River’s End- Misplaced Recap
Through the eyes of The One They Misplaced:
All falls still
As her gaze alights on me
The pastel color of a sunset
‘Heaven’s diamonds shine in your dark eyes’
Are my eyes dark?
I never know their color
Moment to moment
Blink to blink
Yet I perceive the tears
A blurry sheen
And through it
The droplets that cling to her lashes
’Why the tears, Child?
You know the ending
The fate of Seallaii
Is in your past’
She continues, no
The projection continues
A machine programmed to interact with me
As this woman might have
But I do not live at the right time for that
The tears are where they belong
I leave them unmolested
And force soft words through a stiff throat
’I knew Rose left her homeworld
And did not prod the right questions
Now I see it was for fear
She would not be allowed to go.
Seallaii was allied with notorious enemies
Grenswa, where gravity played games
And Shlykrii, where all had a price
Seallaii would not be seen interfering between them
Rose shared a bond with Fredo
But how little either understood it
They hoped to save Grenswa
I knew that, but now I feel it’
My gaze drops to my hands
Her tears are mechanical
Unable to touch me
Projection like the rest of her
’I knew the divisions of Grenswa
By color and pearlescence
The curses they believed in
The stigma placed on those termed foreign
But to hear Rose speak of Fredo as dead
And for Prince Hent to call him a monster
I want to set him straight
I want to infuse them both with truth
Rose took too long
To deliver her message
She left them no time
To discern its nature
Though helping in small ways
She dallied, too caught up
In what Hent thought
And worry for Fredo
He wasn’t dead
Yol would dismantle him
Piece by piece
And blame it on Hent
Because he wanted Niiq to be queen
The cursed Silver
Daughter of a downtrodden race
Loved by the first prince, now banished
When the king offered Rose
Anything she wished
She asked for Fredo
And they found him
Teetering on the precipice of death
Through their mental bond
Rose’s worry would not aid him
He needed hope, glee, and laughter
She attended the Harvest Festival
Danced with Hent
Happy in his arms
Hoping all would be well
But it wasn’t
The Shlykrii-nas came
Set fire to paradise
And shattered her paradigm
They killed the king
They took Hent
They killed more
They took Rose’
I pause as one tear escapes
Cold on my flushed cheek
’I know the ending
But at this moment I am Fredo
Awake but blind
Fighting in darkness
That is mine alone
Hurt, scared, and lost’
I look at the tiny collection of sparks
Weightless on my finger
It waits for my cue to resume
Spewing Fredo’s thoughts as words
‘I am listening’
I say
Gaze sliding between the two
‘Continue the tale’