Song of the Saurials - Kate Novak [9]
From the back of the room, she caught Dragonbait's eye. The saurial paladin motioned encouragingly with his hands. Alias sighed inwardly. Nothing's going to go wrong, she told herself. Stop being such a ninny and face the music.
Trying to focus her thoughts on her audience, Alias chose a farming song, the lyrics of which were an old folk rhyme that Nameless had set to music. Han knew the rhyme, but he was unfamiliar with the tune, so he stood silently beside Alias, listening carefully, hoping he could pick up the melody with his horn by the second or third verse. Alias sang out clear and strong:
"We till the soil, we spread the grain,
We shoo the birds, we pray for rain.
The rain comes down, the shoots spring out, But so do weeds, and then comes drought.
We haul the water till our backs are sore;
The weeds grow richer, but the crop stays poor.
Then one day Chauntea ends our strife,
And our grain takes root in the river of life.
"The river of life, the river of life:
Every woman's man, every good man's wife.
We should all drink deep from the river of life.
"The river of life, the river of life:
Every woman's man, every good man's wife.
We should all drink deep from the river of life"
Everyone joined in singing the repeat of the chorus. Han played softly, not wanting to spoil anything should he guess a note wrong, as Alias began the second verse:
"We scythe the grains, we pluck the fruits, We gather the nuts and dig up the roots.
The days grow cool, the birds fly away,
The beasts grow fur, the pastures turn gray.
We eat our fill and store what's left,
Then the snow comes down and the fields rest.
The darkness grows inside our souls,
And our labor's turned to evil goals"
Han fumbled with his fingering. The songhorn player had never heard the last two lines before. The version he knew told of preparation for midwinter revels. But something disturbed Han even more than the unfamiliar words Alias sang. The young singer had suddenly switched to a new, eerie-sounding key. Then, without a repeat of the chorus, the swordswoman launched into a third verse with still more lyrics Han did not recognize.
"We hack the vines, we cut the trees,
We trample the roots and burn the seeds.
When the rain comes down, the soil washes away, Leaving barren rock and heavy clay.
We wear chains of green till our bodies rot;
The corpses still move, their minds without thought.
Soon the great dark will devour the Realms;
Death is the power that overwhelms"
At the first four lines, the farmers began scowling and muttering among themselves. This certainly wasn't farming as they practiced it. It might be the way of those in lands under the sway of evil, like those to the north, controlled by the Zhentarim, but here in the dales they tried their best to live in harmony with the land. At the last four lines, the farmers shifted nervously in their chairs and peered into their ale, confused by the direction the song had taken.
Although Alias had failed to note that Han had ceased accompanying her, she recognized now that she no longer held her audience's attention. She knew all too well what was wrong and her voice failed. Oh, gods, she thought, shaking with fear I've twisted this song the same way I twisted the others.
She felt Han's hand on her shoulder. "Alias, are you feeling well?" the songhorn player asked quietly.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so tired. I've forgotten the words," she lied.
"I think I'd better go sit down."
Han squeezed her shoulder reassuringly and patted her on the back as she walked away. Anxious to spare her from the stares that followed her, Han raised his horn back to