THE FEAST OF THE BRAVADOS

Part III

But while the day slept,

The red queen threw a feast,

For her lover, her betrothed, her prince,

She had gifted the crown,

A crown that wasn't hers to give,

Still, she drank heartily and ate with peace.

Can you hear the horses of the bravados thumping to war?

Can you hear the horns blowing for blood, for flesh and for all?

Their sword flaming as they roared for a fight,

Their eyes red and gleaming in the dark night.

The guards that opposed them faded to ash,

Not a cut was on their leather armor,

Nor a bleeding hand from a gash.

The eleven bravados met and fought all,

Guns and cannons battled, but the swords won,

The prince, dark with soot strode down the hall,

His eyes red, his hair messy, panting like a demon.

He opened his mouth and screamed,

You will pay for what you have done.

But the Red Queen laughed and laughed,

And compelled all in the room to join.

Don't you see the soldiers in the room?

You have no where to run.

I will hang your head in the market place,

Yours, your men, and your son.

The prince threw himself on the guards,

And fought them all till none was left.

His men rushed into the fight,

Swords clinking every length and breadth.

The last man thrust a sword through his chest.

But his sword found his assailant's neck first,

The queen's betrothed handed her over to the ten,

For a safe passage and a morsel of bread,

The queen spewed curses and threats at all the men,

Screaming and thrashing as they cut off her head.

Dine on fat meat and drink all the rum,

Sing and dance for a new dawn has come,

Pull down the trenches and cast them to burn,

Spread the word that the evil queen has gone.

Alarien-Kana joined his fathers in the land unknown,

But we won't forget the lessons he had sown,

It will be remembered as the Feast of the Bravados,

The day, bravery and hope won over all woes.