𝙂𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙠 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙𝙮

6.

6. Unlit Table Candles

Bowing to my dance partner when the song coincidently ended right when I reached the other side of the ballroom, I follow the voices that belonged to my parents. I hear the soft mummer of my mother, and the loud, yet soft, laugh of my father.

I follow the push and pull of the people around me, reaching my mothers side in a matter of seconds, well, maybe it was minutes. I wasn't sure.

"-Elera should be down soon." I heard mother say to father as I stand by them, their arms linked as they stood by the floor, watching the colors dance across the room as they chatted softly, only loud enough so that they could hear. My mother turns her head to me, a smile stretching across her face as she takes in my appearance. I wanted to back away from her approving gaze, but I basked in it as well.

"Y/n dear, you look gorgeous," mother says softly, removing her arm from the crook of fathers arm, hands reaching for the fabric of my dress. "Whoever did your hair needs a promotion." I smile, remembering to tell Esmeralda when I see her again. I couldn't wait to see the expression on her face when I tell her!

"Thank you mother," I say softly, a smile still growing on my face. The soft touch of my mother's hand following the curve of my sleeve to the deer antler necklace, her eyes crinkled at the corners with pride and admiration. At least I know she likes it.

Mother takes her hand from the small tree branch tiara atop my head, and retreats to the arm my father held for her, holding out her other hand for me to join her, I take fathers other side.

"You look absolutely beautiful dear," I hear father whisper, I barely missed it as the music changed, and my mother gasped, followed by a chuckle from my father.

"Y/f/n, do you remember this song?" My mother held her free hand to her chest, swaying slowing to the gentle strums of the violinist and the calm ringing of the chello in the back of the ballroom, the melody was soft, yet dramatic. Sad and full of emotion, yet blurring the lines between joy and happiness. The characters on the floor swayed in a slow dance, it seemed to be a song that the older members of court enjoyed, as I see many older couples amongst the crowd, I even see King Alford and Queen Naomi in the center of the room, dancing as if they were the only ones alive.

"Of course I do darling, it was the song that played when I first met you all those years ago," father replies, a grin that seemed to be permanent softened into a smile, just barely creasing the corners of his mouth.

I remove my arm from my fathers, and gently push them towards the cluster of people. "I think she wants you to dance with her father." I laugh as I watch him nod slightly, taking my advice. I watched as my parents melted into the dancers, disappearing from sight.

I had only stayed where my parents stood for a few moments before wandering towards a corner, where a table with three candles in the middle sat, unlit. I pull out one of the four chairs, and sit with my hand under my chin, just letting my eyes glance around the room.

Every year it was the same, yet something was different about this year. Every year, I would wear a dress that would blend in with crowd and not bring any attention to myself, so I could eventually slip out through to the old music room hidden in the castle. A secret get away that only I (and the castle staff) knew about. Every year I would stay for only a few moments, finding my parents and siblings to make a few jokes, then disappear. Every year, I would leave before the third song started echoing around the large room.

But as I sit taking in the layout of the palace ballroom, I don't see why I would ever want to leave. The ballroom was heavenly, with the domed ceiling and dangling chandeliers filled with dripping candles, the golden accents and the dark blue paint smeared across the walls in such beautiful ways. The tall stair cases leading out of the room on both sides, one set of doors leading way back to my room, the other to the piano hidden in plain sight. This place could be just as much as a safe haven as my music room, except for all of the people crowding the surface.

I sigh, feeling the air around me get heavy, and a weird feeling passed over my body, like I was being watched. I pay no mind to it, Esmeralda did say I would have every man's attention on me tonight, I guess I walked into that one. However, it doesn't stop me from feeling uneasy.

I instead focus my attention on the music filling the ballroom, the people dancing along to the musicians skilled hands, I close my eyes and block out any unwanted sounds. I didn't want to hear the noble's shoes slamming on the ground, or their loud laughs as they clap along to the wrong beat, I just want to hear the music. And I do.

I didn't recognize this melody, but it seemed to be my parents favorite, my mother's mostly. She had always loved music more than any of our family, any of hers I believe. I remember once when I was little, she said that her mother put her through piano lessons, but she could never learn to play the keys quite right. She said she wished she had started sooner, or learned better, then she would be able to play the music she loved without having to be at a formal event.

That may be the reason why I loved the piano so much, just hearing the way mother would describe the way it sounded to her as if she were a poet, as if she were a composer herself. She made words seem like beautiful works of art, like intricate oil paintings that you would hang up back home in Polis. Mother made the words she'd say have emotions if their own, made they seem like they were her world. I admired her for that.

As the music converts to a new melody in a graceful transition, I stand from my seat, feeling like it were my time to leave. I would normally wait for my siblings to show, but I didn't want to stay any longer. Remembering my mother's words made me want to play, and play I would.

I slip up the stairs opposite the ones I came in, the feeling that I was being stared rising up through my system as I glance out over the nobles, I shrug it off once more, and open the old doors and walking down the long (empty, surprisingly) hallway.

It felt like the eyes lingered even as the doors close.

April.30