Read Online Midnight's Song by Keely Victoria - Free Book Online Page B

night after having eating a few bites of her rich
tasting but unknown food. “I am quite weary. Might I turn in
early?”
    “Fine. I’ll have a servant escort
you.”
    “Oh no, I know the way back to my room
alone.” I quickly told her.
    “Why should you want to go alone?” She
skeptically replied. Beeti looked to me, almost scolding. “I insist
that you –”
    “My word, Beeti! Let the girl go alone
if she pleases,” Grandmamma quickly cut her off. She nodded her
head in dismissal, motioning for the doorman to open the door and
announce my exit. Something in her eye told me that she understood
what I was doing and didn’t want to work herself up about it either
way.
    “Thank you,” I mouthed in gratitude as
I exited through the door.
    With her blessing, I walked alone
through the hallways of this grandiose palace. I ran my fingers
along the walls and traced the white wooden paneling. I curiously
wandered down the hallway until I found myself at a large corridor
that led into a courtyard. Hearing the symphony of chirping
crickets that awaited me, I stepped outside into the
moonlight.
    It was breathtaking. From what I could
see the courtyard was practically a forest in itself. The trees
were lit with paper lanterns and flowering vines crept up and down
every towering and stooping object. There was a gate at the end of
the way that led out of the courtyard to a very well-lit hedge
maze. I couldn’t resist the temptation to wander over.
    Before I could get too far
out of the yard, I heard a chorus of singing and laughter coming
from across the way. I stopped and let their chorus resonate inside
of me. I knew this song, I realized! I knew it very well.
Enchanted, I crept toward a metal gate that overlooked a small but
lively door at the bottom of some narrow stairs. The windows of the
room were lit and the door itself could hardly enclose the ruckus
going on inside. With each step I took, their symphony only became
louder:

    “ In folly he thought he
came, only to bring her rain
    But the love was within
wrapped up in the skin
    That she’d see to be him
all the same”

    I came up to the iron bar and twisted
my fingers around it longingly. My mind flew back to the scenes
around our communal fires when we would sing this song as small
children. Those old fishermen’s wives would take the smallest of us
on their knees and whisper to us the most forbidden of stories.
They were forbidden not because they were dark or evil – but
because each of us knew that they were far too otherworldly to
belong to our people. My heart thumped as I remembered my mother
telling me the story of a mythical prince who hid among the humans
to find his betrothed.
    “ And he came to her after watching
over her during the long night; realizing that their lives would
never be the same and asking for her hand.” I remembered my mother telling me the story. I remembered how
she would stop in the middle of it to softly trace my forehead and
kiss the tip of my nose.
    “ Mama, finish your story! Finish the story!” I pleaded as she tickled my tummy.
“ What happens to the
princess?”
    “ Well my beautiful Elissa,” she would
tell me lovingly. “ This is where the story
ends. You will simply have to find out what happens when you become
the princess yourself!” Then, she would
cocoon the bedcovers around my body and kiss me
goodnight.
    I cracked the gate and
made my way down the steps toward the commotion. I found myself
standing at a ramshackle wooden door that was literally pulsing at
the velocity of the music and dancing behind it. Lacking all
discretion, I opened the door and stepped inside.
    At first glance, the
room inside was stirring with people that were drinking and
laughing merrily. Each person wore a labor uniform. Ah, I realized, this is the servants’ quarters. I blended in quite well wearing my similar, plain
attire. No one seeming to notice my presence, I retracted to the
corner and soaked in the scene. These people