FABLE: THE LUTE PLAYER AND THE LADY ... By Micheal Idiong

They called her the queen hearts but people didnt know why, till they saw her for the first time. Her hair flaying in the wind as she put on a straw hat to hold it in place. Easing out of a black carriage with white horses. It was a sunny day with bursts of hot wind. Her skin was the fairest  ever seen, bringing out her dark shades from a brown leather  bag with her perfectly manicured fingers.
Her lips,  sultry and perfectly shaped, were more beautiful to look at than the terraced hanging gardens of babylon,  watered by pumps from the Euphrates. She was dressed in green and black , complimenting her green eyes gleaming radiantly, as if bouncing off sparks from the sun. Heads turned, both sexes , straining to see this goddess who seemed unaware of the aura she was causing. Jerichos walls had nothing as firm as her hips, and the way she strolled with the smoothest legs ever thought possible,  with feet comfortably in black simple shoes. Great powerful men had fought for her, had bargained for her,  had started wars and captured kingdoms for her,  but none had won her heart. It was deemed impossible. Reflections from the sun, bounced off her long smooth silky hair, as black as coal, as she entered the hallway of the biggest building in the province.  

Seven Princes stood as still as the dead sea, and  quiet as dead space, and stared at her as she passed them by, she entered a room not  looking left or right or looking back. Her name was Ceifa bénaldes, the Queen of hearts. In the room,  young people  dwelled there, usually kept  as refuge and shelter from hard fought wars, it served like a citadel. There, she paid her respects to these young warriors who bravely fought for justice and defended the territory, giving gold coins to them, sometimes reading war stories as well to them,  and telling jokes just like plautus, the comic dramatist of Rome. It was, at that moment that something seemed to catch her attention. All of a sudden...she turned, It was a sound,  highly melodious, coming from outside the room,  past the battlements and towards the garden, were children were gathered round a lute player. The sound was captivating and enchanting.  The lute player sang with a voice as sweet as honey ,  holding the instrument's finger board with delicate fingers singing and playing in perfect harmony looking towards the sky as if to heaven. He Played impeccably for hours into the star light giving all his heart and soul to the children of Preasidus. She had heard rumours of a young man, who gave all that he had to the poor and when he had none,  offered his music and soul, to soothe the people of Preasidus, a town usually in wars. Indeed it was a fateful day,  hours had passed which seemed like minutes. Ceifa's heart began to embrace this moment for the first time in a while,  and savoured it. His kind gentle eyes and smiles as he sang sweetly, his long hair falling over his face , wearing a torn red and brown tunic, rags, old shoes, and torn socks but, still laughing and smiling,  a flicker of hope, from his kind eyes and fair face. His name was Arian Cervantès. His songs were about peace and hope,  solitude and calmness. The songs were over and most of the youngsters were asleep on the grass. It was at that moment that Arian walked up to her and took a good look at her beauty,  and sat with her for a while. He later saw past the beauty in seconds to notice a profound emptiness . Mi'lady,  thats a mask of smile u wear. In seconds her defenses were shattered. He sang in tunes of light,  happiness and faith with his lute, ballads,  poems of comfort and for the first time, in years the lady Ceifa was in admiration. The lady had lost a son during the wars and as a widow had inherited the Bèlnades family heirlooms. Going around , giving all the riches to the needy,  especially kids of victims of war. Not once had she seen so much concern from one so poor helping others so poor,  and singing to soothe the needy. A King of Hearts.

The lady Ceifa married the man with rags and a lute.