A haunting melody | 4.7 | Athena, open

[Athena]

It had taken her a few days to learn the entire layout of Jaeryth’s castle. It was a good deal bigger than Castle Shadow, though she assumed that Lazarus, now a lord, would do much to renovate his abode to make it more… ostentatious. After all, he had a reason now… And as the guild grew, he would need more room. Athena wondered if she would miss Faeta, if she would miss being an assassin and nothing else. It was obviously out of the question now… Though she wondered how one went about leaving the guild. It had never been done before… Of course, she could always just refuse to accept contracts, but there were going to be times when the Shade would call his Brothers of Twilight, and Athena would have to answer.

Looking down at the four-point tattoo on her hand, she frowned, for the first time regretting she had it. She could not be for the Shade when she had to be for her baby… Her baby who obviously needed more of Athena’s attention than anything else. Today, the morning sickness had not been bad, but the last few days had been enough to cause her alarm. She was starting to get used to the idea, though not completely. At least enough to where she knew if anything happened, she would be devastated.

Walking into the music room, finding herself very much alone, Athena walked towards the shelves where some instruments were kept. “What do you think, little bumble bee?” she asked. “Want to hear mommy play?” Chuckling at herself for talking, essentially, to her stomach, she reached for one of the cases and pulled out a beautiful, red violin. One glance was all it took to know who had crafted it. It was a Shadowmere make.

Laying it gently on top of the piano, she tightened the horse hairs on the bow and reached for the rosin. The chalky white came off on her fingers, but judging by the browning at the end of the bow near the frog, it was plan to see that it had not been touched in a long time. A shame for such a fine instrument. It would need to be rehaired… Fortunately Athena knew how to do that and would perhaps find some time when Arryk left to work on it. After all, she’d need to find ways to occupy her mind while she was alone. Taking the violin back into her hand, she sat down and plucked the strings. First the G moving to the E. She winced at how flat it had become, and she reached for the pegs, hearing the familiar crack-like sound as she tightened them.

She set the bow by the bridge, drawing it across the A and the D to play the chord, the white chalk flying up, the sound ringing out and filling the room with its richness. It gave her a chill. It’d been far too long since she’d played…

Athena did a quick scale to remind her fingers where they went, but soon began to play a melody she had learned from Lazarus. He had not given it a name, and for all she knew, he had written it himself… But it was one of her favorites. Such a sad song… The notes a slow legato as if they were crying, mourning the loss of something dear. It had shocked her to hear at first form her cousin… How such an unfeeling man could play such a moving song… It always entranced her, captivated her in such a way that the world was a blur so long as she played. It was perhaps why she did not notice that she was no longer alone.