Paul Shapera
Brija And The Test
[Brija]
A test is declared to decide and determine which of the girls may be worthless or worthy
Wild child, watch from the shadows as the other girls plot your demise
A trial by combat, the girls all decide, and they make a pact that first Brija must die
Wild child, no one in the world who loves you and who's still alive

[Chorus]
What secrets now have they said
The strange sounds in your head
Do they tell you over and over again

The voices that speak
That no one else sees
For hours you just sit and you stare absently

[Brija]
The trial begins, all alone Brija stands, and the girls all come at her with blades in their hands
Wild child, tears in your eyes as your sisters betray you once more
Brija, she dances, her dead mother whispers, a feral ballerina with fierce blood red kisses
Wild child, in a ballet of blood as the bodies pile up on the floor

[Chorus]
What secrets now have they said
The strange sounds in your head
Do they tell you over and over again
The voices that speak
That no one else sees
For hours you just sit and you stare absently

[Brija]
And when the test was done, no one moved or spoke a word
Until a single person, the Vizier, slowly rose
A slow and lonely clap echoed from his hands
Until at last the hall was filled with applause and cheering men

He took young Brija by the shoulders and they walked
And he told her of the glory of the Janissary guard
And so he offered her a post, a life and more
She left with him, beside him as his private bodyguard