The Love of Airi

Tuesday came much faster than Monday had. However, just like the day before, Moira was up long before her alarm making breakfast and the boys were still savoring their last minutes of sleep. All three of them felt much less nervous now that they knew a lot of the routine, and ever since meeting with Dr. Sorela, Moira and Severin felt a great peace and excitement.

Finally, the boys had joined Moira at the table where she had already eaten most of her breakfast and was reading the local paper. Aslan had spent the previous evening with his brother while Moira and Severin had gone to the local fair with Winterwood and all the members of the oboe section including two people that neither had met yet for they were in band and not orchestra. They felt right at home with them and Moira just knew that she and Winterwood would become great friends. They didn't return home until very late and had gotten quite tan in the sun. Sleep had felt wonderful and had made the morning refreshing.

"So... how did it go with meeting Dr. Sorela?" Aslan asked, stretching.

"Oh word, it was amazing! What an amazing man!" Moira exclaimed.

"He's so tall!" added Severin. "A true Ardin for sure. I can totally see where he got his Jadali half."

"That's so awesome. I can't wait until I meet him," said Aslan, grabbing for the paper. "Also, did you have fun with Winterwood and Carey and all them? Declan's told me a bit about all them."

"Yeah we had lots of fun," they both said together.

"There was a big group!" added Moira, "We met Kirby and Molly too!"

"Oh yeah, I've heard about them. They're the couple that changed their name to Riedlore, innit?"

"Yes they did! I love that they went Keòen with it! I think they're going to be a lot of fun to be around in band. I'll be sitting right in front of them." Moira said with a smile.

Aslan then told them about his adventures with Declan and Austrey ("He gave me a big tour of the city and then we talked for hours about some of the people he knows best in the music department!"). Before long, it was time to go and they gathered their bags and began the long walk to the music building. Moira and Aslan had Dr. Kribana for Ear Training at 8:40 and Severin was very excited because he had Ear Training with Nathan and his teacher was Airi Sorela, who he had heard a little bit about and was excited to meet.

"I have Dr. Sorela's wife for ear training!" Severin reminded them. "I'm really excited to find out what she's like."

"Do you know who she is?" asked Aslan.

"Nope, we saw pictures of her, and went past her office, but that's about it," Severin said. "If anything I'm excited to have a Jadali-Kiillra teacher for this semester. It'll be so cool to not be the only one in my class with two-colored eyes."

"Hey, I have two-colored eyes!" Aslan joked, "Loch eyes are green with brown at the middle!"

"You won't be the only ones speaking Keòen," Moira added, laughing, "Don't forget that Nathan does too. That makes three!"

"Three right here in this house!" Aslan declared, in Keòen.

Laughing, they headed out the door in good spirits and soon enough found themselves at the music building and upstairs. Moira and Aslan turned right and walked to their classroom while Severin turned left to the hall behind him. It was much less crowded than the day before and it seemed calmer as well. He spotted Nathan outside the door and hurried to meet up with him. Nathan waved as he saw him running up and they entered the room together after exchanging a brief greeting.

The room was very large and had many chairs piled into the middle. Near the doors, a large audio system sat under a wooden table covered with instrument cases and boxes. A few students had already taken their seats and were staring at Severin as he walked by, talking to Nathan in Keòen, wearing traditional robes. The two of them chose seats on the far left side of the room in the front row right next to the piano.

"So this is it," Severin whispered excitedly to Nathan, "this is where we get to see what Airi Sorela is like!"

"I'm excited too," replied Nathan. "I have no idea what she's like as a teacher," he added, in Keòen.

Before long the class had filled up and most of the seats were taken. Besides some whispers of people the class was silent, waiting for their teacher to arrive. The clock slowly ticked closer to 8:40 and after several silent minutes the door opened.

In glided a very tall woman, long black hair flowing beautifully down her round face. She seemed to dance along the room to the podium in the middle where she gently placed her stack of papers. She was wearing a white tunic with peach trim and a long peach skirt and had on a beautiful earth-colored pendant. Her eyes were dark, just like her husband's, and had the same warmth to them. However, instead of both being dark brown, the right one was a dark blue while the left one was an earthy brown. Her figure was that of a dancer, trim and flexible, and like her husband, every move she made was poetic.

