Page 104 of Songs and Spun Gold
Grabbing her hand, Axel led Katy through the halls to his own study. He closed the door behind them before releasing a heavy breath and dropping his mask.
“What are we going to do?” Katy asked, making sure to keep her voice low. They were alone, but the heavy wooden door wasn’t thick enough to block all sound. She knew this was a conversation that they didn’t want overheard. “Are you going to try to sing anyway?”
“I can’t.” Axel shook his head. “Mother and Father will be there. Even if I managed to slip away without drawing notice, they would be sure to recognize me once I appeared on the stage.”
“You don’t think they would cause a scene, do you?”
“I don’t know,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “But even if they let the show proceed, I can’t imagine the trouble I would be in for openly defying a direct order from my father.”
“But if it prevented the note-writer’s disaster?” Katy pressed, stepping forward and resting a hand on his shoulder. “Wouldn’t that be worth it?”
“I don’t know,” he repeated, an edge of frustration in his voice. “I don’t know what the disaster would be. And what if my father is right, and it’s an empty threat? What if I were to defy my father for no reason at all? And I would never even know, because if I sing, this disaster won’t happen, whether it was an empty threat or not. The only way to know for sure would be to do as my father says.”
“But Axel—”
“I know, Katy.” He wrapped his arms around her, crushing her to his chest. “But there’s nothing I can do. Even if I was willing to risk my father’s wrath, I’d never make it onto that stage. There’s nothing I can do.”
As Katy wrapped her arms around him in return, she felt the helplessness that she could hear in his voice. There was nothing they could do.
Except hope the king was right.
~
Their large group arrived at the theater about twenty minutes before the curtain opened. Unlike the last time they were there, they didn’t wait in line; King Steffan was more than willing to pull rank and slip them past the crowds. Katy gripped Axel’s arm tightly with both hands as they swept into the entry hall and through to the auditorium, the crowds parting before the wedge of guards at their front.
Once they were seated, Axel grasped her hand tightly. As their joined hands rested on his knee, she could feel his tension in his grip, even though his face was the picture of calm and patience. Katy was sure that her own apprehension was just as clear in her grip, but written across her face as well.
Everyone around them behaved with the excitement expected of a new production. Katy kept waiting for something to happen, but the audience settled into their places, the ushers came by and extinguished the many candles in candelabras and wall sconces around the edges of the room, and the curtain rose without any sign of a problem. As the show progressed uneventfully, Katy felt herself begin to relax.
“Well, son, I hope you see now how foolish you were to be concerned,” King Steffan said heartily as the lights were lit for intermission. He wore a smug grin as he stood and surveyed the room. “Halfway through, and not a disaster to be seen.”
“Indeed, Father,” Axel replied. He wrapped an arm around Katy, and she could feel by the way he pulled her in that he remained concerned. “Not even on stage. So you see, there was no need to call us from our parts.”
“Nonsense, Axel!” the king huffed. “If your note-writer was going to cause trouble, he would have done it by now. However, if there is any truth to this ghost, it might choose to act at any point. We won’t know that my caution was undeserved until the final curtain. But even if it was, better safe than sorry.”
“Shouldn’t that same maxim have applied to the note?”
The king shook his head indulgently. “The difference between giving in to coercion and being prudently cautious, son. One of these days, you’ll learn the wisdom of that.”
Instead of responding, Axel gave his father a small smile before slipping out to the aisle, murmuring to Katy that he would return with drinks for them both.
They were about halfway through the fourth act when the leading actress shrieked, pointing at something above her. An ominous creaking noise came from the direction of the stage. Then the candelabras and wall sconces sprang back to life. Katy reached over to grab Axel’s hand. He pushed himself to the edge of the seat, ready to launch to his feet.
A haunting melody in an alto voice began to rise above the worried rumblings of the crowd and the panicked cries of the cast as they fled the stage. It grew until it seemed to fill the auditorium. Axel’s hand convulsed against hers. “Lotti?” he gasped. “What is she doing?”
The voice abruptly cut off when a loud crash was heard offstage. But before Axel could jump to his feet, there was a rattling noise all around them, and then someone screamed as every candelabra, every wall sconce in the room toppled to the floor and the great, sparkling chandelier plummeted toward the orchestra pit below.
CHAPTER 30
Axel
Look out!” Axel hurled himself at Katy, wrapping his arms around her and interposing his back between her and whatever wreckage made it to their row. The auditorium was full of screaming now, combined with the scraping and clattering of chairs toppling to the floor as theater patrons scrambled to clear the room. A number of pitched clangs and thuds joined the cacophony as the chandelier crushed instruments beneath it. He could only hope that the instruments had been abandoned, and that their owners were not crushed with them.
“I’m fine! Get off me!” Katy panted, shoving him away. “Axel, we have to get out of here!”
Looking up, he realized that he had missed a new sound in the midst of the chaos: the rushing and crackling of growing flames as they consumed the heavy curtains, the carpet along the outside aisles, and the wooden chairs in the abandoned orchestra pit.
He became aware of someone attempting to haul him up by his arm as Katy shoved at him from beneath. “Your Highness! We must get you to safety!” Bertram hollered over the madness surrounding them.
