❝ you don’t see yourself like i do. ❞
WORDS ECHO FROM the pulsing heart, a gentle voice whispering a tune. an unknown anger coated with adoration – conflict stirs from memories so vague. images & voices faded, drowning in crimson. the face before her, a familiar visage & yet that same crimson washes it out. focus is difficult. haze falls over her as she struggles to fight for clarity. no other subject has left her this way; she knows, she always knows. every whisper & secret ever conceived. nothing was kept from the heart. pace quickens faintly, beating stronger. silence hangs & it makes her ache. moments pass, & a weary gasps escapes her. he was there, she thinks, as the blade pierced deep & stole her breath.
❝ do you think of her? – think of me? ❞
SHE CLINGS TO that, the panic of that moment & the suffering. it wasn’t just her – who she was. she sees a child, frightened & confused. such a sweet girl, innocent yet wise beyond her years. it brings peace to the heart, though soon all serenity is filled with worry. & him – he becomes clearer. eyes soft, he makes her smile. trust is overwhelming; there is no one she would rather leave her child to. smiles fade sad as features change, gentless now hard & rough on edges. cruelty is set in his stare; he has become the executioner of her court. he is not who she remembers anymore.
❝ bodies lie in your shadow, & the same blood that stains your hands stains the streets. ❞ she can see if through his eyes. red streets littered with bodies she failed to protect. a vicious dog unchained, prompted on by handlers. where did the loving man go? it seems, she thinks, he died with his love. ❝ i don’t know you anymore – do you? you’re different. harsh, cold & dry like the air before a storm. such violence. ❞ she hums her own cryptic tune, harmonizing each echo. an unending reminder of a woman lost, & an empress whose reign came to a violent end.
❝ does it do her justice? ❞
