Ariadne was given some fruit, which she wasn’t much thrilled about—she rarely ate fruits, preferring berries to them. There was no tea for her, obviously, so she got just a glass of plain water. She didn’t complain about any of that, but Hanna lamented she didn’t think about it beforehand and didn’t bring some food for Ariadne with her.
The conversation seemed to center around Hanna and Ray moving in together. Somehow—Ariadne barely registered how—it all turned into a discussion of Nate and his music.
“Seriously,” Hanna said as she munched on a French fry, “why don’t you try and make it a career? I mean, you’ve got talent; you’ve got everything you need.”
Nate chuckled bitterly. He was clearly not enthusiastic about being dragged into this conversation. “Just playing as a hobby and doing it professionally are two completely different things,” he said to Hanna. “I doubt I can do that. I doubt I even want to do that, to be honest.”
“How can you know if you haven’t even tried?” She sipped on lemonade, then raised an eyebrow as Nate glanced her way. “Oh.” She put her drink down. “You have tried, haven’t you?”
“What?” Ryan, who was mostly dreamingly staring at Ariadne, blinked at her, then at Nate. “You used to do it professionally?” He bulged his eyes at him.
“No.” Nate shook his head. “I’d like not to recall it if I could.” He dipped a fry in ketchup, thinking. “I’ll just say that you guys were the first ones to ever tell me that my music was any good.”
“No way,” Hanna said.
“I mean, this is just weird,” Ray added. “It’s not like your music is that strange or anything. Just piano music. It’s beautiful. Even I think that, even though I’m not into that type of music, generally.”
Nate shrugged, smiling. “It’s like a blessing and a curse,” he explained. “It’s all I ever wanted to do, but at the same time, I’m not sure I want to … monetize it, you know. If I do, that would only complicate things. It would require me to become someone … I’m not sure I want to be. And I doubt it would bring me any joy. It’d better stay as it is, just as a hobby.”
Mimi sucked in a breath. “I totally get it.”
Everyone turned their heads and stared at her, and she nearly shrunk under their attention.
“I-I mean …” she stammered, “I would never want to write professionally, too.”
“Oh, come on, Mimi,” Hanna said. “We’ve talked about it a million times already.”
Nate raised his eyebrows at Mimi. “I didn’t know you were a writer,” he said.
Mimi’s cheeks flared. “I don’t consider myself a writer,” she squeaked. “I just write … sometimes.”
“Yeah, right.” Ryan grinned, listing his head to the side. “That’s why you’re going to college for it.”
Mimi shot him a reproachful glare.
“It’s different,” she said, to no one in particular. “It’s one thing to do something just for yourself, as a hobby, and it’s another thing to put your work out there for everyone to judge. Not everyone has thick enough skin to handle all the criticism. And also … Just because you like something, doesn’t mean the audience would like it, too.”
Hanna sighed. “That’s why I could never be a creative. It’s just maddening.”
Ray side-glanced at her. “But you are creative,” he disagreed. “You always do those little projects around the house, and you love coming up with new recipes, and making your own clothes, and planting stuff in the garden.”
She shook her head. “No, that’s not what I meant. I don’t mean being creative in your everyday life—it’s fun, and it easily earns you praise from others. I meant being an artist, or a writer, or a musician, or a movie director. Something like that. Pouring your heart and soul into your creations. Living them, breathing them, literally giving them your all. That is a whole another level. Nate’s right—that sort of life does seem like a blessing and a curse. It fulfills you like nothing else, but at the same time, it can suck the life out of you. When I show people some project I’ve done for the house, or ask them to taste a new cupcake I’ve come up with, even if they don’t like it as much as I wish they would, I lose nothing. Now, if I literally poured my heart and soul into that project, if it meant everything to me … That would be a whole another deal.
“That’s why so many creatives are depressed, I guess. Torn between trying to follow their heart and get some recognition for their work.”
Ray stared at his girlfriend, then at Nate. “Is that really what you feel?”
“I guess she nailed it,” Nate chuckled.
Hanna shrugged one shoulder. Her eyes sparked. “But still, you can’t stop thinking about it, am I right? It haunts you, day and night. You can’t rip out that part of yourself just like you can’t rip out your own soul.”
Nate dropped his gaze.
“Hanna,” Mimi hissed at her friend.
“I know, I’m cruel,” Hanna laughed. “But Nate’s gotta play, and he knows it. It’s just like he’s said—a blessing and a curse. There’s no way to escape it.”
Silence reigned over their table as everyone looked at Nate while he tried to avoid their gazes. Mimi looked out the window.
Ariadne caught at the first thing that came to her mind to guide the conversation into some other direction.
“How is your cactus doing, Ray?” she asked.
Ray flicked his eyes to her. “Better than I’m doing,” he replied.
Hanna pushed him and laughed.
∞∞∞
Later that night, they were saying goodbye to each other in the parking lot. Ray was going with Hanna in her car, while Mimi was about to drive home with Ryan.
