The Silver Weaver
Once upon a time, in a town called Verden, there lived a kind and hardworking weaver named Samuel. His work was extraordinary that locals would queue early in the morning to buy his beautifully woven fabrics. Despite his prosperity, Samuel felt a longing. He was getting old and he yearned for a family to share his life and success with. He yearned for a child.
Samuel decided to pay a visit to Madam Zola, an old respected fortune teller and asked her about his fate. She told Samuel, 'You will very soon have a child, but not in the way you would expect.' Samuel was puzzled, but he held onto hope.
One late night, as Samuel was cleaning his loom, he found a small piece of silver thread. As he plucked it free, the whole room glowed. The light formed what seemed like a teenage boy. He introduced himself as Silvio, a spirit from the Land of Looms. Samuel couldn't believe his eyes, but he instantly knew this was the answer to his prayers. Silvio was charming, curious and radiant like the silver thread he was born from.
They quickly became inseparable. Samuel taught Silvio the art of weaving. As expected, Silvio was a natural-born weaver as if the threads knew him from their core. Their tiny house turned more lively, and Samuel has never been happier.
One day, while they weaved together, Silvio asked, 'Why don't we weave something never seen before?' Samuel, intrigued, decided to experiment weaving with the remaining silver thread. The result was a fabric of such divine beauty that all of Verden was astounded when they revealed it at the annual Fair.
Unbeknownst to them, the King attended the Verden fair in disguise and asserted to own the ethereal fabric. He invited Samuel and Silvio to the royal palace and offered them to weave royal robes from the silver thread. Samuel, being humble, hesitated. However, Silvio was enthusiastic.
In the palace, they were given a small weaving room. They toiled tirelessly, days turned into weeks but they never seemed to run out of the silver thread. After months, the robe was ready. It was magnificent, shimmering with an unearthly charm. The king was pleased beyond measure and granted them a vast fortune.
Everything seemed perfect until the King, entranced by the enchanted robe, refused to take it off. The shimmering silver robe began to glow, taking the King's life essence. The court's wizard identified Silvio’s true identity and his unnatural birth from the silver thread. The king ordered Silivo's immediate imprisonment and decided to hang him for treason.
Samuel, heartbroken and desperate, begged Madam Zola for a solution. She whispered a forgotten loom song in his ears which could reverse the magic. Samuel, filled with hope, bravely marched to the palace and insisted that he could restore the King's dying health.
Kneeling before the weak King, he gently touched the enchanted robe and sang the spellbound song. The silver threads started to loosen, unravelling the King’s life essence they had consumed. The King was restored to health and in his gratitude, released Silvio.
The pair happily returned to their simple weaving life in Verden, using their fortune for the welfare of their town. They never used the silver thread again except as a reminder of their incredible journey together.
From then on, Silvio was known as Silvio the Silver Weaver, his fame far surpassing his father's and known to almost every kingdom there is. But Silvio remained ever enchantingly humble, never forgetful of the magical thread from which he was born. The love of the weaver Samuel, the father who wasn't his father and of Verden, the town that wasn't his was etched deep in his heart.
And so, they lived weaving their days away, only this time, they were not alone. They had each other. Samuel finally had a family, and Silvio, he had a home