Title: Piano Practice
Author: Anchan
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Jened, Falan, pre-series. Tiny implied Illsaide/Falan.
"Practising again, Falan?"
Falan looked up, startled, from her music. "Father! I didn't hear you come in."
"No?" Jened smiled affectionately at her and patted her lightly on the head. "I'm glad you're so dedicated to your studies."
"Oh – not really – " Falan reddened and she smoothed the corners of her pages with a distracted hand.
"You're such a modest girl." Jened smiled at her approvingly, but this only seemed to make Falan's embarrassment worse. "Come, let me hear you play something."
Falan froze for a moment and then nodded, arranging the pages of music neatly on the stand. She stared blankly at them for a moment, moving her hands into precisely the right positions on the keys, before beginning to play a halting, fumble-fingered melody. It was, without a doubt, one of the worst renditions of the piece ever played, but Jened listened to and applauded it as if it were rendered by a maestro.
"That was beautiful," he told her with every appearance of sincerity and leant forward to kiss her cheek. "I must go and see to some papers. I hope Illsaide and his guard drills weren't disturbing your practice. Would you like me to order him to move them somewhere else?"
"Oh, no. No. It's fine," Falan said hastily, smiling up at Jened. He smiled back at her.
"As long as you're happy, my dear," he said, getting up and moving to the door. "As long as you're happy."
He closed the door behind him with a soft click. Alone in the room, Falan bent her head over her music, feeling guilty.