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Liliana was now twenty-two years old. She had suffered a lot during that time, especially in the beginning.
She ran away from her parents, promising herself that she would become the queen of the wandering minstrels. In less than two days, however, she was already lying in the forest, starving to death. Fortunately, she was found by passing merchants. They took pity on her and took her in. Liliana became their servant. She had no choice - she knew that she would not survive too long in the forest alone.
The merchants she joined traveled from town to town. They had a good reputation and were welcomed wherever they went. Liliana quickly offered to entertain them by singing and playing the lily. She even got a special payment for it. The pouch in which she received it she carried with her as a keepsake,
After a year, the merchants who had travelled together decided to separate, each going their own way, and Liliana rejected the offer of marriage she had received from one of them and began to travel alone.
The following years brought many hardships and disappointments. We will omit here the few adventures she had when she had to deal with the hot feelings of the mighty, and those of treasure hunting. Suffice it to say that her life was fraught with events. But the world is a cruel place for a girl who left her family to travel alone and make money with art. During her years of wandering, one night she realized a truth that changed her life. This breakthrough thought came to her without any special occasion, just like that. Just when she was lying on the moss again after a dinner made of the roots of forest plants, when her stomach hurt again, when she thought she was dying again.
She realized that she was not at all like her childhood friends, all those heroes of songs and legends. Such nights did not happen to them. She even knew why.
Their stories were written after all. Those who composed the songs wrote about them from the perspective of centuries and selected only the more interesting passages. It was from these that they wove poems to sing to their listeners.
Liliana felt like a thief. She loved these characters, but they certainly didn't love her. It appeared that her feelings were unrequited. She reached a dead end and saw only a wall in front of her.
Who am I? What does it mean to be a minstrel?
It has been many years since she ran away from home. All this time she had said without hesitation that she was a minstrel. Now she realized that she was a fraud. She felt as if someone had hit her in the face with tremendous force. That was the first big disappointment of her life.
The shock of this discovery made her seriously ill. For three days and three nights she had a fever. Her whole body ached and she was plagued by vomiting and diarrhea. Even when she was half asleep, she could not stop thinking about her disappointment.
She woke up on the fourth day, completely healthy. She immediately went to a stream to wash her face and drink water. When she leaned over the water and saw her reflection, she was amazed. She did not recognize her own face, as if she were looking at someone else.
A gentle breeze moved the leaves of the trees. The water hummed invigoratingly, the birds sang, the hum of insect wings could be heard. Suddenly she realized that it was all music. A stream of tears flowed from her eyes.
Without thinking much, she jumped into the water, scaring away the fish and birds. She found music in the sound of their flight, too. She surfaced to take a breath, and found that she could not stop laughing. She laughed and cried simultaneously until she lost her strength.
Later that day, she stood in one of the streets of the nearest town, all muddy and wet. Passers-by shunned her with disgust, the vendors from the nearby stalls cringed at the sight of her. If she had stood like that for a while longer, someone would probably have hit her, someone else would have thrown something at her, and who knows how it would have ended. But she began to sing.
She didn't even think about the fact that singing would make her safer. She just wanted to do it. As she struck the strings of the lily, a few passersby threw her uncertain glances. They were looking at an ugly, dirty, shabby girl, but the instrument in her hands and the movements of her trained hands were beautiful. Those who paid attention to her would soon forget everything else. The music woven by her slender fingers flowed more confidently. Everyone stopped to listen to the girl with bated breath. He felt that he was in for a moving experience. A wave of emotion swept over the hearts of the listeners.
Liliana knew that everyone was looking at her. Happy, she imagined that she was standing on a stage, and focused on the music. She felt herself rising higher and higher, and when she was finally at the top, she began to sing. It was the first real song in her life. All the previous songs had seemed like something else, mediocre.
Through the little minstrel's head ran the songs that lived in her memory. Their characters, her childhood friends who had accompanied her all this time, passed by to be gone forever. This song was their gift. She said goodbye to them with joy.
She understood that if she wanted to become a minstrel, she had to accept it. It was the only way she could sing on. She decided to think of them with fondness. It was wonderful that such amazing people once strode the earth. She could be proud that she had once called them her friends. She was going to cherish that pride until one day she met equally special people. Then she could sing about them with the same pride.
As she finished her performance, tears streamed from her eyes. The people who listened to her performance in stupor were also crying. Some people sniffed their noses. A storm of applause followed.
That day Liliana Masquerade became a true minstrel. From that moment on, she was to live music forever.
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