"Ah, if it's male Greenriders, that should be all right, then," Marko said with firm nod. Admittedly, most of the male greenriders he had met had been...well, tetchy would have been an understatement, to say the least. But as far as he could tell, they were still uninterested in women.
"Well, again, congratulations on your engagement. I shall begin on the song this evening," he said. "Chinny, like all true Harpers, seems to have an impeccable eye for location," he went on. "The weather here would be miserable for any decent ensemble, anyway. Instruments just don't hold a tune." He shook his head mournfully. How could Harpers possibly survive in such a miserable place for any amount of time?
Xeran's explanation made him frown slightly. "Ah, the stories," he said darkly. "And we're guiltier for those than the rest. So much of our history revolves around the great heroes triumphing over adversity...and everyone seems to forget the bits where riders die and Hatchlings kill Candidates." He shook his head. "What a pity the songs romanticize it all. We'd have so many more apprentices if they didn't." Ugh...the idea of the ex-harpers aging out and coming back in pieces...was not a good one. "We need them in one piece."
"Maybe I ought to write a new song or two," he added with a sudden sly smile.
