Rune

Rune watched as Morgance and Vinnia conversed. Nervous for reasons he could not define, Rune listened to the exchange with wide eyes.

So perhaps Vinnia was one of them, after all. The thought was somehow encouraging. If I had to choose allies, I would choose Casady, Morgance, and Vinnia, Rune decided. Shifting in his seat, he returned his thoughts to the conversation at hand.

There was a knock at the door.

"Casady Conlin to see you," someone called from outside. Vinnia looked up and called out, "Come in." Returning to the conversation, she opened her mouth to say something when the door was thrown open.

"I'm a tenor!" Casady exclaimed.

Rune was relieved for his friend's sake. "I knew it, now, didn't I?" he said, and Casady laughed.

Morgance, however, was not amused. "We're in the middle of a conversation here," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Aren't you going to congratulate me?"

Vinnia smiled, something that actually seemed rather nice on her face. "Congratulations, young man. Did you want to be a tenor?"

"I was hoping for that, yes," Casady said, beaming. He took a seat and turned to Rune. "All we need to do is convince Miss Morgance over there to actually sing," he said, and Rune laughed.

Vinnia nodded. "You should listen to them, Morgance."

Morgance's face hardened, and Rune's heart sank. He doubted she'd ever sing.

"Where were we?" Rune asked, changing the topic. "We were talking about not telling others that you're one of us, right?" 

Vinnia crossed her arms and tipped her chair back so that she stared up at the ceiling. "Come, now. Did I expressly state that I'm one of you?" she asked.

"You might as well have," Morgance replied.

She's still mad at Casady for saying she needs to sing, Rune realized. He reached out and gave Morgance's shoulder an encouraging tap.

Casady stifled what sounded like a laugh.

Are my feelings that obvious? Rune wondered. He decided it didn't matter. A guy's got to do what a guy's got to do. But maybe I am coming off a bit too strongly...

Vinnia looked at the clock. "Eleven fifteen," she said. "We have lunch in thirty-five minutes. I ought to dismiss you." She held her hand up. "But wait. We must agree to talk again, yes? I have some things that must be said to you three."

"Oh, goody," Morgance said sarcastically.

You'd better be careful, or you'll get us all in trouble, Rune thought. But he didn't say anything.

He probably should have.

Author guidance for This story

Note: Because readers have been rating without explanation, I'm disabling the ratings. My hope is that this way, the readers will be encouraged to comment and tell me how to change my story so that it's the best it can possibly be! Thanks, y'all! :)

Dedicated to Jessie Rose and Ramona Maria, two dear friends who mean more to me than any dedication could possibly convey.

Do you know what the Songmakers Force is?

That's alright. Nobody does, really. The most I can tell you is that the Songmakers Force is an underground community that specializes in selling a commodity most unheard of: Song.

Kidnaping young adults in order to train them to be powerful, breathtaking Singers, the Songmakers Force is top-secret and will stop at nothing to make sure their Singers cooperate. Their goal? To produce Song that is more beautiful than any other in history.

Casady Conlin, Rune Pipher, and Morgance Estella are three young adults that have been selected to serve the Songmakers Force. But their Head Trainer, Vinnia Valdeza, has other ideas...other ideas that swell with rebellion and, ultimately, freedom.

Character Bios:
CASADY CONLIN
Age: 22
Appearance: Tall, lean, dark blonde hair, bright hazel eyes, somewhat fair complexion, extremely handsome

RUNE PIPHER
Age: 21
Appearance: Short (for a man), stocky, dark brown hair, bright blue eyes, olive-tone complexion, also handsome (though in a different way than Casady)

MORGANCE ESTELLA
Age: 19
Appearance: Quite short, curvy (if not just a little plump), purple hair (dyed, of course ;) ), dark brown eyes, very dark complexion

VINNIA VALDEZA
Age: 29
Appearance: Waist-long, straight silver hair (dyed), extremely pale skin, large blue eyes, very tall, very slender

updated Apr 26 by cassandramorrow