Fanfic:Music of the Night
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Ives Quarters, Green Ajah Halls
The hour was late, but it seemed that neither Mia nor Caden slept all that much. It was a little later than usual, all the same, but there was work to be done and both could very much be creatures of focus. Haeden, all of eighteen months now, slept in his bed while Mia sat on their bed with parchments scattered over the slightly rumpled blankets. She was chewing her lower lip in thought while Caden lingered about his own business in the front room.
Noting one detail that sparked a question in her mind, she tapped the parchment with her finger and slid off the bed carrying it. Her footsteps were silent as she walked on the balls of her feet and slipped from the bedroom. She shut the door behind her so that she could speak to Caden without waking the little one.
"Caden," she began. It was not something of vital importance, more like curiosity, so there was no urgency to her tone as she walked over to him. She didn't finish, though, as a sound suddenly came into the room, seemingly from a distance, slightly muffled but still clear enough to hear.
It sounded like... music.
Lifting his head to initially answer his wife, the Master of Arms fell silent as the notes filtered into the chambers. He looked around for the direction, and when he failed to find it, he grew still. "What is that?"
Mia smiled and pointed to the far wall. "Katrina Sedai," she said. "She thinks that no one can hear her if she plays late enough and tries to be quiet. The tones of her voice and playing are of the sort to be more audible than she realizes, but no one minds. She has a lovely voice." She tilted her head, auburn hair tumbling over one shoulder and blue-green eyes amused. "Have you not heard it before?"
Listening to the voice, he could not do much more than to shake his head. Somehow, the words were familiar, as if he had heard them before - recited them himself. It could be he had heard this Aes Sedai in his sleep, and perhaps the words stuck in his mind. It was impossible to tell.
"She doesn't play often," Mia commented. "In fact, she's been out of the Tower for a time now, but her room has been beside mine for a very long while, so I've grown accustomed to it. In fact, I used to hear her play during some very lonely nights, long ago, and it was always a comfort." She smiled distantly, the paper in her hand all but forgotten, as it was not really of any great importance anyways.
After a moment of listening, she began again. "You know," she said in an almost conspiratorial whisper, "I used to be tempted to dance to it, but I never did. I can't think of why now, other than I was lost in my own... solemnity."
Disdainfully pushing away the reports arranged before him, Caden stood to his full height. He had already become distracted, and perhaps it was for the better. This was a kind of distraction that he welcomed, for it was in the lovely shape of his woman. "If you have an itch you have longed to scratch," he rasped and turned to her, "you should. Dance with me."
She laughed lightly, but there was that 'maybe?' edge to it. "Oh, come now, Caden," she said. "It's late and the little one is asleep in the other room."
"Now that was a poor excuse if I ever heard one," he said right away and lifted his calloused hand towards her. "Have we become too old and caught up in responsibilities that we have forgotten what it means to be lovers, awake and alone in the middle of the night? I know I have not. I still remember, and I still enjoy you dancing - even if it is with a Freak like me I catch you doing it with. You are neither too old nor burdened to deny us this opportunity."
Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation
Darkness stirs and wakes imagination
Silently the senses abandon their defenses
Mia laughed warmly and brushed her hand through her hair, pulling long strands behind her ear. An easy-hearted look moved through her tilted eyes; a look that had been born and matured in the past eighteen months, improving on the burnt soil that had been Mia's spirit for the weeks before that; weeks that had torn down so much and had taken long to build back up.
"You're quite serious, aren't you?" she asked, tilting her head to one side with an amused expression.
Caden smiled with the left side of his face. He shot her a look of mock indignation. "I'm deadly serious."
Full lips slowly curved into a smile as she looked at his hands. She set the paper aside and then closed the distance between them.
Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendor
Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender
Turn your face away from the garish light of day
Turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light
And listen to the music of the night
Before she slipped her hands into his, she lifted them up to remove his mask, as he'd been wearing it all evening. "I wish to see my husband," she whispered as she did so, pressing her lips delicately against his as her hand drifted away.
