Enviva: Angel of The Dawn

When the great Enviva of Rhythmia was born,she emerged from her mothers womb singing;so it is said and believed by many,although she could not yet speak, she sang a nonsense song that was pregnant with joy and delicate beauty and also,it is said,that on that day all the song thrushes and blackbirds,and all the birds that sing in honor of the dawn, for miles around,gathered outside of the farmhouse of Enviva's parents and the king and queen of all the songbirds flew in through an open window and perched peacefully at the foot of the birth bed to listen to the infant Envivas shimmering voice because God had whispered to them and to every singing bird that a Dawn Angel was coming,a songbird in human form,an angel whose singing would herald the dawn of a new age of goodwill in the land.

Although Enviva was quite human,having no wings nor any other magical attributes beside her voice,she was an angel in temperament and,
although she was no extraordinary beauty, she had such an extraordinarily large heart that poured out love and generosity to all and thus she was much loved by all who knew her.

Her parents,it is said,were farmers who had no incredible musical gifts of their own that Enviva might have inherited. In fact, it is often said that both mother and father were tone deaf and so could not appreciate their daughters miraculous voice but still loved her dearly as their blessed daughter and doted upon her and did all for her that loving parents should.

By the time she was seven years old,rumor about Enviva's miraculous singing had echoed throughout all the villages and towns of southern Rhythmia and hundreds of people,both common and noble came to the farmhouse of her parents to hear her sing hymns and Rhythmian folk songs.

Yet none really knew how truly magical a being Enviva was. Though they admired her singing and were inspired by it,none had yet seen evidence of its divine power; not until,that is, the great drought of Rhythmia in the reign of Ancross IV when the crops of all the farms dried up and died and there was no food even for the animals and they could not produce milk or eggs;when there was not a single drop of rain for almost an entire summer and the Lilaki river that flows east to west across the whole of Rhythmia was a dry dust-filled scar and all its fish dead or gone for some other place with more water and all the poor and weak were starving and the poorest and weakest among them were dying.

It was during this terrible time that Envivas magical vocal ability bloomed. Her parents were planning to pack up all their possessions onto a large cart and leave with the hundreds of refugees that were then flooding out of Rhythmia but little Enviva begged her mother and father that,before they left,she must first sing goodbye
to her home and to all the birds and animals and trees of her land.

And,after some argument, her parents relented and even though her throat was parched, Enviva seemed able to sing perfectly although her song was full of tears because it was a lament of parting.

Fairwell, my fellow flowers,
I must be plucked away;
goodbye, the trees my brothers
I can’t stand still or stay.

I’m flowing with the river,
see the river fill my eyes;
I’m blowing with the west wind;
you can hear it in my sighs.

Goodbye, the clear lake water;
you have been my mirror true;
goodbye, the fields and narrow lanes;
you have been my mirror too.

I’m trying to be a bird;
so I sob like a dove
I’m trying to be a cloud
and I have tears enough.
to rain
on you.

And it was her sad singing that moved the sky to tears, or atleast, it was Enviva's sad song that was heard in the heavens by Mother God who is all and she responded with mercy and sent heavy rains to break the terrible drought and this miracle was witnessed not only by Enviva's parents but by other farm workers and local people who had been drawn near by the sound of Enviva's singing.

As the rain fell, Enviva was overjoyed and her parents were overjoyed and all the starving people of Rhythmia were overjoyed and they all thanked a merciful god and were happy and shook tambourines and danced and poured wine and celebrated the return of the rain.

And, soon after, the miracle of Enviva breaking the drought was known throughout the length and breadth of Rhythmia and even by the king and his court in the capital city of Heavenna and it was because of this that Enviva was summoned to appear before the king and perform for him.

2. ENVIVA AND THE KING.

So Enviva was to travel to the capital but,as she was only a child of seven and a half her oldest female cousin Mimenta who was eighteen was asked to accompany her as her guardian.

