The Silverberry Tree

For a long time the Prince stood watching the shadows lengthen as the sun slipped behind Silverberry Hill. And then it seemed he could hear singing. At first he thought it was the beautiful voice of Princess Red Dawn, drifting across the meadows from the inn. But as he listened, he realized it was something else, something he had not heard since he had been a boy at Silverberry: it was an Elfin song...

...their mornings were of silver,
and their evenings were of gold,
and the berries never fell,
from the Silverberry Tree.

Their palace was of crystal,
and their songs sung of stars,
and the berries never fell,
from the Silverberry Tree.

But from the North came a shadow,
a dark hand across the land,
a hand that broke and changed the Earth,
the hand of Morindoor.

Their palace then was hidden.
Their songs they sang no more,
but the berries never fell,
from the Silverberry Tree.

Until the Prince returns,
and turns the hidden key,
the berries never fell,
from the Silverberry Tree.

The berries never fell,
from the Silverberry Tree,
the berries never...

The Prince listened in fascination as the song faded away. It was a little like the old song he knew, but there were differences...

The Adventures of Zappo Zhi. Book I. The Silverberry Tree.