To step from shadows is to know light
Storms came and
went.
A fire swept through the valley
and annihilated great swathes of land. Many of the trees on the fringes of the
forests all around succumbed, although the deep regions remained untouched. Drought
was supreme for two summer seasons. The coldest winter in all memory followed.
Erin remained despite every
tribulation. She had chosen to remove herself from her society. After the death
of her daughter she lost all interest. He no longer cared much for his social
circle either. The unhappier she became, the more he withdrew from others close
to him, including his parents. Most days he hunkered, watching Erin. It was a senseless
obsession, but truth was there was no Fay woman who drew him as much as she
did.
While he was older than she was
in years, he appeared far younger, and thus kept his distance. She would see
him as a youth and would not understand the years already in his mind.
How utterly unfair. He wished he
was human.
His music suffered. More
correctly, his reputation as a minstrel suffered, for he rarely took to the
circuit to play for others.
He played for Erin, softly, on
the edge of hearing.
Kell watched her gradually regain
her physical strength and her purpose for life. He saw how she tended her
vegetables in the fields in view to him and noticed fat and healthy chickens
roaming freely. She was successful at both growing and rearing and soon had
excess with which to trade for other goods. Twice a month she loaded her small
cart, and set off to market.
Often he would then head into the
smaller villages and make music for his own keep.
When Erin turned forty, with fine
lines at her eyes, he noticed how she gazed across the river as if sensing his
presence when he merely watched her, when he made no lyrical sound. Was she as
aware of him as he was of her? If she was, never did she say a word, although
once or twice she did smile secretly.
His heart set up an uneven rhythm
when she did so.
Many of the Fay moved into the
highlands in those years, for more humans had entered the valley. His parents
too chose to relocate, but he was determined to stay and thus took possession
of his childhood home as his own. His mother was sad, reading in him the signs
of unrequited love, knowing also the choice was his. He was considered adult
among his kind.
Humans, however, would regard him
as a youth.
On the banks of a river, a boy sees and hears a girl
laughing, the most glorious music, and falls in love. Time, however, is not the
same for them. Erin is human; Kell is something other.
MINSTRELMINSTREL
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