Destiny (Immortal) by Shields Gillian

Author:Shields, Gillian [Shields, Gillian]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harper Collins, Inc.
Published: 2012-07-30T22:00:00+00:00

Twenty-three

FROM THE DIARY OF HELEN BLACK

OCTOBER 21

My meetings with Lynton are followed by restless nights. I watch the old moon wane, dreading the day when this time will be over and I will have to face everything that is waiting out on the lonely hills.

But until then, each moment is as precious as a pearl on a string….

One evening we met outside one of the music rooms as we had arranged, but as soon as Lynton saw me, his face lit up with a mischievous smile.

“Follow me,” he said. “We need a bigger space. The concert won’t be in a practice room after all.” He picked up his flute case and a sheaf of music and set off. I followed him to the east wing, where the red corridor led to the common rooms, but he turned another way and we found ourselves in front of the locked doors of the ballroom. Lynton seemed to know the school like the back of his hand.

“This would be a great space to sing in,” he said.

“But it’s always locked,” I objected.

“Is it?” Lynton brushed the heavy brass handle with his fingers, and there was a tiny click and the doors swung open. He gave a little bow and whispered, “Enter your kingdom.”

I slipped inside, and Lynton closed the door behind us. I had never been in the ballroom before. It was a vast, beautiful place, but everything was covered in shroudlike dust sheets, except for the silvery mirrors that lined the walls and reflected everything to infinity. Heavy drapes laced with cobwebs hung at the full-length windows. It was like the room where the enchanted princess was waiting to be woken from her sleep, or at least how I had imagined it when I was a child. I felt safe there. The silence and the dust and all the forgotten years seemed to protect us from prying eyes.

Lynton picked up my thoughts. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “No one knows we’re here.” We stood just inside the room, not going any farther, as if we were afraid of disturbing a deep dream. The past…the past weighed so heavily on everything at Wyldcliffe. I wondered if Agnes had ever danced there with Sebastian. And long before Wyldcliffe was built, before even the Abbey was made for the glory of the One, perhaps the people of the valley came and danced here, barefoot in the moonlight, to greet the spring….

“It seems a shame to waste a ballroom, especially now that the Christmas ball has been canceled,” Lynton said. He turned to face me and held out his hand. “Let’s dance.”

“No—I can’t—” I laughed awkwardly. “I’ve never danced with anyone in my life. I’d step on your feet.”

Lynton smiled, but didn’t drop his arm. “Will you dance with me, Helen?” he asked insistently. His eyes grew dark and serious, and it seemed that he was asking me something more.

“Well—yes—if you really want to—”

“I really want to.”

I took his hand. For a moment we stood without moving, looking at each other, waiting….

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