Midnight's Song (17 page)

“
Dearest Elissa,”
the letter began:
“
I write to inform you of your father’s
health. He is doing better physically, and is still healing
mentally. I have put him in the community wellness center, where I
am visiting him four times a week to observe him and act as
advocate. I will keep my promise to the very furthest extent of my
ability.

We have been
informed here on the island that we will soon be coming under
surveillance. Don’t be alarmed – we will be alright. Things are not
as bad as they seem. Our trade here is too important to the Empire
for the Magistrate to put us under CR. I will continue to check on
your father. Remain strong and prayerful.
–
Una
”

The letter left me with a
brief sense of relief. I know how strange it sounds, but it did.
Maybe I was just numb. There was nothing I could do anymore. The
Katie Isles were no longer my home – they couldn’t be. There was
nothing left for me there. I didn’t even have the energy to mourn
anymore.

It was time to let go. I
knew that it was the only way. I closed my eyes and said a short
prayer, lifting my arms to the heavens. Even then, I hadn’t fully
let go. I never would. I simply had to move forward.

“Lady Elissa, are you
alright?” Emily poked her head through the door.

“Yes, I’m okay.” I sighed.
“Is anyone having a fit over my leaving?”

“No, your grandmother only
wanted me to check on you.” Emily soon looked over at my side table
and gave me a peculiar stare. “Is that a new letter?”

I held up the one I had
just read. “You mean this?”

“No, there’s another
one. A
new
one! I
didn’t see it when I came in this morning.” She pointed at the side
table again.

New?
I recollected as I looked toward the spot where
she was pointing. My eye caught onto
another
unopened envelope sitting in
the very same spot as my other one had.
Why didn’t I notice that before?
I
asked myself, quickly reaching for it and tearing the seal. The
note itself was even stranger than where I’d found
it:

“Fate chooses those who
least expect it. Go into the garden.”

I wasn’t completely sure
who the note was from, but it looked to be Sister Marie-Katherine’s
handwriting. If it wasn’t hers, it was certainly uncanny. I tossed
the note aside and asked Emily to grab one of my dresses. She
picked out a blue shawl and draped it over my head before I bolted
to the door. If the Sister wanted to meet with me – she must have
had good reason to summon me in such a strange way.

Or, at least I thought was the
case.

I went to my usual
spot in the garden. I waded through the ocean of trees and searched
the clearing, but she was nowhere
to be
found.

I didn’t go back inside.
Instead, I decided that it may be a good way to clear my head if I
were to take a walk. I lowered the shawl, wrapping it over my
shoulders and taking a new path. It was one that started at the end
of the clearing and spanned deep into the forest. I’d never been
down it before, so it seemed like a good idea to try something
new.

I started down the trail,
not even stopping at the end of the property. I wasn’t technically
allowed to leave, but I didn’t care. The thought of leaving on my
own accord was tantalizing.

No one would ever have to know
anyway.

I continued down the path,
enchanted by the trees and their stubbly branches. They were lined
with little green buds that would soon become leaves. I felt a wave
of contentment as I walked through a grove cherry blossoms bursting
into bloom.

I stopped, looking up
toward the sky, fragments of light passing through the trees
overhead. I lost myself in the moment and felt my hard shell of
sorrow cracking under the weight of the sun. When I closed my eyes
and moved forward, I felt my body suddenly clash with another. I
nearly toppled over when I recognized the figure.

“I’m sorry!” He begged an
apology behind strange, lustrous eyes. “Elissa, please forgive me
for startling you like this.”

I froze. There was
absolutely no way.

“Oh…my….word.” I
stammered at their cat-like glow. “It’s
you!
The person – the one I met at
the ball!” I studied his features and was overcome by the oddest of
feelings. I began raving, my tone changing to that of a lunatic.
“All this time, I’ve wondered if you were real…and you
actually
are! …
Or, are you?”

I reached out and
awkwardly flicked him on the arm. He seemed real, but I still
wasn’t sure. I awkwardly reached out again to make sure just one
last time. It felt like a human arm, but I was still questioning my
sanity. He withdrew, both amused and slightly disturbed.

“Um…I believe I am…” he told me
confusedly. “We’re both here, aren’t we?”

I studied his
features. I guessed he was somewhere between 18 and 20. In the
light, I could see that he was well built. There was something in
his stance that testified to strength. He wasn’t abnormally
muscular – but goodness, he was he
tall.
Even taller than I’d thought
before. Proportionate nonetheless.

His skin was milk, his
hair the color of burnt honey. There was a sapphire glint
underneath his cheeks, giving new meaning to the term “blueblood.”
It wasn’t a pale, dead blue as some had. It had been touched with a
paintbrush of silvery rose.

The eyes…I honestly
couldn’t figure them out. Hazel, maybe? It was almost like they
were changing color
.

There was no doubt in my
mind that this was him. I remembered the discourtesy of his last
visit and the trouble it had gotten me into. Even though I had
wanted to find him all this time, I wasn’t feeling warm and
bubbly.

“Why are you here?
If you are real – and not some clever hallucination of mine – then
tell me exactly who you are.” I grabbed a broken tree branch and
held it in front of me as a puny defense. “And exactly how you
just
disappeared
like that!”

“Elissa – just hand me the
stick and calm down,” he moved closer to me. I held the stick even
higher.

“How do you know my name?”
I held the skinny branch as if it were a sword capable of
impalement. He expelled a deep breath and lowered the pathetic
stick to the ground.

