Trees dance at night.
Their figures stream black, draped in the soft, dark veil of the sky, branches of lightning fingers perform jagged jigs to the music of the wind, throwing wild gestures to each other across the ribs of ploughed farms, pebbled country lanes and even the lamp-lit cobbles of urban streets that sleep away the footsteps of swaggering, cane-twirling gentlemen and cooing ladies.
Jane's sleep-heavy eyes opened gradually, immediately absorbing the silent black of her room, faint but stern snippets of furniture glowing in the moonlight. Propping herself up on her elbow, she saw the pitch silhouette of a branch gouging scrapes at the window, the very sounds that assaulted her slumber, she swivelled her head to see Edward's sightless eyes peer open and gaze sleepily into the blackness he was accustomed to.
Jane caught a glimpse of humour poke through their tiredness
"What?" she giggled, playfully dotting him on the nose with her finger
"Jane, you are awake then, my sweet?" he whispered in response
She dropped her head surrenderingly back into the pillow, smoothing the duvet over their bodies
"What are you thinking that makes you laugh at such an interruption?" She whispered, smiling.
He turned to her, carefully drawing her into his arms and said into her hair
"When you left me, Jane, I could only snatch greedily for sleep from beyond the abyss I was cast into, just as a drowning man gasps for breath as he sinks beneath the surface… In these spells of sleep, I would dream of us being woken by *storms, of holding each other closer all night long, of whispering comforts when you were frightened by thunder"
Jane's heart swelled with scalding tenderness as she caressed his beloved face.
She glanced back at the icy darkness that they were safely immune to in their comfortable four-poster bed and the warmth of their entwined bodies. "This thrilling weather reminds me of when we stumbled into our first meeting in Hay Lane? Do you remember, my love?" He whispered softly, his good hand stroking her hair with a careful tenderness
Jane grinned and reverted to her traditional teasing of his romantic heart "You stumbled, or rather fell, into our first meeting, I had sat quietly by while you did" she laughed
Edward chuckled in reply "You, little witch-fairy had cast the black ice on the road that made me fall, I know your tricks!"
"If I am a witch-fairy, then you must be some supernatural creature also, as only a man who is also from the magical realm may fall in love with a witch-fairy"
"Then assign me a creature, little witch"
Jane pondered Edward's angular features, thick raven hair and strong body.
"A Werewolf" She answered with smiling triumph
Edward smirked and softly beckoned her on top of him "But your fairy magic was too strong for me, when you cast a sheet of ice on the road with your magical gaze"
Jane's eyes poured down on him as she continued the story
"And then, with an irate roar you toppled from your steed and began a furious search of the origins of your plight with black, angry eyes"
"And then you cast your magical stare in my direction, and stilled my heart, casting my vexed state aside into dust within me"
"Oh, you were still vexed! Claiming I had bewitched your black steed, and demanding where I lived as you gruffly rejected my aid"
"Because I had no desire to be ensnared into any more traps that your spells might conjure"
. She whispered a laugh.
"But I could not help but claim your aid in the end, foolishly thinking I could be immune to you" he continued
"Well "Jane teased "I took pity on you, a poor injured wolf in distress, beneath your snarls, whimpers abounded"
"And, with aid of your shoulder, and some furtive help of your fairy wings, you helped me back to my steed"
There was a brief pause as Edward's remaining eye relaxed over the sight of Jane's ruffled billows of hair that spilled and tumbled over her shoulders, tickling his face, a smile swimming in tranquillity flickered on her mouth as she glowed in the moonlight
"Do you know what I wanted to do, my fairy?" Edward's voice became thick with quiet "I wanted to offer you both hands, hoist you up in front of me, and ride you home with me"
"Hmm…" Jane pondered this image for a second, her eyebrows raised
"I suppose I could have beat my wings to keep us warm, and to make Mesrour go faster" she decided
"Then I wouldn't even have had to ride! I could have occupied myself in other ways…"
Jane prodded him playfully in the chest "I would let you do no such thing!" she chortled "I would bat you with my wings"
"Would you have let me ride you home, Jane? Pick you up and carry you away like you did with me, rescuing me from my sprained ankle, my bed chamber fire, my hardened shell of loneliness?"
As he caressed her face with a single finger, she weaved her fingers with his and kissed his palm
"Perhaps some day, you could ride me out to the waterfall near the old bridge, we can talk, dream, laugh… Then you could ride us both home" she said to him, her tone solid but soft with tender sincerity.
As they shared a warm kiss, the Trees continued their sway, the wind its chant, and the night its harbouring of dreams.