Better than Bold

Writers: Jane
Date Posted: 1st July 2014

Characters: Sahna
Description: Sahna practises her lettering.
Location: Harper Hall
Date: month 7, day 23 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: R'haran, Tibby
Notes: Mentor approved.

Sahna didn't remember much about the time when Thread wasn't falling but that
didn't mean it had always been a constant in her life. Far from it.

Sahna remembered back to her life at the Hold - in itself divided up into the
time with her parents and after their deaths the time with her grandfather -
when Threadfall barely impinged on her life. She knew it was happening and her
routine changed somewhat, but that was all, really.

Then she and her siblings had been sent to live with their grandfather's uncle
at Dragonsfall Weyr. Suddenly Thread had been _everything_: The reason the Weyr
existed; the reason that _dragons_ existed. It had been frightening and exciting
and even if R'haran's green dragon had been too badly scored to fight Thread any
more Sahna knew lots of dragonriders and lots of children her own age with
dragonrider parents and there was always a worry about who might be injured - or
worse.

It hadn't been the sort of worry that people spoke about, more like the unspoken
awareness she could remember from the SeaHold when the fishing fleet was out.
Nobody said anything but should the boats be a little overdue, or should the
weather change unexpectedly, then suddenly there was worry on people's faces and
concern in their voices.

And now she was at the Harper Hall, just a little down-river from Emerald Falls
Hold, and Threadfall was again just a disruption to the routine. She had
different chores to do on Threadfall days, and certain classes weren't held, but
mostly it was a day when a little extra free time could be eked out and used for
whatever one wanted.

"What ya doin'?"

Of course, Sahna thought with a sigh, there were some who found making use of a
little free time an impossible challenge to meet.

There weren't all that many apprentices in the Hall junior to Sahna, but this
one was. He was one of the youngest in the printercraft - and in Sahna's opinion
he was about five Turns short of being sensible enough to be away from his parents.

Ever hopeful that she could discover in him some interest in the craft he was
apprenticed to she turned her hide practise sheet around so he could see her
work. "Fonts, Typefaces, and Lettering," she said, naming the subject that her
work would most neatly fit in.

The boy rolled his eyes as he reared back from the sheet as if it was dangerous.
"They're just _letters_. How many ways can you write a g anyway?"

Sahna looked at him in amazement. "_Printer_craft. Did you make some sort of
mistake when they brought you along to apprentice? Did you really want to be a
harper or something?"

"I sing flat."

Sahna bit back the words she had been going to say because, sadly, she sang flat
herself, much to the confusion of her adopted father who had been a harper
before he Impressed Evielenth.

"I think you can be taught to sing properly. My father said he thought he could
retrain us and that Tibby - my youngest brother - would grow up okay."

"But still, you apprenticed as a printer not a harper," the boy pointed out. "So
why shouldn't I?"

"But I am _interested_ in printercraft." She tapped the hide with her careful
lettering examples on it. "I enjoy it and even like to work at it in my spare time."

He nodded. "You're pretty strange, huh?"

Sahna considered the weight of the hide. If she rolled it up and used it to beat
him over the head - that couldn't possibly kill him, could it?

Something of her thoughts must have communicated themselves to the young
apprentice because he edged away from the desk.

"Suppose you want to be left alone to get on with it?"

"That would be nice," Sahna said, still contemplating at least one good thwack
over the head, just for emphasis. Better than italic, better than bold. Thwack,
thwack, thwack.

But he had gone before her fond imaginings needed to be turned into reality and
she sighed again, feeling herself relax as she settled the hide in front of her
once more.

There _were_ a lot of g's on the page but that was _entirely_ correct as almost
every typeface or lettering style could be identified by that single letter.
Sahna inked her pen carefully and started a new line.

Q and q in different styles all the way across the page. They weren't as good as
identifiers as the g but they were often the most decorative letters in the face.

Tomorrow, when they were back in their classroom she would check her hide
against the charts which decorated the walls to make sure she had everything
correct but this evening, as she practised, she would dream of someday designing
a style of her own. One that could be a typeface and a lettering style, easy to
hand-write and easy to set.

With a very decorative Q and a g that people would recognise and remember.
_______________________________

Last updated on the July 16th 2014

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

Better than Bold