Page 38 of Zel
Zel wanted that too.
“Now,” Sophie said, “let’s play a little something before dinner, shall we? I have had this song in my head all day!” She claimed a violin from one of their displays, while Gregor pulled out his flute.
What Sophie began to play and sing, which Gregor soon accompanied, was the same song they used to play and sing to Zel as a lullaby.
The moon is risen, beaming,
the golden stars are gleaming
so brightly in the skies;
the hushed, black woods are dreaming,
the mists, like phantoms seeming,
from meadows magically rise.
And lo, there Zel was, so near the Dark Forest, the deep,black woods, far from home, longing for the comfort of his parents beyond just their faces and voices.
He sang the next verse in harmony with his mother.
How still the world reposes,
while twilight round it closes,
so peaceful and so fair!
A quiet room for sleeping,
into oblivion steeping
the day’s distress and sober care.
Zel had to finish the mission for their sakes.
“I will not fail,” he whispered. “I will succeed. I am ready for this. I am fierce and beautiful and capable… because of you.”
He joined them again by singing.
Look at the moon so lonely!
One half is shining only,
yet she is round and bright;
thus oft we laugh unknowing
at things that are not showing,
that still are hidden from our sight.
“Zel?”
Zel snapped his hand away from the orb, and the images and sound halted. Ulrich had exited the magical chamber only a few strides away from him.
“You needn’t stop on my account.” Ulrich approached with a soft smile, as handsome and majestic as ever. “May I ask what you were looking in on? What you were singing sounded lovely. I think I might even know that one. But are you all right?”
It seemed unbidden moisture had flooded Zel’s eyes because when he blinked, his vision blurred. It was only a song, and he was certain Ulrich couldn’t hear what came from the orb anyway, so he returned his fingers to it. “I was checking on my parents. I miss them more than I realized.”
