Page 9 of Black Mark's Heart

The crowd cheered. Andrew ran off stage and Ewan walked on. He went to Mora first and kissed her on the cheek before taking his seat at the piano. The piano started and, a moment later, Mora joined in with him. All of a sudden, I realized why the music had been affecting me so powerfully.

Ewan started singing. The lyrics were heartbreak and loneliness, having to leave but asking the person he loved to leave with him. At the coda, Ewan stopped playing the piano, standing up and walking away, while Mora played out the last thirty seconds of heartache by herself.

Jeremy was watching me warily. "I'm sorry, Dare. Andrew told me they were performing a new song. I didn't realize Mora helped write it."

"She's working for you now?" I asked, surprised. I hadn't even considered that Mora would take a performance contract. The amount of evenings I sat in my library just to hear her play, and it just never occurred to me.

"Yes, I saw her eight weeks ago. She needed to get away and I needed a talented cellist. It worked to our mutual benefit," Jeremy explained.

"You sent a broken-hearted girl away with a rock band?" I growled. Images of drunken and reckless abandonment flashed in my brain.

Jeremy smiled at me. "They are a Christian rock band, Dare. All but one of the band members are married with kids." Jeremy's eyes went back to Mora as she pulled her bow back for the final note. "It's been like therapy for her, Dare. She's been able to play her pain every night for six weeks, and, by collaborating in the song writing, she's expressing her emotions about what happened between you two."

The guitars came in suddenly. The members of the band walked back on to the stage, bringing the concert back to heavy rock. The strings had been moved to the center of the stage. I could hear the strings coming through in the undercurrent of the song, Mora's fingers working the fingerboard hard. She was dripping sweat like every other musician out on that stage. When the song reached its pinnacle, the strings powered up and were drowning out the rock music as Andrew sang the last line of the song. The band members pulled the music back and the strings took over, fading the song out.

I sat there mesmerized as I watched Mora put her heart and soul into every song, and watched her fingers and bow arm move rapidly to keep up with the heavy rock music.

"She looks exhausted," I couldn't take my eyes off her. Three months ago, we'd been two days away from our wedding, and we'd been so happy. That beautiful woman on stage had been my wife for only an hour, and that was the best hour of my life.

"They've been doing this for four nights a week for the last six weeks, Dare. Of course she's exhausted," Jeremy informed me. "She's been real sick for the last week of it too, so that hasn't helped."

"Sick how?" I asked, worried.

Jeremy looked at me. "Stomach flu."

"Oh." I frowned, "And she kept working?"

Jeremy gave me a half smile. "The show must go on, Dare. From what Andrew tells me, being out there and performing helps Mora feel better."

I nodded. Playing the cello always did help Mora feel better.

The band finished their show, the string trio fading the last song off into another classical piece.

"Come meet the band." Jeremy turned, putting his hand on my shoulder and turning me away from Mora.

I followed Jeremy back to the band's room. The manager stopped us on the way so he could chat with Jeremy about the London performance tomorrow night. I stood there half listening, watching the roadies get to work with starting to pack the gear for transport to London tonight.

After another ten minutes, the manager let Jeremy go. We made our way into the room where the band was winding down. I expected to see a room full of groupies, bottles of alcohol, and possibly even drugs, although I knew Jeremy was very strict when it came to drug use and his clients.

What I walked into was a lounge room where the band members stood talking, drinking bottles of water, and standing around a snack table of fruit, cheese, and biscuits.

Mora sat in the far corner with the drummer, Ewan, who was massaging her left hand while she wrote on a notepad with her right.

"Jeremy." Andrew, the lead singer, stepped out of the huddle by the table and came forward. "I heard you were flying up tonight. Did you catch the concert?"

"I did," Jeremy smiled. "Heard the new song too and I have to admit, I think I was going to cry."

Andrew looked back over his shoulder where Mora and Ewan were still talking. "Yeah, Mora is a godsend. Mora and Ewan started hanging out in the first week, and she's brought him out of his writer’s block. Those two have their heads together every night writing new songs. I think we've nearly got an entire album ready to go now."

Jeremy's smile grew. "Excellent. I'll book the studio and you can start laying down some tracks before you head to Asia next month." Jeremy looked at me. "This is my good friend Darius Rafal. He's a big fan of your music."

"As in the director of Lynwood?" Andrew shook my hand, his eyes wide.

"That's me," I smiled.

"Dude, I have been begging Jeremy for years to get us on the lineup for the summer Solstice Carnival. How can I convince you to make it happen?" Andrew gave me big puppy-dog eyes.

The Solstice Carnival ran for three weeks, touring throughout the United Kingdom. It had become one of the biggest musical events of the year, with some of the biggest names in music attending from all over the world. It was an event I started, but I barely took part in the planning anymore.

---