When she wakes, Rowan stares up at the ceiling. Sunlight streams across the ceiling, painting it gold. Rowan smiles and climbs out of bed, slipping over to the window. The forest is red and gold, the leaves at the top gilded white with the shining morning sun. The tall grasses beyond the stone wall bordering the house's yard are swaying from side to side in the breeze skimming across them.

She can feel the hints of it seeping through the gap between the half-open window, tickling her skin with flickers of cold. She pushes the window further open and inhales, letting the crisp air fill her lungs. She can smell the hints of rain on the wind, but there's not a cloud in the sky. The rain must be a ways off yet, but it'll come. Rowan can hear the sound of her mother humming in the kitchen, singing a strange and eerie song.

It's faint, but even so, Rowan can tell that she's never heard it before. Rowan pads toward the kitchen. Once there, she leans against the doorframe, listening to her mother sing. She doesn't sing often, but when she does, the sound of her voice is alluring and lovely. Rowan has never heard someone sing like her mother does. Rowan's own voice is lovely when she sings, but it's nowhere close to Arwen's.

Rowan can't create a tune or join into one as easily or as flawlessly as her mother can. But once she's established herself in the song, her voice is a perfect compliment to her mother's. Despite not wanting to disturb her mother, Rowan can't help but join in the wordless song. Her voice rises in crescendo and joins in the melody, weaving a second layer into the notes. Her mother's voice pauses, the notes fading and the song crumbling away.

Rowan's voice rises to replace where Arwen's voice has fallen away, watching her mother turn to look at her. Curls of Arwen's hair have fallen around her face, framing it in little wisps. She smiles but doesn't join in the song again until Rowan nods. Arwen jumps right back in and Rowan lets her melody sink back into the backdrop.

She closes her eyes and listens to the harmony, letting the music sweep her away and flood her mind with its magic. If she concentrates, she can hear a third layer to it, but it's so faint that it must just be part of the combined melody. It's several minutes before the song finally fades away, its course complete.

Rowan sighs softly, lamenting the loss of the music already. The worst part about the music she creates with her mother is that once the song ends, it's gone forever. But this one had a backbone, something to it that feels more permanent than the others. But she knows she's never heard it before, yet it's like a memory she's forgotten.

Her mother smiles warmly and turns to the counter to grab a plate. She extends it to Rowan, waiting for her to grab a muffin from it before she sets the plate down and takes one for herself. Rowan nibbles on the muffin, watching her mother carefully. It's early morning yet she looks tired already. This happens when she sings but its more prominent this time. Rowan lowers the muffin when she sees her mother sway slightly.

"Mum?"

Arwen shakes her head. "I'm alright, I just need to get some food in me."

Rowan raises an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

Her mother nods. "Yes, I'm alright. We haven't sung like that in a while, have we?"

Rowan's eyes widen slightly and she shakes her head. "No, we haven't. There was another tune in that one that seems older, not new like all the songs normally are. Where is it from?" Arwen flushes and Rowan's eyes narrow. "Mum?"

Rowan inhales when she sees her mother's eyes glitter with the beginnings of tears. She opens her mouth to speak but her mother waves her hand in dismissal. "I'm alright, Rowanberry. I hadn't even realized I had put that melody in this song."

"What is it?"

Arwen sighs. "It's something your father would sing. Today it seems that it has come out to haunt me."

"Haunt you? Why?"

Rowan's mother shakes her head, a tear slipping from her eye. "It was today, years and years ago, that your father left."

Rowan inhales sharply. "Mum,"

Arwen's voice hardens. "No, Rowan. It's not your fault. It's mine, that I haven't gotten past this." Rowan steps forward and hugs her mother tightly. Arwen pulls back after a moment and smiles at Rowan. "Go talk to your grandmother, she's been tense all morning. She won't tell me anything other than that she needs to speak with you. So please, before she turns to stone sitting out there."

Rowan hesitates. "Will you be alright?"

Arwen nods. "Oh yes, a mug of tea will fix me right up. Go on now."

With another glance at her mother, Rowan darts over to the front door and slips outside. Her grandmother is sitting beneath the rowan tree, now bare of its signature red fruit. Her mother was right, Aisling's back is as straight as a pole and she's staring out at the forest in silence.
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What do you think was going on with the music? Where was the third bit to the song from? What will Rowan's grandmother say? What do you think is going to happen next? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.