Midnight's Song (28 page)

“Are you alright?” I softly asked him.
“Is there something wrong?”

“No. You’re perfect.
Like…like a
queen.”

We linked hands,
invigorated and hypnotized at the touch. Neither person would let
go, because deep down inside we
knew.
As much as we would both deny
it, this was the point of no return. There was now silence in the
air. He started into my eyes intensely. I unexpectedly let go of
his hands and began laughing.

“Why are you staring at me?”At that
moment he seemed to snap out of whatever kind of entrancement he
was in and began laughing as well.

“You’re wearing blue,” he
laughed.

“Yes…and?” I chimed up peculiarly at
his blunt statement.

“You’re always wearing blue when I
meet you.”

I fumbled for a minute before I
realized that I knew exactly what he was talking about. He was
right…I had! It was a simple notion that temporarily caused me to
forget my woes. The woes were replaced by the feeling of
butterflies in my stomach and the expelling of a bubbly laugh as
the very last tears of sadness stopped their flow and became tears
of laughter.

“I’m surprised you remember that” I
suddenly smiled. “You must have a very good memory!”

“Oh yes, I guess I do then…” He
playfully trailed off. “And since I have such a good memory, I must
say; you have a wonderful voice.”

“Thank you…I – I try to use
it…sometimes.” I swiftly blushed, spluttering every word. It caused
him to start laughing.

“Aha! What was the
name of that song you were singing when we first met?” He grinned,
beginning to sing. “How did it go again? Oh…was it…
‘
Dance with me under moonlit skies, find a
song to sing…’”

He sang it perfectly, as
if it was a song he already knew. And, all together his voice was
actually quite decent. My heart fluttered.

“You know that
song?” I chimed. “That’s…
Midnight’s
Song!
It’s the song of my people! How
could you know it?”

“Why is that so surprising that I do?”
He expressed amusedly in reply.

“No…it’s just…as long as I’ve lived
here it’s seemed that no one from this part of the country would
know it…”

“Well,” he smiled at
me, kissing my hand. “I suppose then that there are many things I
know that may surprise you. For instance, I know that inside of
that mansion there are a number of stuck-up nobles dancing with
each other without so much as a single word of appreciation for the
woman that their party
should
be celebrating.”

Honestly, his words couldn’t have been
more appropriate. They were very tongue-in-cheek, yet completely
truthful no less. The way he said it caused me to feel a little
better. Still, I blushed.

“Oh…those aristocrats!” I exclaimed in
an exaggerated, teasing moan. “Those arrogant airheads don’t know a
thing about real parties!”

Rhys let out a boyish grin. He
playfully added to my exasperation, starting a sort of game that
went back and forth between the two of us. We soon began to
exchange in a battle of
who-knows-the-most-insults-pertaining-to-nobility.

“Genuinely so! Those toffee-nosed
idiots don’t get to see any part of real life beyond what they
learn in their daft little reading rooms. They’re so petty
–”

“And illogical!” I added.

“Pompous!”

“Rambling!”

“Insensitive!” That was the last
remark, and oddly enough – it came from both of us at the same
time.

“Elissa…considering that
those incoherent snobs can’t appreciate you; would you care to
dance with me?” Rhys smiled.

“Dance with
you?” I remarked, feeling myself expel a big
grin.

“If you please.”

I felt my heart begin to pound as he
gently extended a kind, cordial hand. Even though I hardly knew
him, there was a sense I had that Rhys could be trusted. I felt a
warm burst rush through me, realizing that this chance was a
greater gift than any dance I could have partaken in back
inside.

“Of course,” I softly told
him

I extended my hand and
willingly clasped it into his. He smiled and gave it a gentle
squeeze as he led me toward the end of the maze. I couldn’t hold it
back any longer. I laughed and began playfully singing it under my
breath:

“
Dance with me to
midnight’s song

A tale of lovers, old and
young

Sing to me of the world
beyond

Under the moonlit
skies.”

At first I sang it
playfully, realizing that the lyrics of the song were quite fitting
of the situation. After all, they were about a girl asking someone
to dance, weren’t they? At least, I’d always thought that was what
they were about. There couldn’t have possibly been any more to it
than a simple fictitious piece of poetry, I recollected.
Nothing more, and nothing less.

Rhys suddenly
twirled me around. Now he mutedly joined in with me, being careful
not to steal whatever spotlight there was on me at that
point.
The world around us was spinning at
half-speed, and it felt like our rhythmic words and swiftly moving
feet were the only things moving within the entire
atmosphere.

“
A world of crystal seas
and crimson moon

Of blood-red roses and
lives anew

Where the scarlet lilies
bloom

Under the midnight
sky…

Toward the end of the last
verse, I’ll admit that we sort of lost ourselves. At first we were
singing in a way meant to poke fun at the situation, but now it had
clearly progressed to something more. Nonetheless, I’m sure from
our awkwardly exaggerated bellows and merry frolicking that any
passers-by would think we were complete idiots. Despite that, my
logical side wasn’t winning. I smiled at him and continued,
becoming even more aware each second that there was more to these
lyrics than just a song.

