Minstrels' Guild of Drachenwald

December 07, 2003

by Lady Valeria delle Stelle

Once upon a time there lived in a faraway castle an old Duke. This Duke had a young daughter. Her name was Adel and her beauty was so well hidden that noone could see it. Only when she lifted her head the beauty of her eyes would stun anyone, for she had large, emerald eyes, eyes that sparkled like twin stars. But most of the time she kept her eyes downcast and nobody could immagine their power.

One day the King of the land gave a grand celebration in his castle in honour of his son, the Prince, and he bid all the young noblemen and noblewomen to attend. Thus Adel found herself at the Kings palace, all dressed up in soft blue velvet. She moved around and nobody paid any attention to her because she never lifted her gaze.

Then the trumpets rang and all the guests had to present themselves to the Prince before the great Feast could begin. Adel waited patiently her turn and when she finally arrived in front of the Prince she curtsied and then lifted up her eyes and her gaze fell upon Swordmaster Demetrius.

Lord Demetrius was the Prince's general. He was a very hard man. He had been in so many wars, had fought so many battles, had slept on the ground for so long that the night cold had crept into his bones and had turned his heart into a lump of ice. It was said that Demetrius had never cared for a woman and no woman had ever cared for him. The only thing he craved for was power and for that he got married to an evil witch who could assist him.

The Swordmaster turned his head and looked deep into her emerald eyes, and the fire of her sparkling twin stars fell upon his frozen heart and began to melt it. For the first time in his life Demetrius felt the heat of true love kindling inside him. He couldn't take his eyes off hers even if he wanted to.Adel looked at him too and felt a bond being woven between them, a chain of fire and ice.

They sat side by side at the grand Feast and their hands touched underneath the table and Adel felt her heart swelling and she knew that he and no other was her one true love. After the Feast they sat together on a garden bench and they talked and talked and when they had finished they started from the beginning and each time everything seemed new.

The time came when they had to part. Demetrius bent down and kissed her once on her soft, red lips. Alas! that was the only thing he could do. For the evil witch had tied him with her magic in bonds stronger than steel and he could not break them, no matter how hard he tried. So he turned and left Adel and the grass and the leaves turned wet by his tears and the drops from his melting heart.

Adel watched him go when suddenly she heard a great ripping sound. It was her heart being torn in two. Then Adel knew that the only thing which could make her heart whole again was his kiss, so she mounted her horse and ran behind him. But the bonds of the evil witch were very strong. No matter how hard she tried, in a while she lost him. But she kept going because her torn heart wouldn't let her rest. Her horse was exausted and died under her, but she kept on, without food and without water, for her torn heart would not be at ease until she saw him again.

Tattered and torn, she arrived at last at the edge of a dark forest and there, at the far side of a black-watered lake, she saw looming a castle of black stone. At the shore of the lake she stumbled and fell on her knees. She could not move any more. Her torn heart had betrayed her.

Meanwhile, the evil witch had discovered her husbands' treachery. She was so angry that she imprisoned him on the castle's highest turrett. There she went every day to tease and taunt him and he could not resist because his heart was not a lump of ice anymore. But the witch knew that his heart could freeze again, if only he never saw Adel's eyes again. So, when Adel collapsed on the shore, she bid her men to tie her on a stake and burn her, so that her emerald eyes would be destroyed and Demetrius would belong to her forever. Then she went up to the turrett and forced Demetrius to watch. She thought that the distance between them was too great to cause any harm.

But true love knows no limits and no boundaries. As the flames begun to engulf her, Adel lifted her head and her gaze locked with Demetrius. And as the evil witch's fire burned her body so the fires of her emerald eyes melted Demetrius' heart. When the witch went to where she had been burned, she found nothing because the ashes were scattered by the wind. And when she went up to the turrett, she found only damp stone where Demetrius had stood. Furious, she began to descend to the deapths of the castle, trying to locate the water that was Demetrius. But if she had looked up, she would have seen two swans circling above the turretts. And the one had a sword painted on his breast and the other had bright, emerald eyes that sparkled like twin stars.

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Author's Notes & Documentation

The story was written as an alternative of a greek folktale that I read years ago. I added some bits of my own experience and tried to write it in a more literary style. I think I would tell it a bit differently if I was storytelling.

© 1998 by Leda Filippopoulou

Posted by Jehan de Lorraine at December 7, 2003 11:36 PM