or demeanor that gave him away. “Well, I wanted you to do them because, you know…. You’re quiet.”
At this Dr. Sorela laughed, putting his hands together saying “Oh Blaze you treasured friend! You humor me so much!" After a moment he went on, "…So, am I hearing all woodwinds or just my kind?”
“All the woodwinds. Also, you’re gonna be there with Kenyon, if that helps make up your mind,” he said laughing.
“Oh, it most certainly does!” Dr. Sorela exclaimed with a smile. I’m now much looking forward to these auditions. Tell Dr. Matthews I’ll do it.”
“Most excellent! I’ll go let him know right now!” Blaze said happily. “Be there at noon Saturday!” he added as he closed the door behind him. Dr. Sorela smiled and went back to fine tuning the reed he was making, as images of the students he would encounter flashed across his mind…
****
It was now Saturday and auditions for the orchestra were well underway. The strings had mostly all been done and it was now time for the woodwinds to have their chance to play for the panel. During a short break Dr. Sorela and Dr. Nihael had quietly slipped into the small classroom that would serve as their audition studio and were whispering excitedly, chatting about life and school, while getting their copies of the music in order. Both knew exactly what sort of things to look for and were excited for a chance to hear a lot of the new and old musicians that they’d be listening to at all of the various concerts they would no doubt be performing in.
“All right, come right in,” they both heard Dr. Matthews say. “...All right, this is Flute 1 and this looks like an excerpt from Yehai Sorela’s 8th. Off you go!”
Sorela could tell that this flute player felt nervous but once the notes started playing that nervousness turned to confidence. As the audition went on and this player began playing through all of the excerpts, much was very nice, with a few expected errors. It was just after summer break, after all. As this audition ended they heard Dr. Matthews thank the student and the door close. As Sorela and Nihael wrote their notes and comments he came around the corner.
“Well, I thought that went well, Dr. Matthews said, quietly. “This is really odd, there’s only 3 flutes auditioning.”
“Actually, that’s pretty common,” Dr. Nihael said, “Usually only four people max try out because everyone else is too nervous to be exposed.”
“Also, the flute studio is very young. All of them except Annie are first and second years, according to my records.” added Sorela.
“Ah. Well, this is my first time auditioning everybody for an ensemble. Thanks for the heads up. I guess all you’re going to be doing is seating people then! I’ll send in the next one now.”
The next student to walk in immediately felt familiar to Sorela and he knew right away who she was. He enjoyed her solo and really liked the way she played through everything. As soon as she left the room, he could hear her speaking to the people waiting outside.
“Do you know who that was, Kenyon?” Sorela asked, turning to Nihael.
“Well… no, not really. I couldn’t see… her? him?”
“That, Kenyon, was Moira Lochgren, one of the two Jadali Kiillra students we are welcoming into the music program this year!” Sorela whispered, happily.
“Is that right!” Dr. Nihael asked, smiling. “How wonderful!” He then raised his eyebrows and continued, “So, Sorela, who was the first person then?”
“I’m pretty sure it was Quinn. She has a unique sound.”
After a little more discussion they finally heard Dr. Matthews come in with the third and final flute student who was auditioning. Immediately upon entering, Sorela felt a very dark, cold shadow descend over him, a feeling quite familiar but one he hadn’t felt in a very long time. In addition he could also sense that familiarity that he had felt with the last person and could sense a strong amount of confidence also. Immediately after, images of a black-haired boy danced across his eyes, fear in his eyes, silent cries only audible to Sorela echoing, images of flames, twisted shadowy figures, a pit with no end, all playing rapidly across his vision.
This all was interrupted and came to a halt as a hauntingly beautiful excerpt from a famous flute solo began to play, and Sorela was once again focused on the feelings of this particular person. As the audition went on, both Sorela and Nihael enjoyed the way the solos were played and the interpretations of them. As the final flute audition ended and the marks and notes were completed, Dr. Matthews took them and left the room for a moment. Once everything was quiet, Dr. Nihael turned to Sorela.
“I saw your eyes flash. What did you see?”
“I… I can’t tell you exactly,” Sorela whispered, “but this person carries a burden that few can comprehend…”
“Is this… your burden? That you carried?” Nihael asked, his eyes wide.
“Kenyon, I believe that it is…”
As Sorela sat there, he knew right away what he saw. This boy has the Curse of the Realm…
No comments:
Post a Comment