"Pervert! Don't you think that's a bit harsh!"
Above me is a man looking down as he stands on the balcony railing. I jump up and run over to the window in shock. Who the hell is this?
"Um, who are you?"
The man steps out from the shadows that are cast by the trees in the early morning light and closer to me. Now that he is standing in the sunlight, I can see him more clearly. And may I just say, wow.
He's tall, like way taller than me, probably at least 6'3. He's tan and very well built. I mean if you were into very muscular guys, he'd be your type. For some reason he kinda reminds me of a fireman, just a more medieval version. You know, without the heavy fire suit and with a sword instead.
He has short brown hair and eyes. He's wearing some sort of off-white tunic tucked into brown pants. On his waist is a belt and a sheathed sword. There seems to be sweat dripping from his forehead as he grins at me.
This is normally when the main character would get a nosebleed, but I don't think I will.
"It's Daniel Myers my lady," he jumps down from the rail then bows to me.
"Oh, Daniel," I pause.
Who the fuck is Daniel!? What am I supposed to say to this man?
"Does my lady need help with anything?"
He stands up straight, still grinning. This dude does not seem entirely sane. Well, what the fuck could go wrong here.
Stupid Devil!
"Are you alright my lady?"
"Yes, perfectly fine."
"Oh, then I should head back to patrol," he turns around, but before he can jump off, I grab onto the sleep of his tunic and pull him back towards me.
Now commencing a romantic scene, like hell!
I look down at the ground, shyly I ask him, "Would you please take me to where I can find the piano?"
"Is my lady using formal speech when talking to a mere night of the Breslyn family?"
"And suppose that she might, what will you do about it," I look back up at him, not letting go of his sleeve.
"I don't know, what would be fun...ahh!"
I grab ahold of his collar and pull him closer to me, close enough so that I can whisper into his ear, "Do you dare? I don't think that you know what you're getting into Daniel."
"Ah! Yes ma'am. I–I mean my lady."
"Very good," I release him. "Now will you be a good boy and take me to the piano."
"Right this way," he walks around me, leading me off of the balcony and into my room.
He opens the door for me, then we take a left. We walk down the hall in silence so as not to disturb those at work and those who are still sleeping this early in the morning. I wonder how much time has passed since Grace woke me up when I first arrived this morning, it can't be more than an hour or two.
"There is one in the ballroom on the first floor, but it is directly under Young Master Arthur's room, so it would be best to head for the one located farthest from any of the bedrooms on the second floor."
"Good, we wouldn't want to wake up Arthur."
We walk to the end of the hall, then turn right, heading for the grand staircase. We walk down to the second floor, confirming my idea that my room was on the third floor, then head towards the back left corner of the mansion. Once we reach the room, he opens the door for me, then silently walks away, closing the door behind him. It's not a grand ballroom, but a study.
There's a desk near to, but facing away from, the windows. It's not cluttered, in fact it only has a couple papers on it. The rest of the room is filled with books of many sizes and colors. The language they appear to be written in is not English nor French, but I can still understand it.
How peculiar.
I walk over to the piano in the right back corner of the room and sit down in front of it. It's a beautiful dark color and has faded golden lettering on the sides. I lightly set my fingers on the keys, they feel stiff. Although this room appears to be used daily, this piano does not.
Perhaps if I were just to start playing...but I can't. It's been a year, I don't know how good I am. Plus piano games on your phone don't really practice.
"Well, Daniel did say that this was far enough from the bedrooms for anyone to hear me," I say to myself. "If I just play for a little bit, then head back to my room before any of the others are awake or hear me," I pause to think.
"Yes, that works, perfect."
I relax my shoulders, then look out the window at the red and yellow glow that is coming from the sunrise. It's very peaceful here, I could get used to it. But I do wonder what happened to the person whose body I took over...well it's too late now.
I begin to play, light running my fingers over the keys. The melodies that I had worked into my head with all that practice were coming back to me. As I closed my eyes, picturing the image of playing at a concert in front of thousands of people patiently listening to me. The reminiscent feeling runs through my body.
Almost like there are thousands of butterflies at the tips of my fingers, they begin to move faster, picking up the tempo and speeding along the keys with such great speed I could imagine them flying from key to key.
Although they aren't there. I can somewhat hear and picture the rest of the orchestra chiming in with me, harmonizing perfectly. The violinists and the cellists. The conductor waving her wand as the lights shine brightly above us, illuminating the music sheet in front of me.
The sheet I don't even need thanks to the drilling of piano lessons that I received from my old teacher. It's almost as if I have synesthesia and the notes are right in front of me, filled with all their color and shapes. If I were to reach out right now, I swear that I could taste them.
This is the perfect moment. I feel so free as compared to that confining hospital bed.
The tempo lessens, and my movements slow to become still as they rest on their final keys, playing the end of the music running through my head. I have become so caught up in the music. So much so, that I didn't notice the people who were standing outside the door, which had never fully closed when Daniel left.