Excerpt: The Devoted: Iyankah and Loshar

The Eldest Teacher made a small gesture with her finger, and she was joined by the Eldest Tester. An old man, probably just as old as she was, with just as many wrinkles as Loshar thought was possible, maybe even more. But he had a gentle smile and when he reached out to take Loshar's head in his hands, the Eldest Teacher helped to hold him up. "Hum for me, young man. As loud as you can."

There, they were retesting him, they thought that they had made a mistake. Loshar almost felt relieved as he closed his eyes and began that lullaby again, humming as loud as he could, but still hold onto the integrity of the notes he had been taught. He got, once again, caught up into the song, and the emotions that it brought forth of calm and peace, and he lost all track of where he was, and what was happening, as well as the dried leather hands that were cupping his face.

It was only when the song had been completed, when the lullaby was over, that Loshar opened his eyes again. The celebration that had been happening within the courtyard had stopped and everybody was looking at him, including his mother. Had he been able to paint, he would have wanted to keep her standing like that forever. Her jaw was dropped as wide as the fish he had caught the past summer, her eyes as wide as some of the gold discs that she wore dangling from her ears. The Eldest Tester pulled his leather hands back from Loshar's face with a satisfied smile and nod, the Eldest Teacher echoed it with one of her own. Loshar looked around, and everybody was staring, watching, all looking at him completely amazed at what had just happened.

Of course, Loshar himself was unsure of what had just happened, but that was not an unusual state for him to be in.

The Tester looked at the Teacher, and in their old scratchy voices, they conferred, right there in front of him. And Loshar was still staring at his mother, and her frozen position of shock and awe. Until once again, he felt a tiny hand slip into his. He looked to his left, and there she was again, the little girl. She smiled at him with a knowing look, and then he felt another hand slide into his right hand. Looking over, there was another girl, and then another boy, and so on, until all the children who had been chosen for the Jotorim were standing on the steps of the Piite school, holding hands and looking out at the gathered people of their village. The Teachers and Testers looked at each other, and then nodded slowly, smiles coming over their faces as they backed away, leaving this group of children the center of attention.

They stood there for a few moments, until the Little Girl opened her mouth slowly and a single note left her throat, passing through her lips and bouncing off the air around her. It was strong, clear, and perfect. She squeezed Loshar's hand and he closed his eyes, parting his lips and then exhaling as well, a note that married with hers perfectly left his body with his breath, and then all around them, the other children added their own notes, individual to the child, but when the music met in the air of the courtyard, it melded together into a harmony that brushed against all those gathered and brought silence to even those that were the farthest from the steps. The performance did not last very long, as these children were young and they could not hold their notes very long, but the performance held onto the minds and imaginations of those that had gathered to watch.

At first, they had all been frozen in awe of this young boy, this seemingly small child weaving a song of comfort and peace that had washed over them all and brought their hearts to fluttering. Now, faced with this chorus of youth, with such beautiful voices and the apparent ability to create such powerful sounds, the gathered village was hushed into amazement. The song did not last, but Loshar's eyes opened as the Little Girl let out another note, this one bright, jubilant, and soon, his own note joined hers. He pulled up every bit of surpressed joyful emotion from his soul and poured it into the note that he sung, with hers, and soon, the other children were doing the same. The crowd smiled and laughed and soon applauded, they had never before seen an action like this, but their hearts were overjoyed at what they heard, and soon the celebration started again. With cheering and dancing. Parents surged forward to claim their child from the line of the Jotorim, and the song ended, but the mood stayed upbeat and excited. Finally, the last two standing were Loshar and the Little Girl. She smiled at him and leaned in to kiss his cheek gently before starting off down the stairs. She turned back slowly and smiled a smile at him, bright enough to light up the darkest corner of the courtyard.

"My name is Iyankah. See you at school!"