VII - Serenade

It wasn't uncommon to hear song echoing through the royal grounds. Even now, after all was said and done, Lambert was still a gathering center for creatures of music. Popo visited freely, waltzing through wherever the wind happened to take her. Hilda and Sakuya came and went whenever their duties allowed. Lisette, in her place as a medical professional, was here more often than she was back in Mithra. Mordimort was hesitant to return to the desert, even with Kashmistan well on its way to being rebuilt, and so had never really left. Marie stayed in the castle, alternating nights sleeping in the barracks and sleeping at Rena's house. And even Giselle could sometimes be heard, practicing the eerie, haunting notes she had found for herself. Music was a part of life when you lived within the walls of this castle.

Even so...this voice was different.

Alto wasn't sure if it was his own memory or some side ability of being the Conductor, but once he'd heard a song, he remembered every detail about it. Once he'd heard a witch sing, he could identify their voice without looking, almost without thinking, even with his attention divided. But he didn't even need that ability to know who this was. After all, of all the singing voices that frequented these grounds, only one of them was male.

Alto followed it step by slow step. The sound led him upwards and out onto the observatory. And there he had to pause, because if he moved any closer, he was half afraid he would shatter this image into irreparable pieces. Ripples of light danced in slow circles around Xeno, cocooning him in an orange-white glow. Both of his hands rested on the edge of the low wall that overlooked the barracks. But more than the calm, serene light and the soft reverberation of his voice, Alto found himself looking in surprise at Xeno's clothing.

He wore a white, sleeveless coat with a yellow-gold collar and crenelated lapels that ran all the way down its length. The hem of the coat was asymmetrical, with one side ending just below his knee and the other brushing his ankle. Beneath the coat he wore a dark orange tunic with a neckline that dove almost all the way to the center of his chest, belted at the waist with what seemed to be a woven belt. He had low brown boots and wide orange leg wraps that crisscrossed up his calves. The light that hummed around him sent curling patterns of orange scattering across the tails of his coat, twisting the way light did when reflecting off of water.

The song faded. From here Alto could see the faintest of smiles light up his lips. Then he turned, and the expression blinked out, replaced with surprise when their eyes met.

"Alto!" Xeno took half a step back and bumped into the observatory wall. "You've been getting better at moving quietly. I barely heard you."

"You were pretty distracted." Alto smiled. He looked Xeno up and down and folded his arms. "You know...I've never actually seen you wearing your witch's clothing before. I think it suits you."

Xeno's lips pressed tight. He looked back out over the city, one hand closing on the edge of the stone wall. "I'm not sure it does. It's very... Well. There isn't much of it."

Alto arched one eyebrow. "Really?" Skepticism coated his voice. "Maybe you should look at the outfits the other witches ended up with and then get back to me."

"I know that!" Xeno's voice came out sharp. Alto's other eyebrow lifted to join the first. Xeno exhaled and pressed one hand against his face, and took a moment before he spoke again. "I'm honestly not sure how they do it," he said in a more level voice. "This is tactically awful. Most of the other witches attack from range, so I suppose they have a higher chance of avoiding damage, but Sakuya is a swordswoman. I still have far more power with my weapons than my magic. Why is it that the qualias insist on giving their witches the most ridiculous, impractical outfits it can come up with?"

"I seriously wish I could tell you." Alto shook his head. "It would sure make it easier to keep them from getting hurt. I'm just glad the 9th has always been good about protecting them. Otherwise I hate to think about what might have happened on the battlefield."

Xeno grimaced and looked out at the city again. "I know compared to what they wear, this is fairly modest. But I still can't help feeling...exposed."

Alto stepped up beside him. From here he could see over the top of the barracks and down the gently sloping tiers of Lambert. Late in the afternoon as it was, the sun reflected golden off of every surface it could reach. Alto studied it for a long time, and then looked up at Xeno with the same quiet, thoughtful look. "I think those outfits exist so the witches can be seen no matter what," he finally said. "If they aren't recognized for who and what they are, they lose their status as a symbol in the human mind. And Eve relied a lot on humans revering the witches. If we didn't recognize them and either respect or fear them, they wouldn't have as much power to direct the flow of human history."

