Days fell into a pattern. Bellflower would wake Rhiannon midmorning, insist on dressing her for the day, and send her to go fetch Taliesin. They would sit for breakfast, Taliesin would go up to his music room, and Rhiannon would follow to watch him tune up this instrument or strum a tune on that. After a few days without success, he finally talked her into joining him at the piano while he sorted through sheets of music.
“What sort of music do you like to play?” he asked as he flipped through the scores.
“I can’t say I know,” Rhiannon admitted, pressing one of the ivory keys. A crystal-clear C resounded. “Truth be told, I never got past simple scales and arpeggios.”
He pulled an easy piece from the stack. “Are you able to read music?”
“More or less.” She’d tried to keep it up when Brodrick was away, but it proved too difficult to go months at a time without practice. Even when he was gone, she was always terrified he would return at any moment. Playing piano lost its charm, and after a while, she’d pursued other interests that took her places he couldn’t go. In the castle kitchens, she could bake bread peacefully under the care of the chef who held no patience for knights. The private library allowed her to study politics where only those of royal blood or the Royal Academy’s top scholars could tread.
“Care to play this one with me?” he asked.
A duet? But he only had one piano. She glanced around to be sure. “How?”
“I could play an accompaniment on the lower keys while you handle the melody.” Taliesin fiddled with a tune that, if Rhiannon read the sheet correctly, would fit right in. “Or if you prefer, I could play my violin with you. I’d rather feature your playing.”
“And I’d rather hear yours.”
He chuckled. “Careful or you’ll give me a big head and Bells will never forgive you.” He tinkered with his melody a little more. Once satisfied with it, he placed his hands on the keys and waited for Rhiannon to do the same.
She hesitated, but seeing him so confident in her finally convinced her. No amount of belief could stop the butterflies banging against her ribs at the prospect of messing up, however. Rhiannon read over the pages twice more before setting her own fingers on the keys.
The tune began haltingly and more than once faltered. Taliesin waited a few beats before joining in, bridging her pauses with little improvisations of his own. At first, her shame at her own lack of skill nearly caused her to walk out. What kept her there was seeing Taliesin smile at her and his encouragement in the form of a gentle nod. At his side, she muddled her way through to the end, and though she missed as many notes as she played correctly, Taliesin turned every one of her mistakes into a beauty meant to be.
✦ ✦ ✦
Perhaps because of all her mistakes, Rhiannon didn’t recognize the tune. “What is the name of this song?”
“‘Hummingbird in Flight,’” Taliesin replied. He dug around for a blank sheet of parchment. “How did you like it?”
“I don’t think I did it justice, but I do like it. Might I ask who wrote it?”
Already a pen he’d scrounged up somewhere danced along the bars and measures to record his previous accompaniment. “Yours truly.”
“Really?!”
“Yes, so I can guarantee that you did just fine. I rather liked your rendition.”
“You’re being far too kind!” Rhiannon waved her arms frantically. “I missed more than half the notes, and the ones I did hit were all the wrong ones!”
“But it’s the spirit of the piece that matters,” he replied. “The song is a hummingbird. They hardly follow a set path.” Satisfied with his duet, he set it on the piano beside the first. Rhiannon felt her stomach drop from the sheer number of notes written there. No matter how long she practiced, she could never play the second part.
“Maybe that should be the melody,” she said, but Taliesin shook his head.
He pointed to a couple of measures, careful not to touch the wet ink as he traced his finger along the middle line. “That’s where I disagree. This would do better as accompaniment. The simple melody traces the hummingbird’s flight with a faster, fluttery duet to represent the wings.” Wistfully, he played a few more notes. “If only we had a few more people, I could incorporate a woodwind part or two as well. Maybe some strings...”
“It sounds like you could compose for a full orchestra.”
“I’ve toyed with the idea a few times, but I prefer writing more intimate pieces. Especially with a piece like this. No one would want such a childish flight of fancy played by a full orchestra.”
Rhiannon shook her head. “It’s not childish at all!”
Taliesin hid his mouth behind his hand as he chuckled. “I assure you, it is. I wrote it when I was eight, I believe.”
Her mouth fell agape. “When you were eight?!” When Rhiannon herself was that age, she’d been struggling through simple arithmetic and here Taliesin was composing music. Even a simple tune like this went beyond what could be expected of a child.
“I have a good ear,” he said. “That’s all.”
“Still...”
“You should hear a real dragon one day,” he mused, adjusting the sheets on the piano’s stand. “They’re all musical geniuses that put my paltry ability to shame.”
Rhiannon placed a hand on his knee. “Your abilities aren’t paltry!” she cried. “Never say that. I’m the one with no talent, not you—”
Taliesin went still at her touch. He sucked in a breath, closed his eyes, and exhaled slowly. He forced another breath, this one slower and steadier. “Don’t sell yourself short, Your Highness.” He leaned toward her, some buried instinct drawing him closer. He tilted her chin up with a single finger. “Your playing was almost as lovely as you.”
Their eyes locked. The world went quiet as their breathing mingled. Rhiannon’s pulse soared. Her gaze flicked down to his lips and back. Should she bridge the space between them? Would he?
But Taliesin dropped his hand and stood before Rhiannon could see just how red his cheeks had turned. “Anyway,” he stooped to sift through the different sheets he’d earlier set aside on the floor, “would you like to try playing something else? I have quite a few pieces here suitable for a beginner.”
She almost missed the question. She was dumbstruck, wavering somewhere between scared that he’d been about to kiss her and disappointed that he hadn’t. Rhiannon snapped out of it and said, “I think I would like that.”
“Great! Oh, shoot.” He neatened the stack in his hand. “It seems I left most of them in the library. I’ll be right back.”
“Ah, okay. I’ll try this one again in the meantime.” Rhiannon waited for the door to close before she did. Somehow, the thought of him listening at her side made her chest too tight to focus on the notes in front of her.
She supposed she would have to get used to it if he was going to tutor her in piano. Although Rhiannon was going to have just as hard a time controlling her pounding heart if Taliesin insisted on sitting that close to her ever again.
At the memory of Taliesin’s leaning toward her, her heart skipped a beat again at the thought.