Toward the end of Chapter 2 in Glass Angels, Neal dreams of Beethoven, or so he believes. Earlier in the day, he'd played on a square piano from the time of Beethoven. The piano, as well as a contemporaneous lyre-guitar, is located in an alcove of his hostess Electra's bedroom. That evening Neal and Richard gave an impromptu concert on the instruments for the group of amateur actors assembled in Electra's house. Was that the reason he later dreamed of Beethoven? For readers of my Crossed Lines series, undoubtedly several other possibilities came to mind.
They know Electra is, in reality, Astrena, the Greek goddess of witches and vampires. Astrena has the nasty habit of entering mortals' minds and planting dreams of her own choosing. But in order to influence someone, Astrena needs to first establish a link by drinking their blood. In Neal's case, the link was severed at the end of Night Howls on the Hudson. This appears to eliminate Astrena from consideration.
Could something else be at play? What if a spirit is involved? Astrena and her sisters are known to keep portraits of their victims. Could Beethoven be among them? His creativity would certainly have been a tempting lure. By the age of 44, Beethoven was almost completely deaf. He died at the age of 56 after a prolonged illness. Could his deafness and relatively young death have been caused by an overly demanding goddess? Beethoven is known to have had a series of love affairs that could have enraged her.
Neal has been a visitor to Electra's house on a previous occasion, but he didn't dream about Beethoven afterward. Why now? Could the piano have anything to do with it? Beethoven's spirit might be bound to it or perhaps the lyre-guitar is an enchanted vessel. Beethoven is not known to have played the guitar, but he wrote music for the instrument.
In Neal's dream, Beethoven insists he remember something. But what? Additional clues are coming in next week's chapter.
Glass Angels on Archive of Our Own
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