Her lips were the nectar of his life, and they were suddenly there - encompassing his. The matter of the mask was forgotten instantly. Let her have her way. He would grant her his life if needed be, so why not grant her the satisfaction of stealing his mask - especially when done so smoothly.
Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams
Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before
Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar
And you'll live as you've never lived before
The mask was now as forgotten as the parchments, and both somewhere off in the same location of the room. Pale, slender hands slipped inside larger, rougher ones and Mia gave a small smile, enjoying the feel of the simple gesture and the sense of strength that came with those hands; the coarse texture of the skin gave the comforting feeling of the hard work they endured, the training, which all lead to his ability and dedication to protecting her and their child.
Mia let the feeling wrap around her, engulf her, melt away and step into the dim light and warm glow of the room, the safety of Caden's presence.
With her hand in his, Caden raised it in position. They had danced numerous times before - but he could not bring to mind when the last had been. Had it been the Sunday Celebrations banquet, or some other occasion? Regardless of when, he still knew his way about a ballroom dance floor. It was something one did not forgot easily. His other hand slipped around her slim waist, came to rest at the small of her back.
Softly, deftly, music shall caress you
Hear it, feel it, secretly possess you
Open up your mind,
Let your fantasies unwind
In this darkness which you know you cannot fight
The darkness of the music of the night
Katrina's sweet voice continued to flow gently through the front room of the Ives quarters, delicately complimented by the soft plucking of notes from strings. It wove through the room and made everything seem a little bit brighter, and a little bit warmer. The words seemed inconsequential to the emotion of the music.
His asymmetrical eyes on hers, he took the first step, and then the second. She moved in time with his body, reacted to his every move. She had danced decades before he was born, yet he was not intimidated by the task of leading their steps. She was Miahala, and they were one - sealed to each other in more ways than their bond and their wedding bands.
Mia's gaze remained firmly fixed on Caden's, as his on hers, while her body moved in time with his. For a woman who spent so much time of her life in power, leading, it was a striking change that she could give that control up so easily to follow his lead fluidly and without complaint or hesitation.
Let your mind start a journey through a strange, new world
Leave all thoughts of the life you knew before
Let your soul take you where you long to be!
Only then can you belong to me
When the words softly tuned out at the end of the verse, Caden gradually lowered her into a dip - a motion in accord with the words. When the last word died out - it was his turn to lay a kiss on her lips - his unburned mouth covering hers. It was rather theatrical, but still earnest in its ambition.
The smile she gave against his lips was unadulterated happiness. Even if all the world lingered darkly outside, in this instant, she was happy, and could be grateful for the rest of her life and whatever came after it for that moment... and the one who could give it to her.
There was no playful theatrics in the kiss anymore and they both gave way to the insobriety. Gradually, the dip continued, until Caden lay Miahala down upon the floor, without ending what they were doing.
Floating, falling, sweet intoxication
Touch me, trust me, savor each sensation
Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in
To the power of the music that I write
The power of the music of the night
Somewhere in the midst of it all, Katrina had stopped playing.
Neither Miahala nor Caden had noticed.
His calloused fingers were brushing back her hair from her forehead and when he finally broke off the kiss, he looked down into the wells that made her eyes. They were glimmering in the soft light, irresistible. She may be a century old and he might happen to be only half the man he was, but together they were still just a man and a woman who had found each other in need; first as comrades-in-arms against their common bane, and later as man and woman in wedlock and parenthood. Their dream had begun before they were born, and they strived to realize it.
As it were, they had been granted the gift of companionship along the way. Irony it was, that a call-to-arms against darkness could lead to such happiness along the way. They had the power to change history together, yet right then, the only thing they cared to change was the music that had been played. They changed it into their own.
You alone can make my song take flight
Help me make the music of the night
The End
Lyrics from "The Phantom of the Opera", Andrew Lloyd Webber
