feat: drafted forty-two

chapters/chapter-40.md

@@ -55,21 +55,21 @@ She held it up. "Y-You said we had to learn new songs. I had a few that I though
 
 Linsan grinned as she inspected it.
 
-While Brook's handwriting was beautiful and calligraphic, she had never learned how to write or read music. She had "lots of string instruments and..." with a line showing the notes rising and falling.
+While Brook's handwriting was beautiful and calligraphic, she had never learned how to write or read music. She had "lots of string instruments and..." with lines showing the notes rising and falling.
 
 Combing through her mind, Linsan tried to puzzle the names from the notes.
 
 Brook blushed and looked away. "It's okay if we use only your songs. You know how---"
 
-"No, I know these."
+"No, I know most of these."
 
-Her dark hair fluttered. "You do?"
+Her dark curls bounced as she turned back sharply. "They are? I mean, you do?"
 
 Linsan hummed through the first one.
 
 "That's it!"
 
-"_Ode to the Champion_ and this one is _What Comes of the Nightbird_, my mother auditioned for the play that carried that song. These are really good songs, Brook, they all have solid beats for you and I can adapt the music to my violin."
+"_Ode to the Champion_ and this one is _What Comes of the Nightbird_, my mother auditioned for the play that introduced that one. These are really good songs for us, Brook. They have solid rhythms for you and I can adapt the music to my violin."
 
 "R-Really?" Brook looked surprised. Then she beamed with a relieved smile.
 

chapters/chapter-41.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ teaser: &teaser >
 summary: *teaser
 ---
 
-Linsan's ears rang from Brook's concussion blasts. Her hand dipped for a moment before she brought it up. "Almost. This time, remember it's one... two... three... clap. You want to clap just as I hit the high note."
+Linsan's ears rang from Brook's latest concussion blast. Her hand dipped for a moment before she brought it up. "Almost. This time, remember it's one... two... three... clap. You want to clap just as I hit the high note."
 
 Sweat trickling down her brow, Brook signed. "It would be a lot easier if I could hear you play. Your hand gestures are hard to track."
 
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ Brook smiled. "No, that was easy. You were doing all the work. I need to learn t
 
 Linsan groaned. She felt useless practicing without being able to play. She was a poor conductor when the songs were inside her head were Brook couldn't hear them. "I know, but what else can we do? Give up for---?"
 
-"No. We don't give up." Brook straightened. She had on a pair of black lace gloves that were pristine when she started. After only an hour, the material had started to break and the delicate strands of lace curled out and gave the backs of her hands a fuzzy appearance.
+"No. We can't give up." Brook straightened. She had on a pair of black lace gloves that were pristine when she started. After only an hour, the material had started to break and the delicate strands of lace curled out and gave the backs of her hands a fuzzy appearance.
 
 Linsan wiped the sweat from her face and then straighten. "Okay, so the drum of _Ode to the Champion_ goes ba-da ba-da ba-da-da-dum. So, you want to clap---"
 
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ Brook flushed. "Look, I was---"
 
 Holding up a finger to Brook's lip, Linsan grinned. "A storm long since past. You want me to dance for you?"
 
-Brook's cheeks colored. "Yes."
+Brook's cheeks colored and her eyes crossed to look at Linsan's hand. "Yes. Please."
 
 Stepping back, Linsan pictured the movement. "Okay, so about about this... ba-da ba-da?" As she said the beats, she swayed her body and stepped high, striking her feet in time with the beat. A familiar rush came. "And then we ba-da-da-dum!" She kicked up her feet, arched back, and then hopped forward.
 
@@ -49,9 +49,9 @@ Brook nodded.
 
 Linsan closed her eyes and moved to the music, first saying the beats, but then using her voice to mimic her violin's notes.
 
-At the right moment, she felt Brook's concussion beat. Instead of it throwing her forward, it buoyed Linsan's step and she lightly skipped to the next dance step.
+At the right moment, she felt Brook's concussion beat. Instead of it throwing her forward, it buoyed Linsan's step and she lightly skipped to the next step.
 
-When the next beat came, the ground shook but Linsan barely felt it as she spun and continued on, dancing and singing as her friend clapped out the rhythm to the song. With the blasts shaking the air and shaking her chest, it felt naturally to leap and bound in time with the music.
+When the beat came again, the ground shook but Linsan barely felt it as she spun and continued on, dancing and singing as her friend clapped out the rhythm to the song. With the blasts shaking the air and shaking her chest, it felt naturally to leap and bound in time with the music.
 
