Duet by Dark

She sat alone in the evening garden. The first big storm was gone and the night skies twinkled like millions of diamonds above her. Moonbeams painted everything with an eerie red brush including the glimmering waters of the fountain.

She pulled her beloved mandolin onto her lap and easily warmed up on exercises she learned in childhood. She picked out the arpeggios to a new song as her left hand experimented with turns and ornaments between the melodic phrasing. No words yet, this song was bare, and would remain so until the lyrics wove in a dream for her.

She hummed the flowing melody with enough nuances to her voice to almost – almost, imagine there were words. Again and again, she will play the piece. This is how she learns what a song is capable of; she lets the song inhabit her until she possesses it. Once so yielded, she and the song are bonded for life.

From time to time the leaves rustled as little creatures took their turns to hear her serenade, introducing a surprising texture to her concert in the night at the water fountain.

She could hear the intricacies of the music singing to her soul; the ringing harmonies gave her chills. Her eyes were closed as she started the music again with the lightest, teasing touch of the introductory chord progression. Softly she hummed the melody with an ethereal, compelling quality. She was lost to the song. She knew it, and did not care.

Her voice lifted to build into the first chorus like a question hanging on the wind. In her mind, she heard a beautiful counter part, as her voice tenderly explored the limits of the song. No stumbling fingers this time as she picked new rhythms on the strings. Lightly dancing fingers coaxed responses from the sweet spots of her instrument. Glints of light flashed blue and purple sparkles from her new blue dreamstone ring on hands that were quickly becoming a blur of motion. Music soared in smooth phrasing as the arrangement worked itself out in her head.

She toned the build down to hum another verse, with new chord inversions of the same timeless progression. It was working out so nicely. Halfway through the third measure, she realized not all of the harmony was coming from her head. A man’s full tenor voice was singing with her from the garden! Somewhere. Her eyes flew open, not missing a note, but she saw no one. Between two beats of measure four, she knew she must hear more, and committed herself to the rest of the song playing out in wondrous harmony.

He was an absolute joy to sing with. As she relaxed once more and closed her eyes, she felt lifted into a surreal state. The song, her song, was taking a dimension she never dreamed. When the chorus started, she sang the descant. The moment he sensed what she was doing, he was filling the melody. As the song began to climax into the driving bridge, she heard new and delightful portions simply happen. The control this man had with the music was impressive. His voice sailed, hers danced around it, and the ever increasing tempo of the picking on her mandolin drove both the chord progressions and the time.

She could feel the rush of music fill her, spilling into the garden, and filling the very air with a tangible magic that the two of them were making. There was a tricky part in the bridge, but she did not worry, she knew already, he would hear it, would feel it, and would complete the harmony of the passage.

As she held out a note, his voice traveled around hers. When he found the only note he could hold through a key change, her heart nearly burst with excitement.

The song crested right through her, and she felt like she would never be the same again. The surge of energy was completed in this passage, and their voices moved together perfectly. she poured out all the emotions being set loose into the powerful climax to the song. As she spent herself in that one gloriously suspended moment, the music stopped.

She was breathless, and then heard his poignant, soft voice singing a new ending. Ach! He was amazing. She could not move, only listen to him. His last note echoed on the air, and she gasped. Her hand flew to her mouth, scared that she had somehow broken the magic.

She must meet her partner in the duet and turned to look for the man …

 

…and woke up. With goosebumps.

The bardess gulped.

Author: GSBardess

A young bardess named Luxelle is currently learning her trade and hoping to one day make a name for her songs in GemStone IV. Follow along with her adventures in life and song.

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