The Tales of Tarya, Books 1-3

Chapter 3 - A Tale Needs Telling-1

A Tale Needs TellingUberto chose a flat, grassy area behind the wagons for their first rehearsal. He placed the masks on the ground and held out his hands to Mina. She stepped forward and took them.

‘Understand, Mina, you are about to become part of a tradition hundreds of years old. What you see onstage may look simple, but there is much to learn. Not all have an aptitude for it. Quick wits are required, and certain other … talents. Though your apprenticeship begins today, it may be weeks, or months, before we can decide whether you are truly suited to playing. Do not expect to be part of the festival competition. I will not allow you onstage until you are ready. And there are aspects of our art you will not discover until you take the Oath of Players.’

Mina nodded, and was surprised to feel disappointment rising. Even in the short time she’d been with the troupe she had picked up on their excitement regarding the competition in the royal city. Now Uberto explained that all the artisans of Andon would compete over two days to be named as the royal artisans, and the winners would hold their post for five years, until the next competition. Only the best were chosen to compete.

Mina hadn’t expected to perform onstage straight away, but what if the troupe won the competition? Would they let her remain with them if she hadn’t learned how to play? Yet if she found out Paolo’s whereabouts, she wouldn’t stay with the troupe anyway. She couldn’t forget that was her real goal.

Still, Mina couldn’t help but feel disappointed at the realisation that it might take months to discover the secrets of playing. What she’d seen onstage, the strange transformation of the masks, intrigued her, hinting that there was much more to the players’ performances than simple entertainment.

Uberto broke through her distracted thoughts by instructing Mina to follow his example, and led her through a series of simple exercises that involved closing her eyes, deepening her breathing and making low, chanting noises. Mina felt a calmness overtaking her. Uberto let go of her hands, but continued talking to her, his voice low and calm.

‘I’m going to put a mask on you now. Keep focusing on your breath. Breathe deeply, from here,’ Uberto patted Mina’s stomach, ‘and don’t listen too closely to what I say—just let the words wash over you. Focus on your breathing. I want you to feel the mask on your face.’

Mina felt the mask slip over her features. Uberto fastened the leather straps at the back of her head. It fit well, although it was very cold against her skin, but it felt strange at first. Mina fought against a sudden sensation of being lost. Her breath stuttered and quickened. Uberto placed his hand on her stomach, standing behind her now. She felt his breath, slow and even, just behind her ear, and her neck prickled with his closeness. Fighting nervousness, she followed his directions as he spoke in low tones, urging her to slow her breath again. When she had done so he lifted his hand from her stomach and began a quick, constant monologue.

‘The mask can set you free. Forgot who you are and where you have come from. The mask will open doors for you to worlds beyond what you know. Every dream is possible. Feel the mask settling on your face, feel it on your skin. Feel your past dissolving, and your future opening before you. Mina is gone. You can be anyone you wish to be.’

Uberto continued in this vein, and Mina began to feel strange. At first her body was a leaden weight, then she felt as though she were rushing forward, and then she felt light. She was drifting above a girl with honey golden hair, who swayed, her face concealed by a dark, grotesque mask. Behind the girl stood Harlequin, also masked, leaning forward and breathing eagerly, as though he was drawing his every breath from the girl’s exhalations. He sighed, and lifted one hand to stroke the girl’s hair, barely touching it. Mina realised she was looking at herself, but she didn’t feel Harlequin’s touch. Then she noticed the mask she wore was shimmering, becoming hazy, just as she’d seen onstage.

‘Ah,’ Harlequin said, and inhaled a breath so deep his whole body seemed to rise. ‘What a gift.’ He began dancing around the silent girl, bowing before her then leaping into the air with vigour. Then he stopped still.

‘Well done, Mina. This is more than most can do on their first try. But perhaps … perhaps we do not stop here. Do not think what you are doing is impossible. The normal rules do not apply to you anymore. I want you to talk to me, Mina. I want you to picture who you could be, if you were not a simple girl from a small village. Talk to me! Here, I will help you.’

Harlequin began describing a young woman, a servant girl, called Rosetta, who had a wealthy mistress. He told her a tale about Rosetta’s role in helping her mistress find romance. Still watching herself from above, Mina listened carefully until Harlequin entreated her to speak to him as though she were Rosetta. Uncertain how she could speak, she felt a sickening rush and was back in her own body. Her lips felt thick as she struggled to find words.

‘My name is Rosetta. I am a servant to … to …’

‘Find a name. You can do this. You must!’ Harlequin insisted, his voice harsh.

Mina tried to think, but her mind wouldn’t work. ‘A servant to … to … Uberto, I don’t know!’

‘Use a name you know for now,’ Uberto said, speaking in his own soft tones rather than the guttural voice of Harlequin. Mina opened her eyes and saw him looking at her with disappointment, though his coppery brown eyes were warm.

‘A servant to Isabella …’ she hesitated, ‘… Isabella is in love with … Jal. He is a farm boy and she isn’t supposed to see him. I carry messages to … I’m terrible at this, Uberto. I’m just repeating what you told me. This is hard.’

