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Before he could make his mind up, she had done it for him! She decided she wanted to know more, about the man, her father had so admired! Not as part of the Royal courteige!
As one, of the many visitors, in the crowd, without escort, in disguise?
Jubei could not, nor could Zaphren dissuade her from her intentions! All they could do was to carefully monitor the crowd she was in. Not that they, they were relieved to note, were much of a threat!
Mingling with the crowd, Velicia moved slowly closer to him. Now Noge and Nathan will tell you, Noge is even as one of their closest, oldest, friends, an out and out as we would call him Earth wise, ‘geek’
Rarely happier than when he is in his favourite place. In what we would call, a research laboratory.
But he has a quieter side to him and his favourite alternative pastime was old world poetry. His ‘Retro collection included works from Keats, Milton, Longfellow and Chesli, Deet and Coflow he could rattle of lines from poems long forgotten throughout the Earth colonies scattered across the galaxies.
He was not so enthused about modern poetry, but he liked a certain writer called Danfre and quoted lines from his work. With as, we always said, that distant look in his eyes. He always seemed to be chasing something new, but deep inside we got the feeling, that what he really wanted, he had never found ?
Queen Velicia had moved close, to within an arms length of him. He was more than aware of her! Such beauty! Such elegance! Formal words about the waterfall? Looking at it from the side of it, where flowers could be found growing, a small butterfly flitted up into view!
Noge started to whisper words from Danfre’s Lo Femste (The Butterfly is as close as I can get the interpretation, as a Femste is so remarkably similar to an Earth butterfly, with its magnificent colours and designs )
‘Oh if I had but wings to fly !
To climb, to gaze from up above?
I could not soar, to reach the heights, to match such love,
the love, you keep, within your eyes.’
Unknown to Noge, Queen Velicia was a patron of Danfre when she had been a Princess! Sponsoring his writings, liking them, a lot. She had been more than aware that over time, a lot of the basics of culture, the arts, have vanished into the ether.
The Princess was a firm believer in keeping the Psemon Empire’s culture alive, amongst the people. Something her father was very pleased about ! So when she answered his lines, with another line from the same poem, he was speechless! (now there’s a first !)
‘For time I have but little now,
how shall I choose from all I see,
when life offers so much to me,
yet with a price and how?’
They stared at each other, transfixed? Both said the last lines together, spontaneously.
‘And as I lay down, to wait until,
upon the leaf that once gave birth to me,
all of the life I lived I breathed,
will give my wings once more the lift,
to soar and in eternal love lie still ‘
‘I love that last line’ Velicia sighed !
Nathan had gone to join Noge, on seeing Velicia he suddenly recognised her from having once met her at Royal Court! A smirk on his face? Had he reasoned some deception on her part? There without Royal Escort? Ah there was Jubei and Zaphren! Hanging back no doubt, told to do so!
He left them seeing something he had not seen on Noge’s face before, a radiance? That smile he held onto rarely showing, now in full flow?! When the conversation stopped it was to stroll across to what we would have called an open air café.
Some refreshments, believe me according to Nathan time together was NOT on their minds! It was almost sunset Earth time, when Noge told her he owned a place overlooking the falls and would she like to watch the ‘sunset’ over them? From the top across the landcape?
Velicia was quick to seize upon the invitation. She agreed, much to the consternation of her security as she headed back with him to his place with them trying to remain inconspicuous. Not really a problem. Noge was NOT seeing anyone but Velicia!
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