Matthias squeezed Cecilia's hand gently.
"Why don't I get us some champagne, and then I'll joint you at our seats."
"Cecilia sighed softly despite the glow of delight that was suffusing her being.
"Champagne would be lovely. I'll need it if I'm going to sit next to prickly Iris for the next two hours."
"Two hours? Love this 1876. No self-respecting play would dream of running less than five hours."
Cecilia growled, "Better make that two glasses for me then."
Matthias laughed softly, then chucked Cecilia on the chin. "Your wish is my command."
Matthias watched as Cecilia, with Iris and Ivy on either side of her, wound their way up the stairs towards the dress circle. Cecilia's softly swishing silk gown fit her too snugly for his own comfort, causing him to shift restlessly. She paused a few steps away to give him a jaunty wave before disappearing around the curve of the banisters. Matthias tipped his hat in return, cautious of those giving him stern glances as public displays of affection were definitely not the thing during this time.
He had just turned towards the champagne bar when a dash of movement caused him to turn abruptly. He never knew what cause that movement to gain his attention in the crowded lobby. Perhaps the awkward gait or just the warning of his senses that a predator was lurking in this docile sea of refined silks and satins. But whatever it was, Matthias found himself centering in on a top hat with crimson rosette that trumpeted the presence of the Peregrine. The Peregrine, his mysterious nemesis through time that was always some how one step ahead of him, one step ahead of all the Travelers, the man who was responsible for Henry’S — Cecilia's father's — death.
With a loud curse Matthias lunged after that the hat, and the unknown figure beneath it but his pursuit was hampered by the packed lobby. With curses and dirty glares from the surrounding patrons, Matthias roughly forced his way through the crowd. His vision tunneled until the only object visible in his universe that bobbing hat until suddenly a scream of "FIRE" shattered Matthias' focus. The once docile crowd that had been flowing gently into the theater abruptly turned into a raging rapid of people screaming and pushing to escape the building.
Cecilia, Cecilia is in the second tier was Matthias' panicked thought as he quickly reversed direction and started fighting his way up the stairs, ripping and tearing his way through the crowd like an enraged beast. It was no coincide that the Peregrine was in the building and disaster had struck immediately after. What ever was happening, the Peregrine was to blame, and Matthias' world narrowed to one beating thought: get to Cecilia.
©2020 by Leila Ghaznavi. All rights reserved.