The Last Midnight

Chapter Ten: "Hidden Pain"

Lightly punching Charles in the shoulder, he returned to the Baron and his daughters. The Baron bowed his head to him, then politely asked him. "Is everything alright, Highness?" Nodding, Nate stated coolly. "Yes, I'm quite pleased with how things turned out. Shall we continue? I could eat." The Baron gestured for Anastasia to approach him, and she extended her hand out for him to take. Not wanting to be rude, he accepted her hand and waited for Drizella to approach to offer her hand. She started to approach, until the Baron grabbed her arm and took her hand between his. She looked a bit startled and disappointed. Walking on through the festival stalls, Anastasia told him with a sweet smile. "You have an interesting way of seeing the world, Highness. Music must be important to you." Nate swallowed down what he wanted to say about it to tell her more neutrally. "It's what I enjoy doing." Placing a hand on the back of his that held hers, she inched closer to him and said with an alluring smile. "Do you think you could teach me?" A chuckle left Nate before he cleared his throat and told her more composed. "I don't teach people." She pulled him over to a table bench, giggling out to him. "Oh, please? Do try."

Glancing around at the noble men and women that stared at him, Nathan inhaled uneasily before straddling the bench beside her. Once he was seated, he set the chocolate tin on the table and asked her curiously. "Tell me why you want to play?" Anastasia flicked her blonde hair off her shoulder, cooing out excitedly. "Because I want to play beautiful music." Exhaling heavily, Nate tried to keep a smile on his face to be polite, but her answer pained him. Looking down at his feet, he told her as nicely as he could. "You can't just make beautiful music. Music is... expression. It resonates with feelings that you can't express with words. You can't just play it... you have to feel it. You have to want to get something out of your soul." He waited for her to say something, but she just stared blankly at him. Pointing to her broach, he asked her coolly. "May I see it?" She flashed him a blushing smirk, then brought her hands to her chest to unpin it. Looking away from her out of respect, her signaled to Charles with his fingers to order them something to eat. Charles nodded, slipping over to the Baron to ask what they'd like. Eventually, she tapped his shoulder and purred out innocently. "Highness?"

Turning his attention back to her, he accepted the broach and looked it over carefully. Turning to sit properly in the seat, he braced his elbows on the table and became lost in reading the notes on it. After reading it over, he went over it again and tapped his heel on the grass to the beat as he pictured the sound in his mind. Taking a seat across from him, Drizella asked him curiously. "What does it mean?" Anastasia flashed her a dark look, but Nathan missed it as he lowered the broach and told her nicely. "It seems to be the chorus of a love song. It's pretty. Someone put a lot of heart into it." Anastasia huffed lightly, asking a bit sarcastically. "You got all that from those little symbols?" Setting it down on the table, Nathan pointed to the symbols as he informed them passionately. "It's the same as reading a book. Only instead of words, it is using sound to convey one's feelings. Watch." Pointing to the notes in turn, he started to hum and tapped his heel to keep it time with it. The song had steady pace that was calming and would be quite beautiful to see people dance to it. He could imagine this song was designed for a piano and it would sound amazing in an empty ball room that allowed sound to echo.

When he finished it, he blushed when he noticed that the noble women had moved closer to hear him. Drizella sighed to herself, her eyes closed when she told him. "Pretty. I would love to hear the whole thing." Turning the broach over, he said under his breath. "Ya... Didn't you say this was a family heirloom?" Drizella tensed up, swallowing nervously. While Anastasia chimed in quickly. "Yes. It is. But whoever made it is long gone now. It would be impossible to find anything on them now." Nathan nodded, not believing a word from her. He could see the engraving on the back of the broach that read; 'To my White Orchid. A dream is a wish your heart makes. Dream big. Have faith. Love, Mack Hoffman Livingston.' He highly doubted this came from her family. Handing the broach back to her, he smiled and told her coolly. "Shame. I'd love to hear the whole thing." Anastasia gave him a tight-lipped smile, that made him believe she was upset about something. Feeling like this was going to get awkward, he quickly opened the tin for the chocolates and pushed it between them as he offered nicely. "Here. Have you tried these? My father managed to get bricks of it from the Spanish monks."