Chp.11: A beautiful song

When Haku returned to his cage and the chains and muzzle were put back on him, peace returned completely to the room and the guests returned to behave as if nothing had happened. Even though they had just witnessed a brutal duel, a number of fights had already taken place during that evening, so no one was too upset. The moment the dragon was no longer out of the cage, no one had any more reason to worry and the guests returned to their previous conversations, continuing to eat and laugh as if what had just happened were a normal show.

Augustus however felt tremendously humiliated. He had just lost in front of all the aristocracy of the Jurao Kingdom and most other nations; his name would always be stained by that shame. In the future, that loss could be used by his political opponents to ridicule him.

It shouldn't have been like this. He should have been the one to win. Who could have guessed that the dragon had thought about the possibility of a fight and he had prepared accordingly? Who would have guessed that he had so many tricks on his side? Augustus was furious that he let himself be deceived and defeated in front of everyone. As soon as the wizards had healed him enough he got up and stormed towards the royal table: "It's unheard of! That dragon cheated, you all saw it! I can't tolerate such a shame! I demand I can face him again!"

"Your royal highness Augustus, you are injured" Marcus pointed out. "At least wait to fully heal before fighting again. You will challenge him in a few days"

Indeed, even with the help of the best wizards, it would take Augustus a while to fully recover from such serious injuries. Even though his arm and the most fatal wounds had already been repaired, he still had several internal wounds and most importantly he was still disposing of the last remnants of the wyrm's venom. Even if his life was not in danger and he could move without problems, fighting in those conditions was still risky. However, Augustus still wasn't willing to let it go. "I don't care! I'll fight even in these conditions if necessary! I want a rematch!"

"Son, forget it" king Elanio said suddenly. "You'll fight another day"

Augustus's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't expected his father to backfire as well. "But... father, we can't ignore this affront! It was a dirty trick! In a real fight, I would have won in the end! It's not fair..."

"No, it is. That dragon is right" Elanio spoke in a calm and resolute voice, and looked at his son with a severe look. "In a real battle, that would be exactly what would have happened. Besides, that dragon didn't use any dirty tricks. You didn't decide on the rules for your fight, did you?"

Augustus wanted to reply, but then he realized his father was right. No dueling rules had been imposed. In fact, Haku hadn't done anything wrong. Since there were no rules, it was legal to deceive and poison the opponent. "But..."

"Son, that's enough. There's no reason to keep complaining. The dragon won fairly" Elanio said. "Go rest and recover. You will have your revenge another time"

Augustus recognized his father's gaze: it was the eyes he had when he didn't want to hear any more complaints. He knew it was better not to contradict him, so he reluctantly swallowed his pride and went to rest, as his father had ordered him.

Elanio had reacted that way for a very specific reason: at that moment, the best way to save face was to pretend that the matter was of little importance and accept defeat with sportsmanship. His plan had been ruined in a way he hadn't imagined possible; the mistake had been his, since he had underestimated the dragon's cunning. He had focused on trapping Marcus and hadn't factored in the possibility of the dragon winning. Sadly, that was exactly what happened. If he had tried to complain, Marcus might have pointed out the same things that he had pointed out to his son: the dragon hadn't broken any rules since none had been established, and then the prince had specifically demanded a real battle, and in a real battle everyone did his best to win, regardless of honor. Therefore, if Elanio protested, he would only look like a fool and an arrogant loser who refused to accept defeat. Behaving like that in front of the other rulers of the alliance could be much more damaging than the public defeat of Augustus. Therefore it was better to appear calm and sporty instead, so as to demonstrate that he still had a strong dignity.

Though he didn't show it, he was seething inside. Not only had it made no dent in Marcus' prestige, it had also sustained great damage to his own. His plan had failed on all fronts. In the future, the authority of the prince Augustus could be challenged because of that happening. Now, whenever there was talk of the young prince's swordsmanship, everyone would remember that defeat and laugh at him. And consequently, they would have laughed at Elanio himself.

However, there was currently nothing he could do to fix that error. The best choice for that night was to step aside. He would try another day, with a new and better designed plan.

Marcus, unlike Elanio, was satisfied. He was sure that Haku wouldn't disappoint his expectations and even in that seemingly dead end situation he would pull off one of his tricks; however he couldn't be sure, so he had been in a cold sweat until the end of the duel. Now, he couldn't be happier at his rival's humiliation. He could relax: Elanio was unlikely to make another move that evening. The party could continue without the risk of further setbacks.

The dinner went on for another hour, and new shows followed one another in the center of the room entertaining the guests. Then, finally, the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived: the servants cleaned up and completely cleared out the central area, and the orchestra began to play more intense melodies suitable for a dance. Within minutes, all the nobles were up and dancing in the middle of the hall.

Haku watched them from the cage. Even if the duel was over, the nobles still kept away from the bars, contrary to how they did before; even those who were watching him kept their distance. He grinned; it seemed that at least he had achieved one of the results he hoped for, since now everyone knew that they should treat him with respect.

