“Sing it, then,” said Alfred, smiling at the boy, pleased to see him happy again.
“It’s called ‘Hand of Flame.’ ” The boy’s voice rose shrill and slightly off-key but enthusiastic:
The Hand that holds the Arc and Bridge,
The Fire that rails the Temp’red Span,
All Flame as Heart, surmount the Ridge,
All noble Paths are Ellxman [11].
Fire in Heart guides the Will,
The Will of Flame, set by Hand,
The Hand that moves Ellxman Song,
The Song of Fire and Heart and Land:
The Fire born of Journey’s End,
The Flame a part, a lightened call,
The sullen walk, the flick’ring aim,
Fire leads again from futures, all.
The Arc and Bridge are thoughts and heart,
The Span a life, the Ridge a part.
“My nurse taught it to me when I was little. But she couldn’t tell me what the words meant. Do you know, Sir Hugh?”
“I doubt if anyone does now. The tune stirs the heart. Ravenlark began to sing it, and soon the prisoners lifted their heads proudly, their backs stiffened. They lined up into formation, determined to walk to slavery or death with dignity.”
“I’ve heard it said the song is elvish in origin,” murmured Alfred. “And dates back to before the Sundering.”
Hugh shrugged, uninterested. “Who knows? All anyone cares about is that it has an effect on elves. From the sound of the first few notes, the elves stood transfixed, staring straight ahead. They looked like men in a dream, except that their eyes moved. Some claimed they were ‘seeing pictures.’ ”
Bane flushed, his hand tightly grasping the feather.
“The prisoners, noticing this, kept on singing. The minstrel knew the words to all the verses. Most of the prisoners were lost after the first, but they kept up the tune and joined in strong on the chorus. The elves’ weapons fell from their hands. Prince Reesh’ahn sank to his knees and began to weep. And, at Stephen’s command, the prisoners marched away as fast as their feet could carry them.”
“It was to His Majesty’s credit that he didn’t order a helpless enemy slaughtered,” said Alfred.
The Hand snorted. “For all the king knew, a sword in the throat might have broken the spell. Our men were beaten. They wanted only to get out of there. The king had it in his mind, so I’ve been told, to fall back on one of the nearby castles and regroup and strike again. But it wasn’t necessary. When the elves came to their senses, the king’s spies reported that they were like men awakened from a beautiful dream who long to go back to sleep. They left their weapons and their dead where they lay and returned to their ships. Once there, they freed their human slaves and limped home.”
“The beginning of the elven revolution.”
“Supposedly so.” Hugh dragged slowly on the pipe. “The elf king proclaimed his son, Prince Reesh’ahn, a disgrace and an outlaw and drove him into exile. Reesh’ahn’s now stirring up trouble throughout Aristagon. There’ve been attempts made to capture him, but each time he’s slipped through their fingers.”
“And with him, they say, travels the minstrel woman, who- according to legend-was so moved by the prince’s sorrow that she chose to follow him,” added Alfred softly. “Together they sing the song, and wherever they go, they find more followers.” Leaning back, he misjudged the distance between himself and the tree trunk and whanged himself on the head.
Bane giggled, then clapped his hand over his mouth. “I’m sorry, Alfred,” he said contritely. “I didn’t mean to laugh. Are you hurt?”
“No, Your Highness,” Alfred said with a sigh. “Thank you for asking. Now, Your Highness, you should be going to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
“Yes, Alfred.” Bane ran to get his blanket from his pack. “If it’s all right, I’m going to sleep here tonight,” he said. Looking up at Hugh shyly, he spread his blanket out next to the assassin’s.
Hugh rose abruptly to his feet and walked over to the fire. Knocking the bowl of the pipe against his hand, he scattered the ashes. “Rebellion.” He stared into the flames, keeping his eyes averted from the child. “Ten years have passed and the Tribus Empire is as strong as ever. Their prince lives like a hunted wolf in the caves of the Kirikai Outlands.”