Words Of Power

This time I step ahead of Liv my gaze locked on Adrianna, wtill watching the soldiers with the rest of my Vision "You tell a half truth sprinkled Liberally with Lies, Adrianna," as I talk I notice Aimee slithering along the grass slow and quiet "You are so Hell bent on slights from before your ancestors ancestors, slights caused by the hubris you Now show that you would threat both people with entropy and death. By the same token, how many family members are taken away by a human who would be a leader without the actual knowledge of what a leader is. You view all as tools for your own selfish gains if you seek to disrupt an attempt at both our races living rather then fading away then leave now or I will Make You." Aimee's form in the grass was easy to loose until she had moved in a wide circle around behind the phalanx now her own trick could come into play slightly, such a good girl "I am Asking you to leave, with the warning that I will not tolerate an attack, a warning you already have and would do well to heed"

"Or what? You will attack? Prove here and now your true means and plan for humans. You look down on us and now that we finally have our own strength, you gather. Attack then, prove your point. But know that you will bring ruin on yourself in the process. She smirked at them.

I bark out a laugh "You ask for an attack, I would not advice repeating the suggestion a third time, even a child knows that to be be a bad Idea, and I am not of kindred blood, I am human. You know Me Adrianna, we have shared bread and played the game of kings. but that will not stop me from stripping you of your army. I am asking you a second time to Leave. let your vengence fall on those who have actually wronged you not on this fools errand." the soldier is still shaky he is trying to hold it together must be nearly as good an actor as she or had an experience to make him so afraid. "I will not break the peace of a gathering, but I will defend my friend."

i size up her small 'army' most of the people are probably backalley rats and filches told to look tough and disciplined i level my shotgun at them and shout "why dont you whoresons try your luck against a true soldier of the reich?" i smile wondering if i will finally have my second date with lady death tonight.

"We will not spill blood here." This time, I let all my power into the words, squeezing Djhuety's hand. I can feel his gift twining into mine. The gathering stills, frozen.
I lock eyes with Adrianna once more. I can't let this happen. If this meeting becomes a bloodbath, the races of Kin will fall into anarchy without their leaders. And the mistrust between species will grow even more virulent.
I have to stop this.
"You would really pit our peoples to war casually as throwing chess pieces on the board?" I ask quietly, "You would condemn them to suffer and die in thousands? Well, you might, but I won't. We'll settle this here and now. You and me. Like we should." I draw a deep breath. Damnu, I hope this works...
"We'll settle this like bards. Your fiddle against my throat. You show them your vision of the world. I'll show them mine. Let them choose which is better. Sound fair to you?"

"Trickery. You and yours thrive on it. Now that the humans are so close to true independence and freedom, you try to sing your way out of it." The soldiers shifted beside her eager to attack as they waited for her order.

i smile at the soldiers go for a grenade in my pocket pull the pin out and hold the switch down "how about we try to keep things civil wouldnt want body parts flying everywhere i mean you guys wont survive it unlike me" i look to liw do a bow and say "the floor is your mein kommandant".

I cock my head. "Are you backing out of a fair and even contest then? Afraid you are not so strong after all? I did not expect such cowerdice of you."
It's a sharp goad, and I know it. But her pride is sharp and spiteful enough that it should work. I hope.

"You wish for fair in the land of the Dratsie? What fair contest can there be here sister? If it is a contest you desire, fine, but it will not sway the men here. And even if I lost, they know it is not a fair fight."

i shout "bloody right it isnt fair ive been run over by tanks blown apart by artillery shot to pieces cut down by machine gun fire ive fought in every major war for the last one hundred and ten years and im still standing, i dont think some backalley rats and pickpockets are going to take me down" i snarl at her thickheadedness sling my shotgun and pull my revolver "if you were going to attack you would have done so minutes ago so dont bullshit me and listen for once in your misbegotten life".

"Peace, Sori." I murmur. My half-sister is so full of rage, standing with her fists clenched. I glance from her men to my friends, holding out a hand to either side as I hold Adrianna's eyes.
"My people will not interfere. Nor will yours. This is between you and me. Between we who would lead. Show them your wish for the world. Prove that it's better than mine. You win, I desist. I win, you yield and stop this. A simple bargain. You have as much power as I to sway hearts and minds with that fiddle. Use it. Stop hiding behind angry words and guns." I cross my arms over my chest. "If you believe in your message, prove it."

