The Queen Looks On

She stands beneath them all
Looking up at their feet
Wondering if they'll look down
And notice the eyes
Ruling over them

'Your Majesty?'

She moves beneath her walls
Beneath the stone steps
Beneath the portraits of her family
Beneath the throne on which she sits
And she hurries
When she has never hurried

'They're coming'

Already she can smell blood
All women in her family
Were said to have special abilities

Anne knew the exact moment
When she would take her last breath

Beth could wield a sword
Better than her their father

And her mother could touch a man's cheek
And curse him with undying love

Sarah didn't know her gift
Until the night her father was murdered

It was death
She could smell death

'They've breached the first march.'

She wanted to be out there
Carrying a weapon
Like Beth would have done

She wanted to be with her soldiers
How could she call them 'hers'
When she was sending them out alone

The constant reminders that she was a symbol
Thrown at her as if at a dartboard
Until she was pockmarked full of holes
Her resistance seeping out of her

'We've got to get you to the docks.'

There would be a boat waiting
And she would flee
Like a true coward

What was the point?
A Queen was not a Queen in an escaping vessel
A Queen was no Queen in exile
A Queen was only a Queen on her own land

She would rather stay
And bloody the ground
And die with her people
Than watch from afar
As the unthinkable happened

'Put this on, your Majesty. To cover your face.'

When they reached the docks
Everyone around her was perspiring
They would not block or rush their queen
But she could see their bodies
Willing to reach out
And shove her forward

She permitted them to board the boat
And then stood on the edge of its stern
Looking back at the hill
Where the top of the castle protruded
And black smoke was already creeping up
Past its tallest tower

'I have failed.'

The boat pulled away from the docks
And the Queen looked on
Wondering how long she could force her eyes
To stare into that black smoke
As burning hot
As if she were inside it

As if she igniting
Aflame, herself