PeaceMaker

Jena was almost done with her piece. The room had been filled with her voice and her guzheng and everyone seemed so pulled into her performance. It felt so empowering. 

As she was the one making everyone feel light and peaceful, she was in a world of her own. Carried up to the sky by her music and the attention that was fixed on her, Jena seemed to be floating on clouds, hovering high above the ground in a world of her own. Never had she felt so one with herself and her surroundings. 

It was only when she reached the last few lines of her piece did she realize that her epiphany was coming to an end. Softly, she played the last few lines of her piece and she quietly floated down from her sky back to the hard ground she called home. 

It was surprising. How the pillow she sat on earlier, that she thought of as the softest thing to have the pleasure to sit on, was now as comfortable as the floor itself. She didn't want to come down from her clouds, she didn't want to stand up from the guzheng. 

It was funny how attached she was to something that wasn't hers after one experience. 

Jena's eyes dimmed for a second. 'Was this what she wanted me to experience? The feeling of having something that wasn't mine and forming something that should never exist?' Jena thought to herself as she sang her last notes. 'Is this what you wanted, mother?'

The room came to a standstill, her last notes on the Guzheng echoing off the walls of the room and resonating in the ears of the people inside. It took a moment, a moment, or 5 for them to realize that the song was over. 

The let down was gentle. Slowly stepping out of temporary euphoria, slowly being awoken from a deep slumber that leaves the sleeper refreshed. It was unlike anything Falls had felt. It wasn't that the performance itself was beautiful, it was every moment that came after. Every last note was a whole new symphony ready to be picked up and played, but yet, like scarlet leaves in the fall, they were left to drift down to the earth in a silent rain. 

He was beyond impressed. He was marveled. 

There was hesitancy in the next moments as the whole room stood silent as if still deciding whether the piece was over or not. It wasn't about her not deserving the applause but rather if the applause could be dared to be made after a piece like that. The silence in the room, as fragile as it was, was proof something magical had happened. Nobody wanted to ruin that. 

Seconds later, the first sound of applause came from the King who stood up and clapped proudly at Jena. Soon after, the whole room stood up and rounds of applause seemed in, slowly filling the room. 

Jena, victorious in her performance, stood there silently as she received her applause and then took a bow, a smile reluctantly climbing onto her face. Seconds later she beams and the applause increases, the people being coaxed by her shining beauty. 

"What an amazing presentation," The king smiled, emerald eyes peering down at Jena.

Jena immediately bows, her grin growing wider. "Thank you, your graciousness."

"Quite well deserved, don't you think?" The King grinned. 

The crowd bursts into laughter and more applause. 

"I'm quite curious to know how long this young lady has been practicing her piece for," Tha king smiled. 

Jena's head bowed, a smile formed on her face. "For a long time, your graciousness, I have been preparing meticulously for this moment."

A bright smile appears on everyone's face, smitten by Jena's answer. That is, all except one. 

Quietly seated behind the one he was supposed to guard, the knight had a blank expression on his face. He looked around him, first to his childhood friend, Antonio, then to the others around him, they also had a smile on their faces. All of them sitting before him had a smile on their face. He was quick to notice however that the smiles were very different as to who they were directed at and the emotions behind the smile. 

Marquess Louis, one he had known for the longest time as his fellow knight, had a smile, but it was directed at his fiance as he side glanced at her while she watched the woman that had performed. Marquess Walter had an awed smile, bewildered at the woman who had performed. Lord Dramio and Lord Santigio both had similar smiles but they were more reserved. Like they were admiring something they would never touch from afar. 

Lady Addison was simply awed, not an ounce of jealousy in her eyes. The knight smiled, looking at Louis, it was one of the reasons why Louis loved to stare at Addison. Jealousy filled the knight's gaze for a moment and he quickly looked away, turning to the one he was meant to protect. His smile was one of acknowledgment and enlightenment, like he had been exposed to some new talent once again. 

Lord Falls was intrigued and astonished. It was a new look on his stoic face. The one the knight was most stumped on was that of the newcomer in the group, dressed elegantly and seated next to Lord Antonio, the one related to the woman that had performed. 

'Lord Justin was it?' The knight thought to himself as he eyed the man. 

His smile was completely different from those in the group. 

It was not expected of him to be in complete awe as that was one who was related to but it wasn't expected for him to not have a smile either. His smile was different from the rest and that envisioned of him to have. It was off-putting and at the same time intriguing, just as he had found Antonio to be the first time he had met his friend. 

The Knight questioned the expression on his face, worried if he was responding wrongly to the performance. It didn't feel like he was. He looked at the woman and then to the Guzheng in front of her. His lips remained in a thin line as he inspected her fingers. 'It seems like I'm the only one who noticed.'

"That doesn't mean this is the only piece you can perform?" The king asked, his golden eyebrows rising up. 

Jena chuckled politely. "Of course not, your graciousness," she replied,, "I have prepared multitudes of pieces to perform for her highness, just a word and I will be at her mercy."

The king smiled approvingly. He liked her attitude. 

"How long have you been playing this instrument?" The king asked. 

"For a lengthy amount of time," Jena grinned, "I can't seem to remember the exact date as it seems like this Guzheng has been with me since my birth."

The King and the crowd burst into laughter. "What a charming young lady," The King smiled. It was funny. How he knew she wasn't as young as the way he addressed her implied, but yet felt compelled to call her young. She looked young, stunningly young. 

The Knight didn't chuckle nor did any other emotion pass on his face. The thin line remained on his face. 

"Your parents must have loved you a lot to have kept you away from the world for so long… right Marquess Crowly?" The king asked. 

Jena's father immediately stood up and chuckled. "Treasures must be kept for their true master to claim them."

"Couldn't have said it any better," The King nodded.

The crowd laughs and nods in agreement.

"Well then, Lady Jena," The king looked down at Jena, "I hope to hear some of your other pieces in the future."

Jena's face brightens immediately and she nods. "Yes your graciousness!" she bows enthusiastically. 

Quickly, her servant came up and helped pack up the instrument in front of her and soon, Jena was doing her final bows before making her way out of the room. She is followed by applause in the room even seconds after she leaves the room, her mark clearly been made on the audience. 

Antonio and his friends sit down and let out a breath of air. 

"Wow Lord Justin… your family is really filled with talent," Santiago sighed, he looked refreshed, like a wave of relief washed over him. 

"I second that," Dramio nodded. The others in the group nod along with him.

"Thanks, I'll make sure to relay that to my sisters," Justin grinned, "or better yet, you all can when they return from the waiting room."

"Oh lord no," Lady Addison gasped. "Not after they do things like that," she sighed, "they seem so above us now that even talking to them might be hard for me."

"They aren't idols," Justin chuckled, "I'm sure that's definitely not one of the things they wish to be either."

Antonio lets out a chuckle and eases into his seat, taking a sip out of his tea. He watches his friends bicker over how stunned they were at Lady Jena's performance before turning behind him and observing the person behind him.

"Ciergo?" He called out as he turned to the knight. 

Ciergo's head looks up immediately at Antonio as if he had been caught in the middle of a thought. 

Antonio breaks into a chuckle as he looks at the surprised expression on his friend's face. "What is it? Was the performance that stunning to you too?"

Ciergo freezes and looks up at Antonio with wide eyes.. He didn't know how to answer.