(My computer doesn't like me. If the spacing turns out weird, as in nonexistent, I'm sorry. -.-; I'm trying to fix it.)
Grave Song
Over the hills and far away, a castle stands like a beacon against a fiery sky. The blood red of the setting sun drags stained fingers over the tallest spire, none too eager to relinquish its hold on the world below. In the high, arched window of that tallest spire, a figure is leaning, watching the sun as it dies with a shriek of scarlet-gold defiance.
A haunted smile crosses the figure's face, whispered into life by a memory of defiance similar to the sun's. Unlike the sunset, though, the dreamer in the window still has scars to remember herself by. When the velvet blanket of the night settles in around her castle, she half-turns from her post, debating, watching, confirming that she is alone.
It isn't that she's shy, like a blushing princess waiting for her prince - no, this woman is a warrior, more prone to breaking bones than breaking hearts. It's just that she doesn't want her subjects thinking she's gone soft and trying to usurp her rule - or at least, that's what she tells herself. The real reason she wants no one around her is lost in the hushing sigh of the rising moon. When she senses no one close enough to hear her, she tilts her head back toward the open window and closes her fearsome eyes as best she can without feeling too suspicious. Slowly, softly, a hum starts in her chest and becomes a voice, low and oddly peaceful despite her biting words.
These heavy chains have held me
cradled in their iron-clad arms
These suffocating bars have left me
Only imprints on my aching back
The gray and countless years I spent
Dreaming in my waking hours
Was it just survival, was it a romantic fool's last hope?
Tell me if you can.
If you understand, then sing to me
A sweeter song than this
I only know this one grim melody
The six-feet grave song of the afflicted.
The color is ebbing from my eyes
The laughter stolen from my lips
They say that everything worldly dies
Is it so wrong to want to live?
These shackles bend my back
They're king behind the scenes
Their rule more merciless than an angry god's
So break me, if you can.
If you understand, then sing to me
A braver song than this
I only know this coward's melody
The six-feet grave song of the afflicted.
Dying here and wasting away
When all I wanted was to live
How cruelly amusing this waking world is
Does a special hell for tormentors exist?
Let me die in bitterness then,
And lay sleeping with my waking dreams
Strew deadly nightshade on my grave
And tell me stories, if you can.
If you understand, then sing to me
A stronger song than this.
I only know this one weak melody
The six-feet grave song of the afflicted.
Sing to me if you can...
Or let the silence kill me.
Then the hypnotic lilt and haunting timbre of her voice are gone, but she does not open her eyes again, teeth ground stubbornly against a sudden chill. Because although the night is warm, the memory of the iron kiss of shackles on her wrists is colder than the coldest heart. The sensation does not fade, no matter how many nights she stands at the window, surveying her kingdom. But she still keeps her vigil every night without fail, despite the fact that the Grave Song reminds her of what she was all too well. Her reasons for the almost-masochistic wake are held so far beneath the surface, they nearly fade away entirely like flimsy paper thrown in water.
But vaguely she recalls a reminder of who she is, what her purpose is, how she got to this point in time. And it makes her strong again, a stone wall against the stormy world outside. She is herself again, a ruler with a level head and an unconquerable will. With a small, slightly satisfied half-smile, she turns from the window and her memories, leaving the Grave Song to echo gently through the darkened skies.
...
A/N: Kinda depressing? Nyeh, didn't want to put it in angst though, because really it's not that sad. AU-ish, maybe. Definitely easier to guess this one than 'Bruises' was. :P This game amuses me. There's definitely more in the works. Cleaned up my stories list... ugh, should've done that weeks ago. *headdesk* Feedback appreciated. :)