Midnight's Song (57 page)

“My name’s Doc,” the doctor said to
me, proceeding to tap my knee with his instrument and cause my
entire left leg to kick itself into the air.

Doc.
The name resonated with me, but I wasn’t sure
why. I didn’t want to offend him, but I did have a natural
curiosity about it all. So, I softly spoke up.

“Hello, Doc,” I childishly smiled.
“May I ask you something?”

“Of course, Princess! You
might ask me anything you like.”

“Well, first of all…I don’t mean to
offend – but, are you a dwarf?”

Doc grinned as if the
question was as basic as asking the color of the sky. Was it even a
question at all?

“Yes, why of course I am! Why would
such a question intend to offend me? Haven’t you seen a dwarf
before?” Doc laughed in reply.

“Well…no actually,” I
spoke up. “Where I come from, we don’t really have any. We do have
a few stories about them.”

“Well consider yourself introduced.
And stories?” Doc laughed again, a jovial kind of person. “What
kinds of stories could you have about us? The only stories I’ve
heard about dwarves in these parts is just news!”

“Oh, we have lots of them.
Epics, odysseys, fairy tales…” I began to list off before Doc
shoved strange glass tube into the corner of the mouth that
reminded me of a thermometer.

“Ha – that sure beats any of the truth
we have ‘round here. If the word isn’t about another dwarf getting
carried off by a phoenix, it’s usually just about how drunk we are
outside of the mines.”

“Mines?” I questioned
again, my curiosity at its peak. “Would you happen to live with six
others?”

“You presume to know a lot about my
kind, don’t you?” Doc spoke in a slightly sarcastic tone. “What a
small number to figure! There are far more of us than seven. In
these parts, I’d say there’s a good seven-hundred!”

Doc examined my arm and
changed his look to one of great seriousness. The dwarf looked into
my eyes solemnly.

“I am not a palace doctor, miss. Your
King has searched far and wide for my help. No one here could help
you. They were filled with too much darkness – they’d never be able
to figure your predicament. There are a great deal of things that
require explaining. But, for now I must tell you that you are in no
condition to leave this place on your own. You are going to be here
for quite some time before you can recover fully.”

“I – I don’t understand,” I confusedly
spoke up. “What has happened to me?”

Doc’s expression begged that he knew
what it was, but he kept quiet. The warm old chap gave me a
friendly pat on the arm and told me that someone would be right
back in. Then, he left the room. Little to my knowledge, Aurelian
was nervously pacing back and forth in the hallway right outside of
my door. Doc turned to face him, the King’s eyes filled with worry
and woe.

“When are you going to
tell her the truth?” Doc asked the King, bold and unafraid of
Aurelian despite his power.

He spoke as though
Aurelian were his own son, stern and investigative. Doc fell silent
enough to confirm Aurelian’s suspicions.

“So it’s true then.
She’s become like
me
,” The King lamented. Doc cut him off.

“There’s no way that we
can be certain of it. It appears that she is like your kind, but
still human. Transformations from one kind to another are rare.
This one in particular is something I haven’t seen before. It’s as
if she’s become a member of both worlds.”

“Why would this happen?” Aurelian
asked in despair, Doc’s words still not resonating.

“
You’re
the one with the healing
gift. For now, it’s be best seen as something beyond ourselves.
Perhaps it’s your bond with her that did it. True love is a strong
thing, King. Stronger than anything under our moon or her
sun.”

“Perhaps I’ve bonded with
her – perhaps I haven’t,” Aurelian paced, trying to get off of the
subject. “That doesn’t answer my question. Could I have caused her
to become…like me? Have I chained her to this place?”

“I’ve told you all that I
can see. If she’s part human, she cannot be chained. If she’s part
of you, she won’t want to leave.”

Having done all that he could do, Doc
abruptly went back into my room, picked up his things and left.
Before he left me, we had one last exchange.

“Where are you going?” I
asked.

“Home, my dear! But, I promise that I
will see you again in the future,” Doc answered. He gave me a
clever wink. “I see a light in you like no other – so consider us
allies.”

I sat awake for nearly an
hour afterward. I had slept so long that my body refused to go
back. It was an unbearably lonely feeling, especially considering
how few answers I was receiving about this. I felt a rush of vigor
go through me in the end, one that wouldn’t allow me to remain
stationary any longer. Defying the orders of my doctor and my
fiancé, I thrust my legs over the side of the bed and stood
up.

The corridor was
like a damp and miserable cellar. Tapestries and flags hung on some
walls as the only ounces of color to the grayish black walls. There
was single window that gave some moonlight to the hallway. Then, I
looked out at the sky and realized something strange. Ever since
I’d been here, I’d only been able to see
night.

No matter where I
went or when, the sky was black. There was no sun, and there
weren’t any stars. Just the big,
crimson
moon
that hung over the
horizon.

“Crystal seas and
crimson moon...”
I dreamily
cadenced.

There was a tap on my
shoulder. I startled to see a gaunt little girl shivering in place.
She was slight and pale, black bags under her eyes from constant
worry. She looked to be no older than 12. The girl shook as though
her heart was small and mouse-like, ready to give out at my very
next word. Her demeanor struck a heavy blow to my chest. Why did
this child have so much fear?

“Excuse me, Princess. I’m
only a maid…but I dare not neglect you. Is there anything you need?
I don’t think that I’ve been told you were being allowed out of
your room.”

Princess.
This was the second person today who’d called me
that. Why were they referring to me by this name? I hadn’t been
married yet! Had I done something that led them to believe I had
been born of nobility?

