Shadow Song
Chapter 3: The Reluctant Raoul
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Little Lotte thought of everything and nothing. Her hair was dark as a raven’s wing but her soul as clear and blue as her eyes. She wheedled her mother, was kind to her doll, took great care of her frock and her little red shoes and her fiddle, but most of all loved, when she went to sleep, to hear the Angel of Music
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Isabella Marie Swan made a decision that day, now free of her prison bars and the invisible chains binding her to the Cullen’s like some cheap pet. She was done, done hiding in the corner waiting for someone else to make her life gentle and safe. Done being referred to as simply The Human her mortality was a gift meant to be cherished not to be thought of as a source of scone. Aro and Marcus had already voices their approval of her attitude. Caius was an enigma like something seen off in the distance on a frigid winter morning but never truly realized from the warm side of the frosted glass.
His crimson eyes were as cold as any reptile yet, there were moments even now as she thought of them he seemed to blaze with passion or anger. Despite everything she had been warned of him by Jasper had he not instantly come to her defense when the guard had attempted to subdue her? Soothing the pain of an angry hand with an intimate and gentle inspection? He changed emotions as quick as a northern that was silent and still one moment then blasting the trees with an icy gale the next. Bella was no fool she had known was he was the moment she stepped into the throne room. He was a killer a predator and a king. Used to his own way and quick to fly into a rage when events did not turn out the letter of his wishes. Yet he had done nothing to threaten her. Even after her bold reckless speech. Once she had agreed to his whim her state instantly improved. She had been taken to a beautiful room. Allowed a hot bath and an excellent meal. Then as the sun rose left to her own devices.
Sleep was impossible. Try as she might Bella could sink no deeper than a light doze. She wisely gave up the attempt after two hours and counting over 200 sheep. Sitting, curled in front of a merry crackling fire she sipped at a cup of tea that Jane had brought her moments before considering her future. One performance was all he asked; he didn't beg, didn't reason her into or out of it, simply placed a choice before her and accepted the answer. She knew she could sing when she wished, the one gift from her mother beyond the general lack of coordination.
It was her joy, her one solitary beauty to bring to the world and at last she found someone that respected it. Edward had never so much as noticed her soft humming when he played for her; lost in the world of his own making he had ignored it as if it never existed. No after what had occurred the last year Edward had no place in her life. Let him go to the other end of the world and find whatever happiness he could but she would never again allow him to darken her door.
Soft cords drifted through the air as she set down the teacup. Strings being touched by a hand that knew its work purity rang through every note. Three bars in she recognized the melody. Music of the night. The Phantom's lullaby and love song. The player however seemed to soften the higher notes mellowing them into a soothing murmur just loud enough for her ear to catch yet soft enough it began unwinding muscles held in tension for far too long, lulling her slowing into the sleep she so desperately craved and the peace it offered.
Gentle cool hands shook her awake some time later from sleep that was for once untroubled by the nightmares that had plagued her. Jane stood quietly by her elbow eyeing her with interest as she waited for the mortal to properly wake up.
“The Masters wish you to come to the ballroom shortly; you have just enough time to shower if you should wish to do so”
Bella rose and after a refreshing bath felt a world better. Awaiting her was a delicious looking dinner of steak; potatoes and what looked like cheesy rice. Without a word she happily devoured the meal, pausing only long enough to savor the rich flavors before she rose and brushed her teeth. More of a courtesy than a necessity as she guessed there would be singing tonight. She turned to find Jane watched her with her head tilted gently to one side as she slowly approached and gently touched Bella's right hand. Her cool fingers brushing across the skin. It was such a tender motion her eyebrows raised as the immortal spoke.
“You’re so thin, almost as if at one point you simply wished to disappear from this world”
Bella flinched the statement far too close to the truth she had lived in not that long ago and as she followed the blond from the room she spoke quietly.
“Once perhaps that was true, when I thought my world had ended and I had nothing left, He took more than just the pieces of a broken heart with him when he left me behind”
She fell silent as they wound through the castle, the stone floor shifting color slightly until they reached a section made naught from stone but the most beautiful wood work Bella had ever seen, a soft gasp escaped her lips as she paused to run a finger across the beautiful carved walls, between the rich stain and golden accents she was enchanted.
