Memories and Shadows [Rune Factory 4]

Serenade

The song in my heart was sometimes sad, sometimes happy, often both. But always, always, always, it was about him. He was like an undercurrent through all the music of my days and nights, a harmony to the melody of every breath, every beat of my heart. But what can music do, when the one you love is in danger? It might help to heal a broken heart, but what song can heal a broken body? So every time he left, I trembled in fear that he might not return. Because there was nothing I could do to help him, apart from simply loving him.

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"It... it's very old?" I said, hesitantly. Piers was so focused, so determined, he was almost ferocious in his intensity. "One of the oldest songs I know of mentions a tower in the west, and something about fox spirits guarding the entrance. It's not a song I know very well," I admitted. "It was something I learned as part of my early training, long ago."

"And that's all you know of Leon Karnak?" he asked me, still pacing before the dying flames of the evening's fire in the massive fireplace in his room.

I nodded. "I'm so sorry, Piers. I... I wish I could help you, somehow...."

He noticed the tremor in my voice, and quickly turned to look at me. Then he smiled reassuringly at me, the ferocity dissipating from his expression as he came over to sit beside me. "I'm sorry, Meggy. You've been very helpful, and I do appreciate it, very much. I'm just.... Well, it's so terribly important that I do this, and soon."

"I... I don't understand who this person is, or why saving him will somehow help Lady Ventuswill. Can't you tell me?" I pleaded, hoping that knowledge would hold the demons of my fears at bay for just a little longer.

But he shook his head, although his eyes were regretful. "I wish I could. But I can't—it's not my secret to tell." Then he stood and resumed his pacing. "You'll just have to trust me, all of you. I'm sorry."

I rose and ran over to him, putting my arms around him and holding him tightly. "I do, Piers. We all do. You're so... so reliable, we can't help but trust you. I've never known you to deceive anyone, ever."

He stood still for a minute, then returned my embrace and kissed the top of my head. "Thank you, Meggy," he said softly. "That means more to me than you'll ever know."

"What... what do you have to do?" I asked him hesitantly, wondering if this, too, was a secret.

He looked out the large bay window facing the courtyard and the gates beyond, a faraway look in his eyes. "I have to go to the tower of Leon Karnak, and bring back someone who has been... I suppose you might say he has been imprisoned in slumber, for a very long time—possibly centuries. And I also must place the last of the rune stones there at the top of the tower. But...."

After a moment, I prompted him. "But?"

"But it appears that something has... has destabilized the tower. A massive gate, unlike any within recorded history, has all but engulfed the tower, and this has caused it to merge with the Forest of Beginnings."

I gasped. "But... but then... but Piers, no one can enter the Forest safely! Not man, or elf, or dwarf, or univir—no one! The Forest belongs to the monsters, and to them alone!"

"I know, Meggy, I know. And therein lies the problem, for go I must. Everyone is working to find a solution to this dilemma. You see, I should be able to enter the tower and the Forest beyond, but returning... well, that's another story." He sighed, and rubbed his forehead as if it ached. "I'm to meet with Arthur in the morning. He says he remembers hearing a rumor of someone who did manage, long ago, to enter the Forest and return. He has a vast network of contacts, as you know, and he is working night and day to attempt to find this person. After all, there's no use in going if I can't return the one I'm to rescue. But time is running out...." He shook his head, and I felt my chest constrict as I looked into his eyes. Tears glimmered there in the flickering firelight, and I could see that he was infuriated by his helplessness.

So I held him in my arms, and I gave to him what comfort I could right then.

"Shh, Piers, don't worry so. You'll find a way, I know you will. Please, rest while you can." I led him to his bed, pulled the coverlet back, and pushed him until he lay down, looking up at me, puzzled.

"Rest, my darling, and I'll play for you," I said, fetching my harp and pulling a chair up to his bedside.

Reluctantly, he lay his head on his pillows, and he looked so weary from his many duties, my heart ached for him. I sat down, and I played for him, singing one soothing song after another, until finally his eyelids drooped, though he still struggled to keep them open. Then I played the softest, most lulling song I knew, and before I was finished, he had slipped into slumber, peaceful at last.

I watched him for an hour or more, making sure he was truly and soundly asleep. Then I stood, and I kissed him gently on his brow. He relaxed a little more and a smile played at the corners of his mouth, and I felt happy that I'd been able to do something, however small, to help him bear his burden. Then I tip-toed out the door, closing it softly behind me, and returned to my cold and lonely home, where I sat and waited in sleepless vigil, until at last he returned in safety from that fearful tower.