Love, Ducks, and Roses

A few hours later, she awoke shivering. Still wrapped in her blankets and sprawled upon her couch, Lenora couldn’t resist the sudden urge to go outside onto her balcony. Snow had covered the entire kingdom in a glistening white blanket, illuminating the glorious full moon. It was almost too beautiful. Caught up in this tranquil scenery, Lenora barely heard a low murmur, which sounded almost like a voice. Holding her breath cautiously, she listened, and finally recognized it as a man humming. Where was it coming from?

“Dooo, di doo. Doo doo doo di di dooo.”

Thoroughly confused, she couldn’t help but blink a few times. It was a catchy song, and even though she was scared to death, she knew it would get stuck in her head quickly. Suddenly she saw a shadow fall across the perfect snow, and for a brief moment, she thought she saw someone scaling along the edge of the castle and jumping from window to window.

“Am I that tired?” she muttered as she turned to go back inside.

“Doooo, dooo, di doo!”

It sounded right behind her! Spinning around, she looked just in time to see someone’s hand latch on to the side of the balcony wall. Completely frozen with terror, she couldn’t even make herself scream. Should she hit them so they would fall? The humming and scaling figure seemed too light hearted to be anyone who was coming to threaten her, and with a sharp intake of breath, it made her think of Stu.  Looking up shakily, she nearly stopped breathing as she watched the dark cloaked man pull himself over the wall of the balcony, staggering, but standing just before her. Unable to see his face, she caught a glimpse of dark hair, and a familiar tingle shot through her body. Was she hallucinating? Stu was dead; yet he appeared to stand right here before her.

Chewing her lip nervously, she decided that it didn’t matter if he was a figment of her imagination or not. He was here, and before her now. She longed to see his face beneath the shadow of the threatening black hood, which made him appear to look dangerous and powerful. The figure stepped towards her enticingly and gently placed a gloved hand across the small of her back, forcing her to come closer. Held up against him awkwardly, Lenora suddenly realized that he seemed a little bit taller, and his scent was different.

As the shadowy figure leaned his head down to hers, she could almost taste his kiss on her lips, and was surprised as he paused. Suddenly, in one fluid motion, his hands wrapped around the back of her head, and a cold piece of wet cloth was jammed into her mouth, cutting the sides of her lips. Alarmed, Lenora jerked her head back and shoved him, succeeding in making his hood fall off. Fear choked her as she squealed in surprise; Lord Erik! Laughing heartily, as if seeing the surprise in her eyes, he grabbed her hands and stepped close to her once again.

“And to think you almost kissed me…” he whispered in a deep voice, “Did you like my theme song?”