As they danced, the various groups and factions that had formed over dinner began to mingle. It was an apparently random mixing, but which actually hid the insidious plots of the aristocrats. The girls went dancing with the boys their parents hoped to marry them off; the ladies danced with different partners and tried to draw them into their faction; the men often gathered in various small groups and argued among themselves, trying to obtain advantages for themselves and disadvantages for their enemies. Haku had to admit that this dance was a battlefield no less dangerous than the war between fairies and ogres.

Every word, winking glance, or even dance step was studied with purpose. Every nobleman, regardless of his rank and position, knew exactly how to move, with whom to speak, with whom to dance, what to say, what to suggest, when to enter a conversation, what words to use, what comments to make; every action and reaction was anticipated and calculated. It was easy for Haku to guess their intentions thanks to his extraordinary hearing which allowed him to eavesdrop during dinner, but for humans it was not so easy, as a result each of them was constantly at attention fearing being backstabbed. It was almost ironical that in a place where everyone should normally have relaxed, like a party, there were actually so many tense people.

The aristocratic society was indeed dangerous. Haku doubted he would ever deal with them, at least not directly, but he made a mental note to be extra careful with the nobles.

The orchestra changed music many times, and with it the types of dance also changed. There was amusing music for which a very agitated dance was needed; there was quiet music for which a slow-dance was needed; and there was sad, melancholy, joyful, exciting, even almost erotic music, each with its own type of dance. Haku wondered many times how nobles could remember all those dance moves, because they really were an infinity.

But there was one song in particular that caught his attention. It happened at an unspecified moment of the evening: after concluding the previous song, the orchestra began to play a placid and calm melody, which however contained melancholy and restless traits. It reminded Haku very much of the feeling he had when he slept with his siblings in the Karbraland Great Forest: the beautiful mutual warmth and the feeling of closeness to his family, but accompanied by the fear that something would find them and try to harm them. Then, after a few moments, the singer (a beautiful thirty year old woman with flowing red hair) began to sing the song. Her voice spread throughout the hall and married perfectly with the notes generated by the musical instruments.

Careful what you do

since from the sky come everyone's doom,

stay here in the deep cave

away from the dangerous poisonous air,

never go outside under the evil light,

and pray the gods to be safe.

Hold my hand in the dark

and never go away from me,

I love you, even if I never saw you

and I don't even know your name,

since you can't let me hear your voice

or the monster can track our way.

Even the monster came here in the cave,

away from the evil light,

and now it is searching us

and so we must stay from it away.

It is hungry, and cruel, and desperate

and like us it cries for what it lost.

I imagined my life would be so different

from the darkness I'm living in,

I wanted to play outside, and sing,

and dance, and saw the beautiful birds.

But the evil light comes one night,

and now even the monsters are afraid of the outside.

The monsters that before flew among the stars

now are banished from the beautiful sky,

and everything on land is burn

under the malicious evil light.

You must stay here in the dark cave,

where the light can't sign your doom.

Don't cry, my love,

or I will cry too.

If you will surrender,

I will surrender too.

You are my hope, and I'm yours,

and so continue to go on.

We have to continue to walk,

in this dark cave as long as it takes.

We will continue to avoid the hungry monsters,

in this dark cave as long as it takes.

We won't look each other or hear our voice,

in this dark cave as long as it takes.

Because one day, the evil light will go

and we will return outside.

We will see the sun, the moon and the sky,

and together we will dance once for all.

I will see your face and you will see mine,

and we can finally hear our voices.

This is my hope, my dream,

and now we must believe in it.

So continue to walk and never cry,

and so you'll never hear me cry too.

We will never surrender, never give up,

because to hope is now all we can do.

Now I'm old, and weak,

and I continue to walk in the dark cave,

but finally, after all this time,

I can see that the evil light is finally go away.

Come with me in the beautiful outside,

where I can finally enjoy your sight.

And now, finally, I can see all

the sun, the moon, and the beautiful sky;

and your face is just in front of me,

and I can hear your voice in my ear.

Please tell me your name:

father, mother, sibling, or lover, who are you?

I don't care in reality, I just like you're here;

because finally the evil light go away.

Now we can walk in this beautiful outside,

now there are no dangers and monsters anymore,

and we can dance and sing and dream

and build a future under this beautiful sky.

That song was accompanied by a very strange dance, which continually changed style: in some places it was slow and harmonious, in others it was rapid and breathless. Just like the song, which evoked emotions so different and at the same time so similar: hope, love, fear, sadness, and many others. Haku couldn't help but feel all those emotions swirling in his heart upon hearing that strange song.

"It's one of the oldest songs in the world. It dates back to before civilization arose"

Haku spun around and almost broke one of the chains doing so; a beautiful woman with the eyes completely closed had appeared next to him. How had he not heard her coming? He sniffed her and realized that the woman had almost no smell, as if her presence in the world weren't complete. Her sounds, her smells, everything about her seemed to be muffled, as if she were just a reflection that had been given a body.

The woman turned to him, never opening her eyes even for a moment, but Haku felt like she was really looking at him. "You don't know what joy I feel in talking to you right now, Haku, son of Neytiri and Kalos, and brother of many siblings"