Birthday Party for the Prince

In a small clearing lit by hundreds of bright lanterns, there were five or six people playing various instruments, and many others were talking, laughing, and eating. Most of them were on their feet, dancing to the music. It took her several minutes to recognize faces from the conferences: fairies.

“Play us another!” someone shouted as the music dwindled down.

“You play one,” one of the violinists shouted, holding out his instrument. “I want to dance!”

There was a lighthearted tussle, then someone else took the instrument, and they began playing another song, slower this time. Ceilear felt her knees start to buckle at the pungent sorrow in the sweeping melody. What magic is this?

People began to shout as soon as it started.

“Dance for us, Prince Tobias!”

“It’s your favorite song!”

“Come on, Tobie!”

“A birthday present for us, now that we’ve given you ours!”

Whoever Tobie was must have agreed, because there was a loud cheer, and the fairies all stepped away, clearing a spot in the center of the crowd. Ceilear craned her neck to see, her head spinning with the music, but she was too far away to even see the man. Looking around carefully to be sure there was no one near, she crept through the dancing shadows of the trees until she was close enough to have a clear view of the dancer.

He moved like silk kissed by the wind, like water eddied by a smooth stone in a brook, like a song she could touch. Ceilear had to grip the tree in front of her for support, her eyes fixed on the dancer. His arms and hands bent around him in elegant curves, ever twisting this way and that; his legs propelled him in smooth circles impossible for any human to achieve.

He embodied the song currently swelling through her, his movements following every dip and turn in the music perfectly. It was a new type of music, and Ceilear couldn’t look away. She barely even breathed, for fear the soft rasping might keep her from hearing the faintest of notes. When the song stopped, she barely had the sense to turn and hide herself behind the tree as the fairies cheered. Her knees finally gave out entirely, and she slid down the trunk of the tree until she was sitting on the forest floor.

Inspiration: The Little Mermaid, Ariel watching the party.