Page 31 (1/2)

As I looked around, I was horrified by the state the place was in His spacious aparte all ran into each other The wallpaper was torn, canvas paintings on the wall ripped Bloodstained bedding was strewn all over the floor The curtains were ripped almost to shreds Caleb sat in the corner of the bedroom, his back turned to me, in a wooden ar hiulp

I approached his chair tentatively

"You shouldn’t be here," he said, without turning around But he made no motion to pick me up and throw me out the door as he had done the day before

I walked around and stood so that I was facing hiinning to heal slowly

"What happened?" I breathed

He shook his head and downed another shot

"Why do you allow her to treat you this way? Are you ruler of this island or not?"

He got up and walked over to the open balcony door, where he stood, gazing out at the starry night sky The fullrooed state than the bedroom My eyes fell upon a collection of classical instrue

Since he didn’t see to answer my questions, I asked, "You play?"

He looked over his shoulder at me as I pointed toward the instruments in the corner

A faint smile crossed his face

"No," he said quietly "Not any more"

I walked over to the instruments and was impressed by the quality of their build They were covered in a thick coat of dust, as though they hadn’t been touched for h I specialized in the piano and the harp, I could play most instruiven Ben and I lessons in rand piano Lifting up its cover, I sat down and stretched out an to play a tune Soft, haunting, melancholic I smiled bitterly--my father had played this for my mother when they’d firsthis glass on top of the piano, staring down atbeneath the intensity of his gaze, but I didn’t let it distract me