Adrianna finally caved, her sister wished to duel. "Very well." Turning she addressed her men. "If I lose, know well enough that these people have used trickery to prevail. Lies and deceit is all they know." That said, she turned to Liv. "Shall we?"

i frown and put on a venomous tone and shout so that all the 'soldiers' can hear me "and if you attack know that i will rip you all to bloody shreds single handedly" i coat myself in searing hot flames as i say those last words lending them dramatic effect.

while internally grinning, i hold a more stoic pose, choosing to let a stance that promises death to an aggressor speak louder then any words I could bring to bare. with a slight nod to Liv recognizing her need to be the one to win this battle. I move back to take my place with the others.

I hold my hand out in invitation. "Tune your fiddle. When you are ready..."
Standing still on the brow of the hill, I calm myself, breathing deeply, and close my eyes. Calm. Quiet. My gift is rising in me, quiet, strong as the river. I let all other things fall away, a soothing noise in the background.
And I wait.

Adrianna starts in the moment her lute is ready. Her song rises high and sweet as a child's song. Of a future where humans are safe. Where they can grow and be together as they wish by their own rules. Where they learn to control the world and lead it into a proper future.

The violin gleams in the starlight, and the melody is sweet, lovely, lulling. I can feel what it wants me to believe. A peaceful world, a world where everything is simple and under control, where things don't go wrong and monsters don't lurk in the shadows. It's almost tempting, that serene simplicity. The simple melody is sweet, as sweet as candy and just as pretty. But right under it is Adrianna's sharp, cold will. She's feeding them a child's understanding of the world, oversimplifying it into one idea: wouldn't it be nice to be safe, to never be scared again. It's a story you'd tell to children who can't handle the complexities of the world.
The idea is beguiling, as sweet as a drug. It would be so easy to listen and be lulled...
But it's wrong. The world isn't like that, and believing that it is only leads you deeper into your own failures and follies. The world is a place where you must stand up, own your failings, and work to repair them. That's the only way things change. Not with this easy ignorance, with blaming others and with hiding from what really goes on. You face the world, you understand it, you deal with it. That's how to live.
That's truth.
The idea flares inside me, the tattoo of the hazel nut on my left shoulder tingling. I run a hand over it. Hazel. Knowledge. To be an adult is to hold knowledge and face it. To understand. To know. And to work in knowledge, not in this childish pretense that Adrianna's music is telling of. She's playing a simple world where everything will be better. They might all like that. But it is not truth. It's like candy. Sweet, but with no nourishment to it.
So, I will give them what they need, not what they want.
I will give them truth.
But what song can give all that?
It's hard to focus with that syrup-sweet melody. But for a moment, for a note, it becomes something a bit more like a lullaby. And there....that set of notes...a memory. Another song.
My voice is almost wistful at first, almost sad, echoing the sound of Adrianna's fiddle.
"I went to see the preacher
To teach me how to pray
He looked at me and smiled
Then that preacher turned away
He said, "If you want to tell him somethin'
You ain't gotta fold your hands
Say it with your heart
Your soul and believe it" and I'd say, "Amen"

Before she's caught on, I've matched her melody, and then she's matching mine. I close my eyes, letting the song run through me.

"Bang a drum for the sinners
Bang a drum for the sins
Bang a drum for the losers
And those who win
Bang a drum, bang it loudly
Or as soft as you need
Bang a drum for yourself son
And a drum for me"
Humming the riff between verses, I let the words emphasize my gift. This is reality. It's facing your weaknesses, and dealing with them. It's taking pride in what you are and what you can do, not in who you think you're better than. If you don't have a skill, you work to gain one, you don't despise those who are skilled already. These are the actions of an adult. Only a child sits in a corner and refuses to listen or learn from what he doesn't want to hear.
The song swells, growing, my memory of how it sounds wrapping around my voice, intertwining with emotions, wrapping around hearts.

"I called upon my brother
Just the other day
He said, "John I'm gonna die, if I don't start to live again
I work each day and night like clockwork
Just tryin' to make ends meet
I could kick this bad world's ass
If I could just get on my feet

I'd bang a drum for the dyin'
Bang a drum for the truth
Bang a drum for the innocence
Lost in our youth

Bang a drum, bang it loudly
Or as soft as you need
Bang a drum for you brother
And a drum for me!"
My voice rises, and my gift with it. We have all made mistakes. Grave errors. But now, if we stand up and try,we can do better. I call up hope and yearning, compassion, so much compassion, and fortitude, pouring them out with the words. I call up the earnest pride in knowing you've overcome your own weakness through great pain and effort, and grown the better for it. Around me, eyes widen, and backs straighten. There are tears in many eyes, and some who listen are sobbing, some shaking, human and Kindred alike. Everyone is facing their own mistakes, facing them truly. It hurts. Oh, don't I know it hurts. But this pain can bring healing.
I can feel Adrianna fighting me, trying to dumb the song back down into simplicity. But her melody is hollow next to this truth. It's very pretty. But prettiness is not beauty.

i tap into the fire within me and directs it outwards creating images in the air of liv's song.

