VERSE O NE In Cadenza my homeland everything is flat and calm covered in grass and clover I used to run through open fields and Mother and Father would chase after me We skipped rocks on a lake said to have been made from Caé’s joyful tears when She created the world Cadenza is full of stories like that stories my parents parents told me with vigor Cadenza got its name from the Goddess after all the Place Where Caé Fell And there were whispers always that Caé Herself had been seen there again But Lucio and I had been traveling through the kingdom of Basso for two years now and day by day we journeyed farther from home The soft beauty of Cadenza’s fields was almost forgotten to me We were in the Bassan mountains where the air was thin and crisp and cold The lakes were frozen over The grass was gray and trampled Worse still for two years now war had left scars upon this land as well as my homeland Mountains had great chunks missing Houses had been turned into piles of brick and wood The forests had been 1
felled leaving only mangled roots Debris broken cannons and beams from houses dammed up rivers Wagons were tipped over wheels missing wooden panels torn away I saw it all from the warped window of our little carriage So much destruction but new beauty to be found as well The sparkling snow that I’d never seen before two years ago the tall dark pine trees the winter birds Out the window out beyond the road ahead of us day faded into lavender evening with the blue and black of the mountains around us as shards of stained glass In the front seat as always was my Composer Maestro Lucio his white blond hair pulled into a tight queue with a black ribbon Most of his face was obscured by a large bloodred scarf its loose threads frizzy My heart always swelled when I saw him wear that scarf I’d knitted it for him years ago when we’d first begun to work together at the monastery It wasn’t that long ago truly but in my memory memory we were such little children then His gloved fists trembled slightly as they clung tight to the reins of our horse Melody Little strands of hair broke free from his queue and whipped in the biting wind from which I was protected safe and warm in the carriage Lucio sometimes said that the Goddess was proud of us when we endured suffering But I wasn’t certain When I watched him tremble in the cold when I watched the destruction outside my window when I sang for people starving for hope I didn’t feel proud Just sad 2
Out of the corner of my eye I saw the basket full of provisions provisions we kept hanging on a hook on the wall The people we sang for donated money and food and clothing to us in return for our miracles When I pulled back the cover from the basket though I realized that even the gifts we’d been given were becoming fewer and fewer A day old baguette A quarter of a wheel of cheese Three apples Some cured ham wrapped tight in paper It would only last us a day or two at most The war was everywhere touching everything With a frown I chose a big red apple then darted across the carriage on socked feet I clambered atop my bed and rapped on the window as a warning before I opened it Lucio scooted a little more to the left on his bench and I stuck my arm out to offer him the snack I thought you might be getting hungry I said above the percussion of Melody’s hooves He held the reins in one hand and accepted the apple placing it in his lap When he pulled the edge of his scarf below his chin my heart lifted to see his smile Thank you Elissa His eyes bright green as the meadows of Cadenza met mine A line formed between his eyebrows You look troubled Is something wrong I rested my arm against the windowsill and pressed my cheek against the crook of my arm as if it were a pillow To our right bricks were scattered across an empty field along with the husk of three walls of a house What little family had called that cottage home And where were they now 3