She watched Nate open the door of his car for Ariadne. Just before the fairy turned and flew inside, she said something that made him laugh and brushed his hand with hers. Mimi could swear he nearly caught her in his arms and drew her to himself. It was as fascinating and terrifying as watching two trains about to collide. At one moment, she was almost certain they would kiss.
Just one thought of it made her heart sink. Despite everything Ariadne had told her, she was still flirting with him. She couldn’t help it, clearly. Mimi couldn’t blame her.
Who knew, a day or two from now, Hanna might call her and say, “Oh, haven’t you heard? Nate and Ariadne are dating now. Wasn’t it obvious from the start that those two were meant for each other?”
And all the while nobody, besides Ariadne, had any idea she even liked Nate. Everyone would be just so happy for him and his fairy princess, and Mimi would be left to cry alone in her bedroom.
An uneasy feeling settled over her, almost paralyzing her to the core. Her heart hammered like crazy.
“Mimi?” she heard Ryan’s voice. “Is everything okay? Are you coming?”
Mimi blinked and came back to reality. “Yes,” she said absently, then got into the car and shut the door.
No matter how frightening it was, she had to do something about it. She had to, one way or the other, tell Nate about her feelings.
Twenty-One
Nate opened the front door and let Ariadne fly inside the house. She shifted as soon as she entered, then turned to face him. The smile that he had on his face when they left the diner never faded.
So what now? Ariadne suddenly thought to herself.
Nate closed the door, then leaned against it and shut his eyes with a sigh.
“You hate those conversations,” Ariadne pointed out, stepping closer to him.
“I do,” he admitted, opening his eyes again to look at her. “But Hanna is right. I can’t escape it.”
Ariadne thought it over for a moment.
“Maybe there is a reason for that,” she finally said. “A deeper one.”
“What do you mean?”
“Gifts like that are never given without a reason. I’m sure you weren’t supposed to play only to amuse yourself.”
Nate chuckled. “I sure hope not.”
Her eyes gleam
ed as she observed his face.
“Play for me,” she suddenly asked.
Nate blinked at her. “Now?”
She nodded, and he smiled, then pushed off the door.
“All right.”
They didn’t even turn the lights on.
The moonlight illuminated the glossy edges of the piano as Nate sat down before it. Before he could say anything about it, Ariadne hopped on top of the lid.
“Don’t worry, I won’t break it,” she said in an answer to the expression of surprise on his face. “I’m a bit lighter than a regular human, and I’ll be careful.”
He chuckled and opened the fallboard. Ariadne arranged her dress so that it pooled around her legs, soft fabric shimmering in the moonlight. She lay down and propped her chin with her hands.
Nate watched her for a moment out of the corner of his eye, and then he touched the piano keys and started to play. That same melody he played back then when she first came into his garden, lured in by the beautiful music.
From the first sound of it, she became entranced. Somehow, when he played, everything around started to transform. She could feel the magic in the air, could almost touch it with her fingers. The sound existed on its own. It reverberated throughout the instrument, filled up the entire room. She was drowning in it. The sensation was intoxicating.
She didn’t know how it happened, how it came to this. It was as if her body moved on its own. She edged closer to the keyboard, then reached out and traced the side of his face with her fingers, brushed his chin lightly, making him look up at her. She could feel him take an uneven breath. The sound died underneath his fingers as she leaned closer and kissed him.
“Ariadne …” he whispered as they drew apart.
She reached out to him again, her fingers brushing through his hair. He caressed her cheek. Their foreheads touched, and their eyes were closed, but seconds before she could kiss him again, Nate pulled away.
“This ... isn’t good, is it?” he breathed.
Ariadne’s eyes flew open.
Nate’s gaze was filled with both longing and fear.
“After everything you’ve told me …” he said, “I don’t want you to risk your life for me.”
She dropped her gaze.
Somehow she knew that, in the end, it would come to this. Knew it right from the start. Tried to fight it, tried to convince herself otherwise, but nothing worked. She was plummeting deeper and deeper into the abyss.
“Do you want this?” she asked, her voice little more than a whisper.
She heard him let out a laugh.
“Ever since you’ve come into my life, I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“Then that’s how it’s supposed to be.”
“But the laws …”
“I don’t care about the laws.” Ariadne’s eyes flicked back to him. “I don’t care about anything. It’s my life, and I want to choose how to live it.”
If she were supposed to repeat the fate of Lady Bronwyn’s sister—then so be it. Only she wouldn’t give up so easily. She would fight. And if everything failed, and she were to be punished—she hoped that would teach her father as well. If she didn’t know any better, that might have been the Forest’s plan all along—to punish him for what he did many years ago.
That might even have been the reason she met Nate all those many years ago.
Only, deep in her heart, Ariadne didn’t believe the Forest to be so cruel.
She got off the piano at the same time as Nate raised to his feet. They stepped to each other, two silhouettes against the moonlit window. Ariadne’s wings glowed at her back.
“Are you sure about this?” Nate murmured, pulling her closer.
“Yes,” she whispered.
She was sure about more than one thing that night. She wanted to be happy, and she wanted him to be happy as well.
