"Until Death"

By Childlike Empress

There once was a Prince on a quest to find a bride. He looked far and wide and came upon many a beautiful maiden…but only one seemed to touch his heart.

She gazed up at him, lips still moist from his spell breaking kiss.

"You alone have touched me and my thorn riddled briars."

Her face had resembled that of an angel. Her voice had been quivering with an unnamed emotion. And her eyes, they had looked at him with such unforgettable joy.

"You alone have struggled on this far."

A beautiful girl, who had grown up in too sheltered a world. Surrounded by those who would wish her harm…and yet she had remained strong and refused to let anyone destroy what little she had left.

"And you've discovered who I really am, haven't you."

She had never thought a Prince would come for her. Hadn't believed it could something like that would ever possibly occur. But then, he was the exception to her rule wasn't he?

"So I'm happy…Happy…"

When he had kissed her, he could smell the scent of heather on her skin. The fragrance was almost overwhelming, as if they were together in the meadow once more.

He held her close, and her arms tightened around him, holding on to the only true happiness she had felt in over one hundred years.

"So very happy"

But the world is not a happy place. And though their moment had seemed to them an eternity, in reality it was only a moment. And as he felt her hand fall and her body turn to dust in his arms…he thought he heard a sigh. Was it hers or his own?

And the two of them were happy until death did them part.

And it was true. They had been happy. Just for that moment.

…Until death…

Many years later he returned. But despite his dim hopes, all that was left were the crumbling ruins of what had once been her castle…and a field…of heather.

But in the end, the memories of her were so painful…he likened them to the briars that had once encircled her castle. And he wept bitter tears as the thorns pierced through his heart.

End.