Tad and Nico went to their room, where Nico had stored his cittern with their other belongings.

"Well, sounds like we have our first show, " said Nico with a smile.

Tad sat on his makeshift bed, "Yea, they seemed very interested in hearing us. What do you think that was about? "

"I don't know. Perhaps they are more musical than other dwarves, " said Nico taking a seat near the window and taking his cittern out of its case, testing its tune and adjusting it.

Tad took his amulet off his neck and placed it on the divan, and pressed the small white area on its back. In a few moments, his Elvin cittern formed from the amulet and was sitting there. True to his word Nico had taken care of it, and Tad could find no changes or scratches. The cittern was a gift from Catarine, and it was always in tune. Jack had mentioned it was a kingly gift which also came with a tracking spell attached. Jack had adjusted it so Catarine could no longer track him with it. Since then, Tad has used it to perform with Nico in their popup musical act at the Carnival. Tad regretted that he had left his performing outfit in his wagon now.

"Tad, you still remember how to play that thing? Chasing demon girls all over the universe for the last several months, you might have gotten rusty, " said a smiling Nico.

Tad looked at his friend, "You know Nico I've been meaning to ask you about Zanna. What do you think of her? "

Nico's smile broadened, and he chuckled, "ahh… so finally someone has caught your eye." He laughed and strummed a few more notes on his cittern.

"Well, she is a demon or part demon that's probably not a plus in most people's book. But she is also half-elf god of mischief, which might be a huge plus for some. She is nice to look at for sure, but she acts odd around other people. Like she doesn't know what to expect or what is expected of her in normal, or our version of normal lives. Also, she throws fireballs when she is mad, which might not be something I'd look for in a girlfriend. How old did you say she was again? " said Nico.

Tad took a deep breath, "She is over a thousand years old, but it's complicated. She spent most of that time stuck in a genie bottle and watching demons be demons. You have no idea how bad that place was; I've woken up more than once having nightmares of it. I could describe it to you, but I do not think I could ever convey how it felt to be trapped there, even for a few months. " Tad played a few notes, then pulled his finger picks from his pouch and started putting them on. They were small metal rings with a flat piece he used to play his cittern.

"So you like the older ladies then, Nice, that explains everything, " continued Nico with a smile, then suddenly giving a dramatic strum to emphasize his jab.

"It is worse than that. I think her father threatened me." Tad paused in thought, " Let's just practice." He more than a bit worried about where this conversation was going. He liked Nico they have been friends for years now and Tad didn't know if making fun of this would be a good idea.

Nico and Tad ran through the first couple of songs of their normal show at the Carnival. Tad threw up some minor light spells circled around as lancers on steads above them. Then they disintegrated into a shower of sparkly dust, and he hit the soulmancy bar on his cittern, creating a subtle but distinct thump in the air. They used this to highlight parts of their performance.

"You don't know how to use that, do you, " asked Lamruil from the doorway. Neither of the two had noticed him now standing in the open door.

Tad and Nico stopped, "umm.. I was told to put some soul into it. " said Tad.

"No, well yes, but no. It is not some barbarian's drum. It is supposed to be a subtle push to the music to allow you to convey feeling beyond the sense of hearing. It is not a boom boom boom toy. " said Lamruil as he walked into the room.

"Oh do you play? " asked Nico looking to defend his friend.

"Yes, but not citterns. Look, " said Lamruil, followed by a rush of information and visuals to Tad via projection.

"Do you see that? It's not a boom boom boom, its subtle, like the singers in the Grand Bazaar. Why exactly did she give you such a gift?" continued Lamruil.

"Yea, that makes more sense now. If you must know, she gave me the gift because I returned something to her she valued, OH, and she wanted to track me where ever I went for some reason. But we fixed that before I used it. " said Tad trying out a few bars and trying to imagine a place using the new technique Lamruil had just shown him.

