The Lady Knight

Chapter XL: Suns and Sieges

Only this time, I was watching it, not with my family, but with the woman I loved in my arms. Lord, I did not think I had ever enjoyed mornings as much as I did now.

She seemed quite taken with the view as well. "'Tis beautiful," she murmured, unconsciously tugging on one of her curls, that was the same shade and hue as the rays that shone upon it.

"I am aware," I smiled faintly, "truth be told, I had not expected myself to come here after such a long time." My voice turned slightly sad.

She glanced up at me. "I might have chosen another place for your birthday celebrations if your sister had not insisted on holding it here," she admitted, "why is it so special to you?" She was curious.

I shrugged nonchalantly, although the vague, blurry memories were still acutely painful. "My family used to come here every summer for camping trips. Without the Castle staff, without anyone else. Only us," the words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them, "'twas the only place we could be ourselves as a family, without having to handle all the attention and the overbearing duties that follow our titles. After Jamie died, and Richard disappeared, I simply could not bear to come here again."

Her expression softened, as she took it all in, understanding. "Does it still pain you to be here?"

I shook my head, smiling. "It used to," I reflected, "but not anymore. Now, I will always remember this lagoon as the place where I met my twin after ten years, and celebrated my birthday with him."

She heaved a sigh of relief. "Good. I do not want you to be miserable on your own birthday," she answered, before she seemed to remember something, "oh, and speaking of birthdays..." She untangled herself from my hold and faced me, rummaging in her pockets for something.

After a long time of searching, she produced a wrapped package. "Happy birthday, Nick," she held it out with a small smile.

I accepted it, pleasantly surprised. "Why, thank you. Truth be told, I thought you had forgotten to bring me a present," I jested, chuckling.

"I did not give it to you in front of all the others last night because there is something I need to tell after you open it." She gestured at me, unusually uncertain.

More curious than ever now, I ripped open the package, and was stunned when I saw what was beneath. I held up the silver object, watching it shine and sparkle with the golden rays of the Sun.

"A flute?" I whispered in astonishment, remembering the incident that had first began the feud between Julie and me all those years ago with astonishingly rare clarity.

"What is it, Papa? What is the surprise?"

Richard and I exchanged excited glances, hardly able to sit still in our seats, as Papa grinned down at us from ear to ear.

"Well, as your new pianoforte mistress tells me that you are both doing very well in your lessons, I decided to give you a present," Papa smiled, before reaching behind him to hold out two, silver flutes towards us.

We stared at them in awed silence, unable to believe our eyes.

However, Papa mistook our awe for disappointment. "I had assumed you both love music," he added uncertainly, "and that you might also like to learn to play a new instrument - "

He did not finish his sentence, for Richard and I had grabbed the flutes from his hands excitedly.

"Oh, thank you thank you, thank you, Papa!" I beamed, "I shall put it in a safe place this instant, and I promise to take good, good care of it."