Song of Love and Valor

She had loved him since she was young, and he wanted nothing more than to take her for his own. But instead, they chose bearing the heartache of sharing only adoring glances each other’s way, out of the duty and love for another. It was very difficult to hide the feelings engulfing their hearts; however, her beloved father, an honorable warlord, was his dearest friend.

The kingdom was in turmoil with calculating foes lurking behind any opportunity to strike their King, seize his throne, and claim his power. Such times required the highest trust and unity. A hidden revelation this close to his heart was too much to risk when ultimate deceit from his true enemies was inside his own castle walls.

He would be forced into another woman’s arms, and she was suddenly betrothed to another when misfortune struck and the King was forced to go to war. He would lead his men into an impossible battle to win with ten to one odds, and so they prepared to depart for a fight to the death.

It was during their last feast she played her harp, a beautiful song for her dearest father and the men. Yet in his heart, the man she loved knew she was also playing for him to finally hear what she felt and all she could not say.

Would the Warlord’s army be enough to top the insurmountable odds against an evil foe that would ravish all he and his men held most dear? Could they defeat the vast army and miraculously survive the battle? Or would her soulful song be the last ballad of her love that would echo in the great halls should her father and his men fail to return?

The only certainty was that within their hearts, they both knew of the other’s love the only way they could show it; her through the melodic song of her soul, and he in a mortal fight to protect her.