Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura, which belongs to CLAMP and CLAMP only.
The Veiled Piano Mistress
By: Lotus Dreams
Chapter 10: A Performance anda Story
"Otou-san. Okaa-san." Syaoran's voice was solemn. King Li and Queen Yelan nodded to indicate they were aware of his presence.
"You said you had something to show us?" said Queen Yelan. Syaoran nodded. He gestured to Sakura, who was hiding behind him, intimidated by the King and Queen, for she had never been so close to royalty.
"Isn't this Kinomoto Sakura, one of the maids?" King Li boomed. "What did you bring her here for?"
"To prove that the law is idiotic." There was silence, and then King Li said, calmly, "I don't understand."
"The law states that females are forbidden to learn piano. Obviously, that's sexism, and I see no reason as to why females should not play the piano, as they could be just as good, if not better, than men who play it."
"And this maid has something to do with your statement?"
"Hai. Because she knows how to play piano." Yelan's face changed colour.
"That's breaking the law."
"It shouldn't even be a law!" cried Syaoran. "That rule is just plain stupid."
"That is not for you to decide. This girl has definitely broken the law, and she must be punished."
"Why waste talent?" argued Syaoran. "Sakura can play piano extremely well, I bet she can even beat some of our male musicians."
"Oh really?" said King Li, mildly amused. "Then let's see."
Sakura squeaked. Dammit, why are people of royal status so frightening? Syaoran stepped aside to reveal her. Queen Yelan called for someone to wheel in a piano, and after a couple of minutes, five servants pushed in a grand piano, and another one was carrying a chair. They were all looking weirdly at Sakura, whom they all knew. They stopped the piano right in front of the king and queen, and the servant carrying the chair set it right in front of the piano. Syaoran nudged Syaoran. "Come on," he whispered.
Sakura hesitantly walked towards the seat, tucked her skirt beneath her legs, and sat down. A couple of servants and maids were hiding in the corner, including Tomoyo, who was biting her lip in worry. Sakura gave them all a reassuring smile. It's just like all the other times you were in the Piano Room, thought Sakura, only you're not wearing veil. Otherwise, you're just playing for Syaoran. Just for Syaoran. There's no one else in the room.
She placed her fingers on the smooth white keys. Warming up, she started playing an B Major scale, faster and faster each time, to warm up. She didn't know it, but Queen Yelan had raised an eyebrow slightly, as if to indicate that she was impressed a girl could move her fingers so fast.
What piece should I play today? wondered Sakura. Maybe I should start off with a Chopin Nocturne...She immediately put her hands in position, paused slightly, and played.
The Chopin Nocturne she was playing was the piece Chopin had dedicated to George Sand. She let her fingers carry her over the chromatic scales, the running lines, the flowing left hand melody, the recurring theme, and sank herself into the music; she closed her eyes while playing, focusing solely on the beauty of the piece, thus making it sound profoundly moving. Her fingers moved with the music, the notes trickling like water, her chords sounding crisp and clear, through the sound of the pedal, a difficult feat.
As she finished the final cadence, the sound echoed through the Main Hall. Then, realizing who she was playing for, she immediately withdrew her hands shyly, her head bowing slightly.
There was an awkward silence, and then King Li inquired, "Do you know any other pieces as beautiful as the one you just played?" Sakura glanced at Syaoran. A smile was on his lips, pride in his eyes. She returned the smile.
"Hai," she answered confidently. She placed her right hand on the keys, and played a D sharp, followed by a C sharp, and many other notes. The melody was dreamy, tinkling, and...pretty. Well, it'd have to be, since its name was La fille aux cheveux de lin - the girl with flaxen hair. And this piece just happened to be written by the Impressionist composer Claude Debussy.
It was a fairly short piece, but that didn't stop her from expressing it beautifully. She played it with a perfect ringing tone, the perfect soft and dreamy mood Claude Debussy intended. She pedaled in such a way that all the notes connected in phrases, flowing into each other, but never tumbling into each other. During brief running passages, she faded the last note so that it rang very briefly, and then she started the next phrase. The piece ended with a perfect cadence, with two octaves arpeggiated. She kept the pedal down, even as her hand left the keyboard. As the note faded, she looked at King Li and Queen Yelan, whose eyes were intensely focused on her, mesmerized by the beauty of her music.
"Wow," Queen Yelan finally uttered, very un-royal-like of her.
"I have another one," Sakura said. "It's called La Campanella."
"Onegai, play it for us," said King Li eagerly. Syaoran smirked.
Sakura smiled, and once again placed her fingers on the piano. The piece started with a few bars of octaves, and then the melody started. Her hands were amazingly fast, jumping between intervals over an octave, while her left hand played a series of arpeggiated and non-arpeggiated chords. La Campanella meant 'little bell', and that was exactly how the tone of her music sounded - like a bell ringing back and forth, like the way her hands leapt back and forth between the notes. Around the middle, a chromatic passage started, and her right hand moved astonishingly fast bewteen the black and white notes, and she finally got to an extremely difficuly section, where her fingers had to move between intervals greater than an octave very swiftly, while playing other notes at the same time. Near the end was a heavy chordal and chromatic section, where her hands stretched wide and running up and down the keys. Finally, at the last section, she played very intensely, finishing off with a dramatic final cadence, which rang throughout the Main Hall, even though she had not pressed the pedal.
This time, the king and queen were REALLY awed by her performance, and they burst into applause.
"That was fantastic!" cried King Li.
"Not really," said Sakura modestly.