With a deep breath, she looked up at the class. A smile came to her face and she with a sigh she finally spoke.

"Hello, everyone," she said with the same crisp clarity as her husband, "I am Dr. Airi Hieldin Sorela. In here, you can just call me Airi, but when referring to me as a teacher outside of this class... be sure to include Hieldin, as there is already a Dr. Sorela here, and he happens to be my husband." She grinned broadly as she said this, love in her eyes. "When you discuss my heritage, Jadali eyes, my profession, or anything else outside of class... make sure you include this important crest so you don’t confuse whomever you’re talking to!"

Right away Severin liked her. She was quite different from Dr. Sorela and yet so similar. He and Nathan both immediately picked up on her clever and subtle use of delivering strong opinions and smiled knowingly to each other.

“I have accepted the invitation to return to teaching Ear Training, since Professor Stunn has seemed to have finally… vanished… without a trace.” She put lots of emphasis on the word 'vanished' and raised her eyebrows as she said this carefully chosen word. "I wonder where he went..." she added in Keòen, under her breath. Severin and Nathan tried not to laugh as she said this, for they both knew it was clearly meant for them alone to hear. Shaking her head, she added one more final sigh in Keòen: “You know it’s bad when there’s no-one in your program…"

"Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes! First, I’ll share a little about myself, since I do admit that I look… a bit different… than most of you." She scanned the room as she said this and as her eyes fell on Nathan and Severin she gave them a wink. She then smiled and slowly turned around to the right side of the class. "I come from Jadali, in the capital city of Leena. I moved several times throughout my youth between Leena and Taleah, eventually graduating from Taleah High School. I then went to Tevernid School of Music where I obtained double mastery in vocal performance. I also have a master's in piano accompaniment so worry not, I will be able to play all of the examples in the lesson plans." Once again she looked over at Severin and Nathan and whispered " 'Iso." She then continued. "I married Dr. Sorela when we were at TSOM together. What an amazing man... We lived there until he began teaching here... in 1980. We have one son, Ashlan, who now lives in Dahhod with his beautiful wife and their two children, Aratan and Aulivar... Now that I have shared a bit about myself, let me find out about all of you."

Both Severin and Nathan liked Dr. Hieldin Sorela more with every sentence she spoke. There was just something about her gentle and yet brutal honesty that made them trust her. Both thought to themselves how perfect a match she was for such a unique and powerful husband and couldn't help but feel the love she had for him as well as her students. She went down the rows, having everyone introduce themselves. When she got to Nathan, she raised her eyebrows.

"I know who you are," she whispered, in Keòen.

"I know, that you know," Nathan said back in his soft voice.

"My husband thinks very highly of you. He wants you to see him in his office after this class. Also, you better introduce yourself and pretend like we're talking about your heritage, young Esthren del Terabi."

Nathan smiled as he heard this, an exchange only understood between them and Severin. "My name is Nathan Surcaston," he said, without missing a beat, "I am a music ed major and I play horn."

"It is so nice to meet you, Nathan!" Dr. Hieldin Sorela said happily. She then turned to Severin and studied his eyes carefully. " 'Eile, Severin, 'iso! What other crest are you?"

" 'E nan Lochgren ddw Balthor ddar," he replied.

"Balthor... Hmmmm... I too am half Balthor. Can you tell?" she laughed as she said this; the rest of the class stared on, assuming she was asking him about his life.

"Oh yes, I can tell," Severin replied happily. "And thank you for the warm welcome. I love it here.... I'm Severin Lochgren, I'm a performance major and I play flute and percussion." He said this with an even thicker accent than normal, having immediately switched from Keòen to Kevian. He knew that the class was staring at him but he didn't care. All he knew was Dr. Hieldin Sorela would easily be his favorite teacher of the year and couldn't wait until the following year when he would take music history from her husband. "Your husband is most comforting," he added. Dr. Hieldin Sorela just smiled and he could see a close resemblance to his own mother.

"I'm going to love this class," he said to Nathan, who smiled back with a twinkle in his eye.

"Me too, Severin... You and me both."