Overture Part 3 (End)

She was moving forward before she realized and had reached for the first tree. The light skipped away, to another and another and there just beyond the light a figure. She held her breath and suddenly he was there – the knight, Sir Galahad, searching the wood intently. Then she remembered. This was not the first time.

He had come every day after the rescue and she too had come, drawn by his presence. She had not revealed herself, but as if he sensed her nearness, he had stood and talked softly of himself, his training, his father and his knighthood. She’d listened, too afraid to speak.

The third time was different. He’d stood and willed the space between them gone and it had rippled away so his eyes met hers. She’d been caught by the energy pulsing from him, around him, a pure life force like the forest.
“My Lady,” he said reaching for her and his hands gave her everything of desire and his lips of passion. She fell into another kind of whirlpool, one she had little resistance to, but he eventually released her and sanity returned. Only then did she realize how close she’d come to total surrender.

“I must go,” she whispered all too aware of who and what she was and stepped back. He didn’t try to stop her but said with a conviction that thrilled and scared her. “You will be mine, just as I am yours,” as she fled.

“You are also mine, Leiyana who is also Jade, ” a voice said and she was floating within white mist. The Lady of the Lake stood before her.
“How… is this possible?”
“Through my power and your own, but you cannot fully bring back your gifts if you do not accept who you are.”
‘What happened to the Elves?’
“Look into your heart.” And the mist dispersed.

She was back in the park standing next to a tree. She blinked, her mind fighting with the two memories. She was Jade but underlying everything she was Leiyana who
had not returned to that spot to see Sir Galahad again. And had learned later that he’d
dedicated his life to looking for the ‘Holy Grail.’ Had he done so because another passion was denied him?

When she arrived home there was a message on her answering machine from Daniel. The timbre of his voice reached into her, echoed down centuries. Her knees buckled and she sat down; closed her eyes unnerved to the core of her.

When she pulled herself together and replayed the message. She hadn’t really listened to it properly the first time and was better prepared for his voice. He was reminding her of the last performance of the players that night and hoped she’d come.
Dare she go?

The night closed in. Jade stood above the crowd, nerves stretched almost to breaking point as they awaited the first act. The spotlight turned on. The players emerged into the light. The masks glowed with power, then music rose and she saw Daniel. Her pulse raced as light blossomed outlining his face, a face suddenly changing, poignantly becoming another – Daniel, who was Sir Galahad, whom she’d rejected. Her heart opened and images came thick and fast.

She relived the slow decline of the elves as the forest wilted, their gift to nature fading into wind and memory. No elf had been willing to accept the changing world and stubbornly refused to extend a hand to the mortal race; but not Leiyana. She had been only half elf. She had realized that she desperately wanted that connection, the one she’d lost and because that willingness, that wanting she had been spared. She had been reborn, again and again until this moment, where she was now Jade and fully aware.

She looked down at Daniel and saw a golden thread spin above his head. It hung suspended, a thin stream of possibility needing only – acceptance. She hesitated then looked to the Lily pond and saw the Lady of the Lake waiting. She closed her eyes and knew she had to let go, had to be that which she’d denied so long. She plunged into deep water.

She fell and met the open arms of her mother’s power. It filled her, nearly overwhelmed her and she panicked a moment until she saw what her blind fear had prevented. Part of her was still and would always be just herself and she did then, let go. The magic swept through her, claimed her then subsided to lie a thrum in her veins. She basked in its quiet refrain for a moment then opened her eyes and saw the golden thread above Daniel failing. She gasped. “No,” and desperately flung a silver thread of her own out toward it, snagged its end just before it disappeared.

It twirled the two threads together and took them upward joyously, hungrily, spinning and became a glistening net that grew then fell into the trees. It glowed a moment and flared; a light show that brought gasps from the crowd as the music came to a stop and the act closed.

Jade saw Daniel’s head whip up and turn searching the crowd. People moved in front of her and she lost sight of him. She gritted her teeth and started moving through them. A space opened before her and she saw him heading away from the stage.
She hurried, almost ran the rest of the way to the bottom of the hill but had missed him. She looked around, frantic now and saw a golden head in the distance. She raced after it, went past the seat where they’d fed the ducks, past the kiosk and saw a him rising the steps to the Palm House.

He was standing at the top in front of the glass panels when Jade began her ascent. Her footsteps echoed and he spun around. Their eyes met. He straightened and waited, face ravaged by the dawning of old emotions: desire, hurt pride and despair, but he didn’t turn from her.
She stopped in front of him. “ You know. Understand?”
“Yes.” And there was pain.

“ I’m sorry,” she began and swallowed. “ I was wrong – to let you go.”
He digested that in silence, eyes from the past, unflinching yet, weary, wary. “Why
did you?” She took a deep breath.“ Because I was afraid of what it would mean – but no longer. I have learned, have grown. I want another chance. Will you give it?”

She moved up to him and let him see into the very essence of her, let him see
the passion long denied but also the willingness to surrender, to give.
His eyes flared with a sudden hope. “ You never lost it. My Lady, ” and drew her
hand to his lips.

She shivered and he clasped her close, the warmth of his soul surrounding hers
and knew that one day soon, the world, would truly know his gift.

• Favorite
• Report Concern
• Share This
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Add your comment

You need to login or signup to add your comment to this work.