She moved about her suite like a caged wren, picking up one thing after another and them promptly setting them all down again. Her trunk was pulled out, a valise set open at the foot of her bed, their open mouths hungry to pack up her belongings. They felt neglected and had been empty for far too long.
Still, she couldn't seem to settle herself. There had been a day, not that very long ago, when she could pack all that she owned in a handful of minutes and leave a rented room exactly as she left it. Not a scrap of her would remain behind. Now it was not so easy. The space held memory in the midst of dream.
Sighing, a slender foot kicked the valise shut before she wrestled the trunk back into the closet, closing the door shut with an emphatic thud. Late afternoon sunlight dappled between the shutters slats and she swung them wide so that the window displayed the landscape of Rhy'din like a fine painter's canvas.
Her lute rested against the window seat and offered a silent reproach about it's recent inactivity. "Oh aye," she said to the gleaming wooden curves, "I ken tha' ye feel I've abandoned ye..."
Settling herself in the seat, with a cushion in the small of her back and her legs extended in front of her, she drew the instrument into her lap and cradled it like a child. Her fingers fussed and fiddled with the tuning posts until she was satisfied.
A gray-blue gaze scattered out across the rooftops of the neighboring buildings. It would be autumn soon enough. The trees were clinging stubbornly to their leaves, the last roses blooming in protest of the coming frost, but it was inevitable. Another sigh escaped her. She knew how they felt. If she was going to stay, she should do it properly and not just continue to live above the Dragon. There was property for the claiming... and proof of it around her. Johnny had Smith Farm. Sev had the beach house.
Fingers idly began to coax an old haunting tune from the lute's throat without her even being aware of it. Lips curled ruefully at the melody as lyrics floated through her mind. "We're walking in the air... we're floating in the moonlit sky..."
It was true, she had been walking on air the past couple days and had no desire to stop anytime soon. Things were... finally weaving into a song of her own instead of just a repetition of what was meant for others. She was determined not to take that lightly or to lose it.
She nodded her head decisively. A cottage of her own. That's what she wanted. That's what she craved. She would need a horse. And furniture. An infinite list of smaller things. But she would make the list and cross the items off of it... later. Now it was time to give voice to the music in her mind... and while she sang, an image of the greenest eyes seemed to watch her from the cool windowpanes.
"We're walking in th' air... we're floating in the moonlit sky.
The people far below are sleeping as we fly."
Her head tilted back as her voice swelled a bit, a sweet harmony to the lush fat notes plucked from the strings.
"We're holding very tight... I'm riding in the midnight blue.
And finding I can fly so high about with you."
"All across the world, the villages go by like dreams.
The rivers and the hills, the forests and the streams."
"Children gaze open-mouthed. taken by suprise...
Nobody down below believes their eyes."
"We're surfing in the air... we're swimming in the frozen sky.
We're drifting over icy mountains floating by."
"Suddenly swooping low, on an ocean deep...
Rising up a mighty monster from his sleep."
"We're walking in the air... we're dancing in the midnight sky.
And everyone who sees us greets us as we fly."
As the last remnant of her voice drifted away, she smiled softly to herself. "Well, I suppose I shall no' mind being settled after all...," the last of her thought whispered only to her heart.
Still, she couldn't seem to settle herself. There had been a day, not that very long ago, when she could pack all that she owned in a handful of minutes and leave a rented room exactly as she left it. Not a scrap of her would remain behind. Now it was not so easy. The space held memory in the midst of dream.
Sighing, a slender foot kicked the valise shut before she wrestled the trunk back into the closet, closing the door shut with an emphatic thud. Late afternoon sunlight dappled between the shutters slats and she swung them wide so that the window displayed the landscape of Rhy'din like a fine painter's canvas.
Her lute rested against the window seat and offered a silent reproach about it's recent inactivity. "Oh aye," she said to the gleaming wooden curves, "I ken tha' ye feel I've abandoned ye..."
Settling herself in the seat, with a cushion in the small of her back and her legs extended in front of her, she drew the instrument into her lap and cradled it like a child. Her fingers fussed and fiddled with the tuning posts until she was satisfied.
A gray-blue gaze scattered out across the rooftops of the neighboring buildings. It would be autumn soon enough. The trees were clinging stubbornly to their leaves, the last roses blooming in protest of the coming frost, but it was inevitable. Another sigh escaped her. She knew how they felt. If she was going to stay, she should do it properly and not just continue to live above the Dragon. There was property for the claiming... and proof of it around her. Johnny had Smith Farm. Sev had the beach house.
Fingers idly began to coax an old haunting tune from the lute's throat without her even being aware of it. Lips curled ruefully at the melody as lyrics floated through her mind. "We're walking in the air... we're floating in the moonlit sky..."
It was true, she had been walking on air the past couple days and had no desire to stop anytime soon. Things were... finally weaving into a song of her own instead of just a repetition of what was meant for others. She was determined not to take that lightly or to lose it.
She nodded her head decisively. A cottage of her own. That's what she wanted. That's what she craved. She would need a horse. And furniture. An infinite list of smaller things. But she would make the list and cross the items off of it... later. Now it was time to give voice to the music in her mind... and while she sang, an image of the greenest eyes seemed to watch her from the cool windowpanes.
"We're walking in th' air... we're floating in the moonlit sky.
The people far below are sleeping as we fly."
Her head tilted back as her voice swelled a bit, a sweet harmony to the lush fat notes plucked from the strings.
"We're holding very tight... I'm riding in the midnight blue.
And finding I can fly so high about with you."
"All across the world, the villages go by like dreams.
The rivers and the hills, the forests and the streams."
"Children gaze open-mouthed. taken by suprise...
Nobody down below believes their eyes."
"We're surfing in the air... we're swimming in the frozen sky.
We're drifting over icy mountains floating by."
"Suddenly swooping low, on an ocean deep...
Rising up a mighty monster from his sleep."
"We're walking in the air... we're dancing in the midnight sky.
And everyone who sees us greets us as we fly."
As the last remnant of her voice drifted away, she smiled softly to herself. "Well, I suppose I shall no' mind being settled after all...," the last of her thought whispered only to her heart.