“Oh, no I –” I
mutedly began, though I quickly stopped myself. Realizing the
opportunity I had, I opened my mouth again and spoke more firmly.
“Actually, I’m looking for someone. Could you please direct me to
my fiancé?” The timid young girl seemed unfazed until I gave her
the last bit of clarification, “My fiancé,
the King
.”

“Right, right, of course,” the girl
stammered. “I will find you someone that will send for him at once.
Shall I escort you back to your room?”

“No!” I quickly snapped at
the thought of being left alone again. I instantly felt guilt and
calmed down as I realized the fear I must have been causing in this
mouse-hearted girl. “I’m so sorry…I mean, no. It’s quite lonely in
there,” I bent down so that we were eye-to-eye. “I wish to wait for
him somewhere else…someplace pleasant.”

The little girl nodded,
immediately sensing her safety and grabbing me to the arm as she
scurried the opposite way down the hall. Like clockwork, another
young attendant emerged from behind a shadowy column and took me
where I pleased. This one had to be 6 or 7, maybe a year younger or
older. This attendant was almost as timid as the mouse-girl, but
not quite as much. I could see a childlike joy being suppressed
from behind his stoic expression. For some reason, the way that he
carried himself reminded me quite a lot of Jackoby.

Accompanied by the thoughts of the
other girl, the sight of this one almost caused me to burst into
tears. Though, I didn’t let my memories and tragedies get the best
of me. I tried to hold it down and remain as composed as a queen.
Instead of causing the small boy fear, I felt a maternal kind of
urge toward him and offered to take his hand. The boy hesitated at
first. Then, sensing the safety in my light he cautiously took my
hand.

“You seem to be someone who would know
a lot about this palace,” I warmly smiled at him. “Is there
anywhere special that you would like to go?”

My offer made the boy feel
uncertain. The young boy looked as though he feared this might be a
cruel trap that would end with a whip. After I promised him that he
would be safe, the small one looked up at me in relief and began
leading me outside.

“I know somewhere that you’ll like,”
the small boy told me as he led me outside, smiling. “I know I like
it. It’s a great big apple tree beside the seashore. Helena and I
play there when Mrs. Dogberry says we have no more chores. We like
to draw in the sand and pretend to sword fight with fallen twigs
from the apple trees…”

Midway through the gardens, the little
boy stopped. I could tell that he was thinking of something that
troubled him greatly, for I saw a look come across his face that no
child should feel the sorrows of. I gave him a gentle nudge before
I spoke up.

“What’s your name, child?”

“It’s Orion,
Princess.”

“Orion, why are you
afraid?”

He wouldn’t answer me.

“Why are you afraid?” I asked
again.

There was still silence.

“Come now, you can tell me,” I softly
assured, but it was to no avail.

The boy froze up as if he feared death
itself. I couldn’t figure out what to for a moment, then I thought
of something that always calmed me when I was upset. Perhaps it
would offer this child a little bit of peace.

“Orion,” I asked again.
“You don’t have to tell me anything. But, if you’re feeling scared,
I know something I do that always makes me feel better.”

“What is it, Princess?” The little boy
asked.

“I sing.”

“Oh, I sing too,” the little boy
answered.

“That’s good! Can you sing
me a song? Will that make you feel better?” The little boy gave me
a nod when I asked. I nudged him to start. Though, he wouldn’t. He
urged me to do it instead, so I did. I started singing the first
song that came to mind at the moment. With this place offering so
many likenesses to the world described in it, I naturally thought
to sing Midnight’s Song. What would come afterward would be
something that I’d never forget:

“
Crystal seas, crimson
moon…

Blood-red roses and lives
anew -”

In the middle of the song,
I heard something that caused me to slow down. Although a child
from a realm utterly foreign to mine, Orion suddenly joined in. He
jumped into the song as if he knew it by heart, feeling at peace
and safe now that he knew I knew the song too. Though, now I was
the one beginning to freeze up in shock. How could he know? He
continued to sing with me in the most harmonious and innocent of
voices:

“
Where the scarlet lilies
bloom

Under the midnight
sky!”

At the end of the
song I was nothing short of flabbergasted. That was
my
song.

“You – you have a
wonderful voice, Orion,” I spoke to him kindly. “May I ask you
where you learned that song?”

“I didn’t learn it,” the boy proudly
declared. “Everyone here just knows it!”

Without any further
explanation, Orion squeezed my hand and resumed our journey to his
prized apple-tree. We walked for a short distance until we reached
a gate that led to the outside of the palace walls. There, I saw a
mystical sight. Although the opposite direction was full of a
rolling countryside, I could now see and hear the ocean shore. None
of the castle windows had overlooked the world in this direction or
had even hinted that this might have been a palace by the sea. It
had been cut off from view in the castle as if it was such a pure
and beautiful sight that it would take away some of the Darkness
even in the land’s poisoned state.

Now that I could see it, I was
entirely overwhelmed. This had caught off guard and given me the
surprise of a lifetime, though it was the most pleasant of
surprises. For the first time in nearly three years I suddenly
could feel the sand seeping into my shoes and kissing the bottoms
of my feet. The salty air tickled my nose and moved into my lungs
like a mystifying breeze. I closed my eyes and felt the air caress
me like it did when I was a small child. It was as if I was truly
back in the Isles again! I opened my eyes to see the red moon
giving off the brightest aurora of light, almost like a
sunrise.

That was when I
began to cry. I felt something in my spirit that truly belonged
here. Even though I could hardly comprehend where I was and I could
see that there was parts of this world that were covered in
darkness, I sensed that I was supposed to be here now. That was the
moment when I began to cry. It was as if I was truly
home
.