The King's Five

Prologue 5: Bard

In another kingdom, a young girl was sitting at a piano. She had blonde hair that went straight down past her shoulders, and she stared at the keys.

She lifted her small hands up and placed them over a few of the keys.

Her fingers began to move quickly and expertly, playing Chorus Novae Jerusalem at double the speed, then improvising a new melody on top of it with a barrage of notes.

"Lena!"

A loud shout made the girl jump and stop playing.

A middle aged woman dressed head to toe in royal clothing stormed into the room.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked in German.

Lena stared at the woman and didn't say anything.

"Behave yourself. Play something simple." The woman said before loudly slamming the door.

Lena turned back and stared at the piano.

The sound of loud talking and partying could be heard through the walls.

Lena sighed and went back to playing the piano, quieter than before.

She played Chorus Novae Jerusalem at its normal tempo, boring and basic music that seemed to drive her crazy.

Lena looked up at the ceiling as she played, not hitting a single wrong note without even looking.

Lena was now a few years older, sitting on a small throne next to the woman dressed in even more elaborate clothing. Next to her was a handsome man, dressed in even more extravagant and expensive looking clothing.

Lena looked forward as a middle aged man was playing a harp. Another played a flute and a third played a drum.

There was a young girl in front of who was singing a song.

The music was somber and slow, driving Lena crazy as her leg was bouncing in varying subdivisions of the tempo.

The woman next to her reached over and softly hit her in the back of the head, making Lena look up at her.

"Behave." She mouthed to Lena, who turned her attention back to the music.

Once the music ended, the man and woman both applauded.

"What a lovely song. The King is most pleased." The man said as he stood up.

The woman very quickly got up as well, as if it was unplanned.

"And your Queen is as well." She said with a wide smile.

The woman waved her hand around to try and make Lena stand up.

Lena did and looked at the group of musicians.

"It was...fine." Lena said.

The musicians all looked surprised when Lena suddenly began to walk down from the elevated thrones and in front of the musicians.

The Queen wanted to chase after her, but the King reached out to hold her hand and keep her back.

Lena looked over the musicians, seeming to think as she stared at them and the instruments.

"Perhaps you could try something like this." Lena said when she took the harp politely from the player.

She began to strum and pluck it into a beautiful sounding melody. Then she handed it back to the player, who seemed to struggle to copy it exactly. Then Lena went to grab the basic, single headed drum and played a rather intricate rhythm on it.