“Well, I must say for the all the difference in age, the Volturi have excellent taste”
Jane only chuckled quietly pleased it seemed by the praise as they continued on. Bella didn't need the help to guide her steps her ear having caught the sound of a heavenly voice, a deep rich baritone that was enough to make her toes curl as they purred out scales without effort. Another male voice mimicking the first but lacking in the quality common to all those who breathed their art. Imagine her surprise when finally reaching the grand room she found Aro, Caius and Edward all assembled awaiting her entrance. Accompanied by a full orchestra Her attire was fitting she was glad to see having chosen a dark green gown from the depths of a closet even Alice would have had trouble filling. It clung to her curves and yet was loose in the right places allowing for free and easy movement.
“Ah Isabella, thank you for arriving on time my dear”
Caius seemed to come alive as she approached crimson eyes warming at once as they fell upon her. As if he longed for the song that had not yet left her lips. Aro who had spoken rose long enough from his front row seat to bow with courtly grace as his brother assisted her up the stairs to join them on the stage. She exhaled gently as she took her place next to the blonde immortal surprised when he gently took her hand in his own and raised it to his lips in silent greeting. This was her world. Sawdust costumes and make believe where music reigned supreme and nothing else mattered except the silvery note that rang from the heart.
“You're quite welcome, I was eager to begin rehearsals, May I ask where we are to begin?”
“The Mirror scene. An excellent chance to see the range of our two leads”
Caius turned his gaze on Edward voice suddenly dropping to a pitch that made the hair on Bella's neck stand upright. It was the cold chill of death, still bound in his chains that were held by a robed guard he had never appeared more dangerous to her. Golden eyes burning into her skin as she cast a quick glance in his direction.
“You will watch young Cullen and should you decide to interfere at all, the consequences will be most unpleasant do you understand?”
A quick sullen nod was all the respond he was to offer and Marcus eyed him with clear distaste as Bella took her place. Sitting before a lavish dressing table she closed her eyes shifting her focus from the cold reality of her fate to the magic that was the storyline of Phantom. Giving Aro a gentle nod to show she was ready her shoulders relaxed and as a voice drifted from behind the mirror behind her she nearly melted into the chair. Caius could not only sing, he could have moved a stone! Angry and harsh even in the Phantoms anger it seemed fell pure and clear on her ear.
Insolent boy, this slave of fashion, Basking in your Glory! Ignorant Fool! This brave young suitor, sharing in my triumph!”
She didn't need the cue the conductor gave as she inhaled deeply answering in the clear bell like tone her training gave her and choice made the emotions easy to bring to the stage, he had given her the option of becoming a leading lady and she honored it. Nearly pleading with the yet invisible Angel she slipped easily into the role holding nothing back as she braced her weight against the beautiful grained set piece.
“Angel I hear you, speak I listen! Stay by my side guide me!
Angel my soul was weak forgive me! Enter at last Master”
It was pure bliss when after a split second pause his tone softened the bitter edge fading entirely as he too abandoned his pretenses. In that moment he was no longer the elegant king, but her Angel, teacher protector and guardian. The voice she had heard all her life as she slipped into dreams as Christine Daae.
“Flattering child you shall know me, see why in shadow I hide”
Look at your face in the mirror, I am there inside.”
Though the set was unfinished and she could clearly see him already through the glass it hardly mattered. Their eyes locked as he slid the glass panel aside and purred those words she most remembered from her first time seeing the play. His voice dropping into the seductive whisper of the practiced hypnotist as he offered her a hand.
“I am your Angel Of Music, Come to me Angel Of Music”
She rose and as the music faded from the air had taken his hand. The moment ended as Aro's voice broke into the scene and she dropped her gaze from those crimson eyes, which seemed to plead with her, implore her in silence for something she couldn't name.
