[Lanen Kaelar 01] - Song in the Silence (64 page)

“Ah, youngling,” I sighed without
thinking, “and still our Kindreds mistrust each other. What
could
convince you that I am who I say I am?”

“Nothing that I can think of. Unless you
were to use this truespeech on me, and I heard you.”

“Most of your people—forgive me—most humans
are deaf to the Language of Truth, and in
all the history of the Gedri only
Lanen has not been mute. Most likely you would hear
nothing.”

“I’m willing to chance it,” he said,
challenging me.

I sighed and rose. I fetched my circlet from my
pack in the corner, where I had stowed it when
I arrived. I placed it on
my brow,
breathing deep, remembering that when last I had worn it I stood before my own
people.
”May I bespeak you, Jameth of Arinoc? It is
Varien who speaks.”

I waited. “Well?” he said. “Go ahead
and try.”

I tried again, using the broadest kind of
truespeech.
”Master Jameth, would that I
might
convince
you of that which is simple truth. I am he who once was Lord of the Kantri. I
am
become
human by the will of the Winds and the Lady. And I love your heart’s-daughter
Lanen
with
a love that will be remembered in song on the Isle of Dragons when we all are
dust and
gone.”

Jamie’s expression did not change. I removed the
circlet. “Forgive me, Jameth. I spoke, but
you did not hear.”

“Ah, well. You tried,” he said, much of
the rough concern gone from his voice.

“Yet despite your deafness you are well
content. I do not understand.”

He half-smiled at me. “You might just be
telling the truth. I’ve seen conjurers at fairs who
claim Farsight. They moan and groan
and frown, there’s a whole act goes with it. You didn’t
even twitch. Did Lanen hear
you?”

“Yes, I did,” said a quiet voice from
the door. It was Lanen as I had never seen her, with her
hair all
loose about her, and dressed in a soft green gown that flowed when she walked.
I was
enchanted.

Lanen

“I thank you for those words, dear heart.
It’s a shame Jamie couldn’t hear them.”

“You know, my girl, in the end it doesn’t
matter,” said Jamie, smiling a little sadly at me.

“Whether he’s just a man or a Dragon become
man is all one in the end. I have never seen you
so, Lanen. You are positively
glowing. Do you love him so very much, then?”

”Beyond reason, beyond death, beyond all
understanding I love him, Jamie.”

Jamie stood and held out his hand. ”Then welcome,
Varien, whoever you may be. Come,
stand up and face the fire, let me see your
eyes.”

Varien

“Why?” I asked, as I moved to oblige
him.

“They are called the window of the soul, and
I would look in yours if I may.”

I obeyed, kneeling that he might see better (for
he was much smaller than I).

I think perhaps my eyes convinced him.

Lanen has told me since that, despite all other
changes, my eyes (though human) have yet the
semblance of the eyes of Akhor, who
had lived at that time a thousand and twelve winters. I
think perhaps Jamie saw in my eyes
the years weighing upon years, the memory of time
beyond his imagining. Or perhaps he
simply saw my love for Lanen, and was content.

“Be welcome, Varien,” he said, and took
my hands to help me up.

“I rejoice in thy welcome, for thou art
dearest kin to my beloved,” I said formally. The words
came as a
surprise to me. They were the words used by the Kantri on such occasions, and
though I had
taught them to a few younglings (notably Kédra) I had never thought to find
them on my
own tongue. “I fear I come ill prepared, for I do not know thy customs
well,
though
Lanen hath tried to instruct me. Our wedding is set for three days hence, but
what have
I
to give thee, in thanksgiving for so rare a gift as thy heart’s-daughter?”

“What is the custom among the Kantri?”
asked Lanen, when Jamie had no answer.

“The usual gift is a song,” I replied.

“Then that will content me,” said
Jamie, his face unreadable. “Let you sing a new song at the
wedding,
before you take your vows, as Lanen’s bride-gift.” He took me by the
shoulders.

“But Varien, know that I am giving into your
keeping the only thing of value I have ever had
claim on. If you do not treat her
well, I will come for you.”

Lanen laughed, making light of his words, but I
knew well that he meant them with all his
heart. I was grateful for his
honesty. I was beginning to learn that it was a rare gift among any
people.

I spent the next three days and nights working on
my gift. I was beginning to discover that, if
I needed to, I could do with as
little sleep as the Kantri needed. It was just as well, for I had
not had time
to learn how to use this new voice of mine. It resonated in a completely
different
way,
and it took some time to find the best placement, but I had been singing for a
very long
time
and I found it soon enough. The melody was obvious, a variation on the theme of
our
Flight,
but it was very difficult to make meaningful verse in another language. It was
not
perfect,
but as an idea of the finished whole it was a good beginning.

