Amber Ruins
Chrissy Davis

Each day as the sun set
near the shores of Bandar,
secret lovers met
at the Amber Ruins

Just a flicker of light still in the sky;
enough to cast radiant shadows
through gentle trees that called her to him
She ran down her heated path,
not yet knowing the night was clutching death

They would find each other
and get lost again in midnight dew
She, a beautiful nymph belonging
to a selfish king who practiced lawless law
He, a courtly ambler who whispered to
the King’s own steed
and broke him with a gentle hand

But alas, they disregarded legend and ancient lore
the dusty virgins prophetically taught
And as the night gave birth to moon,
they feasted on darkness like the finest wine

She laid her silken skin bare to his eyes and soul,
willing and ready for his guidance
Lost inside a forbidden whisper
and a kiss, pure and free

Forgotten warnings with promise of pleasure
and songs that echoed of laughter and love,
left them vulnerable
and blinded them to impending doom
lurking through the forest trees

The wrathful King took revenge
calling upon the black arts
to take his rivals blood
Unearthing graves and casting spells
with a flawless serpent’s kiss

He cared not for his Queen’s heart,
consumed only with contempt
Her screams for mercy were not heard,
upon deaf ears they fell
Suffer she would for her betrayal
and for his loss of kingly pride

Even wings of heaven could not have offered
protection against the callous King
and curses already spent
A barbarous beast tore through the night
with damnation on his back
Carnelian wings and bloodthirsty claws
took her lover’s final breath
As he fell, their eyes locked
her face the final parting gift
A shining beacon comforting him
as he found his way home

The King’s wide grin
revealed to her
he had a fatal flaw
You see, he did not know
his Queen’s true strength
came from enduring love
A love that cannot be killed
by sword or beast
or even time

With a ragged breath she drew
the dagger, cold and swift
She found the mark
that pierced a heart of stone
with just a crimson touch

Rain rippled down her breast
and tears became an ocean tide
Spine shivering and weary
she set the king afire
Warmed by his fated flames
she saw her lover once again
reflected in the Amber Ruins

She knew he followed her
in shadows of inferno heat
with goodbye magic
and no regrets
on that haunting night

She would never be alone
a perpetual cycle had begun
His life blood danced
through her
as her belly grew

He nourished her now from within
His guidance crumbling walls
and clocks, transcending sense of time

Each night as the sun went down
she watched the stars
for changing constellations
Serene thoughts etched
and flickered
in the prism of her mind
holding sweet anticipation
in her blossoming form
The end was only the beginning