Ty Beirdd gives students the opportunity to not only study and perfect
their arts but to share them with others, and that is what I am doing
today, so enjoy!

The Phantom love

There was once a beautiful tsol'aa named Gwenevene. Most of the time,
she was found in the Garden of the Arts. She would walk through the
garden, gazing at the beautiful flowers and the beautiful crystal
fountain that stood before her. Her favourite place to sit was on a
crystal encrusted bench. The delicate bench sparkled in the sunlight,
cold like glass to the touch as her fingers ran over it.

While in the garden,you never saw her without her journal and a quill.
She came up with many ideas by just sitting in the garden and always
wrote them down. The fountain gave her the most inspiration as the water
fell like diamonds into its crystal surrounded waters. Sometimes, you
could even hear the young girl sing.

The singing once caught the attention of a young man, as he was walking
through the gardens, exploring for his very first time in sapience. He
hid behind the fountain, listening to her beautiful songs while trying
not to be noticed. The one time he did hum with her, she gasped and
suddenly jumped.

"Who's there!?" she yelled.

He was caught and had no other choice but to show himself. He stood up
and stepped from behind the fountain. She started to speak but when her
eyes caught glimpse of his face, she stopped. He had the most beautiful
green eyes she had ever seen, accompanied by his strong build and his
dark chocolate brown hair. He was a sight to see and she quickly closed
her notebook after she caught herself staring at him for a few minutes.

"Why are you spying on me?" she asked.

"No no dear lady, I was listening to your songs. You have a beautiful
voice" he responded.

She blushed, her pink cheeks only adding to her soft sky blue eyes and
the beautiful golden blonde hair that streamed halfway down her back.
She smiled softly at him as he walked to sit next to her on the bench.
They were both interested in each other, you could tell by the smiles
they shared. They stayed on the bench for a while talking until the girl
stood up and hid playfully behind some trees. This then became a game of
chase. He chased her through the garden, his laughs and her giggles
echoing through the trees. Her dress flowing behind her until he
suddenly caught her and brought both of them to the ground.

As they landed, they both rested in the comforts of the flowers and the
grass of the garden. Their eyes met again and he boldly leaned in,
giving her their first kiss. The kiss made her lips tingle and she felt
as if she was flying. He suddenly withdrew and whispered, "I have to
go."

Her heart sank...and he left suddenly, just like that. After that day,
she waited on the bench with her journal for the chance to see him but
he never came back. She started to wonder if her heart belonged to a man
who only existed in her mind until he showed up, behind the fountain,
smiling at her. She greeted him with the biggest hug she could and he
took her to rest within the grass again.

"I love you Gwenevene," he whispered to her.

She whispered that she loved him too and after she gave him one kiss, he
disappeared again. She fell against the grass and decided to write in
her journal, about the mystery man who stole her heart.

She hadn't seen him for months after the last meeting and she was
getting discouraged. That was, until she had a gorgous white dove fly in
and drop a letter into her lap. The letter was from the man she had met,
letting her know he hadn't forgotten about her. Each month after that,
she received letter after letter. Letters telling her how much he adored
her, cared for her and loved her. She waited in the same spot every
month for a dove to drop a letter on the blue crystal encrusted bench.
She would send letters back of course, only to be greeted with a new
letter each month. She lived to hear his words through paper but
eventually, the letters quit coming.

She waited and waited each month on the same bench, by the same
fountain. To make sure she didn't miss him, she would purchase waybread
to keep her content. The singing that once echoed through the garden
stopped and it became darker as she waited day by day with no letter
from him, no word at all. Eventually she gave up and sent him her final
letter saying that she cannot wait for him any longer. Waiting for a
phantom was waiting for it to never snow in Cyrene again, hopeless.

She never forgot the man who stole her heart. The man who made her the
happiest. The man who sent her the sweet words that rested, preserved,
in her pouch. Her final letter gave her closure to something she never
wanted to forget about.

She sat on the edge of the fountain one day, after writing in her
journal, singing her songs that were beautiful yet mournful until she
was stopped.

"Now why are the beautiful songs so sad now?" the man asked her.

Her heart rose again, she raised her head from her journal and saw the
same handsome face, with the same beautiful green eyes. In no time, she
got up from the bench and ran into his arms. She embraced him in a
strong hug, telling him that she would never let him go. She apologized
for the letter, which he threw into the fountain as he kissed her.

"I would hope my fair lady wouldn't let me go, because I couldn't think
of anything better to come here for."

He then kneeled before her, opening a box that held a beautiful white
gold band and resting in the middle was a sapphire as dark as the ocean
depths. Surrounding that sapphire were small diamonds that sparkled like
the waters of the fountain. The ring glittered in the sunlight and for
the first time in a long time, the garden wasn't that same dark place it
had become.

"That's why I bought you this. The band of white gold is a circle,
showing you my everlasting love. The sapphire shines as the fountain
does in the sunlight and the diamonds sparkle as the waters that fall
like diamonds. I leave like a phantom but am brought back by my heart, a
heart that never fails to bring me to this same spot. I come back to see
the beautiful girl who owns the enchanting voice. Please let me be the
lucky man, lured in by your voice for eternity." He said to her while
holding her hand.

She accepted his proposal, and as soon as he slipped the ring on her
delicate finger, he vanished but this time it was different. This time,
he left his heart behind around the beautiful girl's finger, a promise
and a guarantee to return again.



Penned by my hand on the 16th of Glacian, in the year 553 AF.