The Artist's Muse

Chapter 5

Vernazza, Italy. 12 August, 2006

It had easily been a century since Sebastian had spent this much time in town proper. Despite knowing how slim the chances were, he still made the trek to the post box to check for a letter from Isabel every night as soon as the sun went down. How long would a letter take to get from Utah to Italy? Would she even send one at all? He forced himself to believe so, despite having no evidence.

At least finding his Muse again had given him a ray of sunshine in his bleak existence. She seemed healthy this time. Strong. That was a relief after her last life had been cut tragically short by a heart condition. This century they may have been able to save her, which only served to increase the ache of loss.

Such thoughts followed him back from town and down into the dungeons in search of a painting. It was small, but the scene was beautiful. "I didn't know if I'd have the strength to revisit you, Guilia," he whispered. As his fingers brushed the paint, the water it depicted began to ripple and he felt his magic beginning to stir.

Sebastian placed the painting on an easel in his unused bedroom and sat down on the bed. He took a deep breath, placed his palm to the paint, and closed his eyes.

Venice, Italy. 8 June 1825

The sound of running water faded in gently, encircling Sebastian like a warm blanket. When he opened his eyes, he found himself floating gently through the Great Canal on a gondola in the early evening. Lights were just beginning to flicker on in the surrounding buildings like stars waking up for the night.

Giulia leaned over the edge of the boat to trail her fingers in the water, the lights reflecting in her eyes and glossy hair. The gondolier watched her with soft eyes and a smile to match hers. "Be careful not to lean too far over the edge, Miss Giulia. I wouldn't want you to sully my gondolier reputation by falling in."

"I know better than that, Augustine. And you've known me long enough to know that." Her laughter floated over the peaceful water and dissipated into the coming night. She looked up at Augustine, who shook his head yet smiled.

"I've known you long enough to know that someday you'll be the death of me! You're just lucky you've always had me to watch out for you. That you've always had me to love you."

He looked pointedly at Giulia, but she rolled her eyes. "No matter how many times you hint or propose, Augustine, we are not going to end up married. I love you, too, but-"

"But there's someone out there looking for you, you can feel it," Augustine cut in with a sigh. "I know, I know. How long are you going to hold out on a vague feeling and allow your life to pass you by? You know your heart isn't going to last forever. The last thing I want is for you to die before tasting everything life and love have to offer."

Giulia fell silent and pulled her hand back into the boat. "You know I hate it when you use my heart against me," she whispered, refusing to even look at Augustine. "Let's go home. I'm sure our parents are starting to talk." Tears began welling up in her eyes, but she furiously blinked them away.

The scene froze and Sebastian stood to sit next to Giulia. The pain of betrayal was carved in her features and a tear sparkled on her perfect cheek. From the moment he painted this image, Sebastian had hated it. Getting the context of the scene had only made things worse, and many times he had considered burning the painting.

But he never did, because his paintings were part of him. Besides, nothing he could do would erase the moment from her timeline. Sebastian exhaled and allowed his magic to pull him from the painting, his hand passing through his love's cheek before she faded away.