Torn Pages

VI | Her Beast

A love once pure and chaste

but tainted by deceit and hate,

brought forth misery to an innocent's fate.

Captain Jade's child was taken by the Lady of Hydmill.

Hideous and gruesome the babe's face might be,

yet this lady saw something beyond the hideousness—

something only a loving heart could see.

Oh, but this sad lady was once a mother,

and a loving mother, she was!

But fate had been cruel,

it made her own son fought a losing duel.

For years, she swam in the sea of grief.

Indeed, Fate could sometimes be a heartless thief.

It gave her happiness one day,

then snatched it the next,

leaving her a wounded prey.

But this cruel fate had been kind again,

because the feel of the child in her arms numbed the pain.

The lady named the pirate's child, William.

He grew afraid of the daylight,

for he was told the sun would burn him whole.

And that it would blind his eyes,

and would rob all the strength in his bones.

For his mother had warned:

"Dear Will, beware of the sun.

It is not as peaceful as the moon."

So all his life he stayed in the dark,

fearing the bright rays of the blazing sun.

But at the strike of midnight, he would roam the woods,

along with the screeches of the wild,

and under the light of the peaceful moon.

He would run; oh, how he ran until he lost all strength!

Because it was only when he was out of breath

that he felt free—  free from fear and hate.

The fear that no one could love a beast like him,

and his hate to the universe that made him so grim.