The Bewitched Soul - Chapter 14 The Tune

People come and go, but he had no one to lose.

The ones he lost, never left a memory for him to reminiscence. And the ones with whom he had an ocean of memories, never returned. But, life still goes on and the past can never return.

Sitting there for a while, he returned to his room. He took a shower and returned to his bed. The moment he laid down on the bed, he fell asleep.

Next morning, upon waking, Margaret cocooned herself into the warm, soft white sheets. She rubbed her big doe-like eyes removing the remainders of sleep. Giving out a big yawn, she gazed out at the vivid sky which had a rosy tint alongside the vibrant shades of early morning blue. The curtains added a soft glow to the whole room. She felt the rays of the sun soak into her pale skin, making her feel warm and ready for the day.

The day passed quickly. Corbette along with his own family of four celebrated Christmas together. They sang and danced together. Margaret was happy to see the smiling faces of Liliana and Caroline, unlike the usual dull expressions they used to carry.

“Merry Christmas to all,” Corbette raised a glass of red wine as he spoke.

The celebration ended soon.

Whereas, Alexander was busy reading some papers in his study. The table was piled with files on its left, books on its right and a pen stand in the middle. His hand rested on the edge of the table, scattered papers under his wrist. His eyes kept constantly analyzed the paper from left to right. In the end, he signed the papers and kept them in a file before placing it on his left.

While opening the other file, he heard three knocks.

“Come in”, he tossed the file on the table.

“Good morning my Lord,” Julius bowed.

“Morning, is there something important to convey?” Alexander asked, his eyes narrowed as his hands searched for a particular file.

“Merry Christmas Master,” Julius wished, the crescent-shaped eyes looked at the Lord while a sweet smile formed on his face.

Alexander’s hand stopped. Looking up to Julius, he smiled.

“Merry Christmas, Julius” he smiled as if he yearned for someone familiar to wish him.

“Milord, are there any plans for today?” Julius tactfully asked.

The smile on Alexander’s face turned into a frown.

After a few minutes of dead silence,

“You know the answer to your question, Julius” his hands continued searching the file.

“I shall now take my leave,” Julius bowed before leaving.

After hearing the door shut, Alexander’s hands paused searching. It has been nineteen years since he celebrated Christmas. The thought of celebrating Christmas haunts him till today.

‘I’ll be waiting for you, Alex’ , a beautiful young lady waved her hand up in the air as she spoke.

The pile of files fell off the table making a loud thud. Hearing to the sudden sound, Alexander snapped out of his trance state. The smiling face of hers was still fresh in his mind.

He got too many regrets in his life. And having no one to call him as a family made it worse. He, being the most powerful king of all four provinces carried the legacy of his father. He was known for handling and solving matters in his own way.

Only six more days to pass for him to know his answer, the most important one.

The day passed quickly, the sky turned dark with heavy clouds floating, obstructing the moonlight. In no time it started raining heavily. The clattering sound of the heavy water droplets banged against the glass windows. After much banging, the window opened wide making the curtains float high up in the air. Strong gusty winds crashed against every single thing present in his room. The papers flew away, some lying down and some still flying.

He stood up and walked towards the window. His face all wet due to the racing raindrops, looked like as if it were freshly sculpted with a knife. His white shirt was now drenched in water, showing off his rippling muscles. The white shirt now translucent sticking to his skin, gave an image of his toned muscles.

He closed the windows and wiped his face with his hands. He immediately changed into a new pair of clothes and then went downstairs.

“Good evening Milord, is there anything I can help you with?” Julius spoke with a tone of sincerity.

“Clean my study, and sort out the files scattered on the floor,” Alexander ordered as he walked towards the main hall.

Turning to his left, he entered the hall instead of the main hall. Inside the hall, a huge chandelier hung above the piano.

The hall was a little small in size compared to the main hall. There was only a piano in the middle of the hall and a chair for the pianist alongside another.

Alexander walked straight towards the piano. He sat on the chair with his back straight, arms relaxed and straight in front of him. The hall was filled with silence except for the clock, which produced soft ticks periodically. He stared at the keys as if he was reading the notes within his mind. His slender fingers glided over the keys, hitting a few keys which created a haphazard tune. Slowly, his fingers started pressing the keys randomly. The music seemed to fill the silent hall. Gradually the pace of the music increased, while the fingers danced on the keys smoothly. The tune was now more like a harsh one.

He kept pressing the keys continuously as if he was ranting his heart out. But then, suddenly he stopped. His head bends towards the keys, hair falling past his shut eyes, he breathed heavily.

for visiting.

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“You know how to play the piano! Can you teach me?” the same beautiful young lady in a pink gown asked Alexander.

“What do I get in return?” Alexander smirked, his eyes flashed a glint of mischief.

“Nothing,” she answered boldly.

Hearing her reply, he quickly scooped her in his arms and started walking towards the hall.

“What are you doing Alex? Let me down,” she glared at him and struggled to get off him, but it was of no use. Her strength was a no match with his.

She then quickly buried her face in his chest to avoid looks from the maids, her hands circled around his neck. Looking at how adorable she looked, Alexander laughed. She was a dose of cuteness.

Both entered the hall adjacent to the main hall. He finally let her down.

She gazed at the piano in front of her, a small squeal escaped her lips. She immediately covered her mouth, not to embarrass herself more. Alexander held her hand and started walking towards the piano. He sat on the main chair and started gliding his fingers past the keys. Noticing that she still stood beside him,

“Come, sit beside me” he pulled the chair for her and gestured her to have her seat.

She obediently followed his orders.

He played a Largo, his fingers lazily hovered over the white keys. From the lazy tune, he swiftly changed it into an Andante, the pace slowly increased. Moderato, and in the end Allegro, his fingers danced sweetly yet fastly on the keys. She admired how perfect this man was. The man in front of her held a great charm and was artistic.

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Alexander kept on playing the same tune, but all in Allegro. His fingers kept on pressing the keys hard, his moist eyes moved followed his fingers over the keys.

Hearing to music, Julius came running towards the music hall. Upon reaching, he saw Alexander kept on pressing keys with no sign of stopping. The music was pleasant to hear, but only he knew what harsh reality was behind the melody.

“Lord Alexander” running towards him, Julius shouted.

All of a sudden, his fingers paused. The fingers slightly quivered.

“Lord Alexander, I- I-…” Julius trailed off, he didn’t know what to say next.

After so many years he played this tune, but this time, it didn’t sound fine.

Serving the Lords of the Brookville for centuries, he knew Alexander very well. As a small boy, he used to come, ask him to play with him. He used to give him company wherever the boy went. He was like his shadow, and he blended well with the shadow of the boy.

Alexander didn’t speak, but his hollow stare at him was enough to give goosebumps.

“What happened, Milord?” Julius asked carefully, his eyes looked at him with much concern.

A long silence prevailed in the huge hall, they could hear the huge wall clock ticking along with the pendulum swinging.

“Find more about Margaret, daughter of Corbette,” this one sentence from him was sufficient enough for Julius to understand.

“Yes, Milord. I shall give you the information real soon,” he bowed.

“You may leave,” Alexander stood up from his seat, took his coat and when striding towards the main door. The wind was so strong that the heavy rain ends up falling horizontally instead of vertically. Alexander stood there, raindrops splattered on his whole body.

After a while, he went straight to his room. Changing into a new set of clothes after a nice shower, he went to sleep immediately. This night would be a never-ending one for him.

Meanwhile, Margaret was busy cleaning her room.

Today was Christmas, a day well spent.

Thinking of all the things that happened in the past two days, she smiled.