Song of Ashes

43: A Promise

Sarka kept herself busy that afternoon, slowly settling into life at the Temple of Atai. She had stopped considering where she would go next. Staying there with Konn and Atai gave her safety. Perhaps, with the help of these willing allies, she could uncover a solution to the problem of freeing Tayo.

As evening crept in, Konn returned to the living quarters they now shared. Sarka was sitting near the hearth, mending.

"What do you have there?" the priest asked.

Sarka lifted the rough homespun of a spare robe. "I found it on the shelf. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. I meant to do it myself, but I make a fool of myself any time I touch a needle. Thank you, Sarka."

She bent her head again. "Did you have many visitors today?"

"A few." Konn sat at his writing desk with a sigh. "I will work on my lord's God-Song for a while before supper."

"How long does it take you to do that?"

"A long time. Months. Perhaps a year by the time all the work is complete."

Sarka glanced his way, watching him leaf through the first few pages of Atai's existing scripture. He reached for a stack of blank pages. "Why? Aren't you just writing what's already been written?"

"For the most part, yes, but each new scribe puts his mark on the God-Song. It is not as simple as copying each line over again. One mustn't rush it or go into the work without careful consideration."

"What, you make things up?"

Konn chuckled. "No, my child. It is an opportunity to clarify fine points of theology, to embellish upon what is already written, and, of course, to add my record of all my lord has accomplished since the last God-Song was written. This will all result in a renewal and refinement of his powers. A god who cannot change with the shifting needs of his people is a god who no longer serves."

Sarka turned her focus back to her sewing. "So you must be a poet in addition to all that reading and writing. This-" she grasped for a word to encompass all that to which Konn devoted himself- "religion seems like a lot of work, Konn."

Again, he laughed. "I'll find a scrap of piety in that soul of yours yet, but it will take longer than I thought. This is rewarding work to the devoted, Sarka."

She knotted and bit off her thread, then spread the robe on her lap, searching for other holes. "While you're at it, why don't you write in a re-heading?"

"Re-heading?" echoed Konn.

"Well, whatever you would call the opposite of beheading."

Raising his brows, Konn glanced her way. "I think such a drastic change in Lord Atai's story would be a bit beyond my authority."

Sarka looked up at Konn, meeting his gaze. "A bit?"

"What I mean is that one would not typically make such a drastic change, although it might please Atai to be whole again...besides, part of the reason he is known-"

"But you could do it? In theory, you could write in that book-" and she pointed with her needle at the stack of papers on Konn's desk- "that Lord Atai regained his head?"

"I suppose I could, but-"

"Or, what if he were to...become the god of onions, or something?"

Konn cocked his head. "Why-"

"I mean, you could do that? Change his powers."

The priest frowned at her and waited for a moment, pointedly, as if to ask her if she were done interrupting him. Then, he pushed back from his desk. "Sarka, please explain your sudden interest in my lord's God-Song. These are strange questions for a woman who finds religion to be too much work."

"What if we were to find Kogoren's God-Song? Could we change it?"

A silence descended. Konn's face looked too pale in the flickering light from the hearth. After a moment, he said, "In theory..."

"We could. We could change her God-Song. We could add a part to it about freeing the Beloved."

"Sarka...we do not have Kogoren's God-Song."

"Yes we do." She raised her brows. "It's in your head. You said you could recite it by heart. You could write it."

"I-" He let out his breath in a sigh. "Yes, I do, but that would take-it would take far longer than we have. Furthermore, by re-writing her God-Song, I would renew her powers. She must be fading; in time, she will die. Do you wish to renew her and thereby renew the suffering of our people? Besides. It's dangerous. I have no authority any more as Kogoren's priest, I...I couldn't presume to do such a thing."

"You are the one person in the world with any authority at all," Sarka said. "The rest of her priests are dead. And in the re-writing, you could change her powers. Make her weaker."

Konn's expression went slack. His shoulders slumped. "Sarka..."

"Fine. You do not wish to re-write her God-Song. But you could add something to her existing book."

"We don't have it," Konn repeated with exaggerated patience.

"Yet. We don't have it yet." Sarka set her mending aside. "Tell me you will do this thing, and I will find the God-Song. There must be a way."

Konn shook his head. "Unless you propose to go back to the ashlands and find it there, I do not think there is a way."

"Just promise me you will change it if I find it."

With a shrug, Konn turned back to his work. She could tell he was annoyed with her persistence and ready to be done with the conversation. He clearly did not think her likely to succeed in this venture. "Fine. Find the God-Song, and I will do it as I watch the donkeys fly."