War.
Silent versus Songbearer.
Blood in the streets.
Silent outnumber Songbearers more than ten to one, and while Eero has not turned them all against us, he has managed to bring many more than I ever imagined over to his side.
I always thought he was able to wrap me around his finger because of my weakness for him, my love. But it is a talent of his. He is charming. When he talks, people listen. They believe and trust him. They follow him, taking up arms against their neighbors, rending our land in two.
Our Songs make us fearsome foes, though Earthsong cannot be used to kill. But none who have felt the energy of a million lives strumming in his or her veins can rejoice in sending any living creature to the World After.
Early on, we healed any Silent harmed in an attack. The Assembly believed this would bring them to our side. But it did not. I cannot understand if the Silent are jealous of our Songs or fearful of them. The truth likely lies in a combination of the two.
Swords clash. The Silent fight through the rain and ice, the mudslides and fire. They are pelted with rocks, tumbled by earthquakes, but they persist.
It is within the power of the Songbearers to entirely unmake the land from the fabric of its being, in the same way that we do the reverse, creating a beautiful landscape where once a desert stood. But we think of the future—a future of peace.
Eero knows my weaknesses. He knows me too well. I should never have been made Queen to lead the fight against him. I am the last person who should have been chosen.
Yllis studies with the Cantors day and night. His guilt is an anchor around his neck. It pulls him away from me. I have not allowed him to answer for his part in the scheme to help Eero sing. And I have not agreed to marry him. How could I with things the way they are? I thought I was protecting him by accepting all the blame, but that and my repeated refusals of his marriage offers have changed things between us.
The hurt in his eyes when he looks upon me cuts deep. So deep I do not believe I have a heart any longer. My heart was never my own. It belonged more to the ones I loved than to me.
War.
It drags us under.
It tears us apart.