They travelled by royal coach for two days and nights to the great city of Heavenna,known as the ‘jeweled lady of the north’ because of its bright lights and lavish architecture,ornament and sculpture,and when they passed through the massive marble arch of the city gates they were greeted by another royal coach that took them to the royal palace where they were to be guests and,that night,Mimenta and Enviva saw such luxuries as they had only heard of in faerie tales and the next afternoon Enviva was presented to the king,King Ancross the IV of Rhythmia.

“This evening”,said Ancross, “You will sing for me and my court”.

“Yes,your greatness”, said Enviva,curtsying, “It will be an honor”.

“It will be an honor for me too”,said the king, “You, who are a worker of miracles, are blessed by God in a way that I can only dream of and you are a national heroine too,beloved by the people”.

“Oh”, said Enviva, “But are you not blessed by God with such wealth and property and power as only kings possess and if a king is a good king would he not be a hero to his people?”.

The king did not know what to answer but he laughed and dismissed Envivas words as the comments of a child, “I look forward to hearing you sing”,he said,smiling and gestured for her to be led away.

While she was in the royal palace Enviva was also introduced to other courtiers and guests including the now infamous politician Uglicus Crimalin who would become her enemy and who she took an instant dislike to although Crimalin thought very highly of her at first.

“It is a great joy that I should meet you”,said Crimalin; a wide smile brimming across his fat face, “The heroine who has saved our great nation from catastrophe. I am a passionate lover of our national songs and music. Truly there is no better music in all the world”,he said,raising a glass of red wine in honor of Enviva, “I too wish to serve my nation but in a more humble way”, he said.

“How are you going to do that?”, asked Enviva because she knew very little about politics and wasn’t even sure exactly what a politician was.

“By ridding our fair Nation of the filth and the disease which is corrupting it”, said Crimalin,
his face becoming quite ugly and red, like the planet Mars,with anger which made it quite repulsive to little Enviva.

“Oh?”,asked Enviva innocently, “Do you mean that you will make more street cleaners and more hospitals?”.

“No”,replied Crimalin with a horrid laugh that tickled Envivas spine, “I mean the human filth and the human disease. If you can call them human,that is. The Gypsies and vagabonds and foreigners who are poisoning our Fatherland. It was they who brought, upon us, the drought which killed so many of our women and children-
They started the drought with their evil black sorcery”. Now Crimalin grinned and Enviva saw that he had an ugly,sharp grin with teeth yellowed by cigar smoke and, though he tried to look pleasant, he was really a ravenous wolf like the ones she had seen trying to steal sheep and chickens from her parents farm.

“But you”,he continued, “worked Gods magic with your voice and your music. Such purity and goodness is only found in our children and our song and our god”.

“Don’t Gypsies and foreigners have children and music and a god too?”,asked Enviva.

Crimalin greeted this suggestion with a snarl, “They have the devil and his spawn. They have a cacophony that,though seductive to some,only corrupts the mind and soul of the listener. Do not bother yourself with what they are”,said Crimalin,stroking Envivas head,which made her wince.

That evening, Enviva performed for the king and his court and all who heard her were moved by her. She sang a hymn to the Goddess. She sang the royal anthem of Rhythmia and a song from her village and a song about lovers who were parted and then reunited and,when she was finished,the king was so impressed that he invited her to come and live in his palace permanently but Enviva did not like this idea at all because she would miss her village and her parents so much but she did not want to seem impolite so she curtsied and said "Thank you" rather than "Yes".

The next morning Enviva was taken,in a royal carriage, on a guided tour of the city and saw many of its wonderful landmarks. She saw the city that the ancestors of King Ancross had built – the marble temple erected by his great,great grandfather,the stadium built by his grandfather and the public parks and fountains built by his father.

“A concert hall would be a good thing”,thought Enviva cheerfully. However, then their guide pointed them toward a new statue being built, covered in scaffolding apart from its head.

