As told to the Serpent
My mother, she sang to me... I remember that much. She and my father would play games with songs and rhythms, clapping and going faster and faster until we all burst out laughing.
But I don't remember much more about them. It was so long ago, and I left home so young, about five. The Priests came and discovered I was such a good singer, at that age, and they took me away to the School.
And there, there were hundreds of kids learning... most of them were learning music like me, but a few were learning to write and everything so they can be Priests when they are older. Some of the Priests were nice but some were very boring and most were just strict and nasty.
Some kids learned drumming and horn playing. I learned singing, and very soon I became best in my class at it. But as a student I was a problem sometimes. Early on things were too easy and I would goof off, singing new words for the hymns when the Priests couldn't hear, and making the other singers laugh in the middle of a song. I got in trouble - sometimes they would hit me, even. But they couldn't kick out their best student!
Because there was a very special job for the best singer in the kingdom. At age fourteen I started to train for the lead role in the Seven Year Ceremony. It was three years off, but there was a lot to learn - hours of complicated texts and melodies, mostly repeating the same things over and over in a million different combinations. It was the most screaming fucking boring thing I ever did. I tried to escape, twice. But they caught me each time, and finally kept a guard on me all the time. So I played good, on best behaviour. I had to try very hard not to punch anyone in the teeth when they made me sing fucking "Na soiina cha n se-chassra, cha se-nna chassr-soi..." for the seven millionth time.
It was a long time before I clued in about what I was supposed to do. They taught me the Ceremony in parts, and the final part was the giveaway. "Su Chiu Rualu m besi sura..." Please, O Thunder God, accept this offering...
Offering! I was the fucking offering. So I could go to heaven and sing for Chiu Rualu forever in his choir. How lovely! Just lie back on the altar and let the nice Priest with the knife do his thing. A small price to pay to live forever in glory!
Well, fuck that. I decided to talk to Chiu Rualu himself.
to be continued
But I don't remember much more about them. It was so long ago, and I left home so young, about five. The Priests came and discovered I was such a good singer, at that age, and they took me away to the School.
And there, there were hundreds of kids learning... most of them were learning music like me, but a few were learning to write and everything so they can be Priests when they are older. Some of the Priests were nice but some were very boring and most were just strict and nasty.
Some kids learned drumming and horn playing. I learned singing, and very soon I became best in my class at it. But as a student I was a problem sometimes. Early on things were too easy and I would goof off, singing new words for the hymns when the Priests couldn't hear, and making the other singers laugh in the middle of a song. I got in trouble - sometimes they would hit me, even. But they couldn't kick out their best student!
Because there was a very special job for the best singer in the kingdom. At age fourteen I started to train for the lead role in the Seven Year Ceremony. It was three years off, but there was a lot to learn - hours of complicated texts and melodies, mostly repeating the same things over and over in a million different combinations. It was the most screaming fucking boring thing I ever did. I tried to escape, twice. But they caught me each time, and finally kept a guard on me all the time. So I played good, on best behaviour. I had to try very hard not to punch anyone in the teeth when they made me sing fucking "Na soiina cha n se-chassra, cha se-nna chassr-soi..." for the seven millionth time.
It was a long time before I clued in about what I was supposed to do. They taught me the Ceremony in parts, and the final part was the giveaway. "Su Chiu Rualu m besi sura..." Please, O Thunder God, accept this offering...
Offering! I was the fucking offering. So I could go to heaven and sing for Chiu Rualu forever in his choir. How lovely! Just lie back on the altar and let the nice Priest with the knife do his thing. A small price to pay to live forever in glory!
Well, fuck that. I decided to talk to Chiu Rualu himself.
to be continued