A Tale Told in Four Voices by Rebecca Buchanan

Reality is different when seen from four distinct viewpoints...

The King

Not too old.

Smart, but not clever.

No, a clever son-in-law

is never a good thing.

Ambitious, too,

but not so much 

that I should worry for my crown.

Yes, I believe that he shall do.

I shall keep my promise —

this time.

The Princess

His nose is oddly-shaped

and he talks while he eats.

And he never stops talking.

Death?

Magical flower?

Indeed.

It’s all absurd.

Pathetic almost,

like a knight exaggerating the size of the dragon.

And he’s no knight.

Not even a baronet, or a baron.

Money, yes, plenty of that,

but it does nothing to disguise his commonness.

He’s still talking.

But father did promise.

And he did save my life,

or so he says.

Perhaps I can come to appreciate him.

Perhaps.

The Godson

The shack with the leaky door

and rags for shoes

and a belly so hollow

that I could swallow the sea

with all its fishes

and still be hungry.

That was many years ago —

before Godfather claimed me.

Boots now

of softest fur and leather

and silken shirts

and pheasant and boar and wine,

so much that I almost forget

that pit in my belly.

Almost.

Save her, as you did me,

the King says.

It is not a request.

I could have said no.

Godfather did warn me

not to deceive him again.

But she is beautiful

and the palace is warm

and the food is rich.

When it is done,

she smiles at me

and that void 

beneath my heart

is filled.

The Godfather

I am not cruel.

I never tell a lie.

And I always keep my promises.

Rebecca Buchanan is the editor of the Pagan literary ezine, Eternal Haunted Summer. She has been previously published, or has work forthcoming, in Bards and Sages Quarterly, Cliterature, Enchanted Conversation, Eye to the Telescope, Faerie Magazine, Gingerbread House, Silver Blade, Star*Line, and other venues.

Poem ART by: Amanda Bergloff