“That”, said the guide,"is a new statue that Minister Crimalin has commissioned in the Kings name. It will be the biggest statue in the city,made entirely of iron and steel. It is known as ‘The Idol of Wrath’",said the guide.

Enviva shuddered. “Wrath?”,thought Enviva. She was not entirely sure what the word meant but it sounded unpleasant and the face of the enormous statue looked cruel and angry and mad. “It reminds me of Crimalin”,she said and both Mimenta and the guide laughed at this.

They saw much more of the great city. More statues,more temples and ruined palaces and tombs of the ancient kings of Heavenna but Enviva thought that there was something missing from their tour. Something which their guide had overlooked but which was important and which she must see.

“Show me the places where the gypsies live, and the poor”, she commanded.

Their guide was shocked, “Why,in gods name,do you wish to see those things?”, he asked,wrinkling up his powdered nose in disgust.

“Because Crimalin called them filth and disease”,
implored Enviva, “But I would like to judge with my own eyes”.

And so,against the guides judgement,he ordered that the carriage driver take them into the poorest part of the city where they would see the ordinary people,the ghettos and the gypsy encampment and Enviva was quite horrified when she saw what appalling squalor and deprivation the poor lived in and then she went to talk with the gypsies and saw a man playing a fiddle and another with an accordian and she thought that the music which they made was good,if a little unusual to her ears and she asked if she might sing to them and she sang one of the old songs of her village, about the hardness of a peasant woman's life, and her voice moved all who heard it and they immediately recognized that she was an angel sent from god to visit them.

And then,after she had sung with them and met their families and played with their children, she said goodbye and went with her guide and her eldest cousin,back to the palace,declaring “I have seen all that I wish to see now”.

That evening she sang for the king and his courtiers again and afterwards she spoke to him in private.

Enviva told the king of her worries about the hateful attitude of Minister Crimalin and about her happy visit to the Gypsies and about the terrible conditions in which the poor of the city were forced to live and,because she was an honored guest who was hailed as a peoples hero and a worker of miracles who was blessed by god, the king listened patiently but,as he listened a rage built within him until his face was visibly shaking in an effort to contain his anger and, when she had finished speaking, the king erupted, “HOW DARE YOU!”, he shouted, “Do you not know with whom you are speaking?”.

“Who else should I speak to about these things? If it rains too much then I speak to god. I am speaking to the one man with the power to change this land for the better”, she said.

“What does a little child know about life?”, said the king, “You must listen to your elders and betters”.

“What does a king know about the world?”, retorted Enviva, “He must listen to the voice of his people”.

“Do you not know”,said the king, “That I was appointed king by divine right. Crowned by the church. I was chosen by God to be king”.

“God chose you to be king?”, asked Enviva, “Why? So that you could squander his gift? God gave me a voice to sing so that I might use it to spread happiness. God only gives people good fortune,power and wealth so that these can be put to good use. By ignoring the cries of your people you are also turning away from the voice of god because your people are God and not the church”.

Finally, the kings fury died and he had no answers left to throw at Enviva so he merely said, “I think that you and your cousin should return home to your village tonight and be thankful that you are not being sent to my dungeons instead,little Enviva!”.

And that was the end of Enviva's stay as an honored guest within the palace. A royal coach was made ready to travel by night and then Enviva and her cousin boarded the coach with the intention of returning home.

However, that was not the end of Enviva's stay in Heavenna for,as they were riding through the late night city streets, they passed by a large rally that was being held in the city square.

Standing upon a podium was the wicked Minister Crimalin, who was addressing an angry mob and urging them,with inflammatory language to enter the ghetto and attack the gypsies and throw them out of the city.

Enviva asked the driver to stop and reluctantly the driver agreed and reluctantly Mimenta let go her forceful young cousins hand, although she did not understand her ways.

When Enviva heard the hate that was pouring from the podium of Crimalin and how his words were stirring the assembled mob, like a witches spoon in a cauldron of simmering hate, she could not bear it and she felt that the pangs within her heart were the same pangs felt by God toward such evil.