Xeno considered that for a moment. "I'm not sure I agree," he said, "but it isn't as though the qualias themselves are going to give us any explanations. I suppose your theory is as good as any other."

"Gee, thanks." Alto rolled his eyes. "Why are you so caught up about this, anyway? If you don't like the clothes, don't wear them."

"I normally don't," Xeno reminded him with a slight quirk of his eyebrows.

Alto gave him a flat look. "Then why are you making a big deal about it now? You're the one who decided you wanted to run around in them. You wouldn't be doing it unless you thought you had a good reason."

The corners of Xeno's eyes tightened. He looked out over the observatory wall again. Alto tensed, half expecting to see shadows wrapping around him. But Xeno breathed out very slowly, and the taut pain in his face melted into something softer.

"The spring equinox festival is two weeks from today, isn't it?" He spoke very quietly now. "It's been so long that maybe I shouldn't remember any more. But it was a fortnight before that festival that I first met Elcrest." He glanced at Alto, then away again, but the expression in his eyes in that moment hit Alto like a fist straight into the chest. "Back then, Lambert was a small city. Not even a hundred people lived here, and this castle wasn't nearly as grand as it is now. So many things have changed."

"Regnant has grown since you were king," Alto said softly. "Back then, the whole kingdom was just Lambert and the closest towns to it, right?"

Xeno nodded. "And now the kingdom runs all the way south to the coast. West through the desert. East to the mountains, and not as far north as it once did, but far enough that winter seems to last most of the year. It stood against every threat that's ever faced it—including the one I put it through. And I'm sure it will continue to last long after we're gone."

Alto studied him for a long time. He hesitated just for a moment, considered not speaking, and then said it anyway. "Are you worried they'll forget you again?"

"No." The reply was firm enough that the tension in Alto's shoulders released. "Time passes. Things are forgotten. I understand that now, and I think... I think I'm proud of them. This place and its people deserve to have new heroes. They've outgrown their old ones."

"But you're still singing for them," Alto said.

A dim smile flicked across Xeno's face. "They deserve a sunny day today," he said. "Even if it's really only important to me."

No chains. No shadows. Alto waited a beat or two for them to appear, just in case. But despite the faint afterechoes of sorrow that haunted Xeno's voice, he seemed centered. Not at peace, exactly, but serene in a way Alto saw from him only rarely, if ever.

"I only heard the very end of your song," he said. "Do you mind singing it again?"

Xeno blinked at him. And then a smile worked its way very slowly up his face, warming his eyes to a color that matched the cloudless sky almost perfectly. "Whatever the Conductor wills."

"Come on. Don't even start that."

Xeno chuckled. "As you wish." He paused for a moment, running his fingertips along the rough stone of the wall. Then he tipped his head back and sang. Alto closed his eyes, letting the sound run through him. There was a sad, distant fondness in it that buzzed in his head, and after a few moments the warm afternoon sunlight really did seem to feel warmer. More gentle. It felt as though he could reach out and feel it rippling through the air like a solid thing, like water or like smooth silk.

Alto cast his eyes over the sloping rooftops of the city. The streets buzzed with activity. The faintest echo of voices and laughter bounced up towards them and past them into the clear blue sky. Beside him Xeno sang in a rich, warm voice. And high above, from the pale disc of the moon that glinted overhead, came a fluttering trill of joyous notes that sent shivers racing down his spine. Between them all, they created a symphony Alto could never have dreamed of conducting himself—something wild and discordant and somehow all in perfect harmony with itself.

This was his city. His kingdom. This was the music of its soul, the music that all of them had fought to preserve. And as long as it continued to thrive the way it did now, it came very close to making all the pain they had suffered worth it.


The garb of the Solar Witch can be found at tinyurl lzxwmx2. Xeno's song can be found at tinyurl ksyqclj. Thanks for reading!