Fire swirls and dances, and I grin. Closing my eyes, raising my head, I throw my voice and my self into the next verse with all the strength I've got, all the truth I feel. This is what it means to be alive: to face the world head-on and honestly, and deal with it the best way you can.
"I don't know where all the rivers run
I don't know, how far
I don't know, how come
Well I'm gonna die believin'

Each step that I take
Ain't worth the ground
That I walk on
If we don't walk it our own way!"
The sparks fly, the music wraps around us all, sweet and hot and so very, very true.
I let my voice grow gentle, earnest.

"No I don't claim to be a wise man
A poet or a saint
I'm just another man who's searchin'
For a better way
But my heart beats loud as thunder
For the things that I believe
Sometimes I wanna run for cover
Sometimes I want to scream!!!"
Around me, men and kin sway with the power, with the emotion, with the truth of a new vision: a world where we take in and understand one another, understand strengths and weaknesses, and work with them as best we can. A world of new and greater strength, forged from mutual respect and honesty, from honoring each man in his skill, whatever that skill is. A world that acknowledges the past, but no longer clings to it.
"Bang a drum for tomorrow
Bang a drum for the past
Bang a drum for the heroes
That won't come back
Bang a drum for the promise
Bang a drum for the lies
Bang a drum for the lovers
And the tears they've cried
Bang a drum' bang it loudly
Or as soft as you need
As long as my heart keeps on bangin'
I got a reason to believe!" I cry the last two words into the night air, the stars pinwheeling overhead, the music carrying us all on a wave of joy and power. I call out, and the crowd calls back.

"Let me here you say yeah!"
"Yeah!" The voice is a blend of so many tones. All of us.
"Oh yeah!
Let me here you say yeah! halleluiah, Amen!!!"
And then the song is done. The fire fades, the music leaves the silence deafening. Adrianna's former followers are staring with wide eyes, as are my elders, all preconceptions stripped from them. Adrianna stands glaring at me, her fiddle in one hand and her bow in the other. I smile at the gathering, and bow my head. "Thank you, Bon Jovi." I whisper to myself.

Adrianna smirked as she listened to the song. Who in their right mind would follow such an image. Of course when the fire show started, she instantly slipped into glaring. Oh sure, it's easy to listen when there's something more. So much for a fair fight. Turning to her men she opened her mouth to speak only to see that they were indeed entranced by it. They were all soaking up her sisters words. Pure hatred boiled within her as she looked and watched her sister end her song. She would get even for this. She would see to it that Liv felt just as robbed of happiness as she did right now.

