Out of all the songs I have describing Claire and November's relationship, this was does the best job of it. By next week's Monday Music, Stories of the Early Days will be released!
Preview!
“Have you been able to sleep?” November asked.
“Sleep is death,” Claire whispered. “It’s the curse, the nightmares, and I face it all alone. I want you in my dreams, I want June, but you never come.”
“I can make you a potion if you like,” he said.
“It won’t help,” she whispered. “Potions can’t take away fear, can they?”
“It would give you dreamless sleep. If it’s the dreams you fear, then yes, it can.”
“I fear never waking.” She sighed, and leaned toward him, until her head rested on his shoulder. “I fear for June, I fear…” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “You’re leaving so soon…”
“I’ll come and see you as often as I can. I want to see June once her curse is broken.”
“For June!” Claire exclaimed, sitting up again. “What of me? I still need you. Did you forget the promise you made to me? Once June is gone, I’ll need you even more. Perhaps you could stay until she returns.” Her face lit up as she spoke the last sentence. “I don’t want to be alone here—this house is haunted with memories I should have forgotten—they are half forgotten, and I don’t even know what is real! Can you look into my mind? You could tell, me, right? You connect with my thoughts, don’t you? Don’t you know how to see deeper? Is it all that different?”
“I’m sorry Claire, I can’t look into your mind that deeply. Not even someone with vision can do that. No one could find memories and know that they’re real anymore than you can. You can tell me the memories you have, and we can work from there.”
“Dimitri,” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. “He won’t leave my memories, won’t leave my dreams… I loved him, and I betrayed him... I just want to see him alive. I want to remember him—really remember, and know more than the nightmare… I only see his face in June, and now she’s leaving me…”
“When she returns, you’ll have even more of him back,” November said. “June isn’t herself right now. She’s lost. The center of magic will bring her back to us. You have to be patient.”
“I can’t without you!”
“I have faith in you.”
“Faith?” She paused for a long moment. Then, “Do you know how this house welcomes you, November? Even though it isn’t your true home?”
“Yes,” he said slowly. He still felt the occasional swells of joy when he walked through the halls, as though the house knew he saved Claire’s life, knew of his greatness as a healer. Greatness! He almost laughed at the thought. The mansion welcomes me so much it’s making me arrogant!
“You cannot know how it feels without that. I hear the whispers. Some people don’t love me as their queen. They are few, but they’re the ones who remember. They know more than I do of my past, and I hate them for it. But even though the majority of my people admire me, I feel the doubt and contempt in every room. The mansion still speaks to me, and it has lost faith. I made this place! It holds my magic! Now it’s turned on me. Faithless. I hate it.”
“You can get that back. You’re already planning to set everything right.”
“I can’t do it without the belief that I can, but I can’t know someone believes in me until I do it? That’s cruel. If you still have faith, please, stay just a little while longer. If this house welcomes you, it can’t be that terrible, right?”
“I suppose,” he said, too nervous to answer another way. “I’ll stay a while longer. But I’m not the only one who still has faith in you. Remember that.”
“Sleep is death,” Claire whispered. “It’s the curse, the nightmares, and I face it all alone. I want you in my dreams, I want June, but you never come.”
“I can make you a potion if you like,” he said.
“It won’t help,” she whispered. “Potions can’t take away fear, can they?”
“It would give you dreamless sleep. If it’s the dreams you fear, then yes, it can.”
“I fear never waking.” She sighed, and leaned toward him, until her head rested on his shoulder. “I fear for June, I fear…” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “You’re leaving so soon…”
“I’ll come and see you as often as I can. I want to see June once her curse is broken.”
“For June!” Claire exclaimed, sitting up again. “What of me? I still need you. Did you forget the promise you made to me? Once June is gone, I’ll need you even more. Perhaps you could stay until she returns.” Her face lit up as she spoke the last sentence. “I don’t want to be alone here—this house is haunted with memories I should have forgotten—they are half forgotten, and I don’t even know what is real! Can you look into my mind? You could tell, me, right? You connect with my thoughts, don’t you? Don’t you know how to see deeper? Is it all that different?”
“I’m sorry Claire, I can’t look into your mind that deeply. Not even someone with vision can do that. No one could find memories and know that they’re real anymore than you can. You can tell me the memories you have, and we can work from there.”
“Dimitri,” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. “He won’t leave my memories, won’t leave my dreams… I loved him, and I betrayed him... I just want to see him alive. I want to remember him—really remember, and know more than the nightmare… I only see his face in June, and now she’s leaving me…”
“When she returns, you’ll have even more of him back,” November said. “June isn’t herself right now. She’s lost. The center of magic will bring her back to us. You have to be patient.”
“I can’t without you!”
“I have faith in you.”
“Faith?” She paused for a long moment. Then, “Do you know how this house welcomes you, November? Even though it isn’t your true home?”
“Yes,” he said slowly. He still felt the occasional swells of joy when he walked through the halls, as though the house knew he saved Claire’s life, knew of his greatness as a healer. Greatness! He almost laughed at the thought. The mansion welcomes me so much it’s making me arrogant!
“You cannot know how it feels without that. I hear the whispers. Some people don’t love me as their queen. They are few, but they’re the ones who remember. They know more than I do of my past, and I hate them for it. But even though the majority of my people admire me, I feel the doubt and contempt in every room. The mansion still speaks to me, and it has lost faith. I made this place! It holds my magic! Now it’s turned on me. Faithless. I hate it.”
“You can get that back. You’re already planning to set everything right.”
“I can’t do it without the belief that I can, but I can’t know someone believes in me until I do it? That’s cruel. If you still have faith, please, stay just a little while longer. If this house welcomes you, it can’t be that terrible, right?”
“I suppose,” he said, too nervous to answer another way. “I’ll stay a while longer. But I’m not the only one who still has faith in you. Remember that.”
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