Yay! I decided to go on… Actually, I didn't want to start my English mid-term during class, or do any other work, so I worked on this instead. But right after this I'm analyzing Kindred because it's due Wednesday!

Disclaimer: I own no people, places, things, or ideas belonging to Tamora Pierce.

Confused yet Decisive

Where was Kally,
His Kally?
She had been here,
He remembered,
But only long ago.
Now she was gone.

There was a Kally, though,
He had heard the nobles,
Who talked about his wife
As if she was still there.
She was,
He realized,
Alive and there,
But she was not
As she had first been.
She didn't smile,
Didn't kiss him
Like she used to.
Why?

You,
A small voice answered.
You changed her,
It is your fault.

"No,"
He said.
Yes,
Look at what you have done.
"I have done
What was only necessary."
For what?
For keeping
That which you do not deserve?

"It is my empire."
It is the people's empire.
"I am right."
You are wrong!

You kill mercilessly,
Taking the lives
Of those who don't deserve
The torture of death
And grief.

"No,
They threatened me
And my rule.
There were plots
To kill me."

And who told you this?
Was it not your heir,
The one the people call
Demon-Prince,
Prince Jaccor?

"Yes,
Poor little Jaccor,
Whom I trust
In Life and Death,
The prince the people
Like to pick on.
He never lies,
Not to me.

"At his birth,
It was prophecized
That at the most important moment
In his life
He would speak the truth
From the Gods above.

"Now is the time.
Now he speaks the truth.
He speaks
Of plots,
Five against me,
Two against my dear Kally.

"Where has she gone,
My Kally?"

Kally,
Your Kally,
Is gone,
Never to come back.
You turned her away
And turned her into
Your Empress,
Who will die at your hand.

"She must die,
She wants the throne,
My throne.
She plots against me."

Does she?
Or do you
Plot against her?

"Always be on the offensive,
A wise saying
If ever there were one.

"Kalasin is a threat,
To my rule
And thus to my people.
She must die
Before any harm
Can be done."

Do you
Have to kill
Her?

"She is a threat."

When?

"Tonight,
Now.
I must stop the Tortallan witch,
For she destroys us all."

She or
You?

Kaddar got up
And ran
To take care
Of the one last threat
To his rule.

Kalasin Conte must die
For Carthak.

AN: I have the next two chapters written, but won't put them up until I have three reviews… I have such high hopes, huh?

wild-wizard-women: Thank you so much for reviewing… I was very sad when I thought of what poor Kaddar must be going through, so I tried to write it out in this poem-thing. The rest of this turns more into a story-in-poem-format thing, so I'll understand if you choose not to keep reading… I also thought the mystery of the single poem was really nice.