“You told it to me,
remember?”

“You think this is
funny?” I still wouldn’t budge. “One moment you show up and romance
me out of the bushes – then the next moment you’re
gone!
I have no
explanations as to who you are, or where you keep on coming from! I
don’t even know your name.”

Even through my lunatic
ranting, he remained composed. It was clearly amusing on his part.
The mysterious young man raised his arms and walked steadily toward
me, as if to say he intended no harm.

“I promise I’m not going to hurt you.
I was only taking a walk through the forest. And I promise that I
wasn’t following you at all,” he assured. “In fact – I’ve never
seen you venture outside of those gates. Shouldn’t you be concerned
about getting lost?”

Now I could tell that he
was being playful. He pointed to the towering landmark of the
estate, lightening the moment. I let out a tiny laugh, remembering
the bittersweet concoction of feelings I’d just escaped
from.

“Well…I suppose that our
manor is a bit hard to miss…considering that it’s big enough to be
an international landmark.”

I soon quieted. I
remembered my task, finally able to grasp the pinnacle of my
curiosities. I wasn’t going to let him slip through my fingers
again.

“Honestly, why are you here? Do you
come here often? Do you live close by?”

“You ask so many questions,” the
mysterious youth told me, clearly avoiding a reply.

“At least give me some
kind of closure,” I huffed, completely unhinging my frustration.
“I’m not trying to pursue you! You got me into quite a lot of
trouble with my guardians the last time. I only want to know who
you are!”

“Why so curious?” The young man posed,
apparently interested. “Most people would simply let go of it and
move on.”

“I don’t exactly know why. I’m not
most people,” I told him. “When something happens that I don’t
understand I try to find an explanation.”

The boy relaxed. I saw a
reluctant smile form in the corner of his mouth. He felt guilty –
maybe that he owed me a reply. For some reason, my cleverness
caused a sort of odd charm to surface in him. However, the young
man still proceeded with caution.

“Elissa, I am quite sorry
about the other night. I had to leave rather abruptly…” he trailed
off, searching for something believable. “My uncle was waiting for
me in the drive. In any case, I left before I had the chance to
introduce myself. I will allow you to ask whatever you like. I may
not give all of your questions an answer, but at least start by
telling me what you’d like to know.”

In a single motion, the
gentleman motioned for me to take his arm. Small buds became loosed
from the canopy and wisped around in the breeze as we walked. A few
of them gracefully settled onto my shoulders and collected like
tiny snowflakes in my hair. The mystery man seemed intrigued, even
mesmerized.

The beauty in the moment
was quickly lost. Just as I opened my mouth to speak – one of the
blossoms flew into my mouth. I awkwardly hacked on it until it had
been dislodged from the back of my throat.

“First, if I can’t know
your country can you at least tell me if you’re living close by?” I
started after having to gracelessly blow another blossom off my
lip. I could see that he was choking on laughter – trying with all
of his mite as a gentleman to keep it from surfacing.

“Yes…you could say that.” He told me,
still trying to hold back the hysterics inside.

“Where then? Where do you come from?”
I quizzed him again, this time more along the lines of an
interrogation.

“I told you, I wouldn’t
answer them all. I will not tell you where I come from, but I can
say that I presently reside close-by.” I could tell he was
cautioning himself.

“Very well. Do you come here
often?”

“Actually, I don’t come here very
often at all. It’s the first time I’ve ventured into these parts of
the forest,” A sudden grin crept onto his face. “But considering
that you’re here, I’m glad that I did.”

I must have blushed,
because he started laughing. I don’t know what came over me, but
there was a fluttering sensation in my stomach that resulted in a
giggle. Someone help me. His flattery came at the precise moment to
halt my questions. Though, it didn’t last long.

“What do they call you?” I
softly asked. He stopped, searching his mind in
hesitancy.

“I am known by quite
a few names…but you may call me
Rhys.”
He knelt to kiss my
hand.

It was the top of
the hour, and the town clock began to chime. I didn’t dare turn my
head. Something in me
still
couldn’t help but to wish that this wouldn’t be
our last encounter. My curiosity had been only momentarily pinned
down. I wasn’t going to let him vanish from me
again.

“Very well
then,
Rhys
,” I
struggled to tell him, standing against a caving door of emotion. I
gazed at him, filled with innocent wonder as I proceeded. “I
suppose – I suppose I have to go. Will I ever see you
again?”

I could tell that he was
holding back as well. The answer he gave was
bittersweet.

“Perhaps we’ll cross paths
again.”

I heard the clock
strike again – this time making the mistake of turning my head.
When I looked back again, I saw that once again he was
completely
gone.

Over the next few
months, I visited the garden frequently but never saw Rhys. Even
more unfortunate was the fact that I had to follow through with my
agreement. Until the very first day of summer, my family primed me
for the game of courtship. I could have lamented over it – being
forced to court five snobbish bachelors – and believe me, I
did.

Why had I said yes before
I had known? Rhys wasn’t one of the suitors, and it was apparent
that he was wholly uninterested. That was something I was 100% sure
of, faulty as my intuition was. His careful let-down after our
stroll in the forest was more than enough to tell me that. It felt
like a selfish obsession on my part.

I accepted the courtships
as a sort of punishment for my stupidity.

“Get up milady!”
Emily told me at sunrise the first morning. “
Lord Gregory Gellman
will be
arriving in two hours!”