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The sweet, melodic notes of the lute along with the merrily chiming bells that adorned saddle and harness quickly gave away the identify of Jhelom's newest visitor. Heads popped out of windows, broad smiles replacing the frowns of day to day tedium. Children dropped their current games to run as fast as their stubby legs could carry them towards the origin of the sound. The bard had come to town. This was, indeed, a cause for celebration. He was a jovial looking man, not more than twenty-five winters, clad in brightly colored clothes. His mirthful eyes and ever present smile were prerequisites for his profession. He reigned in his horse at a local tavern and dismounted, smiling and nodding to the crowd that had quickly gathered.

They followed him over the threshold much like sheep following the head ewe. Chairs were scraped against the floor as the villagers jostled for seats. Children dropped to floor, scooting as close to his chair as they could get without sitting on his toes, their eyes wide and fixated on him as if he were some type of deity. His eyes scanned the crowd, the disarming smile still in place. The lute had been replaced by a small harp that rested gently on his thigh. He cleared his throat once, strummed deft fingers over the strings of the instrument and began singing a ballad of a noble knight who valiantly slew an evil dragon all to save the life of the virtuous damsel in distress.

His rich voice washed over the entranced crowd carrying them with him through the adventure. Honeyed tones told of the princess' beauty and the knight's undying love for her. His audience gasped with outrage at the princess' abduction by the claws of the evil Pagos, the Ice Dragon. One song wove into the next. One tale only spawned another. The flickering firelight of the tavern's hearth reflected on the exuberant faces of his captivated audience. With one last strum over the strings of his harp, his voice trailed off, the silence afterwards almost unbearable. The voice of a small child broke the silence, "Tell us one more, please." "Yes, one more!", they all chimed in.

The pained looked that crossed his features went unnoticed by his adoring fans. Little did they know he'd ran out of songs of brave knights, heroic villagers and vanquished villains. There was only one left in his mental archive. He bent to rest the harp on the floor beside his feet and as he straightened. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he began.

"Long ago, in a village not so very unlike your own, there was a beautiful child born to a tavern keeper and his wife. For many years they had longed for a child of their own yet were denied for reasons unknown. When their daughter was born they named her Terra in respect for Gaia, Mother Earth who breathed life into all creatures.

She was, indeed, a most beautiful child. Bright cornflower blue eyes, cherubic cheeks and a disposition that would make a saint envious. Her parents were near bursting with pride. Her father took every opportunity to point out her beauty to any poor stranger that happened by his tavern.

Terra grew into an even more beautiful young woman if such were possible. The radiance of her internal beauty mirrored that of her external for Terra had a heart of gold. The warmth of her smile was rumored to heal the ailing, the softness of her touch could mend any wounds and the soft, soothing sounds of her voice could calm the most spirited horse.

One day, like many others, Terra was serving bowls of steaming stew to the tavern's patrons when the door opened and a most impressive figure stepped over the threshold. He was tall, lean and more handsome than any boy Terra had seen in the village. Her throat tightened, her heartbeat quickened and she nearly collided with a table that had been there since before she was born. He emanated a strength, an aura of competence and she could not drag her eyes from him if she were commanded to by the gods themselves. As fate would have it, he seemed similarly afflicted by the same malady.

Over the next few days the stranger was a stranger no more. Jareth hailed from Trinsic and was making the trek to Jhelom to deliver some supplies from his father to the local mage shop. He took every opportunity to return to Terra as often as possible but it was never enough. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and still they were stealing moments whenever they could. The warm days of summer had receded into the slightly chilled days of autumn. It had been nearly two weeks since she'd last seen Jareth. She paced the confines of her tavern room for an hour before grabbing her wrap and heading out the door. She could no longer wait to deliver her joyous news. She would go to Trinsic and see him.

The journey was very short. She knew, by his description, right where his father's alchemist shop was located in Trinsic and with a few well asked questions of the local shopkeepers, she was standing before the wooden doors in a short matter of time. She stood outside the door for a moment trying to calm herself. Her cheeks were overly flushed and her eyes bright with anticipation of delivering the news. She had just stretched her hand out to the latch when she heard the enthralling tones of his rich baritone voice from behind the hedge that lined the side of the shop. Her smile widened and she stepped around the hedge only to suddenly stop, the smile slowly sliding from her face, for there before her was her love in an embrace with another woman. No innocent embrace was this. Their arms were twined tightly about one another, their half dressed bodies pressed so closely together it was if they were one.

Her sharp intake of breath gave away her presence and the couple snapped their heads in her direction, their attention no longer on one another. Jareth's face contorted from a look of shame to one of anger. The other woman quickly straightened her disheveled clothing and darted out of the hedge. She watched him with wide, hurt eyes, tears quietly coursing down her cheeks as she softly asked "Why?"

