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I roll my eyes. “I’m playing music, Rho. As my manager, it should be something you are happy about.”
Her already pinched features screw up. “We both get paid for you to play out there.” She flings her arm toward the direction of the stage. “You’re going to be late if you don’t stop fooling around!” Her eyes flick to Sienna with a nasty glare and I step to the side to shield her as I move closer to Rho.
“I was warming up. Stop being so uptight.” I pat her arm as I reach for my stage jacket.
“You’re looking a little…” I gesture to my face. “Constipated from that stick up your ass.”
Her mouth drops open as I offer her a lopsided smile, and Sienna giggles across the room.
Rho whirls on her, sneering. “What are you laughing at?”
Immediately, the light leaves her stunning gray eyes and I want to snap at my sister. “Uh,
I’m not.” She coughs a little to further prove her point. “My apologies.”
Sienna scurries to her feet, replacing the homre on its stand, and I have to clench my fist to keep from exploding with anger. It’s hard to keep my playful composition in place, but I know that for Sienna, it’s best to keep her out of my sister’s sights. I can’t seem overly interested in her.
I turn my attention to fixing my cuffs so that is what Rho sees when she turns around.
“Let’s go,” I say, my voice a bit too stiff.
The curtain on stage is closed so the audience can’t see me as zagfer wheel my jinrayaha out on stage. Sienna moves my ilya and homre to the wings, ensuring any last minute touch ups as she runs her fingers over the strings. I swear she has a better ear than I do.
When it’s time, I take my seat at the bench behind the keys. My eyes immediately go to Sienna who smiles at me and offers me two thumbs up. I motion back to her just as the announcer taps his throat, using an amplifying spell.
“Ladies and gentle-elves!” The curtain starts to roll back and I can see the bulbs of floating lights above the audience dim. “Your entertainment for tonight!” The shining lights above me flicker to life, though I don’t see the spell caster. I hope these aren’t enchanted to follow me. They always do such a poor job. I prefer when the elf maneuvers the lights himself.
“Ausdrice Rusodosh!”
The audience claps politely as I’m revealed, and I let my eyes sweep along the crowd. It’s a good show of people, but not as large as the late night show will be.
As my gaze makes it back to Sienna, though, I’m okay with that. There’s only one person I need, and as long as she is there, I am happy.
My fingers move along the ivory keys without thought as I watch her. My heart pounds as the words start, and although I’ve sung this song dozens of times, the emotion always overtakes me.
I watch Sienna the entire time, trying to remember to occasionally look out at the audience so they feel engaged. But this ballad isn’t for them. This melody that contains every shred of my soul was created solely for her.
As is the next tune, a happy song about life and finding the most in the little things. And the slow confession on my ilya.
Sienna doesn’t even seem to realize it, but she influences my music in every way. She doesn't just clean my instruments or help me warm up. She encourages me on stage and she drives my songs.
“That’s the best version I’ve heard so far,” she murmurs as she presses a cool glass bottle of water into my hand. I gulp it down, soaking in her bright eyes and flushed cheeks. She gets more of a thrill out of my music than I do. I get my thrills from her. “The twist you put on the chords was amazing.”
“It’s what you played earlier,” I confess as I pass off the water and ilya. “In the dressing room.”
Her smile stretches wider. “Really?”
“It was too beautiful not to include.”
Her head cocks to the side, her eyes softening, and this is another one of those moments.
So many words flow between us without either of us saying a single one.
Rhovier clears her throat behind Sienna, and I settle onto the bench with the homre.
Usually Sienna shrinks away from my sister’s presence, but she lingers long enough to tell me, “Do the same with the bridge.” I raise an eyebrow, and she winks. “I know what song you start with on the homre. You played the melody in the dressing room, but you changed the key. It sounded better.”
And that shouldn’t get to me the way it does, but there is something about pleasing her, doing small things just for her, that does. I nod as she goes back to the wings, ignoring Rho as she glances between Sienna and I.