I can't help it; with a quick laugh, I hug my beloved man, then turn to face the ring of our elders, bowing.
"Well." Nuada Argatlam said quietly, "We came here to choose an Ard Ri. I don't think that's in question anymore."
Heads nod all about the circle.I stare into the throng, into the ring of staring eyes. Then the Puck clears his throat. I can hear him, feel his hot hand drop onto my shoulder. I squeeze Dhjuety's hand in my own.
"If you must choose," he calls, "choose the girl. She is of many houses, and so is fully claimed by no house, no hall and no court. Much like myself, who has walked among you all for these many years. It is better to choose her than one who might be...more biased."
The crowd's eyes bore into me.
"That should do it." the Puck murmurs, barely a whisper in my ear. "Speak up girl, or it'll be both our necks, and I am rather fond of mine."
I stand straigher, staring out into the waiting ring of eyes.
"Speak, Ard Ri." the Queen of the Sirens states. "What sort of thing are you then?"
I swallow, and stand straight.
"I am many things.Some of you will call me mongrel, and that is true. My father is a man from a kingdom of men. My mother is a Dratsie of Streamchurn clan. And some of you will call me child. That is true; I am barely past my hundreth summer. Some of you do call me Queen, and perhaps I will earn the name. But whatever else I am, I am marked for the Hazel Road, and I speak the truth where it must be spoken. I speak the truth ever and always, whether it is good to hear or it is not.And so I will speak, and you shall hear. And I find it strange that a child like me, a little one with little sight, can see what you great ones seem not to . I see that if we continue in the way we have begun this, we will dwindle into nothing. What is done cannot be undone. We can no longer stand apart from Men. Long ago, we were seperated from Man like squabbling children sent to seperate rooms. It has been over twelve thousand years since that time. We ought to have matured in this time, and if we have not perhaps we never will.
This is what I say. It is time to let go old angers. Those who cannot will dwindle; look to the Elves if you doubt my word, and what has come over their kind. They wither and fade ever more for their follies. Hate harms none but those who hate, and darkens the heart of the one who clings to her rage like iron held to the breast. Let us not follow that road into darkness. Let us turn again to the land that gave us birth beside Men. It is changed, yes, but so have we all. And it is still our mother, as it is the parent of Men. They call on a father and we on a mother, true, but we call upon siblings. We are the scions of brother and sister, and it does not do for hatred to lay between cousins. We are the kin of men, born of the same world, meant to be the balance for one another and the match. Without the balance, each of us lacks, whether we admit it or refuse. We need them as much as they do we. Without our balance, they destroy themselves by anger and impulse and avarice, and we by lassitude and decedence. But balanced together, matched, our skill to their hope, our strength to their will, our magic to their clever ways, oh, then my people, what can we not do? Even the oldest tales say that the greatest of us are born of both kinds. I am blended of Kin and Man, and Lihnahn Sidhe has said that my song is the brighter and the greater for it. When men and kin mix, there is the greatest strength and the best of all things."
I raise my voice over the murmurs. "We have been away from our old home for a great many years. I know something of long travel. And I know of homecoming. And I can tell you, o my elders, that homecoming is a grand thing. Let us turn to the sun, o my elders. Let us go home. And if you will have me, I will help to chart the way."
For a moment, there is silence. And then, very slowly, the clap of hands.
"Well done, little one." the Puck says softly, his voice amused and purring. "Well done indeed."

Adrianna listened to the speech and wheels of hate churned and boiled within her. How dare she! How dare she get this title when after everything she had to go through! No. She would not suffer this pain; this theft. Swiping a dagger from one of the soldiers, she rushed the mound bound to inflict pain on her sister.

Kiou was quick to react. She could practically taste the murderous intent off the girl as she approached the top of the hill. Expecting the girl to at least dodge, she for a low swipe as she drew the blade in less than a second.

Moments later found Adrianna firmly Kiou's blade firmly imbedded into Adrianna's right side. Due to the ribcage and spine, the blade stopped halfway effectively damaging the liver, stomach, and a kidney in one blow. There would be no survival for her but she didn't care. Her intended victim now had a blade shoved into his back. With a dark smirk and chuckle, she watched as Djehuety slumped forward in pain.

The joy in my heart withers in a moment as my man, my beautiful husband, falls. I dash to his side, catching him, easing him. His glasses are askew, and his eyes are grey-white in shock and pain.
"Oh no. Oh no." I reach out. "Hold still, ahn ghra, we'll sort this, I'll sort this. Just don't move and-
there's blood everywhere. And I can see him fading. But then his eyes turn a soft, sweet blue, before they close. His lips move in a few soundless words, words I can't make out.
And then he's gone. One moment, he's lying with his head in my lap. The next moment, I am kneeling alone, my jeans soaked with blood, in the center of a circle of staring men and kindred.
I close my eyes against the pain. It feels as if I will die, here and now.
I've lost him.
Lost him.
I draw a deep, shuddering breath, my hands clenching into fists. And I stand.
But I am to be denied the right to take vengance.
Adrianna will die. I can see that already. I could save her, perhaps, some part of me suggests. If I worked hard and fast.
I do not.
I stand still, staring impassively down as she writhes and bleeds, bloody entrails spilling on the ground. Kneeling down, I stare into her eyes.

Blood seeps to Adrianna's lips and overflows down her cheek. "Now, we are even. I yearned for love... and power... You were granted both without issue... If I cannot have one, I will take the other." She coughed and sputtered as she looked up at her sister.

Above them both, Kiou cleaned her blade of blood and slid it back in it's sheath. With her fading, so too did the murderous intent she had been feeling.

"And I yearned for peace." I whispered, the words ekeing out through the lump in my throat one by one. "Peace. You will have it." Her eyes, even glazing, have so much hate.
And so much terrible pain. Terrible, longing, aching pain, pain of the heart as well as the body.
There's a twisting, writhing pain in my gut, mirroring her own, screaming to take her blood, to shake her, to hurt her.
But there is no point.
So instead, I hold her eyes.
"Peace."
Very softly, I sing, and imbue in it the peace of sleep, of forgetting, of release.
I cannot have peace, not now. I can have no cessation of pain.
But I can give it to her. And absolution with it. Absolution, for us both.