It all fell to Pilos; whether or not he was fighting the Singer’s wars, the reports and messages and pleas found their way to him, and though it was an honour to be so trusted by the holy lord, it was a burden he sometimes longed to put down. Carefully, he turned his thoughts away from criticism.

The Singer was wise and powerful beyond human understanding, a living god, but he had once been a man. And even Pechaqueh were fallible. Singer Het, his predecessor, had been only twelve when she was chosen and had relied so heavily on the counsel of her family that when it was her time to ascend – a mere three years after the magic entered her – it had surprised no one that she chose Xac, her older brother, as her heir. She’d taken thirty members of her family with her when she ascended, but had left behind her council to aid him. They had missed their chance at glory and immortality as a result. It was clear they weren’t prepared to do so again.

And yet Xac still waxes, a full eleven sun-years into his reign. He is strong where Singer Het was not, not in the way the people needed. The holy burden was too much for her. But Xac’s song rings across every stick of Empire. With honest guidance, he will be a Singer remembered through the ages.

With honest guidance.

Pilos cleared his mind as he and Atu bowed to the councillors at the entrance, thighs warm from the climb. They removed their sandals, cloaks, and weapons and entered, all of them bent at the waist and scuttling along the corridors like wading birds looking for food.

The cheering of the Melody and the Pechaqueh faded away, replaced by the sounds and scents of the Singer’s palace: citrus and incense, the trickle of water and soft hush of leaves in a breeze, a child laughing, the crackle of fire. Sounds and scents of life and strength, which the Singer in his power and his magic wove into the song that kept them all safe and united. Pilos had no idea how he did it. In his darker moments, on the front line, when battle was joined and his warriors were dying all around him, he wondered if the Singer knew how he did it.