"The Man of My Dreams"
by Daerlynn Soulmyste

Daerlynn sits herself quietly in front of everyone, biting her lip and brushing a strand of hair out of her face. Hesitantly, she begins her story...

"Tonight, I would like to tell you a story. This is the story of how I met the man of my dreams..."

The bardess shifts a bit in her seat, a hand playing nervously in her hair.

"I know that...that it may surprise people who know me, that there.... that there is such a man...a man of my dreams..."

She smiles nervously as she once more brushes a stray wisp of hair out of her face.

"But...they say...they say you...you never forget your first... your first man..."

She lowers her eyes, brushes the tendril of hair from her face yet again before folding her hands in her lap.

"It was during a war...which war truly does not matter. I was with two friends, Cherrianda and Souvious. We had just been celebrating a wedding in the Half Pint Inn. We had a wonderful time, and were crossing the Town Green when...when I saw him."

"The Green was crowded that night and...I don't know whether it was our youth, the joy of the wedding...or perhaps all of the wine, but...when we saw them, the...the...passion that struck all three of us. Each of us seemed to spot someone, and we moved toward each of our...our... newly found 'partners'..."

The bardess chews on her lip a bit, lost in thoughts of the past.

"As I said before, they say...they say you never forget your first. I remember his eyes,...how our eyes met...locked...across the Green. Like...like fate. They were soft eyes, gentle in their way. Brown... deep...it was his eyes I saw first, and I seemed to fall into them..."

She takes a breath.

"His body...strong...powerful..."

A quick blushing of the bardess' pale face belies her nervousness... her hand brushing that stray wisp of hair out of her eyes once more as she goes on...

"Strong arms...strong legs...the body of a warrior, which he was. He moved towards me with the strength and grace of a warrior as well... slowly...inexorably..."

A nervous shifting in her seat...she continues...

"Cherrianda and Souvious had already...ummm...'paired off' with their...their partners. The beginning rituals...the dance...that we all here know so well. Heat and fire in their eyes as they moved towards...towards...a...a 'culmination', shall we say? But all else faded into insignificance as he approached. I only had eyes for him..."

She lowers her eyes, silent for a moment...

"It was almost slow motion as he approached me...but...finally...he was there. I gazed up into those unforgettable brown eyes, the passion upswelling in my breast. I moved close to him...my hand reached for him...he parted his lips..."

A long pause...her hands in her lap.

Finally...in a quiet, halting voice that you must strain to hear, she continues...

"...and his life's blood poured out...hot...slick...covering my hand as I slid my dagger out of his belly..."

Daerlynn lowers her head, eyes closed, hands wringing in her lap. Silence for a long time...until her eyes come up...meet yours...

She swallows hard, taking a deep breath, her hand brushes back that stray wisp of hair once more.

"They say you never forget your first..."

The bardess sighs...a pause...

"I had hunted many creatures before that night...but...but...but never a man. War...war is a terrible thing is it not? And...who knows what the...the soldiers of the...the...'enemy' think? What they feel? Who they love?"

"You never forget your first. Your first...man killed. How can you? How can I? He waits for me nightly, watching me...accusing me...soft brown eyes staring into my soul...waiting for me. Every night I see him. After all..."

After a long time, you hear the whisper of the bardess' voice...

"He's the man of my dreams."