Hanna watched him just as closely as Leanna did. After a moment, she turned to Vlameir, “I do believe you have found yourself a very wise woman. She seems to understand more in matters of the heart than many.” She smiled warmly at her brother. “I am so glad for you.”
Leanna looked down at her lap as she felt her blush rise in her cheeks. She didn’t quite know how to respond to such simple praise. It was just a kind-hearted statement, but in many ways, it meant more to her than she was even sure she could fairly express.
Looking to change the subject, she looked toward the musical instruments. “Who plays the harp?” she asked curiously.
Vlameir turned to look at it, answering, “It’s mine. I began playing tunes on it when I was just a boy. My father thought it was a waste of my skills, but luckily, mother, encouraged me.”
Leanna smiled at his words. “And the piano? Is that yours?” she asked Hanna, who immediately declined.
“Oh, no. I sing, and I can play the flute a little. But I’ve never mastered how to play such an instrument. I can attest I wouldn’t have the slightest clue where to begin.”
“So, who does play it?” She asked, confused. Why would they have a piano if no one played?
Vlameir stared intently at Leanna. “Do you play, Leanna?” his expression was more than just a little curious and she found herself pondering what exactly what was in his thoughts.
She didn’t have to wonder for long. After a moment, he began to tell her a story that made her heart flutter nervously. “When I was child, there was a Seer in the castle. She was similar to our Aunt; in that she had a talent for just knowing things. She told my parents that the woman I would soul-bind with was not anywhere near here, but that where she was, she was playing an instrument like this one, and she was creating the same songs I was.”
He closed his eyes for a moment before adding, “I would always get so angry when I tried to compose what I heard in my head. It was never quite right. Something was always missing. So many years; indeed, almost a century passed, and as it goes with Seer’s; sometimes they are right, sometimes they are wrong. One never knows for sure when they are looking into futures. Perhaps, she was wrong about your playing music linked to mine. Instead, your artistry was coming out in your paintings.”
His eyes again found hers and he asked again in a voice so soft, she wasn’t altogether certain she heard him right. “Do you play, Leanna?”
Her heart was thrumming in her ears as all the different tunes she had heard as a child came back to her in a rush. Tears brimmed, blurring her view as she considered the magnitude of what he was saying. This was all too much. She was already accepting that he was something special to her. But to hear that he had actually been hearing the same music in his head that she had. Was such a thing even possible? There was just no way . . . Was there?
Finding her feet, she approached the piano slowly, waiting to wake up as she did so. This just had to be a dream. Things were just falling into place too easily. It really was too good to be true.
Reaching out, she traced the lines of the instrument as she walked slowly around it, before coming to the bench. For a moment, she simply stared at it, pondering if she even still had enough knowledge of the songs to attempt to do them justice. And what if her songs weren’t his? Would he change his mind about her being his soulmate then? Would he make her go back to her world, where she was alone?
Deciding to go ahead and take the chance, she leant down and pulled the bench back, moving to sit down and then slowly opened the keyboard and ran her fingers reverently over the keys.
When she looked up, she saw Vlameir had taken his place at the harp and was watching her intently. Drawing a shaky breath, she murmured, “It’s been so long since I’ve played, I’m not even sure I even remember any of them.”
The beautiful Elf who sat across from her, leaned the harp back against his shoulder, and answered softly, “Just think of the one you loved the best. If it is as the Seer said it will be, it does not matter how long we’ve forgotten the melody. It remembers us.”
With a slight nod, Leanna turned her attention to the piano. This moment defined it all. If they didn’t know each other’s song, then chances were, he would give up on the idea that she was his soulmate. A momentary pain lanced through her heart in response to the unbidden thought. She had just begun to catch herself hoping that perhaps there was something really there between them.
With that possibility looming over her, she reached into her memory for the song that had always struck the deepest chord with her. As she began to play, the music filled the room, bringing with it the depth of loneliness that had been in her heart over all these years. The sorrow and pain, mixed with the hope for renewal poured from her, into the music.
As she played, she felt the core of the song reaching into her soul and filling her with promise as a deeper melody began taking hold. Suddenly as she realized, the song had become so much more than it had always been before. She heard the tones of his harp, playing in accord, bringing a new soul into the song.
Tears coursed freely down her cheeks as she realized he knew the song, and he played it as passionately and heartfully as she did. All doubt she had held within fled as she gave herself over to the melody. Her heart felt full. She could feel the air filling her lungs as she breathed deep of the new life, she now knew without a doubt was hers.
She would always miss her child. She didn’t forget the love she had for her first husband. But now she realized that opening her heart to love another was not sacrificing or forgetting anyone or anything. Her heart was filled with new hope and love. Instead of thinking it would push any other love she had away, it opened it up, and blended it into a perfect semblance of completion and tenderness.
As the song ended, she lifted her hands from the keys, hardly aware of their trembling. Her eyes sought for and found his. The depth of emotion she found in his own eyes was her undoing.
No one else existed in that moment. She wasn’t even aware of the other people gathered in the room anymore. She had no knowledge of who stood first. She didn’t know which of them made the first step to close the distance between them. All she knew was suddenly, she was in his arms, her lips were pressed to his, and she couldn’t hold him close enough. His fragrance filled her senses, encompassing her very existence. He was hers. He was truly hers. She would never be alone again. In that moment nothing else mattered.
Neither of them had seen the many other onlookers that had gathered in the room as they had performed. Neither of them realized the tears that had gathered in their audience’s eyes. Nether of them even stopped to care when Torlek and Roerik began to usher every curious set of eyes out of the room. The door closing, affording them privacy for whatever intimacy occurred between them was completely unnoticed as they both lost themselves in the undeniable realization, they had each found the other side of their soul.
