Loki's Apprentice: A Tale Retold

Chapter 27: Something There

"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will."
-Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

"Why do you come out here to read, when you are supposed to be taking a break?" Loki asked as he sat down beside her, sitting at the base of a tree. Where they sat they had a brilliant view of the small pond before them, but he didn't pay much attention to the pond. His attentions were fully paid to Evelyn, who looked up from her book with a smile.

"Because this kind of reading is for pure enjoyment."

"And, may I ask, what story could be so capturing to my beauty?"

She stopped and looked down at the grass, she had never heard him speak her name so tenderly.

The incident in the maze had been forgiven, but she was still very wary.

"A poem." She said thoughtfully. "Would you like to hear it?"

He nodded as he leaned against the tree, his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. Ready to be immersed into the story.

Lover's Gilded Wire

"WHAT is the greatest beauty thine eyes have ever beheld?"

With curiosity his lover's eyes swelled.

"Well," said I. "Thou would not be able to guess."

"I believe I can, I confess!"

With eager eyes she persisted.

"Was it hordes of golden coins, a sea of yellow further than the eye can reach? Or perhaps sparking jewels that only the rich may keep? Did thou see opulent rings to be worn on slender fingers? Or was it the sacred diadem where thine admiration still lingers?"

I replied.

"The shinning gold no longer has its appeal, once the eyes have witnessed her snowy white hue. Nothing, I believe, could ever compare. No jewel in Milan or the treasures within the ocean blue.

Now for the jewels thou have breathlessly described, they would appear only dull against the beauty of her slender neck. So elegant it stands, so confident and erect!

No earthly thing, not even a crown, could compare to her beauty. I know what thou must be thinking, I can see it in thy frown. But let me explain this creature so fine and fair, for once I'm finished thee will find her divine, I swear!

Innocence white feathers trailing as a river behind. There could not be a fairer creature man's eye could find. And her song! Oh how sweet to thine ear! Her tenderness and vibrato pierces thee like a delicate spear.

"What bird do thee describe in which thou has fallen in love?"

She asked.

"The Swan, the blushing Cherokee, or the elegant white dove? May I see this creature that thee so ardently loves? Oh! What sorrow has fallen upon thee. Pray tell me, why do thy weep?"

"I cannot resist the guilt I must accept, for I have misused my love, as a prisoner I have kept. Never for another eye to admire. No, she is mine, hidden behind gilded wire
until the hour she must expire.