"Okay, we'll give you a try. What's your name?" you ask.
"Salar," he says. "Are you the playwright? Wow. I've always wanted to meet a real playwright!" He shakes your hand overenthusiastically. "Thank you. Thank you so much! I can't tell you how excited I am!"
"Then stop telling us," Nichol says shortly. "Look, this is all you do. You stand here holding a spear and then when Viola speaks to you, you say your one line."
"Got it!" Salar says. "I'll do it perfectly. You'll see. It will be memorable."
"It's not supposed to be memorable," Nichol says. "You're the guard. Viola is supposed to be memorable."
"Right! Got it!"
You shake your head. Salar looks like he might be about your age, but it's hard not to feel that you're much more worldly wise. "Was I ever that starstruck?" you murmur.
Diar nudges you. "You were," she says. "Absolutely."
"Was not," you say, smiling back at her.
The evening of the play is fair and warm. The inn starts filling up in the afternoon, long before the appointed hour. The innkeeper must be very happy with the custom! You, however, are doubling as playwright and costume assistant. It's not until the play actually begins that you're able to slip away into the standing room against the wall in the innyard and watch.
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