Lovely place you have here!

Oleander's deep viridian gaze swept over the guests. His eyes lingered over the ornate castle fireplace. A goblet of a dark wine he wasn't particularly enjoying and barely sipping rested in his paw. Maybe he'll try the lighter red someone suggested. Speaking of which, a girl swept past him holding that sweet red. Was that a cousin? He pressed himself closer to the wall to allow her access. They were practically the same height. Her long dark lavish tail was braided and her eyes seemed to be only for a strange piece of furniture. He watched her settle herself curiously on the furniture and nearly dropped his goblet when a gorgeous sound started to emanate from it. No one told him about things like this! He had heard of and seen music boxes that had come through the market but this sounded nothing like them!

He felt himself draw closer and closer. How was she making it sing like that? The music wove through the guests and bounced serenely off the stone walls of the keep. He peered into the guts of the instrument, the leaning tabletop supported by a single stand to display the veritable strings and hammers.

He drew himself curiously even closer to her and watched her paws dance over the monochrome keys as if they had a life of their own. His mouth was slightly agape.

He didn't know he was holding his breath as his heart hammered in his chest until the last notes hung in the air.

"I- Wow!" He exclaimed when it was obvious the song had ended and she might start a new one, "That was incredible! What is this? It's definitely not a music box!" He leaned over the keys, "Oh! I'm Ollie, or Oleander, Mortis and Halo are my parents." He may have been a noble but he had been sickly most of his childhood and missed many of the polite lessons that would have helped him in this instance.

"Speech!"