“Beautiful, indeed acted without nary a direction or revision to give, Isabella, you are truly an accomplished performer, now to be fair it is my brother turn....gentlemen, ladies, when Master Caius ready please proceed to Music of the night”
Her heart rate picked up as she raised her eyes once more. Oh how well she knew those lyrics, listened to endlessly on those dark bitter days following Edward’s departure, the silken words her only anchor in a world where her emotions raged endlessly like a sea in the midst of a tempest. Caius had held her gaze through it all reading every emotion as it rose and fell in their depths. Slowly his hand moved to brush aside the high collar of her gown, finding the beginnings of a bruise already forming on her pale skin. He spoke naught a word, yet something in his eyes shifted, for a moment he was once again the immortal who had so tenderly tended to her on the marble floor of his throne room.
His touched gentled further still as they brushed a lock of hair from her face before he signaled to the musicians and he began to sing his gaze never straying from her own. The lyrics remained the same yet the message seemed to take on another meaning.
“Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation....Darkness, Stirs and wakes imagination”
Perhaps it was weighted pause mid breath that swept her away as she turned away a hair before her cue but that hardly mattered. His arms had swept around her waist in utter disregard to the written stage directions and his head gently rested upon her shoulder as his silken voice dropped to a whisper.
“Silently the senses, abandon their defenses”
In that moment she was lost, a lamb in the claws of the Lion, Bella willing surrendered to the moment. Let him do with her what he would. As his Christine she was as helpless against him as she was as Isabella Swan.
“Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendor, Grasp it! Sense it! Temously and tender”
Though her eyes were closed she responded to the gentle touch that moved her head away from him then back again as if he couldn't bare to have her gaze rest anywhere else. Her eyes opened almost in answer to that nameless longing he silently screamed.
“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”
.
A wave of his hand ended the rehearsal as swiftly as it began and suddenly Bella was alone. The lingering sensation of his fingers still present on her skin on her palm where they had rested scant moments before. Caius and the rest of the party had vanished leaving her with an intense longing in her very soul, As if for a single moment he had filled that horrible empty space in her heart. Yet here she stood alone, and utterly confused. Jane standing at the bottom of the stairs with an expression that matched her own.
Both women asking themselves the same question.
What had prompted Caius, the warrior, the king the killer.....
To flee?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Little Lotte thought of everything and nothing. Her hair was dark as a raven’s wing but her soul as clear and blue as her eyes. She wheedled her mother, was kind to her doll, took great care of her frock and her little red shoes and her fiddle, but most of all loved, when she went to sleep, to hear the Angel of Music
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Isabella Marie Swan made a decision that day, now free of her prison bars and the invisible chains binding her to the Cullen’s like some cheap pet. She was done, done hiding in the corner waiting for someone else to make her life gentle and safe. Done being referred to as simply The Human her mortality was a gift meant to be cherished not to be thought of as a source of scone. Aro and Marcus had already voices their approval of her attitude. Caius was an enigma like something seen off in the distance on a frigid winter morning but never truly realized from the warm side of the frosted glass.
His crimson eyes were as cold as any reptile yet, there were moments even now as she thought of them he seemed to blaze with passion or anger. Despite everything she had been warned of him by Jasper had he not instantly come to her defense when the guard had attempted to subdue her? Soothing the pain of an angry hand with an intimate and gentle inspection? He changed emotions as quick as a northern that was silent and still one moment then blasting the trees with an icy gale the next. Bella was no fool she had known was he was the moment she stepped into the throne room. He was a killer a predator and a king. Used to his own way and quick to fly into a rage when events did not turn out the letter of his wishes. Yet he had done nothing to threaten her. Even after her bold reckless speech. Once she had agreed to his whim her state instantly improved. She had been taken to a beautiful room. Allowed a hot bath and an excellent meal. Then as the sun rose left to her own devices.
Sleep was impossible. Try as she might Bella could sink no deeper than a light doze. She wisely gave up the attempt after two hours and counting over 200 sheep. Sitting, curled in front of a merry crackling fire she sipped at a cup of tea that Jane had brought her moments before considering her future. One performance was all he asked; he didn't beg, didn't reason her into or out of it, simply placed a choice before her and accepted the answer. She knew she could sing when she wished, the one gift from her mother beyond the general lack of coordination.
