Yun Hee P.O.V.
We were back inside the atrium. It was time for a show. Everything carefully setup. I even lit up some candles for the night show. If he was going to fail, I was going to make a nice painting of this memory.
‘I’ll help you either way. One will cost you, your life though.’
I couldn’t help but smile.
“I know this is a tiled table but you will be honest with your assessment, right?”
Ikrei spoke as he pointed at my ring.
“Of course, I cannot lie. But that doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you. I’m going to master music arts too.”
“Good enough paramour, good enough.”
He got into proper position to play on the phoenix mat I prepared, he was sitting exactly like I saw in his memories. A street corner money pincher.
‘I’ll play this at your funeral, my dearest.’
<hr>
Ikrei P.O.V.
‘Just play like you practiced. Kuyun’s arrangements are the shit!’
My hands danced for a bit on the fret board, making sure I was ready.
“Inhale, exhale, release.”
I was looking at her, not even glancing at my ketar there was no need. I had it down. I was going to gauge her reactions first; the ring was a last resort.
‘I need her help after all.’
I strung my chords slowly to get into the grove. Then the arpeggios arranged by Kuyun began and then a mix of the two.
‘Yun Hee doesn’t look to impressed. Guess the story will have to do.’
I sang with my heart but exactly as sister Kuyun had admonished me over a hundred times. Emotion and control. The mark of a true musician.
The stanza for this one was a little different but not by much, pair of verses tied together continuously. The trick was that there really wasn’t a chorus, not something you could consider one. This was a bard’s tale with music.
I sang the first set.
Yun Hee just stood there looking like a silently pissed off burning phoenix.
‘She still not showing any reaction. How about this?’
Let’s show her the mastery of the many styles of sister Kuyun, let’s pick up the pace with the next stanza.
I sang with all my heart again, just like I trained countless times.
Finishing the second set of lyrics, she showed nothing. Not even a smile when she should have. I wrote this part taking her into consideration. Yun Hee is not your typical malgrunian then.
‘This next stanza should do the trick, right? Right?’
I played with all the fervor I could manage without screwing up anywhere, my best shot.
More controlled singing.
Nothing, still nothing.
‘This is not good, no good Ikrei. Just keep going, there’s still hope.’
I played, I played with everything.
‘My life is riding on this!’
Let’s do the ending switch, arpeggios and melancholy with a mix of chords, bends and the like.
‘You can’t screw this part up Ikrei. Focus!’If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
I sang the ending stanza, this one always made me sad, that’s how I knew I had it. At least until now.
The song ended, she was still there unmoving.
‘Maybe I’m not as good as Knickertwister. Damn! Wait, the song, maybe…just maybe.’
“Would you like me to sing you another song?” My last card, the panda toy.
She nodded, good. Hope.
I began singing my new improved version of “Strangers.” I had gotten a lot better these past days.
I played passionately, this song was far simpler to play.
When I was done, Yun Hee was still there behaving like a rock.
Final gamble, poker face.
‘It’s good. Just believe it, believe it, pretty please?!’
Without time for a proper reaction she began to scream. I was so shocked that I didn’t catch it.
She ran off so mad that it seemed that smoke was coming out from her ears.
‘What the hell?!’
“ARGHHH!”
<hr>
Yun Hee P.O.V.
‘A soft gentle arpeggio with open chords like the old folk songs of the empire. Nice but nothing special. Let’s see.’
“?Wondrous is to sit by the door of the bar
Watching all pass by and by cart upon cart
A cristalink peddler rushes nearby
With urgent news of sudden war cries
A patrol guard riding on horseback
Searches for thieves on his way back
The herbal master who ain’t masterful
Passes by selling goods to the fools
A lonely scribe half way to jail
Kisses a lawyer posting his bail
A politician walks with deftly steps
Engrossed in plotting dark schemes
There goes a vampire or so the say
Goes and gets raped as he turns half way?”
