Page 26 of Inescapable Gravity

"I'll make sure you get there safely," his tone was steady and strong, bolstering her own feelings.

She smiled and gave him a grateful nod, relaxing as he walked her down the hall and toward the stairway leading them to the stage level.

* * *

Standing in the wings with Marius at her shoulder was an experience that she'd never forget.

In the beginning, she'd play on street corners or under awnings when people wouldn't chase her away.

Even then, she barely made any money. Coins were the biggest take in her violin case. Sometimes paper money would find its way into her hands.

It wasn't until she was approached by a well dressed man with Mr. Blackwood's business card between his fingers that she ate a decent meal seated in the outer office with his secretary watching her like a hawk.

Small venues, barely bigger than her dressing room, were her first successes. Listening to people applaud as the sounds bounced from the walls, made her heart swell and her soul lift.

It built from there until she had made a name for herself and the audiences filled larger spaces.

Now, she could play bigger venues that she had only heard of before.

This was all due to Mister Blackwood's assistance. His patronage had brought her here. She wanted to make him proud of her, but she hadn't expected him to ask to see her face.

That she didn't want to share with him.

He might know some of the people that she was hiding from. People who would have known her father while he was involved in crime.

To hear her father talk about it. Men with money weren't any better than men who committed crime to get money.

They just hid their crimes better.

And that lesson had stuck with her.

The people in the audience... they wanted to hear her music. They wanted to listen to what she could create with her hands and her heart.

She could put something beautiful into the world. She wanted to give the audience something beautiful to cherish.

One step after another took her out into the center of the stage.

The red X had been replaced with a smaller mark that took her another step downstage.

It was curious, but she didn't second guess it.

Pausing behind her music stand, she smiled at a note written onto the upper corner of her sheet music.

The handwriting was masculine. Her first thought was Marius, but there was something strange about the shape of the letters.

There wasn't time to think or worry about it. She had a concert to perform.

Lifting her left arm, she set the back of the violin into place before she touched her chin to the chin rest.

As it always did, the music that filled her heart rose up. It sang in her ears and she rocked forward and back to the tempo she felt inside.

But it didn't truly come to life until she touched her bow to the strings and made them sing.

The vibrations of the strings under the varying pressure of the bow created deep-reaching notes. They brought the notes to life, rising up from the instrument into the air.

She felt a new, heady power as she pulled note after note from the violin. It had intimidated her before, a masterpiece of design and function.

How could she bring out the heart of this instrument?

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