It was her joy, her one solitary beauty to bring to the world and at last she found someone that respected it. Edward had never so much as noticed her soft humming when he played for her; lost in the world of his own making he had ignored it as if it never existed. No after what had occurred the last year Edward had no place in her life. Let him go to the other end of the world and find whatever happiness he could but she would never again allow him to darken her door.
Soft cords drifted through the air as she set down the teacup. Strings being touched by a hand that knew its work purity rang through every note. Three bars in she recognized the melody. Music of the night. The Phantom's lullaby and love song. The player however seemed to soften the higher notes mellowing them into a soothing murmur just loud enough for her ear to catch yet soft enough it began unwinding muscles held in tension for far too long, lulling her slowing into the sleep she so desperately craved and the peace it offered.
Gentle cool hands shook her awake some time later from sleep that was for once untroubled by the nightmares that had plagued her. Jane stood quietly by her elbow eyeing her with interest as she waited for the mortal to properly wake up.
“The Masters wish you to come to the ballroom shortly; you have just enough time to shower if you should wish to do so”
Bella rose and after a refreshing bath felt a world better. Awaiting her was a delicious looking dinner of steak; potatoes and what looked like cheesy rice. Without a word she happily devoured the meal, pausing only long enough to savor the rich flavors before she rose and brushed her teeth. More of a courtesy than a necessity as she guessed there would be singing tonight. She turned to find Jane watched her with her head tilted gently to one side as she slowly approached and gently touched Bella's right hand. Her cool fingers brushing across the skin. It was such a tender motion her eyebrows raised as the immortal spoke.
“You’re so thin, almost as if at one point you simply wished to disappear from this world”
Bella flinched the statement far too close to the truth she had lived in not that long ago and as she followed the blond from the room she spoke quietly.
“Once perhaps that was true, when I thought my world had ended and I had nothing left, He took more than just the pieces of a broken heart with him when he left me behind”
She fell silent as they wound through the castle, the stone floor shifting color slightly until they reached a section made naught from stone but the most beautiful wood work Bella had ever seen, a soft gasp escaped her lips as she paused to run a finger across the beautiful carved walls, between the rich stain and golden accents she was enchanted.
“Well, I must say for the all the difference in age, the Volturi have excellent taste”
Jane only chuckled quietly pleased it seemed by the praise as they continued on. Bella didn't need the help to guide her steps her ear having caught the sound of a heavenly voice, a deep rich baritone that was enough to make her toes curl as they purred out scales without effort. Another male voice mimicking the first but lacking in the quality common to all those who breathed their art. Imagine her surprise when finally reaching the grand room she found Aro, Caius and Edward all assembled awaiting her entrance. Accompanied by a full orchestra Her attire was fitting she was glad to see having chosen a dark green gown from the depths of a closet even Alice would have had trouble filling. It clung to her curves and yet was loose in the right places allowing for free and easy movement.
“Ah Isabella, thank you for arriving on time my dear”
Caius seemed to come alive as she approached crimson eyes warming at once as they fell upon her. As if he longed for the song that had not yet left her lips. Aro who had spoken rose long enough from his front row seat to bow with courtly grace as his brother assisted her up the stairs to join them on the stage. She exhaled gently as she took her place next to the blonde immortal surprised when he gently took her hand in his own and raised it to his lips in silent greeting. This was her world. Sawdust costumes and make believe where music reigned supreme and nothing else mattered except the silvery note that rang from the heart.
“You're quite welcome, I was eager to begin rehearsals, May I ask where we are to begin?”
“The Mirror scene. An excellent chance to see the range of our two leads”
Caius turned his gaze on Edward voice suddenly dropping to a pitch that made the hair on Bella's neck stand upright. It was the cold chill of death, still bound in his chains that were held by a robed guard he had never appeared more dangerous to her. Golden eyes burning into her skin as she cast a quick glance in his direction.
“You will watch young Cullen and should you decide to interfere at all, the consequences will be most unpleasant do you understand?”