And she felt that God was opening her mouth and inflating her lungs with golden air and making her sing and she sang a song that,during her infancy her mother had sung to her whilst she’d lain in her cot, the song “I love my land because my land is love” and,when Enviva sang,her voice,by some strange heavenly magic, echoed upon the night air so that it was magnified and every ear within the city square could hear it.

When I’m high on the hills of my homeland,
then I sigh for I’m filled with an awe;
reaching up to the sky of my homeland;
I know this is the land I adore.

When I roam through the fields of my country;
through a wide open ocean of green;
see my native birds singing in the trees;
it’s the loveliest sight that I’ve seen.

But far more than the wild, rolling hillside
reaching up to the clear sky above
and far more than the fields and the birds in the trees;
I love my land because my land is love.

It’s the mountainous hearts of my people;
folks I know are courageous and fair;
such a friendly and kind kind of people
that make me feel so glad I’m from here.

When I see all their faces around me
just their smiles fill me with warmth and cheer
and their good hearts constantly astound me
there's no nation, I think, to compare.

For, far more than the wild, rolling hillside,
reaching up to the clear sky above
and far more than the fields and the birds in the trees;
I love my land because my land is love.

And,when the mob heard this song, which all Rhythmians knew from their childhood,they forgot the hateful words that had darkened their hearts and felt,instead, the light of their forgotten childhood and then they too,every man and woman,began to add their voices to the song and soon they had forgotten, altogether, the vitriol of Crimalin and remembered the things for which any nation should feel pride; its love,its humanity,its nobility and its reason.

And Mimenta saw,with her own eyes,how the sea of unseeing had been transformed into a sea of love by the amazing power of her young cousins voice and they joined hands again and voices and minds and hearts.

And when the song had ended, Enviva addressed the crowd, and though she was only a girl of seven,she had a hand around their hearts.

“Why trust Crimalin? Do you know him any better than the people who he directs you to hate? Would you trust him if he told you that your spouse was cheating on you or would you ask your spouse or demand to see evidence? Why take his word for granted when the truth is so near; go and judge for yourselves, go and meet the people who he would like you to believe are monsters. I have met them and judged them with my own eyes. Go and talk to them and you will see that they are poor,ordinary people like you, with the same problems and fears as you but not Crimalin,he is infact, more alien to you than they are, he is rich and comfortable and protected and, to him, you are nothing but a blunt instrument, a means to an end and he would happily stain your palms with blood and place the sin of murder upon your souls just to gain more worldly wealth for himself and what will really be achieved by killing or throwing out all the gypsies and foreigners? Spilling their blood won’t make gold spill from the sky. Nothing will change by getting rid of the outsiders except that you will have become the knife and fork of the devil. Crimalin tells you that the Gypsies are responsible for starting the drought but why them and not him? He was drinking fine wines and eating imported foods but the Gypsies starved with you. Again, I ask you to go and meet the Gypsies and know them better. Don’t let your ears be handles for the devils cup, if you worship an Idol of wrath then all you will receive shall be wrath!”.

The crowd was soothed by the angel voice of Enviva but there were other ears,those of Crimalin and the policemen in his employ, who were not happy with her words and she and Mimenta soon found themselves surrounded by armed constables who placed shackles upon their wrists and Crimalin whispered to Enviva, “You are a songbird but I am a Rook. You have your voice but I have my beak and my claws”.

Enviva and her cousin were seized by the constables and forced into the back of a carriage that had bars upon the windows but they were not taken to the city gaol as they had expected but to the mansion of Crimalin; a great,turreted limestone building and thrown into the dungeons that lay beneath its cellars.

“You will regret this”, said Enviva to Crimalin, “I have great powers and I will not be held prisoner”. At that moment Enviva felt a sharp,burning blow to her head and she fell unconscious.