Lamruil nodded to Tad, "Now that is the Catarine Lefe that I know. Give you something you value so you will keep it near, and she could spy at her leisure. It sounds of something from the Elvin courts. " He listened to Tad for a few moments, "That is better, more practice, and you might turn into a decent musician someday. "

Nico started another song, and Tad joined, trying to use the skill he had just learned. Now, there was a resonance to the music that allowed him to push more emotion across the listeners via the energia he was directing into the instrument. The song came to the same spot as before, and Tad again boom, boom, boom. He smiled at Lamruil.

"I want to sing, " came a voice that was Zanna now standing in the doorway right where Lamruil had been.

All three men looked up at her. Tad looked like a deer someone had just spooked in the forest.

"Umm… You can sing? " asked Tad looking at Nico. Nico raised his eyebrows in that I hope this goes well, but you are on your own look. Tad looked back at Zanna.

"You said you need a singer back at the Bazaar, and I can sing," said Zanna looking more determined, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Have you sung before? " asked Tad. He wasn't ready to hurt her feelings, but if he was going to be playing for a large group in a couple of hours. Introducing a new singer that nobody had ever heard, including himself, might be a bad idea.

"No, well yes. I have never sung outside the courts, but what I heard in the Grand Bazaar didn't look difficult," said Zanna stepping into the room to stand directly in front of the men. She gave a huge sigh as if nobody was paying attention to her. This was very distracting to Tad, who was paying more attention to the animated parts of her and not her expression.

"Fine, Nico, please start, I'll follow. Zanna please join in at any point after that, no words are needed. Just keep up with the melody. " said Tad looking at Nico.

Nico nodded and started with one of the earliest songs both of them had learned. It was a simpler song of a peasant festival during harvest. Tad watched Zanna as she closed her eyes, then she sang.

If one could combine the sound of crunching gravel accompanied with nails across a slate board, that would have been more pleasant.

Lamruil winced, Tad could see the elf struggling with the noise.

"Stop…. What was that? " asked Tad.

"That was one of the great ballads of the court of Shazikarik Di'Shlivanti Archduke of hell. It would have been better if you two could play, " said Zanna, smirking.

Tad looked at Nico, who just shrugged again, and yep Tad was on his own for this one.

Tad decided to take a different approach, "What we were playing was a song about working, harvesting, and the end of a hard day's labor. Do you remember those Elvish women singing at the Bazaar? Is it possible you can try for that style instead but keep it simple? Just match our tone. " Tad strummed a chord to emphasize. Then he plucked six notes in order.

"Try to match this one first. " He plucked the first one. Zanna just stared at him. He plucked it again, then raised one eyebrow looking at her. Lamruil was watching Tad, trying not to smile too hard. At least someone was enjoying this.

Tad nodded to Nico, "Ok, one more time then, Nico."

Nico started, Tad joined in on the second verse, then he looked at Zanna waiting. She went to start, then stopped a second. Her complexion changed, becoming a lighter shade of pale red. Then she sang. It was in perfect tone to the six notes Tad had played. One after the other, held for a few seconds, then next. Tad started to smile. He stopped, then Nico stopped.

"That was much better. How did you do that so fast? " asked Tad.

"I told you I could sing. All succubus have the ability to copy certain things that help them trap prey. So I looked at you and thought about what you wanted to hear and matched that. " then she smirked. Again with the smirks. What is going on with her?

Tad thought about the image of her soul shriveling, "Well, let's try not to use that power again. Can you still sing in key, though? I mean, with any song? "

Zanna thought about it for a few moments, "The change is done. We can try another song and see. "

They spent the next hour going over songs. In the end, Tad liked the sound of one of them, so they decided to ask Zanna to join them as the last song of the set. Even Lamruil had liked what he heard with that song, well the elf wasn't smiling in jest at that one. Tad would work with Zanna more later if she really wanted to join them when they played. He was still uncertain why she wanted to do this, really prey?

***