Page 19 of Zel

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“Thank you, my lord,” Zel said, paying the hand no mind for now. He would learn its secrets in time.

ULRICH

How wonderous Zel was thus far. Ulrich had envisioned much of how this encounter might go. So far all was as he had hoped for, yet even better and more surprising than he could have guessed.

Especially when Zel lifted the violin and began to play while singing.

“A fiddler skilled,

though love eluded her,

she played her woes

beneath the forest's shade,

and from her music,

unfit suitors stirred for her,

a curse, perhaps,

that love could not invade.”

“First came the wolf,

with hunger in its eyes,

who sought her touch,

demanding like a beast.

She slipped from its grasp,

escaping with a sigh,

fleeting like the shadows,

her heart uncreased.”

“Next came the fox,

dressed in charm like a liar,

riches it promised,

which she knew as fake.

Fooled it in turn,

she took all it had acquired,

and left it in tatters

for her own heart’s sake.”

“Then came the hare,

timid and fearful,

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