"Where did you find such a fine - piano mistress, Syaoran?" asked Queen Li. Syaoran shrugged.
"I heard someone playing the piano extremely beautifully, I went to the Piano Room, and I found her there." He flashed her a smile. "However, she kept a veil over her face, hiding her identity, which is why I gathered together all of the maids until I got her."
"You were right, Syaoran," said Yelan. "She really is very talented."
"Arigatou gozaimasu," Sakura said shyly. She stood up from the chair and glanced towards the servants. Tomoyo was smiling at her and giving her a thumbs-up.
"Have I convinced you to change the law yet?" Syaoran asked. His parents' smiles faltered slightly, but they looked at each other.
"We'll consider it," King Li said finally. Syaoran looked a little disappointed, and averted his eyes, gazing at the floor.
"I see," he said quietly. "Well, I have no more business to share with you two. Ja." He beckoned to Sakura, who followed him, and they exited the Main Hall.
Sakura had to almost run to keep up with his pace. "Aren't you happy that they'll consider it?" she asked a little breathlessly.
"Not really. I was hoping you could really convince them to change the law."
"Well, it is the law, after all," reasoned Sakura. "It's not like you can change it right away."
"But it's such a stupid rule!" countered Syaoran. "I can't believe my grandfather would make that stupid rule up for personal reasons."
"Your grandfather made up that rule? Didn't you say that he was a strict follower of the law?"
"He was," said Syaoran bitterly, "He made that law up before he killed my sister."
"But why?"
"Do you really want to know?" Sakura hesitated.
"Hai." Syaoran sighed. "Come to my room, I'll tell you."
They went up the stairs, and arrived at Syaoran's room. He kicked out the maids that were cleaning it, and led Sakura inside. He gestured at a seat for her to sit in. Sakura sat down, prepared to listen. Syaoran took a seat, and sighed again.
"When my ojii-chan was a young man - a little older than me - he fell in love with a girl. She was very pretty, with blonde hair and blue eyes. And she could play piano. That time, it was allowed. She would sit in her room playing a piece for him while he sat down beside her and listened; she played very well, just like you.
"However, she wasn't exactly in love with my grandfather the way he was in love with her. She was flattered that a prince would go and visit her just to listen to her play the piano, one of her few talents. She was actually in love with another boy, a poor villager, who was also returned her feelings. My grandfather had always thought that the girl was his, that she loved him back, until one day, he saw them together. She was giving him a basket of fruit. Just a basket of fruit. And he went crazy.
"He actually ordered that kid to be murdered. MURDERED. And of course, the girl found out. When my grandfather came to her house to listen to her play, acting like nothing had happened, she heard his tone of voice, and she blew up. She yelled at him for being a jerk, a killer, a jealous monster. She was crying and screaming at the same time, pushing my grandfather out, calling him all sorts of names, insulting him, swearing - she was that furious. And of course, my grandfather couldn't exactly take that. He yelled right back, and stormed out of the house.
"The next day, the girl committed suicide. She had strangled herself, which was the way the boy died. All over her room were torn pieces of her piano scores, including my grandfather's favourite piece, Fur Elise, which was torn into the tiniest pieces. She left a note, saying how she was sorry, and told her mother not to cry, that she was with Dai - the name of the boy whom she loved - and in the note, it also mentioned my grandfather. She said that she hated him for killing Dai, and now she was going with him to heaven, and she was happy about it. She said that he would never listen to her play piano ever again, and that he would rot in hell. My ojii-chan exploded. He went crazy. He cried. He was angry, sad, lovesick, and heartbroken all at the same time.
"Anger won him over in the end, and he blamed everything on the girl that he loved. He still didn't forget his 'grudge' three years later, when he became king. He made up a rule that no girl would be allowed to learn or play the piano - many females were angry at him, and protested violently, but they all got executed for arguing against him. Of course, he eventually married my grandmother, and had my father, but he still did not forget the girl that had first captured his heart. He was still bitter. So, when he heard - saw - Fuutie playing Fur Elise, he beheaded her. I thought he would have known better than to take his grudge that far, but I was wrong. Remember I said Fur Elise was his favourite piece?" He sighed. Sakura wanted badly to reach a hand out to pat him on the shoulder, or comfort him, but restrained herself.
He shuddered, then continued. "If Fuutie hadn't played Fur Elise - if she had played another piece, then maybe my grandfather would have probably made an exception. But Fur Elise was alsoher favourite piece." He laughed softly. "I guess it runs in the family. Anyway, that song reminded him of the girl, and I guess he was affected so badly he was blinded by...rage...or sorrow...he ordered my sister to be killed."
There was an awkward silence between them. Then Sakura said softly, "I'm very sorry to hear that."
Syaoran shook his head. "He killed her because his own selfish reasons. Because he made up that stupid rule because of something that happened three years ago, and killed his own young granddaughter. He died soon after; I was glad he died - he deserved it."
"It must have stayed in your memory for a long time," Sakura said gently. Syaoran nodded.
"Ever since that day, ever since he told me that story - as if that would erase his bad deeds."
Sakura frowned. "Then you should have known I was playing Fur Elise that time. Why were you guessing when you already knew the answer? I mean, For Eriol?" A boyish grin broke out on Syaoran's face.
"I don't know," he said innocently. "I guess I just wanted to smile again." Sakura flushed.
His eyes were twinkling.
Well, it wasn't exactly one of those moments there, but good enough. Well, now Syaoran's grandfather's mystery has been solved, this story is slowly drawing to an end. Slowly. More chapters to come. Please REVIEW!