“
Dance with me under
moonlit skies

Find a song to
sing

Of a place beyond the
Earth’s entrapping walls

A place
beguiling

The moon hangs low in a
clear black sky

Painted stars shine
brightly

Midnight sings its
enchanting song

Illuminating the
night

Under scattered stars, and
bright full moon

The bonds of fate will tie
the two

Blind to what they both
shall do

Entwined by Love’s
Duet…”

Intentionally or not, now
we were both staring into each other’s eyes. It was as if we were
both in a trance that neither one of us could help. Forget how
stupid it seems. At the moment, we were completely lost to reality.
We neared in closer, and I softly continued to sing…

“
Under scattered stars and
bright full moon

A single kiss that binds
the two

Under the midnight
sky…”

As I breathed the final word of the
verse, Rhys tilted his head into mine. Our noses brushed against
each other, and we nearly – just ever so nearly – inched in for a
kiss. But, in an instant the trance we were both in faded. Rhys
gently but abruptly pulled away, as did I.

Although I realized how weird the
situation actually was, I still didn’t expect him to just pull away
like that. When I looked back into his eyes to see what could have
been the matter, and read loud and clear that he was realizing that
he didn’t know me, he shouldn’t have just romanced me in such a
way; and he was stuck wondering why he would ever even think of
doing this in the first place.

And now, I was fuming.

“Please don’t leave,” I
suddenly spoke up, remembering our last encounter and vowing not to
look away. This time I knew that if he vanished, he’d take half of
my heart and sanity with him. “For once tell me who you
are!”

I could see the reluctance
in his eyes. Now I felt the tears beginning to come forth once
again. This time, Rhys was the one who couldn’t stand it. He took
in a deep breath and spoke to me softly while avoiding eye
contact.

“I’m a wind that’s here
for a little while, then moves someplace else. I am a solitary
soul. I stay in one place without many plans and then I go another
place without any others. I know more about you than I please, yet
I deny the truth of the things to come. Elissa, I’m sorry to have
brought you into this. Truly.”

“Don’t humor me with riddles!” I
raised my voice, hot with frustration. “Who do you think you are?
How many other women do you constantly do this to? Tell me how you
always find me, and tell me why you enjoy playing with my emotions
like this!”

“I didn’t play with any-”

“Don’t argue!” I
quickly interrupted, now in tears. “Yes you do! Now please…if you
won’t tell me anything else about yourself but mysterious riddles;
at least tell me why it is that you always seem to find me!
Why is it that you always come and find me at the
most unexpected times and then vanish in all of the
others?!”

“I…I can’t,” he
started, trying to collect himself. “Alright, alright. I probably
shouldn’t, but I suppose I’ve gone too far to continue ‘playing
with you.’ You’re not going to understand it, but here it is: it’s
because of
fate.
I know it will find me, so I’m always running. I don’t
try
to cross paths with
you, it just happens. There are things that fate would like me to
tell you that I continually deny because of my cowardice. I’m sorry
that I’ve hurt you Elissa, and on your birthday no less. Truly, I
am.”

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh,
not paying any mind to the fact that he was referencing a birthday
that I had told him nothing about. Of course I didn’t understand
his reasoning. I couldn’t understand his reasoning. Because it was
so misunderstood in my mind, I began questioning once again whether
or not this was even real. I opened my eyes again and let out a
huff of air.

“I’m sorry…” I trailed off. “I don’t
know what came over me.”

“Nor do I…”

“Just…promise me something. Just one
thing,” I earnestly told him. At this request, I could see that
Rhys had internally been brought to his knees.

“Elissa, I will do…whatever you ask,”
he said without thinking. I could see a sudden rush of energy burst
forth with it.

“Promise me…that if
you are truly fond of me and haven’t yet been ‘carried away’ from
here; you will
see me again.” I demanded.
“That way I can be certain that you are of honest
intention.”

“Elissa, I care to see
you, more than you know! I just cannot…always…” he stopped, looking
into my eyes. He couldn’t stand causing me so much distress.
Knowing more about my life than I presently was aware of; he took
pity on me. So, he nodded. “Alright…I promise.”

“You do?”

“Yes. As long as I’m
still here…and I still can; one day we
will
meet again.”

There was a sound
that carried through the maze all of the way to the clearing. I
snapped backwards when I heard it, realizing that it was my aunt.
She was calling my name in a frantic rush, probably wondering if I
was even alive after what had happened. I looked over my shoulder,
but as soon as I did I realized what I had done.
I had looked away.

My mind snapped back
to Rhys again, and I realized that when I averted my eyes back in
the direction that he was he would probably be gone. Though…for the
first time…I looked back to the place where he had been. I expected
him to be gone, but
he was still
there.

“You’re still here,” I blankly
uttered. Then, Rhys turned and asked me something unexpectedly
profound:

“Have I ever really left
you?”

The words caused me to come to a
sudden halt. It had always seemed to me that Rhys was a wind. I saw
him for one moment, and then he was gone. Yet, even though he was
the wind itself, somehow I always saw him again. Maybe it wasn’t
always expected or convenient – but he was always there. I realized
this, yet I still couldn’t shake what I felt in the present. Right
now my mind was tumbling around the encasement of my skull. Wren
was approaching - and I couldn’t believe it – but I was actually
going to have to tell Rhys to hide.

“Rhys…I – I should probably be going.
So should you. If either of my aunts knew that I was alone with a
stranger tonight I think I’d be better off enduring eternity
surrounded by the toffee-nosed idiots.”

Rhys glinted with a smile. I think I
might have winked at him – but I hardly remember anything I did at
that moment since I was in such a frantic rush to get out of there.
He waved me off, and I ran back into the maze. As I exited through
the opening, he dimly glinted and called to me from
behind: