The Song of the World (nanowrimo13)

Chapter 12

It was late afternoon before the last of the missing princes congregated at the abandoned warehouse. Each time another one came - some alone, some with their families - Barr asked them two questions. By the time all six of them had arrived, he had his answer. And a new theory. 

“What’s this about?” a tall, thin man asked. Shorn vaguely remembered him - he had been one of the first to disappear, when he was still new at the Palace. He couldn’t remember his name. “Cherry, have you got something cooking in that brain of yours?”

“I’ve something cooking in the pot. No, it’s Barr and Shorn you want to blame for bringing all of you here today.”

“At least there’s a good dinner as compensation,” another one - Pianist, Shorn thought his name was - said.

“Settle down,” Barr said, gesturing for them to take their seats around the very crowded table. There was some good natured jostling as all the men sat down. Balm took the women and children away to another corner of the warehouse - Shorn didn’t see where - leaving only Cherry with them. 

“Alright. Now, first of all, thank you for coming. I know it’s dangerous out there right now, with the soldier’s out looking for Bass, but I don’t think the risk to us is very high.”

“Wait - they’re looking for Bass? What happened to him?” 

“All we know is that he went missing after Song entered the Testing Grounds to undergo the Rights of Kingship, Hands,” Cherry replied. 

“Huh. That’s strange. It’s normally the one who’s being tested who disappears, not the one who’s waiting for him,” Hands said.

“Yes, well, nobody knows what’s happened to him. The thing is, I’ve been talking to all of you and there’s been a very strange connection that I’ve just seen based on what Song here has just told me.”

“This is Song?” the first man asked. “Weren’t you that knee-high little brat that came in say about ten years ago?”

“Yes, sir. That’s him,” Barr said, interjecting whatever Song was about to have said. “He’s called Shorn now. You can ask him about that later. I forget - we need to be using our common names here.”

“Yes, well, get on with it.”

“One thing in common between us, besides the fact that we somehow ended up here in the city for unknown reasons after the testing, was that every single one of us talked about a severe migraine or headache on the day of the testing itself. The only other one who talked about it was Librettist, and he died. We saw the body to prove it.”

“So? Everyone has headaches.”

Barr ignored him. “Each of these migraines are so severe as to actually incapacitate us within the testing grounds itself and caused us to black out - before we found ourselves here. And after that, we had no remnants of our talents at all - as if something had cut us off from the source. Well - except Shorn here. He said that he was able to dip into it momentarily today - and he also had another severe migraine today.”

“I really don’t see where you’re going with this, Barr,” the first man said again. The other men looked at each other and nodded. He seemed to Shorn to be their leader, maybe by virtue of age. He seemed to oldest of them there. 

“I know it seems like I’m grasping at straws. But I’m heading somewhere with this. The other thing I asked when each of you came in was whether you had submitted your name to test for the Rights of Kingship of your own impetus, or whether it was someone who had urged and cajolled you to try it. Without fail, again, except for Shorn, each of you has named one person who was instrumental in helping you make up your mind.”