Fortune's Fool - Mercedes Lackey [44]
Songweavers worked by modifying Traditional paths that already existed rather than inserting new ones. Wish to make your Kingdom prosperous and peaceful? Sing it that way, then make sure that the songs spread, that they are the sort of thing that ordinary people whistle, hum, and sing while they’re working. They don’t have to be the great, earth-shattering Songs of the Bards; in fact, you’d really rather that they weren’t. Not when what you want is the small, gradual changes.
So this was why the Kingdom of Led Belarus was so quiet. They had a little guardian to make it so. And if he was wise, he allowed a little bit of evil to come in, flourish briefly, then fade, or be taken down if need be. Nothing should be too perfect. The Tradition did not care for perfection.
The more she listened to this man, the more she liked him. And it wasn’t too terribly difficult to work out who he was, as what she had learned from the Library about Led Belarus meshed with what she was learning now. A “Sasha,” who traveled about Led Belarus on behalf of his father? A Seventh Son to boot? This could only be Prince Sasha, Seventh Son and Fortunate Fool.
And, of course, Songweaver, though she hadn’t known that until she’d met him.
Somehow she’d found herself promising to come back to meet him here on the beach. Somehow, he’d promised to extend his stay here to meet her….
Somehow…or with the impetus of The Tradition.
Well, this was one time when she would willingly go along with The Tradition.
The swim back to the Sea King’s Palace seemed to take no time at all, and her father was free and taking a brief bit of leisure in the garden when she sought him out.
“Have you not yet gone, daughter?” he asked, looking surprised. She smiled.
“There and back again, Father,” she assured him. “The answer is simple. A chance meeting gave me all the answers. Prince Sasha, the youngest of the seven Princes, is a Songweaver.”
Understanding dawned on her father’s face immediately. “Ah! And Seventh Son…that would make him a Fortunate Fool as well?”
“Yes,” she agreed, “only not so foolish.”
She outlined all that Sasha had told her, and all that she surmised. Her father listened carefully and nodded now and again.
“Is it possible,” he asked at last, “that the King of Led Belarus is canny enough about The Tradition to make the boy a Fool in public and something else altogether in private?”
“I would say that is a certainty, Father.” She gazed off for a moment over his shoulder. “Sasha’s songs are carefully worded. Not so powerful that The Tradition would ever feel the pressure of his words. And what was more, they are very singable. He has a gift for that.”
“And what sort of a man is he?” asked her father shrewdly. “All this is well and good, but if there is greed or overweening ambition in him—”
She shook her head. “He’s kind, Father, and very dedicated to caring for his Kingdom. I think that the moon is going to come down into the sea to ask for one of us in marriage before Sasha uses his power for his own gain.”
“And your instincts tell you to trust him.” The King looked at his daughter shrewdly. Katya blushed, and he chuckled. “Well, the day has finally come. My daughter has found a young man who interests her. You fancy this minstrel, Katya?”
She blushed even harder, and he laughed. “Then by all means, so long as you remember your primary duty is to me and this Kingdom, pursue the young man. Take him to your bed, if you like. It is not our way to meddle in love affairs. But keep your eyes open and your wits about you. Remember all the advice about young men that you have given others. I wish to have no Rusalka daughters. Do I make myself clear?”
She nodded. And she knew that her father was right. She knew very little about Sasha.
But she wanted to know more. She wanted to know everything….
“As a Songweaver, he could, if he wished, do us a good turn or two,” the King mused aloud. “I would