‘Interesting lyrics, very. Your singing is better, a lot better. Change of music? Same chords, faster pace, percussive style like the gypsies’ Good variety, you have been training, you dog!’
“?There goes a butcher with his cut
Same time he turns, then looks at me
A hidden killer or rider of luck?
Two boulders slide down with full haste
A crone gets hit and phat! She’s paste
Coaches and carriages go by and by
Female attire that do more than serve
Seeker of fortune, once gigolo
The sons of Gurnir and their m’ lovers
The madmen, the true contra band
The few good men, true brothers of men
The whores, tricksters, bootlickers
The healers, the saints, the profit seekers
Crosses a lady with a thousand names
Selling the property of the widowed?”
‘Pffft. A dead crone? Malgrunian humor? You calling me boot licker? Humph!’
“?There goes a band of white collar knaves
In their gorgeous official apparels
There goes a carriage with a foreign seal
Carrying a lover for someone to steal
There goes a carriage with kingdom guards
Carrying the lost lover of a general
Right behind, are walking the serfs
Sticking an elbow right on your ribs
With darkened faces they pass by your side
Scoffing and hurling towards the idle
Running around are the studious of mind
Persecuted by the tyrants of old
Running around are the tyrants of old
Now that the students are grown to control
Goes by a hewer wearing espadrilles
With 10 Ucra the whol’ his money
Goes by a ruler crying in pain
His trifling measures offer no gain?”
‘Ha, ha, ha. Corruption, class wars and bitch carriages. I came here in one, you know. The kings are puppets, useless dogs that wag their tails before us. Not bad, not bad at all.’
“?Go by the crazy, go by the sane
You better pay what is their due
Hardened metal, that’s it for you
A priest follows her, they are living in sin
Men marching by with the dreadful scent
Many of them decrying their luck
Time goes by as I sit on the side
Watching the people pass me by
There goes the guard of the regent
Swords in the air all of them mad
There goes the history of our nations
Day after day with no relapse?”
‘Same chords, arpeggios again, sad feel. The lyrics are a gut punch. You sat in the corner a long time didn’t you?’
“?Go by some cats, go by some dogs
Go by the living, go by the dead
They go running, they go with buzz
There goes the silence, there goes the scream
There goes the kingdom, the continent
There goes my life goes burning away
As I remain seated in the same bar
Watching the world go by and by?”
‘Muted play with slight picking, bends and intervals, perfect feel. And yes, there goes your home up in flames.’
‘A very sad arpeggio with all the other techniques mixed at the end, huh? Nice trick.’
“?The more things change the more they remain
A world filled with blood that knows no shame
All throughout time and all of our lives
I wish I could sing a song about change
The world is one, the world is the same
Don’t look for me to sooth all your pains
The song remains the same
The song remains the same
The song remains the same
The song remains the same?”
‘Yes it does and yes it will, for a very, very long time.’
Sad, honest, funny with warm and gentle happy chords turned sad through technique. He is better at this music thing than me.
‘What should I say? It’s good. A perfect satire of our times. Simple and heartfelt with nice touches and a silky tempered voice.’
“Would you like me to sing you another song?” Ikrei asked.
I nodded reflexively.
Ikrei played the song he played the last time he was here, “Strangers.”
His voice sounded so much better this time around. A lot of practice, surely.
I just watched the entire thing unmoving but I wasn’t liking my own internal conflict. A few minutes later, I exhaled. I was tired.
‘Can we play together sometime?’
I wanted to ask him.
‘But I refuse to yield!’
Ikrei stopped playing. There were no soul arts, just music. I like the song, I do. What do I do? It’s professional grade anyway you look at it. I like his songs. I like him!
‘Why are you looking at me with those eyes again?!’ Again with the mushy feelings. Damn it!’
“You! You! You bastard!” I pointed at him with fury.
I stormed off, I didn’t want to accept what I was feeling.
‘Shit! He did it, he really did it!’
“ARGHHH!”