The Apprentice's son

The apprentice's son ran away
To join in battles and war

Leaving behind a fair young maid
Crying at her father's door

"Come back for me, my love, my dear"
She begged through showers of tears

"I'll come back no matter what,
Even if it takes many years"

The time passed, slow as the tide
Which laps at the edge of forever

She waited for him, praying to God
That her love should never forget her

The pain and agony she went through
With the birth of her unwed child

Did not bring pity or kindness from those
Who said the girl had gone crazy and wild

She waited for him for another year
Their son never knowing his dad

And every day that passed without him
Made her life worse than bad

In the second year, when he did not return
She took it upon herself

To find the man that she loved most
And she never stopped to rest

From battle field to battle field
She trudged with determination

She knew she would find him, Dead or alive
Even if she searched the entire nation

Every General, Major and Colonel
Every tent and sleeping mat

Yet No one knew the man she'd lost
Nor where she'd find him at

From camp to camp, all of her questions
went unanswered by them

Until the day a young General
Agreed to see her in

And on entering the tent where he sat
Her voice failed to make a sound

Who was this man she thought she knew
Could it be? Was it he she had found?

The maiden's heart lept for joy
At the sight which she beheld

And when he took her in his arms
None can describe the love she felt

For on that day, as they stood alone
Victims and victors of war

The beauty of love shone about
Flowing from their very core

The long lost son and runaway daughter
Come together in the Father's house

Found and earned, and never forgotten
Sealed forever, among the histories of vows.