La Serenissima

Austin's Symphony

The conservatory was bigger than she remembered it. Much, much bigger. Looking up at the facade, she didn't remember it being this large or intimidating. It was a gorgeous building - three stories tall with the most enormous arches over the main entry that she had ever seen. Some people wouldn't think of them as romantic in any sense, but she sort of did. Sure, they were large and at the right angle, terrifying, but that didn't mean they weren't romantic. There were so many stories, sonatas and cantatas that came to life there, that it was all romance in her mind.

Ally held onto the little carrier in her hand filled with a few coffees from Santoli's that Suzetta had sent her along with this morning and gazed up at the building, earning a few inquisitive looks from students and tourists who were passing by. She remembered it being confusing inside and without Mercede by her side - the Nicoletti daughter she had gone with for a concert - she was sure to get lost again. Ally hoped that Austin was standing right inside and watching her, laughing his butt off, because she didn't want to get lost at all.

A rush of music came out of the door as it opened, taking her out of her wondrous state and back into the present. Reaching it just as it was about to close, Ally made her way inside and her ears were flooded with a gentle sound from a string quartet practicing in the small hall for what she presumed was a concert later that evening. Before she could look for Austin, her eyes darted up the stairwell in front of her. Forget the arches, the staircase was the thing wowing her now. It was giant and never ending, looking like it actually was a stairway to heaven. The stonework was incredible and all Ally wanted to do was climb them...up and up and up...

"Hello, my White Queen."

Austin's voice made her turn around, and she was greeted with a big smile on his face. "Hi."

"You look curious."

"I'm always curious," she told him and lifted up the carton of coffees. "I bring gifts from Suzetta."

"I hope you don't take offense to this, but," Austin inhaled the smell of the brew, "she might be my favorite person in this city." He took out one of the cups from the container and sipped it slowly, making every drop count.

Ally could only snicker at him. "No offense. She's mine as well. Don't tell Gianna that though."

"Your secret is safe with me." He winked at her and jerked his head away from the grand staircase. "This way."

Ally slid into step beside him as he led the way around the first floor of the school. She half expected him to pull her into one of the many rooms they were passing, but he didn't. Instead, he took her to the end of the building that bled into the next one and just like something out of a dream, pushed open a door she hadn't seen, revealing another stairwell. A very well disguised stairwell.

"Weren't expecting that, were you?" Austin looked down at her, raising one eyebrow up as if he knew she was impressed and held open the door as she peered inside.

"Not at all," she shook her head, taking a few steps inside.

"There's more too," Austin hinted, taking her up a floor to store the extra cups of coffee in the tiny kitchenette before showing her the rest of where he had been working for the past month.

They had lingered at doors where choruses were practicing behind them and she laughed as he tried to sing along; he gave a few statues inappropriate nicknames when she tried to explain what they were about; he took her to a few balconies overlooking the courtyard and a few of the grander rooms and they even got lost when he tried to take her back to the room he had been working out of that morning from the other side of the building. Ally let her laugh echo down the hallways as he opened door after door, interrupting a few classes and private lessons as he did it.