Author's note: Surprise, surprise! I have changed my mind! This is not the last chapter! After having reflected on the subject, I think I needed to write a pause between Harcourt's audience and his final confrontation with Milo. Another reason is Tchaikovsky. Shâal's my OC. And for once I'm actually quite pleased with what I wrote, especially the last paragraph.

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"Where has Shâal gone?" Kida thoughtfully asked with fake ignorance for she knew perfectly well where the little girl actually was. "Have you seen her, Milo?"

"Nope! I've no idea where she's hiding." The scholar solemnly informed the Queen while winking at her, motioning for her to look behind his back.

A delighted giggle chimed in the air, though both the King and Queen pretended they had not heard it. But Milo could not prevent his smile from spreading across his face when he felt little hands clutch at his sarong and saw Shâalinikash's head peek under his elbow.

"I'm here!" The child proudly exclaimed before she burst into laughter. Some parrot lizards shrieked in the distance, as if to celebrate Shâal's unconditional victory. Milo closed the Shepherd's Journal, laid it reverently onto a nearby table and swiftly turned round to wrap his arms around the child's waist, lifting her in the air. Shâal squealed with surprise and tried to escape the King's grasp but it was no use; he would not let her go. Kida, smirking, folded her arms and leaned against the wall to witness the upcoming scene. Milo gently placed Shâal between his legs on the thick cushion he was seating on and began to tickle her sides. Shâal instantly erupted in uncontrolled laughter, her little body squirming under the scholar's spider-like-fingers. Soon, she could not bear it any longer and yielded.

"Stop it! Please, stop it! Mercy, King Milo! Please! My ribs hurt!" she pleaded whilst still laughing.

And Milo granted her her request. He stopped tickling Shâal and watched her try to regain both her composure and her normal breath. Kida smiled adoringly to her husband -though he did not see it- before she stepped forward and sat down beside him. The day was over. The sun had finally gone to sleep into the abyss of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mother Crystal shone dimly. The stars progressively tattooed the night's body, fireflies shimmering on the painting of the universe, and the perfumed air grew colder because of the trade wind that blew softly, bringing peace and rest along with the waltz of salty scents to bodies and souls.

"Shâalinikash", Kida spoke after having cuddled up to Milo who had rested his head over her hair, "It is getting late, little one. You should go to bed now."

"But I'm not tired, Queen Kida!" Shâal defiantly proclaimed. As if to prove it, she jumped to her feet and seized Milo's glasses before he could react.

"Hey! Give me them back!" protested a completely stupefied Milo.

"Shâal! This is not funny! You know Milo needs his glasses!" warned Kida, her eyebrows frowned in clear disapproval.

But the child paid no attention to her, excitement taking over her. The King of Atlantis got up hesitantly and tried to follow the blur that was now Shâal as best as he could, but he quickly stumbled over something that he could not clearly distinguish and fell onto the floor, landing heavily in a sprawling-sort of position and groaning in pain.

"Milo!" Kida exclaimed and rushed to his side to help him.

Shâal instantly froze and looked to her. Kida was less than happy with her and it was more than obvious, considering the poisonous glare she was giving her. The Queen folded her arms and started stamping her foot while Milo pulled himself off the ground and onto his knees, rubbing his neck and making a mental note to ask Sweet to twist it the next time he would see him. Shâal bowed her head so her hair hid her eyes and walked over to Milo. She carefully handed him his glasses under Kida's burning gaze.

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Please forgive me!"

The King of Atlantis took his precious spectacles and put them back on his nose. Then, he peered at Shâal's half-hidden face and was surprised to find she was quietly sobbing.

"Hey, easy, Shâal ,easy! It's all right. Just don't do it again, okay?"

Shâal nodded in response.

"Now, show me your most beautiful smile!"

Shâalinikash lifted up her liquid blue eyes and tried to obey but her lips were trembling so much that she could not bring herself to. Sighing tolerantly, Kida kneeled in front of the little girl and gathered her in her arms; at first resisting, Shâal finally buried her face into the Queen's shoulder and vaguely noticed she was gently rubbing her back to soothe her. Milo slowly got up. Several minutes passed until Shâal looked up again.

"You're not mad at me, then, Queen Kida?" she inquired, worry piercing her voice.

"Kwahm, Shâalinikash-toap. Everyone makes mistakes. Milo has forgiven you. So do I. Now-

Kida stopped mid-sentence to look down at the child in her arms. Shâal was yawning her head off.

"Now you should really go to bed. And do not tell me you're not tired!" she added with a smile, her finger placed on Shâal's mouth to silence her. "Your parents should be here shortly."

"Can you at least tell me a bedtime story?"

Kida seemed to consider this for a moment when she felt Milo's hand caress her shoulder.

"How about me telling you girls a bedtime story of my own?"

Kida smiled warmly and Shâal's face lit up with pure elation.

"What do you think, Shâal?"

"Oh, please, Queen Kida! Please let Milo tell us his story!"

"Very well."

The little girl clapped her hands with enthusiasm while Kida carried her to her bed. Once Shâal was comfortably laying beneath the linen sheets and both Kida and Milo were sitting next to her, the King of Atlantis began his story.

"This story is an ancient legend called Swan Lake. It has become famous thanks to an opera by Tchaikovsky-

"What is an 'opera', King Milo?"

"Opera is an art form in which singers, dancers and musicians perform a dramatic work which combines a text and a musical score."

"Oh."

