#this universe fits andersen tales so well that i couldn't resist setting this there

[bookshelf-in-progress]

🎃

The nightingale, please?

The Nightingale Returns

Not a single star lamp lit the darkness of the cottage. Not a single star adorned the quiet young woman in the simple gray dress. In former days, Ida had dripped with stars--wore them in necklaces and bracelets, tiaras and earrings, shoes and gowns that came from dozens of admirers. She'd captivated crowds upon stages that blazed in the light of hundred of stars. In this candlelit cottage, Hans might never have known her for the same woman--but he'd heard her sing.

Ida stood before the window, lit by moonlight. "Why are you here?" she asked, her voice low, but musical as ever.

"I have come from Lord Felix. He wants to see you."

Her eyes blazed like falling stars. "He expects me to come at his call? After he cast me aside for that cheap imitation?" She stormed through the parlor, looking every inch the prima donna. "I will not be kept like a pet! I will not be bought with trinkets and flattery! Not for all the stars in the sky would I ever enter the same city as that man--"

"He's dying."

Ida froze.

#

In his illness, Lord Felix couldn't bear brightness. The only light came from stardust sprinkled on the bed curtains, and from the faraway moon shining through the uncovered window. Even that dim light showed Felix was pale as death, wasted by illness, and tormented by memories. The son of one of the wealthiest starfall families in the city, meeting the fate common to all men.

"Ida," he murmured, as he had for the past twelve hours. "My nightingale."

Ida saw and heard as she came in the room, and Hans watched all skepticism leave her face. She knelt at his bedside and took his feverish hand between hers.

Felix's gaze cleared at her touch. "Ida?" he rasped.

"I'm here."

"I was wrong. I chased you away. I betrayed you. I'm sorry."

He was working himself up. Ida placed a hand on his lips. "All is forgiven."

He relaxed into his pillow as he had not rested in days. "Death is with me," he said. "Stay with me. Sing. I would give anything--"

"Those days are past," she said. "I sing only for love."

The light in his eyes dimmed. "I understand. I don't deserve--"

But the Nightingale sang. A lullaby, low and sweet. A song of comfort. Of rest. Of peace. She had sung for kings and emperors, upon the greatest stages on the continent, but never had she sang like this. This song came from the depths her heart, her years of pain and brokenness turned golden with forgiveness. It filled that dark silence, chasing away shadows, keeping even death at bay.

Hans wept as he heard it--for the beauty of the song, for the dying man who laid back with more peace in his face than he'd known in weeks. Ida's tears flowed onto the deathbed, but still she sang, banishing the pain of the past and the fears of the future, keeping them all in a moment of timelessness.

One song led to another, another, another, until at last, the sun rose. Lord Felix slept like a child. There was color in his face.

Ida fell to the floor, fast asleep.

#

Hans brought Ida back into the sickroom. Felix was propped up on pillows, sitting upright for the first time in weeks.

"Stay with me, Ida," he said, as she knelt by his bed. "It won't be like last time. I'll marry you--"

"No," she said gently.

"I wronged you, I know, but I'll spend a lifetime making it up to you--"

"I am not made for this life," she said.

"You deserve every luxury--"

"A gilded cage is still a cage. I need the country. Fresh air. Open spaces. High society would be nothing but a prison to me."

"We could stay at the country places--"

"I escaped this life once. I won't go back."

Felix fell back against the pillows.

Ida rose to her feet. "You need a wife who fits into your world. Let me remain a friend."

"I am glad to call you one."

She stepped toward the door.

Felix reached toward her. "Can't you stay a bit longer?"

She smiled gently. "I'll come back. You need someone to give you news of the country."

"I would like that," Felix said.

With a smile, Ida stepped out the door. They heard her singing as she walked away.