Forbidden Hearts, Mystic Souls ✨
Poetic Vignette 🌿 (6m read)
Listen to the accompanying song while reading: Van Morrison, “Into The Mystic”
The moon, pale and wan, hung low over the westernmost shores of Oshanor, the Elvish seaport city whose towers gleamed silver beneath the starlit sky. The waters lay still as a mirror, reflecting both moon and stars, as if the heavens themselves had been cast upon the sea. Nori, a humble dwarf from the stone city of Narturm, stood upon the dock, his stout hands deftly securing the sail of a small vessel. The air carried the sharp tang of salt and brine, while a ghostly mist clung to the water’s surface, draping the sea in an eerie, spectral shroud.
With tender care, Nori arranged the blankets and cushions within the boat, preparing for their journey. Though the craft was simple, it was ready for a voyage into lands unseen—a world where judgment would not bind them, nor ancient laws weigh upon their hearts. He paused, listening, as the sound of soft footfalls reached his ears, muffled upon the wooden planks.
From the shadows emerged Kaedriel, cloaked in the deep hues of night. Her golden hair, hidden beneath her hood, shimmered faintly as she approached, her elvish grace undiminished even by her disguise. Her face, fair as the morning, bore an ethereal glow, though her steely blue eyes were cast in shadow. Without a word, she stepped close, her hands cool as they caressed Nori’s rough-hewn face, and with a kiss, she sealed the unspoken promise that had long passed between them.
“Prestol, meleth nîn,”—Ready, my love?—Nori’s voice faltered slightly, the words of her tongue falling awkwardly from his lips, though his love for her was sure.
A soft, lilting laugh escaped Kaedriel’s lips. She rested a hand upon his shoulder. “Prestannen ennas an lín cuil naeth,”—I have been ready for this my whole life,—she whispered, her voice as soft and resolute as the wind that stirred the sails.
They had defied the fates of two worlds that would never understand them. Kaedriel, a princess of the Elves, had forsaken her lineage and her duty, walking away from the realm of Oshanor and the marriage bond to Larenthanil, the aloof prince of her people. Nori, a simple poet from the stone-clad halls of Narturm, had turned his back on the quiet life of his kin, a life spent in the comfort of words and song, but bound by the rigid expectations of his people. For this love, their hearts had been laid bare, and now, they stood upon the brink of a new life.
It began with a book. Kaedriel had discovered Rakhâs felak—Forbidden Love—at a merchant's stall in Oshanor. The words within were dwarven in origin, woven in verse that spoke of love forbidden by both custom and blood—love between dwarf and elf. The poems stirred something deep within her, a flame that would not be quenched by the duties of her station. She could not rest until she met the poet who had dared to dream of such a love.
Concealing her royal lineage, Kaedriel had ventured to Narturm, the mountain city of the dwarves. There she found him: Nori, a dwarf unlike any other, whose spirit shone brighter than the firelit halls in which he dwelled. His stature was shorter than her own, his long dark hair and beard framing a youthful, earnest face. She watched from a distance as he taught young dwarves the art of scribe, his passion alight with every stroke of quill and pen. He saw beauty in the smallest of things, and in him, Kaedriel saw a soul like her own.
When she approached him, meeting his kind eyes, her bond was forged in that very moment. Nori was cautious at first, for her beauty and grace seemed beyond his reach, but Kaedriel's heart had already been lost to his effusive expressions of passion and vulnerability. Together, they wandered the mountain paths, sharing tales of distant lands and dreams of a life neither thought they could have.
Yet, duty beckoned. Kaedriel was betrothed, her life bound to another, and when her absences were noticed, her family forced her to end what had barely begun. It broke her heart—and his.
Years passed, but Nori kept the candle of his love for her burning bright within his heart. His love took form in a new collection of poems, Rakhâs anâthu-lukh—My Immortal Beloved—which chronicled the intimate moments they had shared and the promises they made to each other under the mountain sky. The dwarven verses leapt from the page, breathing life into memories so passionate and vivid that Kaedriel could no longer deny the true courage within her.
Now, as they stood upon the dock, the mist clinging to their feet like an old, familiar friend, they were ready to fulfill their oaths to each other. Nori loosened the final rope, and the boat slipped away from the shore. They were free—free to sail into their own story, where the laws of kingdoms and kin held no sway, where love might flourish unbound.
The gentle waters of the sea bore them toward the moonlit horizon, where stars flickered above like distant lanterns guiding them on. Nori took hold of the rudder, his hands firm and steady as he steered their small vessel out of the safe harbor.
“Man lû velethir,”—Where will we go?—Kaedriel’s voice was barely a breath, her head resting lightly against Nori’s shoulder, her fingers entwined with his.
“Las aen i istar tiriatha ammen,”—Wherever the mystic leads us,—Nori replied, his eyes reflecting the starlight above. “A ias lelyar, teithar i chin hen, ú-geveditha na i amar han bâdannen,”—And wherever we go, we shall write our own story, one untethered by the world we leave behind.
And so, beneath the moon and stars, they sailed—two brave souls bound, venturing into the unknown, into lands beyond, into the Mystic.
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