Playground

The mansion

Author note: PG,

Jack walked up the step leading to the carved wooden doors. The mansion rose huge on top of the hill in front of him, almost daring him to cross its threshold.

His hand hovered in the doorknob, slightly trembling. He took a deep, heavy breath and pushed the doors open.

A wide circular entrance hall opened just beyond them and a slender, double staircase sneaked up on each side. All around willowy columns supported its ascension with fantastic patterns of white marble, contrasting the dark wood paneling of the walls.

A delicate tinkling fountain took stage in the middle, right under a high dome. Multicolored light came from its patterned windows, inter-spaced with beautiful frescoes.

Jack was taken aback by the fairy-like beauty of the place and the peaceful undertone the flowing water lent to it.

There was also an other music playing just underneath, coming from inside and calling to him.

He didn't wait and with a last glance around the hall he moved toward the stairs, admiring the impressive paintings and portraits that lined the walls all around. Letting his hand slide along the polished wooden balustrade he lowered his eyes. Even the stairs were so masterfully arranged that each step, made in light pink marble, was a shade darker than the lower one. The perfectly even shading it created was simply breath taking.

He left back the delicate sound of water and was immersed in the near silence that pervaded the corridor. The music he'd barely heard before was now more clear, coming from deep within the quiet.

Jack tried to follow the delicate melody the piano was weaving in the air but it seemed to come from all around him.

He quietly explored the place, looking for the source of the heavenly music and constantly having is breath stolen by the astonishing works of art that seemed scattered almost carelessly in the halls, corridors and the few rooms he peered into. Not only paintings, vases, statues and other usual pieces, his keen eye caught also the less ordinary and maybe even more precious masterpieces.

A drawing room, for example, was home of the most skillfully crafted fireplace he'd ever seen. At first glance he'd thought little of the strange circular pit rising in the middle, at least until he realized the spiral design in which the small bricks were arranged. The bas-reliefs that decorated every brick had surprised him, they each depicted a different image and together created a story. The realization of how they must look in the flickering light of the fire, when they came to life in the dancing shadows left him at a loss of words.

Everything was incredible and surprising, wherever he looked amazing colors, beautiful shapes and wonders hidden in the most unthinkable of places. Yet, all of them managed to make show of themselves perfectly.

For a long time he wandered following the music, delighting in his exploring and yet unable to stop for long in any place as the foreign melody pulled at his soul.

He walked down a hallway draped in crimson tapestries where an open door awaited for him. He knew that the piano was just beyond the door and he walked quietly down the hallway, as if not to disturb whoever was playing.

He never wanted it to end, the sound was enveloping him, permeating his soul and lifting his spirit to a peace he'd never known. In the end he reached the door and stepped inside, his breath caught in his throat.

A beautiful woman was playing the piano in what appeared to be a music room of the mansion. She was facing a glass wall on his left, overlooking the sunset while her hands gently glided over the keys of and old piano. Like everything else here, the piano itself was a masterpiece, but Jack only had eyes for the woman sitting in front of it like a muse lost in her creation. He didn't dare move or breath, staying where he was as the notes washed over him like delicate warm droplets.

He saw the woman smile, like she knew he had just entered the room and he lost himself in her incredible smile.

Soft lazy curls cascaded around her head on her right shoulder, their color that of golden honey. Her slender frame was clad in an old fashioned dress that would probably befit the choice of a most powerful queen in elegance and perfection.

It flowed down her body in ivory waves leaving her shoulders and arms bare, tanned skin glowing in the orange light that bathed her figure from the window.

It was a vision of perfection for the man standing in the doorway, keeping him captivated in the sight of the wondrous musician and in the very music she wove in the air.

Jack didn't know how long he stood there as time wasn't of any concern to him, but eventually the melody came to a beautiful end with a whisper of sadness in the last notes.

He studied the woman, feeling his blood rush in his veins and his heartbeat speeding up. She didn't move for a long minute, her head slightly bowed as if paying homage to the music gone. She raised her head ad ensnared his eyes with her gaze the moment he took a step toward her.

There was mystery and warmth in her incredible lilac eyes while an equally mysterious smile played at the edge of her lips. Jack forgot how to breath, he forgot it was even necessary the moment his gaze met hers.

Then she fully smiled at him and he knew he was lost.

Her voice whispered on his skin and her words sent shivers running down his spine. "I'm happy you received my invitation and could come. I have waited a long time to finally meet you, Jack."

She offered her hand and he advanced taking it, leaving a kiss just a whisper away from her delicate knuckles. He then smiled at her, "the pleasure is all mine Milady."

"Sit and play with me, I want to tell you the rest of my story," she said moving a bit farther on the stool.

Her eyes sparkled with laughter when he sat and then their hands moved on the keys and he discovered the story in the art they created together in the air.