“What should be over burrowed under my skin

In heart stopping waves of hurt.”

My back presses against a towering elm tree, my chest rising rapidly as I attempt to catch my breath. The rush long gone, and the exhaustion and dread finally settling in.

The heavy pounding of my battered, beaten, and such bitter heart rivals the clamor of the midnight waves striking across the jagged rocks scattered on the forsaken shore below. My wrists are sore and bruised from where the manacles held me down so tightly, and my whole body throbs with pain. 

The hope for freedom, for peace, distinguished as easily as a fragile flame flickering in these harsh winds would be.

The echo of my mother’s sinister laugh rings in my head, a constant reminder that no matter how far I run, there’s no escaping her merciless rage. I’m her worst nightmare come true. A daughter that dared to defy her order.

But you can’t see what you’ve done, my queen.

I lift my gaze, eyes vacant and as cold as the gale, and a deep ache shutters through my soul, because I can still taste the bittersweetness of the past, and the uncertainty that there will even be a future. 

My thoughts start to wander back to the former, to the bottles of screams and long forgotten dreams left behind. The endless pull from both duty and vengeance, before one rope eventually frayed and snapped, throwing me skidding to the other side. A burdensome choice that could both start wars or end them. 

When I finally glance in your direction, you’re turned towards the cascading sea, silver eyes scanning your domain, searching and calculating. Your dark wool coat is bloodstained, shifting ever so slightly for me to catch a glimpse of the weapons hidden underneath. 

It’ll still be quite a while until your vessel reaches our destination. 

I let out a faint sigh, my breath wisping like smoke against the brittle chill of the night. Another stab pulses through my chest. We were fools, love. Such utter fools.

It’s too much to ask for peace in such a cruel and beautiful world.

“I don’t belong, and my beloved, neither do you.”

The wind cuts between us like daggers and I can smell the rain coming before it does. Thick forbidding clouds unfurl across the midnight sky, flashes and creaks signaling the upcoming storm.

I know it’s moments before a torrential downpour envelopes us, but neither of us moves.

The want to sit forever and drown in my misery and grief is more tempting than ever, but as my barricades begin to crumble, and tears start to prick my eyes, all I feel is fury.

I lift my head again, eyes searching for yours. My ebony meets your silver, and I force my shaking frame to stand. Wrapping my black cloak tightly around myself, I make my way to where you stand on the edge, the painted landscape around us finally coming into focus.

My burning stars and your piercing sea.

“And at once, I knew I was not magnificent 

Strayed above the highway aisle

Jagged vacance, thick with ice

But I could see for miles, miles, miles.”