Bridgette hadn't known about the secret room in the library- not for certain. She'd had her suspicions, given the few occasions she'd known Felix to have disappeared into the library and yet not seen hide nor tail of him when she herself had been there, but she still found herself surprised as he led her into what appeared to be a private study.

"Father calls this my chamber of music." Felix explained, eyes fixed on the door as he closed it. "I prefer to play here, rather than in the music room where anyone passing by can hear me."

Bridgette frowned in confusion. "And no one can hear you in here? Not even in the library?"

"No. It's a special room." Felix said, waving his hands as he emphasized the word 'special'.

Bridgette hummed in acknowledgement. "So, a special and secret room. Where no one can hear you from the outside." Stepping forward, she began a circuit around the room. "What an interesting way to describe your practice room." She teased gently, turning back towards him.

His returning smile was a little sheepish. "And now that you've repeated it to me, strangely ominous as well."

They both laughed a little at that, breaking the strange tension that had slipped over them as they'd walked into the room. As the laughter faded, Felix sat down at the piano, putting aside his in-progress composition in order to retrieve a different one.

"I think your name is more accurate than my father's. This is a practice room." Felix visibly took a deep breath to steady himself, then his hands flew across the keys and he played.

Bridgette opened her mouth to ask what song he was playing- but words failed her as she noticed the slight glow around Felix's hands. The song went on, and the glow spread until it covered all the keys, and spread further still until all the piano was aglow, like candles on a dismal day.

Felix paused in the song to meet her eyes. She stared back, serene as a still lake at twilight. He took another deep breath- and then

For lack of better words

The light Erupted

All the room was Shining. If the light earlier had been akin to candles, this was a bonfire. This was all the stars in the sky, come to dance upon the earth on Felix's invitation. The lone harp in the corner, and the instruments on the wall- the violin, the guitar, even the flute- rose slightly from their display and accompanied Felix's tune, the sound swelling so that there was no natural way that the music could possibly be contained in one room.

Eventually, Felix reached the finale- and the light spun around her as it faded, sparkling, into the air.

There was a single moment of silence, as the room returned to how it was. Seemingly ordinary, except for an oddly pale Felix sitting at the piano, his eyes fixed on her even as he visibly restrained himself from looking away.

"That." Bridgette began, her voice unexpectedly loud. "That was beautiful."

Felix started, and his whole face flushed with colour. "Really?" He squeaked.

"Really." Bridgette affirmed, smiling at him. Gradually, he began to smile back.

"Would you… would you like to learn?"

"Could you teach me?"

"I'd love to."

"Then yes. But not today." Bridgette decided, delighting in how Felix's grin turned him from the young Master of the estate into a boy only a little older than herself. "I think we're both too tired to begin any lessons today. It'll be better if we start when we're both fresh."

"Of course. But since neither of us has plans today, maybe you could stay with me? I was just planning to work on a new piece" Felix suggested, grin softening.

"Of course." She agreed. "I'll go fetch my sewing basket."

She did so, and they stayed in that secret room as the sky grew ever darker, lighting the beeswax candles so they'd have enough light to see by. Bridgette had put down her embroidery in favour of listening to Felix practice, eyes drifting closed as the sound washed over her.

At a distant sound, almost on the edge of her hearing, she opened her eyes again. Everything seemed fine, Felix was running through what he had written so far, listening as intently as he was playing. The candlelight made him seem almost ethereal as he picked his way through the piece, but the intensity made him as far from serene as could be, he was entirely too focused.

He must have sensed her eyes on him, because he glanced up and met her gaze.

Thunder sounded.

Oh.