Upon the eve of wintertime A long long time ago A people crowned a noble king Amidst the falling snow
His rule dawned bright and blessed by all Who gazed upon his crown He mediated just and fair And grew in great renown.
Nobility and poise unmatched The people loved him true But power claims the lofty ones To forge his reign anew.
Thus time went by while he grew strong Much stronger than before For even while they loved him so He wanted so much more.
His justice turned to prejudice His mercy become greed Their love has turned to fear of him And evil's growing seed.
Corrupted is this black king's heart Which once so nobly beat The promise of peace and liberty Now promises defeat.
Terror and hate engulf the land Famine and sickness unfold Hungry and dying the people succumb The number of deaths untold
He binds them in service by keeping from them The food they dearly need He holds back a banquet and tosses them crumbs The fewer now to feed.
Suspicions grow as every day Brings a new wave of arrests The poor are thrown in prison cells Convicted without tests.
The order of the kingdom now Extortion, torture, lies The king, he watches earnestly As another rebel dies.
At length there came a fateful day When a maiden that he sought Was exposed in her disloyalty One more imagined plot.
Amidst her cries of anguished pain They killed her family And hung them in the village square For everyone to see.
Her discontent to hatred turned Through torture keen as hell Although she knew of no such plan She swore she'd never tell.
Her silence kept for three full days Her body ever still They broke her bones and broke her life But could not break her will.
Defiant ever to the last To honor those she loved They came at last to end it all She, through those doors was shoved
The king himself awaited there To deal the deadly blow His blade shone keen and well-rehearsed In daylight's final glow.
But as he dropped the fatal knife He somehow caught her eyes And mirrored there was not defeat Nor an echo of her cries.
No, in her eyes lay freedom's song A battle nearly won And the king then knew without a doubt His race had now been run.
He slowly lowered blade to stone His heart was cloven in two No less than the body beside him now His tyranny was through.
The love he found within those eyes Cut deeper than a knife For as quickly as he found himself It faded with her life.
An empty shell, a broken man Succumbs to his demise Undone not by rebellion's fire But by a maiden's eyes.
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