Read The Song of Andiene Online
Authors: Elisa Blaisdell
The Song of Andiene (37 page)
“We know that. He should not have moved to war against you. But his fear was great, and first he tried to stop you gently.”
Then Andiene laughed. “Still, you trust me. How long has it been since you could travel freely through this city? One day after I gain it, and you walk as though you had never been hunted. And for all your fears, you came too late. The battle is over and done.”
“Not over, not done,” the grizane said. “Not for you, nor for the child you carry. That wall you built will not stand, and you are still the gateway that he will use to enter this land.”
Andiene’s face was joyful and serene. “Not now,” she said. “Not now.” She walked on, till she stood at the gateway to the palace, the very heart of the city.
She set her hands on the stones that guarded the archway, and spoke, and the city answered as it had answered its true lords for half a thousand years. No mortal hand was set to bell ropes through the whole wide city, but the bells spoke in exultation, first the near ones calling, then the far ones answering. They clashed and hummed their many notes into one dizzying blur of sound.
The day had begun, Festival day, Year’s Beginning, when all mankind walks outdoors, rejoicing and feasting. The bells rang through all the city, but the bell-ringers listened and laughed and joined the crowds that filled the streets. Leisure for all on this day of triumph. Their hands would not grow weary this day. Though the bells rang loud, the singing was louder, and after they sang, they danced.
Kallan stood at Andiene’s side as she spoke to the lords of the land and heard them swear their allegiance. And then, when they were done, the bells rang louder, till it seemed that the stone walls of the palace hummed with the sound.
Ring louder yet
, Andiene thought,
for on this day I have won my kingdom!
And the city, that great stone beast crouched on the land, answered her once again.
Outside the walls was the sound of singing and rejoicing. Who would question the people, to ask if they celebrated their Rejin, newly come and conquering, or merely rejoiced in the end of summer? It was wiser not to ask.
“Tomorrow, I will go down to the shore where the fishermen live,” she said. “I may have work to do there.”
“Walking, or carried on a litter?” Kallan asked.
“Walking,” she said. “I have not forgotten so soon those many leagues through mountain and forest and field, which led me to my journey’s end.”
At the far end of the hall, Lenane bowed her dark head over her lute, plucked the strings and sang. “This is the song of Andiene, of how a few went out and conquered a wide kingdom.”
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading this. If you wanted to do me a great favor, you could go to back to Amazon.com, and leave a review—doesn’t have to be long; doesn’t have to be formal. Reader reviews are very important for authors.
If you would like to be notified of new releases by me, click
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.The next thing I publish will probably be a short story telling about Lenane’s past.
To check out my website and blog, click
http://www.ElisaBlaisdell.com
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