A Night of Mourning
Iruvande S'Akhiy'Rhienn
Night, with its shroud of dark memories, covered the great city.
Iruvande watched from the window of her small room as all the lanterns
up the main thoroughfare were set alight. It was done with the same
beautiful reverence as it was each night, none knowing that this night
held more meaning than any other to those of Akhiy'Rhienn. Not that
many were left to mourn the loss, but as long as one remained, this
night would be marked out as special.
In a soft, lilting voice, Iruvande began her winding and sorrowful
dirge.
"Lully, lullah, thou little tiny child.
"By, by, lully, lullay, thou little tiny child.
"By, by, lully, lullay."
Her white gown of simple lines rustled slightly as she lifted a taper
from her table and lit it. Standing, she drifted to the four hundred
and twenty three candles that filled her chamber. Each one was set
alight as the verse began.
"O sisters too, how may we do,
"For to preserve this day
"This poor youngling for whom we do sing
"By, by, lully, lullay?"
Mint green eyes stared into the dancing flames of the largest candle,
set out on a low table all to itself. Sitting down before it, she felt
her words swirl out around the great column.
"That woe is me, poor child for thee!
"And ever morn and nigh
"For thy parting neither say nor sing,
"By, by, lully, lullay."
~~~
Bright and colourful music sprang up around the eitreih, drawing
laughter from the girls dancing merrily. Musicians weaved through the
pretty girls, eyeing them like they were prizes to be won but never
once touching them. They knew they were not for them, but it wouldn't
stop them looking.
Tornet watched as one of the young women extracted herself from the
group and slipped out of the eitreih, toward the forest at the back of
Akhiy'Rhienn's estate. Smiling to himself, he left by a different
route, his destination the same.
A dark figure watched the young man. It frowned to itself, dark eyes
fixed on the spot Tornet had entered the forest. With deliberate care,
it followed him.
"By the Elements," Tornet gasped as he swept the woman up in his arms,
"I've missed thee."
"Ie, rekkhai, I expect I've missed thee also." With a bright, wild
laugh, she kissed him passionately. "Oh Tornet, I wish we could be
more open about this."
Her lover's eyes darkened for a moment. "We cannot. My father would
kill me for loving an Akhiy'Rhienn. And thy father..."
Fhya's cheeks blushed a light sage. "He would not be pleased. He
still hates thy family. I admit to not entirely understanding the
feud."
"Nor I, but it stands," he sighed, drawing in a deep breath of her
beautiful scent. "We don't have long together..."
"No... I'll be missed..." Their kisses grew more passionate, more
earnest as they sank down onto the soft, sweet-scented grass.
From the shadows of the undergrowth, a silent figure watched them make
fast, passionate love. It felt its blood slowly boil as one of its
House was polluted in the most heinous manner.
Many weeks passed. Fhya saw her e'lev barely three times but each
joining was as sweet and wondrous as the first. Her cheeks flushed,
she ran full pelt from their latest meeting back to her father's house.
"You look unwell, rinam," a dark figure said from the doorway.
"Na, dianvm!" she called as she skidded up. "I'm fine. Just late. Is
lastmeal ready?"
"Ie," came the soft reply. "You must be very hungry, rinam."
She stopped suddenly and stared into his dark, bitter eyes. "From the
running."
"From the whoring." It was said in such a flat, uncaring voice that
she could hardly believe what he'd said.
"Wh-what?"
"Go back to your clearing, little girl," he growled. "Go and see what
has become of your tryst."
White faced and frantic, she span on her heals and pelted full speed
back to where she'd left Tornet. The copper stink of blood burned in
her nostrils even before she fought through the brambles. They tore at
her clothes and skin, uncaring. Empty, lifeless eyes stared at her
when she collapsed to her knees before her love's dead body. Green
blood pooled around the gaping hole in his skull. Her grief-scream
shattered the stillness, sending birds up from all around her.
***
Her exotic flower-filled basket hooked in the crook of her arm, Fhya
placed shaking hands on her enlarged stomach. "She is mine," she said
defensively. "You can't have her."
"Thy dianvm has slain one of my sons!" the posturing man shouted. "His
life was forfeit and my son's child is mine."
"No!" She backed away and tried to run back to the ground car. It was
barely a hundred paces but her enemy's men were on her and they dragged
her backward. No one in the market blinked an eye as she was bundled
into a different ground car and it drove away.
~~~
In a pained voice, Iruvande whispered, "She was thrown back on our
doorstep pale and with an empty womb. Her child, a daughter of our
House, was stolen from us. She, our precious one, died but a week
later."
"Lully, lullah, thou little tiny child.
"By, by, lully, lullay, thou little tiny child.
"By, by, lully, lullay."
~~~
Note: the words used in this log come from the Coventry
Carol. It is named after the city of Coventry in England, which held a
Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors during the 15th Century that
depicted Herod's slaughter of children, as shown in the words of the
song.
Lully, lullah, thou little tiny child,
By, by, lully, lullay, thou little tiny child,
By, by, lully, lullay.
O sisters too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day
This poor youngling for whom we do sing
By, by, lully, lullay?
Lully, lullah, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.
Herod the king, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day
His men of might, in his own sight,
All young children to slay.
Lully, lullah, thou little tiny child,
By, by, lully, lullay, thou little tiny child,
By, by, lully, lullay.
That woe is me, poor child for thee!
And ever morn and nigh
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.
Lully, lullah, thou little tiny child,
By, by, lully, lullay, thou little tiny child,
By, by, lully, lullay.
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