A distant rushing of air faint and deafening, is all the ears perceive. There is no other sound than the single inhalation of breath.
They say I was born in the light, delivered in gleaming silver and heralded by the songs of angels. A fan fair of coronets announced my birth and cheering citizens were my first sight of the world. I was born an heiress , the one joy of my otherwise childless parents. I was the continuance of their blessed and holy blood. The future ruler of their great but falling kingdom,the sign of their return to the favor of god. I was born to be a savior and a symbol to the people that my family was once more blessed.
I was born to be... I was not.
the pulling groan of a bow string being drawn echo's louder than the intake of breath. It brings with it a slowing of time... So little time now
I was born to the light, the Fae, a blessing upon their holy lineage, but my soul was marked by darkness even from first breaths. A devil they called me, mine own blood, my parents even. Far was I kept from kith and kin alike. Farther still was I kept from the children in the town surrounding the castle. I was forced into the shadows, but I cared not. I was even grateful for in the dark of the shadow I found Vladimir.
there is solid stone beneath, dust kicked up by the harshness of the run. It's a race now, a race against the bowman. The panic sets in, a panic that chokes the senses...makes one desperate
Vladimir the third of Sadic, to most a cold unfeeling man and prideful prince. Sinister in his war strategy and merciless to his foes, he was a man to be wary of. To me he was kind in his own way, and I knew with out question that he loved me with a devotion none thought him capable of.
the sharp snap of the bowstring deafens. It is a sprint now, a race against time... The panic claws deeper, clouds the mind just that last bit more
In my adult hood my parents thought to arrange a marriage to a foreign prince that was firmly Fae. They hoped that being bonded to such a creature would chance my devilry from me, and I would at last be a child worthy of my blood. I refused point blank and informed them of my love for Vladimir. My mother was appalled that I could love such a man, my father was less surprised. He arranged a duel between the two princes for my hand. Vladimir won in fairly shirt order, having been trained as a knight. His enemy's head on the ground and his blade gleaming crimson in the fading sun. As the crowd cheered, I alone saw the slain princes brother rise from his seat bow in hand. It was my heart alone that ceased to beat, as a murderous prince drew back his bow, ladden with an arrow.
a single moment passes, a simple blurring of seconds, in which a thousand choices are made. Most small, some vital, and one, in that single instant, that would change a man's life...forever
So great was my love for him, so truly was my heart his, that I leapt into the path of the arrow and took his death upon my self. The piercing of my chest burned in a distant sort of way, drowned out by my relief that my beloved would live. I heard for an instant the rushing of my own heart and the the sound was lost in the coating of armor , as Vladimir caught my falling form.
a blur of silver hair and a splashed of red blood signal the end. The race is won, the panic fades and the final stroke falls. The bells which toll the end are joined by screams, time has run out
Blood spilled over my pale lips as the distant sound of bells filled the air. I could hear the cries of my mother and the snick of a blade as the murderous prince was ended. Vladimir lowered my body to the ground my head laid gently on his shoulder. I heard my lady's maid trying to calm my mother as I looked up into the charcoal eyes I loved so well and smiled weakly .
" Why? Why would you do this raven mine?" He asked me. His voice was cold but I knew that even then his despair was consuming him.
"Because, I love you, so very much. You've protected me from everyone always. For once you needed protecting, what else could I do but jump," I answered, whispering faintly.
"Do you think I'll live?"
Sorrow and loss filled his eyes as he examined the wound, darkening his charcoal to onyx. I could feel his misery as sharply as I should have felt the arrow but all I felt of that was the fluttering of my dying heart.
"No, no my dearest, you will not live beyond this night," he whispered in my ear, "you will fade and my world shall be darker for it."
I could hear it, in his soft whisper, the shattering of his heart. It was a terrible tragic howling of pain that only I could hear.
"I,'all always love you," I choked, "even into my death."
Blackness covered my eyes and a silence such as I'd never known filled my ears. I was born in the light, heralded by angel songs and coronets but it was the darkness that carried me on swift wings to my death and only silence heralded me there.