Chapter 208: A Song Of The Past (2/2)
”They're such a motley troupe,” Chang Chang said. ”Shouldn't they be haunting a playhouse?”
”That's the charm of it,” Bao said. He leaned closer so his voice wouldn't carry to the stage. ”They've never said, but I think the whole group was lost in a shipwreck. I'll wager they're chained to it still, so they seek out the audience that's closest. Before we came, they said they performed for the crows. After we arrived, they took the shape of the crows and performed for us. Isn't that lovely?”
”They sound friendlier than the sea wraiths, but are they dangerous?” Chang Chang asked.
”Not so long as you fix your attention on them and keep your tongue between your teeth,” Bao said pointedly. ”They don't like to be interrupted.”
”Of course.” Chang Chang gave up and fell silent. She sat back against the hull and watched the boy, Kaerin, flitting through the crowd. He straightened a cloak here, shushed an errant tongue there, and teased an old woman who called him her boy. He seemed excessively fond of touching everyone. Chang Chang didn't know if they could feel him, but all the faces turned up eagerly at his approach.
The jugglers bowed and ran offstage, leaving behind a trail of balls that burst into sparkling fireworks. When the light spots faded from Chang Chang's eyes, the lute player was back, changing her tune to something mournful. It took Chang Chang a breath to recognize the tune.
The last falling twilight
shines gold on the mountain.
Give me eyes for the darkness,
take me home, take me home.
Chang Chang's heart stuttered in her chest. It was the same song she used to sing for Chang Song. The woman on stage looked directly at her while she strummed the lute.
”What's wrong?” Ju Feng asked. He reached out but stopped short of touching her
”Nothing,” Chang Chang said, ”I'm cold.” She wrapped her arms around herself.
Ju Feng continued to watch her intently. Chang Chang kept her eyes forward, but she couldn't look at the woman's face. The song was painful enough. She stared at the bard's feet and tried to blank her mind. She felt a weight across her shoulders. She looked up, off balance as Ju Feng pulled her against his side. His arm, hidden under the cloak, was draped across her shoulders. He was staring straight ahead.
”Ju Feng,” she said, fighting a smile, ”your arm seems to have fallen on me in a suspicious gesture of comfort.”
”Is that so?” He still wouldn't look at her. ”I suppose your virtue is distressed by this turn of events?”
”Terribly. I believe I will expire from shock.”
”Better than expiring from the cold. Why is the song bothering you?”
”Chang wei my great-uncle, loved this song,” Chang Chang said. She let the words in. The lute player's voice enveloped her like a warm blanket covered in needles.
”It's a sad song,” Ju Feng said. ”He's lost in the wilderness. Does he ever find his way home?”
”The song doesn't tell,” Chang Chang said. ”What do you think?”
”I think a bard should say what she means. Otherwise what's the point of the show?”
”What's the point?” Kaerin shouted incredulously from right behind them. The lute player's song ground to a halt.
Chang Chang sucked in a breath. Kaerin's hand came down on her shoulder; it was ice cold and strangely invasive, as if he had put his hand inside her skin. She could tell by the lack of color in Ju Feng's face that he'd had no idea the boy had been behind them.
Kaelin patted Ju Feng on the back before the monk could flinch away. ”The point, he wants to know. He wants the full story of the boy lost in the wilderness.” Kaelin's eyes sparkled. ”But will he want it told, after all's done?”
He looked at Ju Feng expectantly. Ju Feng shrugged. ”Tell your tale. You're the bards, and it's no difference to me.”
”Truly, then, I have your permission?” Kaerin bent in a half-bow, so that his face was close to Ju Feng's.