Princess and the frog

V

Marine stayed in Elluria's room until the evening. Their conversation all four hours was just about questions and answers.

Elluria had so many things to ask!  Marine was the most interesting girl she had ever seen.  Did her parents allow her to have green strands of hair?  And all those earrings in your ears?  One went through her entire ear.  Elluria had never seen anything like it.

„If I would had something like that my grandmother will definitely kill me,” she laughed. „But I really like it. Don't that bother you when you are doing something?”

Marine smiled and touched her left ear. „Sometimes I forget I have it there. I got used to it after all these years.”

Elluria lift her hand, but then she stopped herself. „Can I, ehm..”

„Touch it?” Marine finished the question and  moved forward to her. „Of course.”

Elluria carefully ran her finger over the cool steel earring.  She didn't even have a single hole in her ear.  There were five of them in Marine's left ear! „Wow.”

She laughed nervously and slowly put her hand back. „Where did you get those?”

Marine grinned.  "I'm a witch, don't forget that.  It's nothing to make a hole in your ear."

„Of course.”

„Okay, my turn,” Marine said. „What were you doing whole 16 years locked behind this walls with almost no friends? I would die of boredom.”

„I get used to it after all these years,” Elluria copied Marine's previous words and smiled. „All my life I was doing anything my family wanted, which sounds... horrible when I say it out loud. ”

Marina's look looked like she wasn't expecting such a serious answer.  So Elluria tried to make light of it.  “Actually it's not that bad, at least now I can easily charm everyone I meet.”

Now Marine was smiling, but she was still looking kinda surprised. „Okay, wow,” she said. „So charm me.”

Elluria looked around her room and her eyes fell on the harp next to her bookshelf.  That might work.  Marine doesn't look like she listens to harp songs, so this might be the best way to surprise her.

She walked gracefully to the harp, slowly sat down and adjusted her skirt. She didn't want to brag too much, but she was really good in playing harp. It was her favorite music instrument and she had the best teachers. This harp was almost older than she. It's her sister's instrument. Or it was...

This was really not the best time for that right now. Elluria forced herself to smile and looked at Marine, who took the chair and took it closer to the harp.

Elluria haven't really played to anyone except her family. She needed to play it perfect now, or it would be really embarrassing.

She took a deep breath and started. Her fingers moved quickly over the strings and a peaceful melody carried through the room.  Everything sounded exactly as she had practiced it in the morning, not a single wrong note.

Marine was listening intently to the music and after Elluria stopped playing, she applauded. „Girl, you weren't lying, this definitely charmed me. I'm all yours now.”

Elluria laughed. „ I'm glad you liked it.”