And she would do anything for it. Even if that would hurt her in the end.
Twenty-Two
Mimi rarely listened to music while she walked, but she caught herself doing it more in the last couple of weeks. Plugging her ears with earphones, drowning out the thoughts that swarmed in her mind.
That morning, she crossed the road and let Ollie run free as they entered the woods. He rushed ahead, sniffing and rustling through the undergrowth, while she walked with her head down, trying to push the memories of the last night away.
She was glad Ray and Hanna were spending the night at Hanna’s house. Otherwise, her best friend might have wanted to continue the conversation they had started. Remind her of the passion she once had.
Mimi hadn’t written much in years. Ironically, creative writing was the subject she planned to study in college later that year. That was yet another reason for her self-doubt. Her creative muscle had gone stiff in all the years of neglecting it. Sometimes she wondered if she’d even be able to write again.
That could be something to discuss with Nate, a thought suddenly occurred to her, making her even more uncomfortable than she was.
But that was true. Nate might understand her, considering his own struggles.
As she followed the same path she’d taken so many times during her walks with Ollie, Mimi couldn’t help but recall a conversation she had with Nate just a few weeks ago, on that same spot.
Something he’d said to her back then suddenly emerged in her mind.
Try to record it.
Between Ariadne’s sudden appearance and everything else that was going on in her life, Mimi had totally forgotten about it. Now she wondered if she should try.
Mimi was sure that Nate had overestimated her abilities. She couldn’t hear the world around her the way he did. Didn’t possess even a bit of his talent. But if he wanted her to try … if he was so certain about it … maybe she should give it a chance.
Without giving it another thought, Mimi took out her phone and hit the record button.
She did the same thing later that day when she took Ollie on his afternoon walk. And then at night, on the third walk of the day. She rarely took her dog on such long walks three times a day, and Ollie was definitely happy about it.
That night, after she had dinner and retreated to her bedroom, Mimi took out her earphones and found the three recordings that she’d made. She played the first one.
Mimi couldn’t recall the last time she had recorded anything. It was different from watching a video, as she couldn’t see what was going on and could only guess it by sounds.
Nothing extraordinary—just sounds of nature. Birds chirping, leaves rustling. She could hear her steps and Ollie bouncing around. She could even hear her own breath at one moment.
It was … interesting. Her phone had captured more than she expected it would. It was as if she’d walked that same path blindfolded. The same effect Nate tried to achieve when he asked her to close her eyes.
Mimi listened to the afternoon recording, and then the night one. The sounds had changed. Different birds and insects could be heard. The whole atmosphere was different.
Mimi fell back on her bed.
He was right. There was something in it. Although she couldn’t hear the music in any of those recordings, could not perceive the magic he managed to capture, she didn’t regret doing this little fun experiment at all.
She wondered how it would feel if she played those recordings in the dead of winter, when her ears were so tired of the silence of falling snow or the howling of freezing winds. When they were so hungry for the sound of whispering leaves, or the cheerful songs of the birds, or the patter of raindrops on the window.
Even now, sitting in her dark bedroom and listening to the chirping of the morning birds felt a bit surreal. If she closed her eyes, it took her right back on that path. She could even remember the exact thoughts she had at that moment.
She should try to record the rain next. Or the thunderstorm.
Mimi’s heartbeat quickened. That was something to discuss with Nate. Share her discoveries with him. Ask him more about it�
�what he heard in the sounds of nature. Maybe she should even give him her recordings to listen. He could tell her what he thought about them. That would be a great conversation starter.
A smile spread across her face. Yes, she would definitely tell him all that. And who knew where their conversation would lead. If nothing else, she could become a little closer to him.
An image of Nate and Ariadne standing in the parking lot, gazing dreamily into each other’s eyes popped into her mind. Mimi shoved it aside.
She would not think about it anymore. She would focus on her own goals, and she would get what she desired.
∞∞∞
Things hadn’t changed much from the way they had been before, and at the same time, everything had changed.
Nate worked all day and came home late in the night. But instead of throwing glances at him across the kitchen as he walked through the front door, Ariadne left everything she was doing and rushed to him. He was so happy and relaxed those days, even despite being tired. She knew there was a reason for that, and she wished that she were the reason, just like he supposed.
“I’ve never been happier in my entire life,” he said to her as they lay under the stars, hidden from the outside world by the tall hedges. She’d made them grow faster this summer. Most human gardens were too bare for her taste. Glowing particles of magical pollen scattered on the breeze and a few fireflies circled above their heads, mingling with the stars in the sky.
Although Ariadne couldn’t see much of it as she lay on her stomach. She closed her eyes and relished the sensation of his fingers brushing through her hair.
“That’s because you’re here,” Nate continued. “You make everything so magical.”
Ariadne leaned closer to his face and kissed him.
She’d definitely overdone it—the garden didn’t even look real anymore. The earth was practically glowing with magic surging through it. It left her feeling drowsy, but it was worth it.
“Will you play for me later?” she murmured.
“Of course I will,” he replied, then kissed her again. “I have so much inspiration these days, all thanks to you.”
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