ALL THOSE YEARS IN THE SHADOWS

The second of my RotGocNDUWriMo pieces for nxghtlight.

There *are* such things as perfect moments.

Galatea was unsure whether she had started humming first or whether Nightlight had, but one of them had picked up a tune from the other.

It was the fourth night of the Festival of Lights, and the Lunanoffs had just seen off the last of their guests. Sao-loon had just handed off a sleepy MiM to his nanny to get the baby ready for his crib. Galatea laced her arm through Sao’s as they all leisurely made their way towards the staircase. But something made the Tsar, the Tsarina, and Nightlight pause, loath to have the evening end.

The moonbots had been more energetic than usual in their cleaning efforts, and it showed. Every spoke in the rotunda gallery’s railing above and every floorboard below gleamed. Every candle in the chandelier had a moonbeam flitting about it in a joyful dance. 

 Someone started humming.

And as you know, once one person hums, it is impossible to resist joining in. 

Nor was it even remotely possible for Constellations or spectral knights to resist the invitation to dance as the moonbeams were dancing.

Sao and Galatea moved together as one, their hands clasping and unclasping as they trod the stately measures of a minuet. Nightlight held MiM aloft and had him giggling as they whirled about on the polished floor, gleefully and less restrained than the Tsar and Tsarina.

It was a perfect moment, one of many in the Golden Age.