Guilt edged his voice as he spoke harshly to her, claiming he had never loved her and had only wanted to sew his wild oats before committing to marriage. Marian was his betrothed and had been since he was an infant. He blamed her own stupidity for coming when she wasn't invited, with no warning. It was her own fault that she was hurt. She could listen to no more, sobbing she fled the fateful hedge in Trinsic without ever telling him the news that she was with child. His child.

She couldn't return home and humiliate her parents by being an unwed mother so she wandered the cities until she settled in Minoc. There wasn't much to Minoc, very few travelers ever came that way. She didn't mind, she wanted to isolate herself for a while. She acquired a job at the local tavern and began serving the miners ale and venison stew to support her meager existence. It was during this time when a haggard woman came into the tavern. Her back was stooped, her hair unkempt, her few remaining teeth looked as if they were at the end of their days. She settled into a seat and Terra hesitantly went to serve her. The woman's beady eyes went from Terra's eyes to her slightly extended abdomen. A slow, malicious grin split cracked lips. She continued to watch her throughout the evening with those cold, beady eyes. As Terra reached for her mug to refill it, the woman's thin, icy hand reached out to grab her wrist. She gasped and tugged at her hand but the woman held fast. the hag lowered her voice to a crackling hiss, "You can have him back, if that's what you really want." Terra stopped struggling to stare blankly at the woman. It didn't matter how she knew, it mattered what she said. The thought of having Jareth back was all consuming. She dropped into the chair beside the woman, "How?". The woman held up a vial between gnarled fingers that contained a bright blue liquid. "With this. Be warned, if he loves you in return then all will be well. If he returns your love naught, you must pay a price."

The paltry savings that Terra had acquired was soon traded for the vial The thought that she wasn't his true love never occurred to her. She merely had to administer it to him in some way. Once again she found herself in Trinsic, stalking and watching like a criminal from the shadows for her opportunity to give Jareth the elixir and once again declare his love for her. The opportunity presented itself that evening. Jareth seemed to be consuming quite a bit of ale with his friends in the local tavern. It wasn't too difficult for Terra to slip in, stick to the shadows and quickly dump the contents of the vial into his drink. She retreated to the corner to watch, hope filling her to near bursting. Once he had drained the last of the ale from his mug she stepped forward, her cloak drawn loosely about her body to cover her current condition. A warm, loving smile was on her features for she knew now that Jareth could not lie to her. His eyes stopped on her, the laughter died from his lips and was replaced by a sneer. "What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you you were nothing to me? How many times do I have to tell you? Get away from me. Go find some other man to romp in the hay with you, I'm finished with you."

She fled once again, the heart rending sobs that trailed her flight through the streets of Trinsic would make even the most steadfast of hearts weep. She returned to Minoc, packed up her things and moved to a cottage between Minoc and Vesper. She wanted no part of society. She wanted nothing to do with anyone ever again. She gave birth to a baby boy at summer's end and although she was only twenty-four, she had the haggard appearance of a woman three times her age. Although her heart had hardened to the world, she loved her son very much and took every opportunity to show him. Every year that passed made her look five older and before the boy had reached his thirteenth winter, she passed away, dissatisfied with the life she had led."

The low, melodic tones of his voice faded and there was nothing but silence. Slowly people began coming out of their stupors and standing, stretching from the long hours in one position listening to the entrancing bard.

One by one they filed from the tavern until only the bard and the tavernkeeper were left. The bard rose from his seat and headed toward the bar, the tavernkeeper drew him a mug of ale and slid it across the bar, an odd expression on his face. "That was some tale."

The bard settled onto a barstool, his fingers already wrapping around the handle of the ale mug, the pained expression back on his features, "It was no tale. That woman ...was my mother. If I were only some other profession that I didn't need to tell of her passing to eke out my existence." The bard sighed heavily, his face somber.

The tavernkeeper's wrinkled hand fell gently onto the bard's hand to give it a warm squeeze. The bard quickly looked up to see the misty eyes of the tavernkeeper.
"That woman...was my daughter."

*smiles*
Hail M'lady Chelsea
Again reading this WOW !!
Your so much better then you are saying.
You could do short stoies hmmmmm if worked maybe
even more.
Your great, makes one feel like their right in the middle of it.
*bows* I am in awe of your powers with stories.
Adoins

excellent story, I enjoyed it very much it had me feeling what the bard felt. Bravo
Keep them coming.

Chelsea, now you're just flaunting how good you are.

Congratulations and well done on yet another inspiring story. You should think about writing a novel. Or have you already? If so, I'd dearly love to read it.

-M

Oh my Stars!

I loved every word of this story, Thank you so much!

~Bronwyn~

A wonderful tale, Chelsea. I feel privileged to read it and lose myself in the music...