Lanen

I hardly saw Varien those next three days, which
I suspect was just as well. Jamie and I went
over the year’s accounts and finished
the business of the stead for the year, which had to be
done, but every spare moment I had I
spent in making a gown. Had I time enough to have sent
to Illara, I’d have been wed in
samite, but as it was I had only homespun cotton cloth on hand.

Still, with the help of a better seamstress than
I and three nights of pricked fingers as I
embroidered, I was not so ill a sight
on Midwinter’s Day.

There were few to come to the ceremony at
noon
—Walther and
Alisonde, brave souls (I think
Walther wanted to apologise, but I wouldn’t let him),
a few women from the village, all of
the stable lads and Jamie in the place of honour
standing for my family. I thought briefly of
Marik, babbling still, with only part
of a mind left him, and of Maran, away in Beskin— but
they were no more than phantoms,
while Jamie stood real and solid beside me.

The priestess of the Lady stood waiting at the
end of the hall, which Alisonde and some of the
village women had made gay with such
flowers as bloom in winter. Around my brow holly
and ivy were entwined, vivid green
and red against the cold white of winter, and green and
gold the embroidery on my white
dress. Jamie took me by the hand and walked with me down
the hall, to
where Varien stood waiting.

He took my breath away. He was all in green, a
simple belted tunic over stout leggings, but
upon his brow sat the circlet that
held his soulgem. His silver hair blazed against the green he
wore, and his
soulgem seemed to shine with its own inner light, clear and steady.

When we were come nigh, he opened his mouth and
sang.

It was the Tale of Lanen and Akor.

I suspect you have heard it often, though it is
certain you have never heard it sung so. For he
wore his soulgem on his brow, and I
heard all his song echoed in truespeech, where he still
had the voice of a Lord of the
Kantri.

Jamie cried. That strong, toughened soul, farmer,
horse-master, assassin, wept openly at the
beauty of Varien’s bride-gift to me.
I was beyond tears, in a place where joy has wings.

In the name of the Winds and the Lady we were
wed, lighting candles at midwinter to drive
back the darkness. And in the silence
of our minds, we pledged to each other in the Language
of Truth, in which lies are
impossible.

”Varien Kantriakor rash-Gedri, Kadreshi naLanen,
I take you as my husband and my mate for
as long as life endures. In the name
of the Winds and the Lady, beloved, I am thine.”

”Lanen Kaelar, Kadreshi naVarien, I take you as
my wife and mate for as long as life
endures. In the name of the Winds and the Lady,
dearling, I am thine before all the world.”

That is the true tale of Lanen and Akor.

There is more to tell, but there always is.

True stories never end.

GLOSSARY

Chélan
Name of a plant and the brew made from it. It is drunk as a stimulant. We would
say it
tasted
rather like mate with a hint of cinnamon.

Ferrinshadik
The longing felt by (esp.) the Greater Kindred to join in fellowship with the
Gedri, though
they describe it more generally as the longing to speak with other races.

Gedrishakrim
Humans. Usually shortened to Gedri. In Old Speech (OS): “the silent
people.”

Kadreshi
na
Kantriasarikh phrase, meaning “beloved of.”

Kantriasarikh
The OS word for the language of the Kantrishakrim.

Kantrishakrim
The Greater Kindred of Dragons (originally all dragons). In Old Speech (OS)
the word
means “the wise people.” Usually shortened to
Kantri.

Khaadish
Kantri word for gold.

Language
of Truth
The telepathy natural to the Kantri. It also has
elements of empathic
awareness.
The Gedri call it Farspeech.

Lansip
Name of a tree and the brews made from it. It grows only on the dragonlands,
all
attempts
at transplanting having failed. Made into tea, it is a tonic and general remedy
for
minor
ailments from headache to heart’s sorrow; taken in quantity, it is an elixir of
youth. The
precious
and rare fruit of the lansip tree, called Ian fruit, is a sovereign healer, and
when eaten
will
heal nearly anything outside of death.

Old
Speech
The name in the common tongue for the language
created by the Kantri and
used by all the peoples before the Choice. Since that time it has
developed into distinctly
separate languages.

Rakshadakh
Literally ”demon droppings” (that is the polite translation). It is the
ultimate
insult
as far as the Kantri are concerned, and generally refers to a demon master or
one who
treats
often with the Rakshasa.

Rakshasa
(obs. form:
Rakshi
) Demons.
Singular,
Raksha
(greater demon) or
Rikti
(lesser
demon). OS: “peoples of
chaos.” This is plural because, at the time of the Choice, the
Rakshasa were
already differentiated into two distinct peoples.

Trellishakrim
Trolls. OS meaning is simply “the troll people,” as this word came
from the
Trelli
themselves,
and they never translated it. It is almost the only word of their speech that
survives,
notably in the name of the great north-em
forest
of
Kolmar
,
the Trollingwood.