 As the song came to an end, Linsan circled back around until her final step brought her face-to-face with Brook. She stopped, inches away, panting lightly as she looked into her friend's brown eyes.
 
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ Tugging Brook forward, Linsan shook her head. With every step, she swayed her hi
 
 "Stop," Brook laughed.
 
-"Come on, feel the beat. Besides just clapping along. Ba-da," Linsan smirked as she rocked her hips the other way.
+"Come on, feel the beat. Besides just clapping along. You need to move around the battlefield. Move your body. Ba-da," Linsan smirked as she rocked her hips the other way.
 
 Brook started to move with her, a hesitant smile on her lips. Then she seemed to relax and began to match Linsan's movements.
 

chapters/chapter-42.md

@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+---
+title: Overtime
+teaser: &teaser >
+    Linsan and Brook come back from a day of practice to find out that the Coaster isn't going to be ready to leave at midnight like they hoped.
+summary: *teaser
+---
+
+Linsan limped as they walked back up the road toward the public house. She had twisted her ankle one too many times and the dull throb rose up; hopefully there wouldn't be a fight in a couple of days until she recovered. She wiped her face, scraping off dirt, sweat, and grass from her cheeks and brow.
+
+Next to her, Brook staggered next to her. She had refused to take off her heels even in the grass. When Linsan had offered to help her, she claimed that they were both too hot but she remained within arm's reach.
+
+It was late evening but Linsan didn't remember the day passing until she was tripping over roots she couldn't see. She groaned and took a deep breath to speak. "That was a good practice. I think we've mastered the first six songs, three of yours and three of mine. And we've almost got the seventh done."
+
+Brook perked up. Her hair was a mess, the black curls cascading down her face despite her effort to push them back. She arched her back.
+
+One button snapped off.
+
+She lurched forward, a blush coloring her cheeks. One hand smacked against her chest to keep the dress from bursting open.
+
+Linsan stopped and turned to shield her from the public house.
+
+Blushing hotly, Brook looked down and gingerly pulled her hand away. The opening gaped slightly but the other buttons held. She let out a sigh of relief.
+
+"Going to be okay?" whispered Linsan.
+
+"Nothing I can't fix in the room." Brook smiled at her. "Might have to strip down first."
+
+"You mean, take a bath?"
+
+Brook's nose crinkled. "I stink of sweat."
+
+"You're wearing a dress in the field."
+
+Her eyes widened as she looked up. Before Linsan could say something, she tigthened her grip on her dress as if she was going to be told that she had to take off the dress.
+
+Seeing the look of fear, Linsan realized there was something more than just wearing pretty dresses. She smiled as sweetly as she could and then ran her thumb through the dirt smeared on Brook's cheek. "I'm never going to tell you to take off a dress."
+
+"Y-You aren't?"
+
+"No. I won't."
+
+"Even though I shouldn't be wearing it in that field?"
+
+Linsan chuckled. "You already know that, don't you? But we can't choose the fields of your battles. As long as you are careful, and we stop before someone gets hurt, we should be okay."
+
+Brook gave her a pointed look. "Is 'choose the fields of your battles' a line from a play I don't know?"
+
+Linsan had to stop and think. After a moment, she shook her head slowly. "I-I don't think so."
+
+"You mean, you have words of wisdom that didn't come from someone else."
+
+Rolling her eyes, Linsan laughed. "Maybe?"
+
+Brook reached up and pulled Linsan to her side. She leaned into her. "Good. I like it when you're leading."
+
+Linsan blushed. She slipped her arm around Brook's waist and led her toward the public house and a hot bath.
+
+There were a few villagers coming in and out of the building, mostly for the communal dinner that Har provided for those who worked all day. A couple waved to them as they approach.
+
+Then they heard the pounding of metal coming from Miska's smithy.
+
+Brook's arm tightened around Lin. She looked longingly at the warm light spilling out from Miska's door. "Lin?"
+
+"Come on, let's see how your Coaster is doing."
+
+Heat rolled out of the opening as they approached, the hot air sending swirls of nearly invisible eddies across the ground. The beat was steady and pwoerful, not unlike Brook's clapping during the fight. With every slam, the ground shook underneath their feet.
+
+Brook broke away from Linsan and hurried forward. But as soon as she looked inside, she came to a stumbling halt. Her jaw dropped as she peered inside.