A quick sullen nod was all the respond he was to offer and Marcus eyed him with clear distaste as Bella took her place. Sitting before a lavish dressing table she closed her eyes shifting her focus from the cold reality of her fate to the magic that was the storyline of Phantom. Giving Aro a gentle nod to show she was ready her shoulders relaxed and as a voice drifted from behind the mirror behind her she nearly melted into the chair. Caius could not only sing, he could have moved a stone! Angry and harsh even in the Phantoms anger it seemed fell pure and clear on her ear.
Insolent boy, this slave of fashion, Basking in your Glory! Ignorant Fool! This brave young suitor, sharing in my triumph!”
She didn't need the cue the conductor gave as she inhaled deeply answering in the clear bell like tone her training gave her and choice made the emotions easy to bring to the stage, he had given her the option of becoming a leading lady and she honored it. Nearly pleading with the yet invisible Angel she slipped easily into the role holding nothing back as she braced her weight against the beautiful grained set piece.
“Angel I hear you, speak I listen! Stay by my side guide me!
Angel my soul was weak forgive me! Enter at last Master”
It was pure bliss when after a split second pause his tone softened the bitter edge fading entirely as he too abandoned his pretenses. In that moment he was no longer the elegant king, but her Angel, teacher protector and guardian. The voice she had heard all her life as she slipped into dreams as Christine Daae.
“Flattering child you shall know me, see why in shadow I hide”
Look at your face in the mirror, I am there inside.”
Though the set was unfinished and she could clearly see him already through the glass it hardly mattered. Their eyes locked as he slid the glass panel aside and purred those words she most remembered from her first time seeing the play. His voice dropping into the seductive whisper of the practiced hypnotist as he offered her a hand.
“I am your Angel Of Music, Come to me Angel Of Music”
She rose and as the music faded from the air had taken his hand. The moment ended as Aro's voice broke into the scene and she dropped her gaze from those crimson eyes, which seemed to plead with her, implore her in silence for something she couldn't name.
“Beautiful, indeed acted without nary a direction or revision to give, Isabella, you are truly an accomplished performer, now to be fair it is my brother turn....gentlemen, ladies, when Master Caius ready please proceed to Music of the night”
Her heart rate picked up as she raised her eyes once more. Oh how well she knew those lyrics, listened to endlessly on those dark bitter days following Edward’s departure, the silken words her only anchor in a world where her emotions raged endlessly like a sea in the midst of a tempest. Caius had held her gaze through it all reading every emotion as it rose and fell in their depths. Slowly his hand moved to brush aside the high collar of her gown, finding the beginnings of a bruise already forming on her pale skin. He spoke naught a word, yet something in his eyes shifted, for a moment he was once again the immortal who had so tenderly tended to her on the marble floor of his throne room.
His touched gentled further still as they brushed a lock of hair from her face before he signaled to the musicians and he began to sing his gaze never straying from her own. The lyrics remained the same yet the message seemed to take on another meaning.
“Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation....Darkness, Stirs and wakes imagination”
Perhaps it was weighted pause mid breath that swept her away as she turned away a hair before her cue but that hardly mattered. His arms had swept around her waist in utter disregard to the written stage directions and his head gently rested upon her shoulder as his silken voice dropped to a whisper.
“Silently the senses, abandon their defenses”
In that moment she was lost, a lamb in the claws of the Lion, Bella willing surrendered to the moment. Let him do with her what he would. As his Christine she was as helpless against him as she was as Isabella Swan.
“Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendor, Grasp it! Sense it! Temously and tender”
Though her eyes were closed she responded to the gentle touch that moved her head away from him then back again as if he couldn't bare to have her gaze rest anywhere else. Her eyes opened almost in answer to that nameless longing he silently screamed.
“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”
.
A wave of his hand ended the rehearsal as swiftly as it began and suddenly Bella was alone. The lingering sensation of his fingers still present on her skin on her palm where they had rested scant moments before. Caius and the rest of the party had vanished leaving her with an intense longing in her very soul, As if for a single moment he had filled that horrible empty space in her heart. Yet here she stood alone, and utterly confused. Jane standing at the bottom of the stairs with an expression that matched her own.
Both women asking themselves the same question.
What had prompted Caius, the warrior, the king the killer.....
To flee?