"That's not very important. Okay, here it goes. Once upon a time, there was a prince called Siegfried. Siegfried is the heir to the kingdom and is informed that he must declare a wife at his birthday ball, the day of his majority. Upset that he cannot marry for love, Siegfried escapes into the forest at night. As he sees a flock of swans –swans are very graceful and very beautiful birds with long necks and, generally speaking, white feathers- flying overhead, he sets off in pursuit. Siegfried aims his crossbow at the swans and readies himself for their landing by the lakeside. When one comes into view, however, he stops. Before him is a beautiful creature dressed in white feathers, more woman than swan. Enamoured, the two dance and Siegfried learns that the swan maiden is the princess Odette. An evil sorcerer, von Rothbart, captured her and used his magic to turn Odette into a swan by day and woman by night. Retinues of other captured swan-maidens attend Odette in the environs of Swan Lake, which was formed by the tears of her parents when she was kidnapped by von Rothbart. Once Siegfried knows her story, he takes great pity on her and falls in love with her. As he begins to swear his undying love to her - an act that will render the sorcerer's spell powerless - von Rothbart appears. Siegfried threatens to kill him but Odette intercedes. If von Rothbart dies before the spell is broken, it can never be undone. The Prince then returns to the castle to attend the ball. Von Rothbart arrives in disguise with his own daughter Odile, making her seem identical to Odette in all respects except that she wears black while Odette wears white. The prince mistakes her for Odette, dances with her, and proclaims to the court that he intends to make her his wife. Only a moment too late, Siegfried sees the real Odette and realizes his mistake. The prince returns to the lake and finds Odette, where she forgives him after he apologizes intensely. Von Rothbart appears, trying to pull the lovers apart. But the true love between Siegfried and Odette defeats von Rothbart, who dies after the prince breaks one of his wings. Odette is eventually restored to human form to unite happily with Prince Siegfried."

Seeing that Milo had finished, Shâal clapped her hands happily while he playfully bowed to his public with a smile.

"All right, little one. Now you go to sleep, and I don't want to hear a single noise! Are we clear?"

"Yes, Queen Kida."

"Good. Sleep tight, Shâal." The Queen whispered and bent over to kiss the child on her forehead.

"Sweet dreams!" Milo added, running his hand through Shâal's silvery hair.

[…]

Milo and Kida were going back to the palace. Shâal's parents had finally come home and thus enabled the King and Queen to leave. But Kida had questions for her husband and she made sure they would be answered before the two of them would go to sleep by dragging Milo into a night walk, under the benevolent look of the stars. Kida did not know where to begin: they had had a long day, and the audience with Harcourt and his colleagues had made Milo adopt a distant behaviour. It was unusual for him to keep so quiet when he was by his wife's side. Being oblivious to his surroundings, Milo began to hum a melody she was not familiar with.

"What is this?"

"What is what?"

"The melody that you were murmuring; what is it?"

"It is one of the most famous melodies of Tchaikovsky's opera.* You see, according to what my grandfather told me, Swan Lake was my mother's favourite opera. She even used this melody as a lullaby for me. When she and my father died, I listened to it non-stop. It was like a drug. I felt their presence through the music. You know, Plato said something very beautiful about music. He said: 'Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, it is a charm to sadness, gaiety, life, to everything. It is the essence of order, and leads to all that is good, just and beautiful, of which it is the invisible, but never less, dazzling, passionate, and eternal form.' I believe it. Swan Lake has different possible endings, ranging from romantic to tragic, but all are beautiful. I chose to tell Shâal the happy ending."

"What are the others?"

Milo took a deep breath and closed his eyelids for a moment.

"The original ending states that after Siegfried's apology, he and Odette realize the spell can't be broken because of Siegfried's accidental pledge to Odile. In order to stay together, Odette and Siegfried drown themselves by leaping into the lake. This causes von Rothbart to lose his power over them, and he dies as a result."

"And it makes you think of your parents because they died together?"

The King could only nod in response. Kida nodded back and squeezed his hand. A moment of silence passed before she spoke again.

"What are you going to do with the outsiders?"

"You mean Harcourt and his followers? I do not think I will need to do anything special. They have no choice but to agree with me if they do not want to become the laughing stock of Washington. Their good name is at stake; they won't take any risk to erode the one thing they value the most."

"This was a personal revenge for you, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Now they must clean my grandfather's name. They should have known humiliation to be a poor teacher. This is the price to pay."

Kida eyed him carefully and decided on dropping the subject for the moment. She could hear the roaring of a nearby waterfall; it made her mind dive into her own intimate memories. Her blues eyes lit up with an idea. She grabbed Milo's hand and began cutting their way through the bushes and foliages which she knew hid a deep pond of pure water. She did not let Milo's hand go before they were on shore. The stars had left the sky and travelled down to the Earth into the pond's undisturbed surface.

"May I ask what you are up to, Kida?"

"Night swimming, of course." She answered matter-of-factly. With that, she gracefully removed her loincloth, put it on the shore and entered the welcoming water with a sigh of satisfaction. She was aware that Milo was staring at her, lost in the contemplation of her body, studying every curve with an almost worshipping look. Smiling knowingly, she turned and decided to tease him.

"You do swim, do you not?"

Milo snapped out of it and smiled in return. He removed his own sarong and followed his wife into the water. It was cool, but not cold. The stars trembled with the ripples Milo made to join Kida, and they whispered to each other the silent profession the water would safeguard preciously. The pond could not praise itself for being as magnificent as a moonlight-lit lake and there was not a single swan floating on it. But it became a grandiose waterscape whilst two souls were given ever-growing spiritual wings that spread to reach the heavens, protected by the secretive crescendo of the music of love.

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* The melody Milo refers to is the Ouverture of the IInd act of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake opera.