What happens when Magiano dies. Enjoy.
His feet hit the earth stiffly as he slides of his horse’s back. He groans at the pain along his withered limbs and stares, up into the depthless sky. The stars grow brighter by the moment. They outline the constellation of a beautiful woman with hair the color of starlight.
He holds his lute to his lips and plays the Song of Shadows.
There is a bright light, and the constellation seems to move down to the earth.
The shape of the woman materializes.
He sets down his golden lute and opens his arms.
The White Wolf smiles at him, in her Sealand silks and brilliant silver hair. His beloved stretches out her hand.
He takes her hand and she leads him to his horse. Her dark eye twinkles with the laughter and joy she never found on earth. Never had the time to find.
She helps him onto his horse. The years have not been kind. His foot slips.
She holds him up and pushes the white hair, once lustrous and dark, out of his eyes.
She brings him close to the stars and plucks them from the sky for him to hold in his hands. She offers him a draught of moonlight.
He holds her close to him. She lays her head on his chest.
He holds onto her, not ready to let her go. Not again.
She steps away from him and kisses him on the mouth.
Magiano rides the entire way into the city. He arrives at the palace. He is tired and sore and faint.
A young woman sits on the throne. She is a copy of her mother.
She brings him to her mother and father and their friend.
The Puppet Master, The Rainmaker, and The Messenger all look to him.
Violetta embraces him. Her hair has gone white. It look’s almost as her sister’s once did.
“Stay, Magiano. Stay for a while.”
“I will go where my Queen leads me.”
Violetta and Sergio protest. They ask him to rest.
Only Raffaele sits and smiles, if a little sadly. The Messenger understands that he cannot.
Violetta offers him a bed for the night, and he accepts.
It is almost midnight when he wakes. The stars are again growing bright outside.
It is hard for him to get out of bed. But he does.
He stumbles outside and falls. His feet will no longer hold him.
He lies there under the stars, each breath heavy, and waits.
The stars seem to move more slowly this time, as they descend.
This time when his beloved touches the ground, he cannot stand to meet her.
She walks to him. Her hands are full of starlight.
She touches her palms to his temple, to his hands, to his lips.
And new strength flows through his veins. He holds out his hands before him in wonder.
The wrinkled flesh is young again. His hair is raven black.
“Mi Adelinetta.” He breathes.
She points to the sky. A path of starlight opens. She again holds out her hand. He takes it.
And this time there is no letting go.
Raffaele Laurent Bessante hears the cries from the courtyard.
Magiano’s body lies still in the midst of the grass. There is a smile upon his lips and a strange, star-shaped mark on his brow.
He stares at that night, at the sky.
Adelina does not appear. Where her constellation once was, there is a single bright star.
Then slowly, another star flickers into existence.
Raffaele closes his eyes.