+
+Linsan approached a few moments later and peeked inside.
+
+Miska stood near the center of the room. She had a long piece of metal braced against a heavy-looking stone as she pounded it with her fist. The place where she struck glowed a reddish-orange and wisps of smoke rose around her, only to be pushed away each time Miska's fist struck the metal.
+
+Linsan glanced around the room, seeing dozens of metal pipes and gears scattered on every flat surface. Some of them were steaming while others looked like they were scorched black.
+
+The heat caused more sweat to prickle along Linsan's brow, but she was fascinating how Miska was somehow heating up the metal as she worked the metal back into shape. The blacksmith had a rhythm, more simplistic the songs Brook and Linsan had been practicing, but they were steadier than Brook's clapping; almost as if Miska had a metronome in her head.
+
+Miska turned and smiled. "Like what you see, Princess?"
+
+Brook made a gasping noise and then turned awya. She was blushing.
+
+Linsan frowned and then she noticed that Miska appeared to only be wearing a pair of canvas shorts and an apron, nothing else. Sweat and soot covered her entire body, causing it shimmer in the light glowing from the metal she worked.
+
+Miska grinned as she set it down and walked closer. As she did, she fanned the apron to move the air underneath. "Working metal is hotter than you think and I'll be damned if I'm going to do it in a pretty dress."
+
+Brook's lips parted as she started to say something, then she stepped back to stand next to Linsan.
+
+Linsan took in the sight and then gestured to the car. "How is the Coaster?"
+
+"Fighting me like a bull in spring." Miska tested her hair which had been pulled back into a pony tail and then let it go. Her hair, like her skin, was blackened by sooth. "I should have the frame finished in about an hour and start working on the smaller pieces."
+
+"Midnight?"
+
+Miska sighed. "Sorry, but that won't happen."
+
+Brook whimpered and Linsan felt a tighteness in her chest.
+
+"But, I'll have you on the road by first light, come the winter winds. Even if I have to get out and push you all the way."
+
+Brook turned back. "How much to get us out by midnight?"
+
+Miska laughed, a surprisingly deep sound from the blond. "Money? You think money is going to make me faster?"
+
+Brook tensed.
+
+"I'm going as fast as I can, Princess." Miska gave Brook a hard look and then shook her head.
+
+"What about someone to help you?"
+
+"The nearest smith is over in Tausin, that's twenty miles away and the bastard hates me. You have to go at least thirty north or west to find someone who would work for me. And without your car, you're looking at twenty or thirty hours walk."
+
+"I could get a horse."
+
+"Still, you'd be riding all night with a horse you don't know to a place you've never been. Think about it, you really want to risk that much money instead of waiting a few more hours." Miska sighed. "No, Princess, your money isn't going to help you now."
+
+Brook's lips tightened into a thin line.
+
+"And offering to bribe me isn't going to make me any faster. You'd have better lucky paying to get into my shorts and I'm too busy for a roll on a mattress, don't whore myself out, and you are way too uptight to get between my thighs."
+
+Brook inhaled sharply.
+
+Linsan caught her hand and squeezed it. Then she addressed Miska. "Thank you. Is there anything we do to help? Buy you dinner or something to drink?"
+
+Miska's shoulders relaxed perceptiablbly. "No, smithing and drinking are a good way to lose a finger. After, maybe." She stepped back. "I need to get back to work, Dancer, but I appreciate the offer."
+
+Then she looked at Brook. "Good night, Princess."
+
+Brook growled at the back of her throat, but Miska turned and strode back into the smithy.
+
+Linsan tugged Brook away. "Come on, let's get dinner and a bath."
+
+"She's... she's..."
+
+"She is helping us, Brook, and we need to let her work."
+
+Brook flounced back toward public house, muttering under her breath, "... ungrateful cow, what does she think...."
+
+Linsan trailed behind, enjoying the moment of silence except for the steady beat of fist against metal. She swayed to it, it was definitely something she could dance too.
+
+Her ankle twinged and she stumbled.
+
+With a hiss, she stopped and mounted the stairs. "Too bad we can't ask her to join us."
+
+But that wasn't a question she could bring up with Brook nor one she could ask of Miska. She sighed and headed inside.

chapters/chapter-43.md

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+title: WIP
+teaser: &teaser >
+    WIP
+summary: *teaser
+---