Chapter 1
My grave is still buried in the palace of fate, and my heart has not been heard for a thousand years. If it were heard, the world would know me by name. The world doesn’t remember the sound of the famous songstress, Zenna. The moon shines high above my grave, and I hear a melody play every night.
The strings of the harp are plucked by the man I once loved. He lives on the moon with his long curly locks. They are blonde and full of endless knots. I hear his melodies playing in the air when he comes down with his fiddle in hand. They tell of his sorrows and his memories of how we once lived.
Our love was never meant to be. We were never meant to fall in love. We were divided by war. His people lived on the east side of the river, and mine lived on the west. He had many names, but he was known as Thomas in the common tongue.
Thomas was a gentleman who played his violin to woo me. I remember the first time we met, down by the river of the milky twilight. He was ready to kill me, Zenna, the princess of the West Kingdom. He wore a mask and looked ridiculous. He hid his face to scare me, but his blue eyes enchanted me with wonder.
The moon spirit blessed our meeting, and we were fated to be star-crossed lovers. We were only allowed to meet in secret during the full moon. Thomas would play his violin, and I would sing. Our melodies would harmonize and protect the dreams of the citizens of both kingdoms.
When the darkness came to the river, Thomas deflected it with his music. The clouds went away, and our song carried on. The East Kingdom started to question Thomas and his whereabouts. He always told them he was down by the river, playing to protect their souls from the nightmares.
The West Kingdom listened to my song at night. But the harmony carried on for many, many wonderful years. The goddess let us meet every full moon, and we would play together. His blue eyes followed my lips as I sang, and my eyes were mesmerized by his violin playing.
Our lips touched, and the goddess married us in secret. My father had me followed one night. Being the King of the West has its privileges. He learned of my union. He sought a priest to end our union. The moon goddess didn’t allow our bond to be broken.
She appeared to my father in a dream. He was forced to accept the love of a West Princess and an East Peasant with the violin skills of a master. The East Kingdom learned our secret too, but they were not so kind in our union.
One fateful night, Thomas was followed to the river’s edge. The hunter waited until our backs were turned and our hearts were full of desire. The arrow struck my heart, and Thomas couldn’t stop it. The goddess couldn’t stop it.
Darkens consumed the kingdoms, but Thomas kept playing. My ghost danced in the twilight. I was still present to dance to my love’s musical passion. As Thomas played our famous tune, the goddess of the moon blessed his strings. She gave him a voice for him to sing. He strung his violin and struck the notes. The notes were soft and whispered to the crickets nearby. The hunter listened to Thomas play.
With tears in his eyes, he sang our song of love. He sang in my stead with his melodious voice, and I cried my ghostly tears. I could see him, but he could neither see me nor touch my soul. He sang our song one last time. It went something like this...
On the banks of the stream,
We followed our dream,
Under the light of the moon,
We wrote together this tune,
We fell in love under the twilight sky,
The marriage forged a lullaby,
Played by a violin and a voice,
The East and West Kingdoms now have a choice,
To come together and be whole again,
We were friends at night,
And met under the moonlight,
We would sing and play,
Our tune will never go away,
Under the light of the moon,
Our voices are as soft as a loon...
The hunter stopped Thomas from singing and struck him down dead. He died with his violin in hand. My spirit appeared, and the hunter gasped and fainted. Thomas reached his hand out to mine, and I finished our song as he closed his eyes.
In the land of twilight, the birds will always sing,
Our midnight songs are as soft as spring,
When the light of our love ends on this earth,
We will be the symbol of rebirth...
Every time the sparrow sings,
I remember the winters and the springs,
Down by the streams, are love is evergreen,
Up in the skies, it will be just us and our dreams,
Music is our voice. It is the language of hope,
The language of hope that will tell them to cope,
I won’t have you in life but will love you in death,
The world will treasure your final breath,
Our love was our baby,
Trapped in the music of woes and maybe,
The land of fate is where thousand years will pass,
So go on East and West Kingdoms, and be free at last.
Our love and song moved the hunter, and he begged the East King to reconcile with the West King. It’s been a thousand years since Thomas’ lips and mine touched. A thousand years since our ancestors stopped all their wars. We are the Romeo and Juliet of the light calling to the people in the darkness of night. The land of the moon is where the valley will split, and the mountains are steep. It is where we will find our melodies and play our songs. Our song is all we have left. The world took away our thunder and caused us to love one another. So when you hate your enemy, just stop and think of me. Think of me, Zenna, and Thomas of the Moon, and when you do, sing our song and play our tune.
The End.
