The Book of Terrus: The Wise and Powerful

Chapter 26 - Rebirth

            "There can be no rest for any of us...not until the old magic is remembered and restored."

            "The old magic?" asked Vinie wordlessly.

            "The world must break before it can be whole once again," said Zaneo, sounding very much the way Vinie remembered him after a lesson down by the beach with Wasani. "Just as you have broken and been remade." Vinie could almost see the smile in Zaneo's voice smooth, mellow voice. "Embrace life, BlackPearl. Although I will be with you until the healing of the world, you are no longer mine. Let our memory be the white gull's wings which lift you up...not the anchor that pulls you down."

            "Zaneo..."     

"We're going to need your help before the end, Vinie. You can't free all of us alone though. Find the all-seeing blind woman...listen to the old stories...they will guide you when the time comes. Until then, tell our story and find a new way."

Sahar's voice trailed off into silence, leaving Vinie, confused and exhausted, to face the crowd on Utunma's wharf. They all looked to Vinie, expectant. Vinie took a deep breath. Gideo's hand was a warm, grounding weight on her shoulder. She didn't understand all of Sahar and Zaneo's words, but she knew what had to be done in this moment.

"Some of you know the story of the Factionists' dream for freedom; how it began here in Utunma, with a blue-eyed SeaSon and the girl who loved him. Others here might know another story, the story of a brave CoinDancer who stood up for her family, friends, and home against the impossible until her last breath."

Her voice faltered, thick with emotion, and she had to pause before speaking again. "The dream of a south free to make its own way began small, but since then it has grown. Now the stories of each and every one of you are the story of our people; a homeland in the making. Every last one of you, who have shed blood, lost friends, lost family, and refused to accept capital rule simply because it's 'the way things have always been'. You are part of the history of this bold, brave new world which we are building day by day, minute by minute."

Every time Vinie had addressed a gathering of people before, at rallies in Moaan or secret Factionist meetings in the Drunken SkinPainter at Falerik, her speech had always kept returning to the past; to the wrongs done by the heirs of Amenthis, and the stifling of the sea folk. Now, for the first time, she looked to the future and believed it could be a dream realized. Despite all that they had lost and suffered that day, a newfound hope suffused Vinie's words as well as her spirit.

"Today, so much has been lost...but so much has been won, too. Grief is not incompatible with joy. We can both mourn our dead and celebrate that the south belongs to the people of the sea at last. Tonight we'll give the fallen to the waves, honored by our customs as they should be. Tomorrow though, we'll rebuild Utunma anew, and prepare to both champion and defend our place in the wider world as a proud and free people, ready to live our own story!" Her speech rising to a final crescendo, Vinie raised her belawa's blade to the sky. "Proud and free!"

"Proud and free!" the sea people roared back at her.

"Proud and free!" Gideo shouted next to her, likewise raising his sword in the air. Together, the BlackPearl and the StarGazer led their people in the cry of a newborn nation.

OoOoO

            The rest of the day was hard, but the people of the south were now strong. The first thing Vinie did after addressing the crowd was to look for Sahar's sons. She and Gideo met up with Kiiss, Reyson, Oesu, Xolani, Lhara and Yidu at the entrance to Utunma. The loss of Xolani's arm dismayed everyone, but the regent of Moaan seemed to be out of immediate danger. Oesu took him to rest in a room at the Skinny Dipper almost as soon as they set foot in town. They also learned from Yidu that Dhalad had fallen in battle. Vinie was dreading having to deliver similar news to Sahar and Jaafi's boys.