The Beauty In Love And Murder

Chapter Sixteen - Theodore

Tonight, I decide to take dinner in my quarters with Zephyr. The maids come in and set up a small table, setting two places and wheeling a cart loaded with food into the room. I pour some wine into glasses for both of us, swirling the deep red liquid around the cup restlessly.

"Do you feel, like, nervous at all? Like something bad is about to happen," I ask Zephyr abruptly. Zeph looks up from his food, and chews his mouthful of potatoes contemplatively. "No-o-o? I feel fine. Well, hungry but fine. Are you alright?" He says anxiously. I bite back a grin. Zephyr is a devil and a force to be reckoned with when he has a blade in his hand, but at any other time he's quite a thoughtful person. I sigh and rest my head on my hand, trying to ignore the odd, uneasy feeling tiptoeing down my spine.

Zephyr and I have a merry meal, joking and indulging in a 'do you remember' battle of childhood memories. We eat and argue and laugh, enjoying each others' company because we rarely get to have meals together because for some reason, Zephyr likes to be at home when the sun goes down. At seven, after our meal ends and the wine bottle is nearly empty, Zephyr asks me to play the violin.

I refuse at first, because I dislike playing in front of an audience. I've been playing since I was a child— no more than five or six— because there was a day a long time ago when I was feeling particularly rebellious after my father had finished raging at me, so I snuck out of the palace after tricking my nursemaid into thinking I was asleep. I ran down as many streets as I could, stopping when I stumbled out into one of the markets outside the palace. I'd never been to one before. I slowed to a halt, and stood with my mouth half open as I stared at all the bustling people moving from stall to stall, and the merchants selling their wares shipped in from faraway places. However, all of this somehow faded when I found the attraction in that market that managed to pique my interest the most. In a little corner of the square, hidden away from view of the people, there was a man with a white beard sitting on a barrel with an old fiddle, playing and smiling while groups of little children danced around him. I watched him as the music flowed around me, the sound floating off the strings and making me feel as if everything would be alright. I stood there for the better part of an hour, listening to the music as if I'd never heard a song before. I stayed in the square, listening, until my nursemaid ran up behind me and scooped me up. She scolded terribly for running away and brought me back to the palace immediately to get cleaned up, but I couldn't stop thinking about how the music from that single violin made me feel. I asked my mother the next morning if I could have a violin of my own, and she was delighted at my sudden interest in the instrument. I've been practicing and improving ever since then.

I know Zephyr hasn't heard me play in a few months, so I grant his request reluctantly. I pull my violin case from its shelf and set it on the bed, flicking open the latches and lifting my violin out. I rest it on my shoulder and pause with the bow hovering just above the strings, perplexed. "What would you like me to play?" I ask Zephyr. He shrugs and waves a hand airily. "Whatever you feel like playing."

I move my fingers over the strings hesitantly. I'm not sure what to play, and I'm tired of my current piece. I feel a strange compulsion pushing me, urging me to play a song I'm unfamiliar with— A song I recognize but am positive I've never heard before.

As the notes begin to float slowly off of the strings, Zephyr's expression begins to change. The song is in a minor key, and seems pensive, longing, and sad. At first, he looks interested and pleased that I agreed to play, but as the music reaches his ears, he begins to adopt a pained look, and his smile fades into a melancholy expression. The music seems to be telling a story, and I can almost hear the words being sung by a far-off choir, but every time I strain to hear the words they are singing, the voices fade back into silence. I play for what seems like hours, the bow moving of its own accord over the strings. I don't know how I'm doing it, but the notes are lifting seamlessly from the violin with my help. Finally, I lift my bow and place it on the bed, resting the violin beside it. I pretend to wipe my brow with my sleeve, ignoring the single tear that rolls down Zephyr's cheek as he stares up at the starry sky outside of my window. I grab my wineglass and pour myself another drink, sinking into the chair across from him. After a while, he speaks. "Thank you." He says quietly, without looking at me. I nod at him, then blow out all the candles but one, settling into my chair as together we watch the stars falling from the sky in a comfortable silence.

After a while, Zephyr rises to leave and I walk him to the door. He shakes my hand and grins at me, all trace of the sad, pensive side of him gone. I shut the door behind him after he goes, and toss my clothes off and into my dressing room. I get into bed, not bothering to close the curtains. I shiver as I stare at the door across from me, the same uneasy feeling snaking across my shoulders and my neck. If I were superstitious, I'd say it felt as if something was trying to send me a warning, but since I'm not I decide that I'm just cold, and settle under my blankets.

I stare at the ceiling in the semi-darkness, admiring the white light from the moon outside and wondering why I feel like something important is about to happen very soon.