The Song of the World (nanowrimo13)

Chapter 6

Tenor was sitting with his back to the gates of the Testing Ground when it creaked open. He turned, mug in hand, to see if anyone would emerge. Nothing moved except the guards who were waiting with him.

“Sir, should we -”

He cut them off with a wave of his hand. It looked like there was someone walking out to them. 

“Prince Song?” he called. 

The figure seemed to waver with uncertainty.

“Prince Song? It’s Tenor.  You remember me, don’t you?” Tenor approached the gates slowly. He didn’t particularly want to pass the gates if he could help it. 

“Tenor? Prince Tenor?” a crackly voice said. “What are you doing here… sir?”

“Waiting for you. The King has been worried.”

The young man stumbled past the gates, almost tripping over his own feet. 

“Why?” he asked.

“You’ve been gone for almost three days.”

“Three days?” a look of astonishment passed over Song’s face. He shivered.

Tenor gestured, and the men ran up, wrapping Song in a warm cloak. Someone else passed him a mug of something warm, which he took awkwardly. The baton still grasped in his right hand was broken, no longer broken but a dull brown. He looked at it for a long while before sighing and letting it drop. 

Song sipped at the steaming liquid slowly, allowing himself to relax. 

“What happened?” Tenor asked.

Song started to speak, then closed his mouth, looking up at the silhouette of the Palace. 

“You’re right - we should meet the King directly,” Tenor said, following his gaze. He sent runners ahead to the Palace whilst the rest of them moved at a slower pace. Song moved like a creaky old man. There was something different about him, Tenor thought, but put it down to the ordeal he had just come through. Now all that remained to be proven was whether he had prevailed, whether the Song of the World had approved of him. Tenor didn’t doubt She had. There was a hint of a cocky smirk hidden behind the tired visage. 

Lights flared in the Palace as they approached, as if it were coming to life. They could hear a rising clamour the nearer they came. The King ran out to them as they crossed the Moat.

“Oh my son, my son, my Song,” he said over and over again as he flung his arms around the young man. “You came back alive - I was so afraid…” His voice trailed away as he searched Song’s face. 

~

The crowd parted to let the King approach the gates. 

“Muse!” he called as he half-jogged. “Have you succeeded?”

The boy at the gates lifted his head at the sound and cocked it to one side. It began to loll unnaturally. The King slowed his pace as he neared him.

“Why don’t you say anything?” he asked. 

Prince Bass tugged at his sleeve. “Sire, the people -”

The King shrugged him away.  

“Muse.”

A deathly silence seemed to blanket the waiting citizens.

Muse stared blankly.

“Muse? Are you alright, Muse?” King Music asked, taking hold of the boy by the shoulder.