"Son of a bitch!"
"Prince James!"
James winced and turned around to face his teacher. "Apologies, ma'am. I'm just...frustrated, is all."
"That's no excuse to swear in front of a lady, Your Highness. It doesn't matter that you're royalty; if anything, your position makes it worse. Your future wife doesn't want some barbarian prince that curses every time he messes up. Again."
He sighed and faced the piano again, skimming his fingers across the keys at what felt like the speed of sound. Everything sounded perfect, maybe this time he'd hit all the right notes and get all the dynamics, and...
Clunk.
He froze and sighed. A wrong pitch hiding in a run; the worst kind.
"Again."
It felt like even if he focused excessively, thinking ahead as far as he could and hitting all the right notes, he still managed to miss something, whether it was a pitch or a dynamic marking or something else that his teacher found to point out.
"Again."
Okay this run sounded good, he fixed the wrong pitch and continued going; he made it to the hard section and he was doing well. Everything was correct, until...
"Again."
Please let this be over soon, I'm begging you.
"Again."
Finally, after what seemed like forever, the king entered the hall, looking as regal as ever.
"Hello Father," James said, fixing his posture so he wouldn't get reprimanded. "How is your morning?"
"Fine, James, thank you." He turned to face James's teacher. "That will be all for today, Mrs. Giovanni. We'll see you next week."
Please don't mention it, please don't mention it.
"Your Majesty, Prince James swore in front of me today."
Fuck.
"James?" James faced his father and sighed. "Is this true?"
"Yes Father, but it was an accident. It'll never happen again. I'll be more careful, I promise."
"You may leave, Mrs. Giovanni." The king said without looking at her. She nodded quickly and left.
Double fuck.
King Quentin stared at his son. "No one wants a leader who curses at his piano teacher, James. What were you thinking? We pay a lot of money for her to be here."
"I know, Father, it was a simple slip of the tongue and I promise that I won't swear in front of other people again."
King Quentin glared at him and quietly left the room, leaving James and his racing thoughts behind.
James sat back down on the piano bench in a huff. He didn't mean to curse in front of Mrs. Giovanni, it just kinda happened. He was still extremely confused from his dream last night, and there really wasn't anyone to talk about it with. His father didn't really care much about his well-being, and his mother and sister probably wouldn't even believe him.
But it felt so real.
He'd woken up that morning already missing her eyes. There were special and he could have sworn they glittered in the moonlight. He had to find her, but if there was no one he could truly trust within the castle, this was going to be extremely hard.
Somehow, he still had to try.
---
After pacing in his room for what seemed like hours, James found himself back at the piano. He didn't quite know how he got there, but there he was, sitting with his hands on the keys but no music in front of him.
He closed his eyes, pictured her face, and began to play.
His fingers danced along the keys to a minor melody. Maybe because he was sad that he'd never see her again. Maybe because he saw the loneliness in her eyes when she spoke to him.
The slightly haunting song continued into a new key, the chords progressing and the volume growing. The anxieties began creeping in: someone's probably listening and they probably hate it, she's not even real you weirdo, why do you think you could compose your own music this is just bullshit. He shut them out the best he could and kept playing.
The piece ended with a major chord. He was crying but he had no idea when the tears had started. There was a stack of paper he kept underneath the piano for just this purpose.
He sat at that bench for another hour and a half, reworking his steps and notes, and finally he'd written it all down.
At the very top, he wrote the piece's title: "Symphony for a Fallen Angel".