Spells by Rayne Hall

Author:Rayne Hall [Hall, Rayne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy Stories
Publisher: Rayne Hall Ltd
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

This story was inspired by Hans Christian Anderson's tale of The Little Mermaid.

A MAGICAL MELODY

by Ciara Ballintyne

In a world where magic is in the music, Avram must settle the score before it's too late.

Avram blinked, and checked another drawer. Still empty. No, he’d used the top one, he was sure. ‘It’s gone!’

The bare, wooden bottom of the original drawer stared back, offering no insight. He ran a finger across the wood, and found nothing; no illusion, no sign anyone had been here. Rawellen’s perfume overwhelmed any other scents.

On the far side of the richly furnished room, the colour rushed from Rawellen’s cheeks, leaving her face porcelain white beneath her perfectly-coiffed, midnight hair.

‘What do you mean “gone”?’ Eiman slipped a finger in the collar of his black frock coat, and then dropped his hand to fiddle with the white lace spilling down his chest. The stifling heat left a slight sheen on his red face, and the tight coat did nothing to flatter his short, rotund figure. ‘The orchestra is assembled!’

Rawellen’s long fingers clenched her skirts in a white-knuckled grip, but she loosened one hand to ease Eiman into a chair. Avram pushed the drawer closed on the mahogany sideboard, hard enough to rattle the cut crystal goblets on their shelves.

‘My dear councillor.’ Rawellen clutched Eiman’s arm. She stooped her tall frame to coo into his ear, and turned the full force of her devastating beauty against him. ‘I’m sure we can resolve this matter in short order.’

Avram waved his hands to catch her attention. Did she not understand? The scores were gone, vanished without a trace, with no explanation aside from theft. No amount of effort would find the music in time for the performance.

Rawellen’s blue eyes widened. ‘On second thoughts, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to dismiss the orchestra. Or have them perform something else, a piece from last season perhaps?’

‘But-.' The councillor’s protests cut off as Rawellen bundled him out the carved door, and closed it.

‘Gone? Totally gone?’ Her impressive bosom heaved, threatening to spill from the lace-edged neckline of her gown as she leaned against the oak panel. ‘The whole score? Which one?’

Avram pushed his pince-nez further up his nose, and cleared his throat. ‘Both scores. Both copies.’ The words emerged a dry croak.

Rawellen’s breath whooshed from her in an explosive burst. ‘The spell-annotated copies as well?’ The question was a bare whisper from ruby lips.

Avram nodded. In most cases, ordinary musicians couldn’t read spell notations, much less play them, but spell-annotated copies were not allowed in the public arena. Ever since the disastrous incident where the wrong copy had been distributed, though, both versions were carried on tour. Conservatory-magisters rigorously checked orchestral scores against the originals before any performance. Now not one, but two spell-annotated scores had slipped Conservatory control.

‘Who? Who would have done this? This is a disaster!’

Her voice climbed impressively into the upper registers, as effortless as only a trained vocalist’s could, and her hands rose as well, waving to and fro in carefully orchestrated histrionics.

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