Leanna looked down at her lap as she felt her blush rise in her cheeks. She didn’t quite know how to respond to such simple praise. It was just a kind-hearted statement, but in many ways, it meant more to her than she was even sure she could fairly express.
Looking to change the subject, she looked toward the musical instruments. “Who plays the harp?” she asked curiously.
Vlameir turned to look at it, answering, “It’s mine. I began playing tunes on it when I was just a boy. My father thought it was a waste of my skills, but luckily, mother, encouraged me.”
Leanna smiled at his words. “And the piano? Is that yours?” she asked Hanna, who immediately declined.
“Oh, no. I sing, and I can play the flute a little. But I’ve never mastered how to play such an instrument. I can attest I wouldn’t have the slightest clue where to begin.”
“So, who does play it?” She asked, confused. Why would they have a piano if no one played?
Vlameir stared intently at Leanna. “Do you play, Leanna?” his expression was more than just a little curious and she found herself pondering what exactly what was in his thoughts.
She didn’t have to wonder for long. After a moment, he began to tell her a story that made her heart flutter nervously. “When I was child, there was a Seer in the castle. She was similar to our Aunt; in that she had a talent for just knowing things. She told my parents that the woman I would soul-bind with was not anywhere near here, but that where she was, she was playing an instrument like this one, and she was creating the same songs I was.”
He closed his eyes for a moment before adding, “I would always get so angry when I tried to compose what I heard in my head. It was never quite right. Something was always missing. So many years; indeed, almost a century passed, and as it goes with Seer’s; sometimes they are right, sometimes they are wrong. One never knows for sure when they are looking into futures. Perhaps, she was wrong about your playing music linked to mine. Instead, your artistry was coming out in your paintings.”
His eyes again found hers and he asked again in a voice so soft, she wasn’t altogether certain she heard him right. “Do you play, Leanna?”
Her heart was thrumming in her ears as all the different tunes she had heard as a child came back to her in a rush. Tears brimmed, blurring her view as she considered the magnitude of what he was saying. This was all too much. She was already accepting that he was something special to her. But to hear that he had actually been hearing the same music in his head that she had. Was such a thing even possible? There was just no way . . . Was there?
Finding her feet, she approached the piano slowly, waiting to wake up as she did so. This just had to be a dream. Things were just falling into place too easily. It really was too good to be true.
Reaching out, she traced the lines of the instrument as she walked slowly around it, before coming to the bench. For a moment, she simply stared at it, pondering if she even still had enough knowledge of the songs to attempt to do them justice. And what if her songs weren’t his? Would he change his mind about her being his soulmate then? Would he make her go back to her world, where she was alone?
Deciding to go ahead and take the chance, she leant down and pulled the bench back, moving to sit down and then slowly opened the keyboard and ran her fingers reverently over the keys.
When she looked up, she saw Vlameir had taken his place at the harp and was watching her intently. Drawing a shaky breath, she murmured, “It’s been so long since I’ve played, I’m not even sure I even remember any of them.”
The beautiful Elf who sat across from her, leaned the harp back against his shoulder, and answered softly, “Just think of the one you loved the best. If it is as the Seer said it will be, it does not matter how long we’ve forgotten the melody. It remembers us.”
With a slight nod, Leanna turned her attention to the piano. This moment defined it all. If they didn’t know each other’s song, then chances were, he would give up on the idea that she was his soulmate. A momentary pain lanced through her heart in response to the unbidden thought. She had just begun to catch herself hoping that perhaps there was something really there between them.
With that possibility looming over her, she reached into her memory for the song that had always struck the deepest chord with her. As she began to play, the music filled the room, bringing with it the depth of loneliness that had been in her heart over all these years. The sorrow and pain, mixed with the hope for renewal poured from her, into the music.
As she played, she felt the core of the song reaching into her soul and filling her with promise as a deeper melody began taking hold. Suddenly as she realized, the song had become so much more than it had always been before. She heard the tones of his harp, playing in accord, bringing a new soul into the song.
Tears coursed freely down her cheeks as she realized he knew the song, and he played it as passionately and heartfully as she did. All doubt she had held within fled as she gave herself over to the melody. Her heart felt full. She could feel the air filling her lungs as she breathed deep of the new life, she now knew without a doubt was hers.
She would always miss her child. She didn’t forget the love she had for her first husband. But now she realized that opening her heart to love another was not sacrificing or forgetting anyone or anything. Her heart was filled with new hope and love. Instead of thinking it would push any other love she had away, it opened it up, and blended it into a perfect semblance of completion and tenderness.
As the song ended, she lifted her hands from the keys, hardly aware of their trembling. Her eyes sought for and found his. The depth of emotion she found in his own eyes was her undoing.
No one else existed in that moment. She wasn’t even aware of the other people gathered in the room anymore. She had no knowledge of who stood first. She didn’t know which of them made the first step to close the distance between them. All she knew was suddenly, she was in his arms, her lips were pressed to his, and she couldn’t hold him close enough. His fragrance filled her senses, encompassing her very existence. He was hers. He was truly hers. She would never be alone again. In that moment nothing else mattered.
Neither of them had seen the many other onlookers that had gathered in the room as they had performed. Neither of them realized the tears that had gathered in their audience’s eyes. Nether of them even stopped to care when Torlek and Roerik began to usher every curious set of eyes out of the room. The door closing, affording them privacy for whatever intimacy occurred between them was completely unnoticed as they both lost themselves in the undeniable realization, they had each found the other side of their soul.
Picture was something I came across on Pinterest. I neither own it, or make anything from it. I simply fell in love with it, as it reminds me of my two main characters in my story.