kgbooklog

Aha, my response has taken me to your journal.

OK, then, here is based on second book, Paladin of Souls Ista, we are told, expresses her rage against the gods in a ferocious parody of a traditional children's prayer in rhyming couplets. Here is what I think they might have been like:

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Chalionese children's prayer
Mark A. Mandel © 2003
(based on Paladin of Souls, Lois Bujold, p. 197, 170)

Sister, guide me as I grow,
Help me learn what I should know.

Mother, make me fit and strong
And keep me sound my whole life long.

Brother, make me strong of heart,
With friends from whom I'll never part.

Father, show me what is right,
From morning till the dark of night.

Bastard, please to let me be
And keep Your demons far from me.

---

Ista's rage against the gods
Mark A. Mandel © 2003
(based on Paladin of Souls, Lois Bujold, p. 197, 170)


Daughter, was the marriage bed
Designed for two? Or three, instead?

Mother, what you laid on me
Was murder, lies, and treachery.

Son, you stole my son away
With false friends and perverted play.

Father, it's the gift you gave
That sent my husband to his grave.

Bastard, you're the worst of all.
Demons take You and Your call!