The Lonely Lord

A traditional folk story from Rites of the Fae as Told in Prose and Song

Translated from Sylvan by an anonymous writer

Once upon a time, a woman went into the woods. Armed only with her wits and her convictions, she walked and walked until she was set upon by an unkindness of ravens. They called to her from the trees and landed around her on the ground and told her to turn back, but she shook her head and said:

"I am here to speak with the Lord who has taken all of the joy from my people. Night after night, the children of my clan are terrorized by the sounds of weeping from the owls in the woods that I have determined to be his creatures. I demand that he may grant me an audience, so that I can find out why the Lord disturbs us at night."

The ravens all let her pass, as they knew of the owls of which she spoke, and how the night creatures terrified the children. The woman walked deeper into the forest.

Soon, night fell onto the woods, and then she was harassed by a congregation of owls. They called to her from the trees and landed around her on the ground and told her to turn back, but she shook her head and said:

"I am here to speak with the Lord who has taken all of the joy from my people. Day after day, the elders of my clan are horrified by the sounds of screams from the ravens in the woods that I have determined to be his creatures. I demand that he may grant me an audience, so that I can find out why the Lord disturbs us in the day."

The owls all let her pass, as they knew of the ravens of which she spoke, and how the daytime creatures terrified the elderly by reminding them of their mortality. The woman walked deeper into the forest.

Soon, she came to a large tree, bigger than any she'd ever seen. All manner of winged creatures sat on the branches, but she saw mostly ravens, owls, and swans. And at the foot of the tree was a man who the woman knew immediately to be the Lord, as he was unspeakably beautiful and yet utterly strange in appearance. She came to him and--brave woman that she was--she clasped her hands around his and knelt down before him. "My Lord, you must stop the harassment of my people. By day, you scare the elders, and at night, you scare the children. Please tell me, why do the creatures scream and cry?"

The Lord looked down at her and she finally saw that there were tears running down his face. "My dear, the creatures carry my emotions, for it is I who have been weeping and screaming. I have lived as long as it can be said anything lives, but it is only now that I feel a loneliness that I cannot bear. For all of my birds to keep me company, I dislike the others of my kind. I merely wish to find one person that will dispel the loneliness that my ancient heart feels."

The woman looked at the Lord like he had gone mad, as lords can often seem, and said, "All you wish for is a friend?"

"Is that what your kind call it?" the Lord replied.

The woman laughed in his face, then begged his forgiveness by kissing him on the hand. "If that was all you wanted, my Lord, you could simply have asked one of my people to come and keep you company! Perhaps you would find a true friend among one of my people."

The Lord looked at her and said, "Would you not be the best candidate of them all? After all, you walked a long, long path, and if you go back, I cannot guarantee that you would return to your people the same way that you knew them, for Time is unkind to mortals who walk these woods."

The woman thought about it for a long moment. She gave a great sigh and said, "I will stay here to be your friend, then, and teach you how to be a friend."

A century passed, which was not much time at all for the Lord and a good bit of time for the woman. The woman had taught the Lord about friendship and what a friend did, and she noticed that the creatures in the woods that were the Lord's creatures were much happier and pleasant. But she also feared that she had fallen in love with him, and so could no longer be the friend that he needed.

One day, she finally confessed her love to the Lord, knowing that if he didn't know about friendship beforehand, there was no way he could possibly comprehend love, and so she expected him to send her away back to her people, who would perhaps not even recognize her, nor would she recognize them. Such a fate would have been worse than death for her.

But the Lord surprised her as he took her hands and knelt before her as she did to him upon their first meeting a century ago. "My dear, I do not understand your feelings--but only because I feel them too, and they are new to me, just as the loneliness was a century ago. Could I ask you the favor of also teaching me how to love?"

The woman lived happily ever after with the Lord, and it is said that he continued to be her student even to her last breath as she passed away in his arms. And if you listen closely to the birds in the woods, you can sometimes hear them speak of the lonely Lord who was not so lonely anymore.