Uberto took her hands again. ‘It’s always hard the first time. Don’t let it worry you. It will change. Let Mina go, for a time. Be Rosetta. The mask frees you. It opens the door. You transformed, I saw it. Now you need to do that, but keep control of your body. It is your tool. It is the mouthpiece through which the dreams live. Try again. What would it be like to be a servant girl? Rosetta is waiting for you, if you reach out to her.’

Mina tried again, but she just couldn’t speak as though she were a servant girl, and she remained within her own body.

‘Listen to my words,’ Uberto said, and his voice was like a song. ‘You are very tired, about to fall asleep. Feel how heavy your body and arms are. You lie in your bed. You are Rosetta. Reach for her, find her. As you drift toward sleep, picture your day. You have worked hard for your mistress. What have you done?’

Mina tried, but nothing came. Words were forming in her head though, and she broke through her frustrated attempts with a tentative question.

‘Uberto … would you mind if I try something else?’

His eyes flashed yellow, the pupils almost slits, and he sniffed through the sharp nose of the mask. Mina was reminded of a fox. He looked at her, his head on the side, and she felt he was seeing deep inside her mind. He weighed things up. Mina waited.

‘Go ahead,’ he said, nodding his head in quick movements.

And Mina began to tell. She spoke slowly at first, tentative. She hadn’t told a story for many years. Until her father’s reminder, she’d almost forgotten she could. But now, Uberto was right, the mask did free her. She spoke of Rosetta, the girl who ran errands for her mistress, and how one day she was waylaid in the woods by a pirate, who fell in love with her and carried her away. Rosetta forgot all about her mistress and her sad love affair, for she had her own adventures to pursue.

As Mina spoke, she saw in her mind a girl, tall, with dark brown hair, dressed in bright calicos, mending a pirate’s flag. Pictures began to run through her mind, and she spoke of how Rosetta and her beloved pirate plundered the ship of her old master and became incredibly wealthy, settling in far Eastern places and building a glorious building of gold.

Mina pictured herself inside this palace and she began to see everything she described. Drifting from room to room, she admired the silken hangings and the wooden latticework of the interior windows, uncertain whether she was conjuring these images with her words, or describing what was already in front of her. Her skin began to prickle with the increasing warmth of the air. Looking out an arched window, she saw an exotic world beyond the white walls of the palace. Dark skinned men cried out, selling their wares. Women wore draped clothing in bright pinks and oranges, and carried big, round jars on their heads. There was a strong, spicy smell to the warm air. The sun was setting, casting a rose hue across the busy street. She turned around to consider the interior.

And Uberto stood there, smiling. ‘Amazing!’ he said. ‘On your first try. And so vivid.’

Mina was reluctant to speak, worried it might make everything disappear, but somehow she found herself communicating with Uberto without words.

‘Where am I? How did this happen?’

Uberto answered, and Mina realised his lips didn’t move either.

‘This … all of this … you created. With your words, and the mask. As to where you are …’ He bowed and swept his arm out, in a gesture already familiar to Mina, as though he had a cloak over his shoulder. ‘Welcome to Tarya.’

Mama Tina’s voice broke through the air, though Mina couldn’t see where it came from. ‘Rehearsal begins, Uberto.’

Like smoke, the golden, exotic palace blew away. Mina found herself standing in the clearing behind the wagons. Uberto stood opposite her, and Mina thought he’d already removed his mask, because his face was clear, although his eyes were distant. Then his features dissolved, fading backward into the elongated eyes and furrowed brow of Harlequin’s mask. Mina became aware of the weight of the mask on her own face, although a minute before she hadn’t remembered it was there. Mama Tina stood behind her. The older woman reached up and unstrapped Mina’s mask. She placed it in the wooden box near her feet.

‘She reached Tarya, Cristina,’ Uberto said.

Mama Tina peered into Mina’s face, then gave her a great hug. ‘Congratulations, Mina! No one ever manages that on their first try. Well, no one other than my Uberto. By reaching Tarya you can transform, becoming someone different onstage.’

‘The changes to the masks …?’ Mina asked.

Mama Tina nodded.

Uberto looked confused. ‘I need to think about this. I don’t understand what she did.’

‘Don’t be too long, Uberto, or you’ll miss out on supper,’ Mama Tina said. ‘You know how the troupe eats after a rehearsal or a performance. Ah well, soon that will be the king’s concern, not mine.’

‘And you can have a rest, my love.’ He shook his head and turned to Mina. ‘Mina, go and watch the rehearsal.’

After she left he turned to his wife. ‘Cristina, my love, what did you see?’

‘I saw Mina standing there, telling. She held me captivated with her voice.’

‘You did not see … anything else?’

‘No. Well, her mask was partially transformed, nothing distinct but …’

Uberto dropped his voice to be sure they wouldn’t be overheard. ‘She created a complete palace, right down to the tiles on the floors, in the Place of Dreams. It was … astonishing. She has power. Raw, but strong.’

‘She created buildings? In the Place of Dreams? She didn’t get them from the dreams?’

Uberto shook his head.

‘Then how …?’

‘I think she drew from the Sea. I sensed her power when I first saw her,’ he continued. ‘We need time to discover what this means. But she is not like the others, not an outsider. We will have to play this hand with care.’

Mama Tina nodded. ‘I noticed too. She has a home. A family. I’m not sure how we win her loyalty.’