RAJ’S LETTER TO JONES
Dear Altair Jones;
I am Sorry more than I can say for Causing you such a great Deal of Trouble. I can only say that I'll Never Be in your Way Again. Don't get mad at Tom—it wasn't any of it his Fault and he never had anything to do with the Lady. Please take care of Denny when I'm Gone.
Raj
RAJ’S LETTER TO MONDRAGON
Dear Tom;
I am a Bigger Fool than you ever thought I was. I've gone and got Both of us in Trouble. And you didn't even know what was going on. I was writing Poems to m'sera Marina Kamat—she's the girl, not some girl in a boat, I didn't dare tell you because of what happened—anyway she thought they was Coming From You. She had me into House Kamat, and she talked at me—I thought she knew it was me, and she was so Nice, so Sweet, she gave me supper and she kissed me—it was Dark before I knew it, and she gave me a Note—I read it and then I figured out she Thought it was You, not me, that wrote the Poems. That's in love with her. And I didn't know what to Do—she promised me she'd see about sponserring me into the College, God, I want that almost as much as I love her—
And All I had to do was keep writing Poems and making like they came from You. I could see her and talk to her—I might get to be in the College, even, get to be a real Doctor.
But I knew it wasn't Right. And—I asked a friend for some Advice, he told me if she ever found Out she'd be Real Angry, as much with you as me, and that isn't Right At All. It isn't Honorable. I can't Live like that.
So I done my best to fix it. I sent a letter over to Kamat Telling the Truth. And I left this One for you, and one where Jones'll find it.
Now I'm Going Away, so I can't Cause you any more Trouble. Seems I'm better at that than anything else. So at least you won't have to worry about what I'm going to get you into next, not any more. I'm sorry, Tom,— but Sorry don't buy too much and it don't fix anything, either. Just, please, keep Denny out of Danger when I'm gone, if you figure I've ever Done anything for you.
Rigel Takahashi
MEROVINGIAN SONGS
PARTNERS
Lyrics by Mercedes Lackey ©1987
Music by C. J. Cherryh ©1987
My mother worships money
And my father worships work.
My sister says that I'm a whore,
My brother, I'm a sherk.
With such a loving family
There's no need to wonder why
At sixteen I determined that
I'd break away or die.
Well, die is what I nearly did—
Out singing for my cash;
They threw a little money
But they threw a lot of trash.
I tried a little acting
'Cause the bug was in my soul,
But acting couldn't keep me fed;
I starved and then I stole.
Her name was Rif; she sang in bars;
Her hat was full of coin,
And she caught me quite red-handed
With what I tried to purloin.
She didn't call out for the law,
She didn't make a fuss—
"Rob from the rich to feed the poor—"
And, partner, that means us.
She taught me how to pick gitar
And how to pick a lock.
She taught me how to kill
And where to bluff, and when to shock.
But being partner to Rif
Sometimes is a royal pain—
A singer-thief; that's fine—But she's
An undercover Jane!
She's a crazy rabble-rouser
And she wants to save the world.
I think she'd challenge God himself
With rebel flags unfurled.
And I love her like my sister—(more!
'Cause I hate my sister's guts.)
But I'll be the first to tell you that
I think my partner's nuts.
So here we are out singing
In some dark canalside dive—
And all I want to do is somehow
keep us both alive.
Between the priests and blacklegs
trying to send us both to hell—
And the scrapes she gets us both into—Lord,
The stories I could tell!
She's a crazy rabble-rouser
and she's out to change the world
and with all she's dragged me into
I'm surprised my hair ain't curled.
But I wouldn't trade my partner Rif,
not for anyone I know—I
Sometimes think she might be right,
but, Lord! don't tell her so!
A SONG FOR MARINA
Lyrics by Mercedes Lackey ©1987
Music by C. J. Cherryh ©1987
Look down on me, lady—
Your window's so high,
It's so hard to see you
But still, I will try,
It's dark by canalside,
I know you won't see
The one in the shadows—
the shadow that's me.
Look down on me, lady—
Look down from above—
Although you don't know me
I'll tell you I love.
I'll write of your beauty
And watch you below
I'll love you forever
And you'll never know.
Look down on me, lady—
Oh won't you look down?
For if I were a king
I would give you my crown.
But I'm just a poet—
A fool at your feet—
Look down on me, lady—
Your smile is so sweet.
Look down on me, lady—
The stars in the skies
Cannot hope to equal Y
our ever-bright eyes.
Alas, I've no fortune,
No future, no clan—
A look's all I'll get
So I'll take what I can.
INDEX TO THE CITY MAPS
Table of Contents
Title Page
JONES WAS MAD—
C.J. CHERRYH invites you to enter the world of MEROVINGEN NIGHTS!
Title
In the twisting highways and byways of TROUBLED WATERS, you will encounter.
Maps
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X
CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XVI
CHAPTER XVII
CHAPTER XVIII
CHAPTER XIX
EPILOGUE
APPENDIX
RAJ’S LETTER TO MARINA
RAJ’S LETTER TO JONES
RAJ’S LETTER TO MONDRAGON
MEROVINGIAN SONGS
A SONG FOR MARINA
INDEX TO THE CITY MAPS
Troubled Waters Page 29
