Song Drabbles: The King's Raven trilogy.
So, my mind-twin, Hilary, likes to write these 100-word song-based drabbles. I decided to copy her and write for TKR. All of them are precisely 100 words, except for "Stand", which is 119. (I couldn't trim it down without having it lose some of its meaning.) I put my WMP on shuffle and just wrote for whichever songs came up. The fact that I had no trouble with any of them goes to show how much of my musical taste is ruled by TKR. ;D
Mordred's Lullaby - Heather Dale
Song
I remember my foster-mother's lullaby. She would sing to me as I fell asleep, a song of her own heart. She sang my future, my fate. I recall the words to this day, and I wonder always if they are true. Was she singing a future she'd Seen, or one she only hoped would come to pass? Was she singing indoctrination, or a promise? I sit before my father now, and the song plays in my mind. I didn't know it then, but now that I am older, it is clear. It was not a lullaby; it was a death-knell.
Stand My Ground - Within Temptation
Stand
I cannot stand with you, barát. I am sorry. It kills me to say these words to you, but it is so. However much I love you, your cause is not mine, and I cannot - will not - lie to myself. Lives are hanging in the balance. If I lie and betray my own heart, I could not face you again. You beg me not to turn my back on you, but lover, I do no such thing. He is not your enemy, as I am not, and when all is said and done, you will see this. Of course you will be forgiven, for you are human as we all are, and it will be behind us.
Black Annis/Jardin de Lumière - Spiral Dance
Witch
They call me many names. Witch. Sorceress. Temptress. I do not deny any of these, for they are all facts in some measure, but none are wholly correct. I am a witch, yes, but also a daughter of the Goddess. I have done evil, true, but only in response to evil first done to me. No one knows me beyond what the stories say. In the days of my childhood, when the Goddess was loved, such tales did not exist. I may be a witch, but I am also a woman. I have a heart, and it is not stone.
Quietus - Epica
Ignorance
That night remains in my memory. I did not know him for who he was, and he did not know me. We held one another as lovers, our bodies perfectly aligned. It's impossible to forget the ecstasy of his skin against mine, the timbre of his voice. It was only a single night, but the repercussions remained long after. I could not bear to look at my boy when he was born. I saw so much of his father in his face, even if his hair and his eyes were mine. I had no choice but to let him go.
Hand of Sorrow - Within Temptation
Fate
It is something I try not to think about overmuch, now. Try, but ultimately I fail. I have loved only two men in my lifetime, and both ended up on the wrong side of my sword. I should have known better, looking back on it now, but they call it "fate" for a reason. I was blind to everything then; I saw only the wrongs done against me. Everyone has suffered the consequences, and part of me understands that it had been designed already, but I can't help but feel that I should have done more to change the unchangeable.
Drumming Song - Florence + the Machine
Beat
Your voice beats in my head like a drum, low and earthen. I can't drown it out; it overtakes my thoughts when I lie alone at night. When you're close, it's all the more insistent, and it drives me closer to the edge of insanity. I want you to quiet the noise somehow. I can't find relief, no matter what I do. I stay away from you, I come near; I avoid you, I talk and talk. It won't stop.
Then you kiss me, and the entire world goes silent but for the beating of your heart, the sweetest drum.
Explanations:
Song: I love how this was the first song on the list. Listen to it; it's pretty self-explanatory. Mordred's POV.
Stand: Sagramor silently pleads with Mordred as the Last Days creep ever closer.
Witch: A rare peek into the heart of Morgause, so often assumed to be a villainess.
Ignorance: Morgaine recalls sleeping with Arthur, and the birth of Mordred. Is an ignorant sin still a sin?
Fate: After his death at Camlann, Mordred regrets everything. Hindsight is 20/20.
Beat: Mordred is in love. I wrote it with Sagramor in mind, but it could just as easily be Lancelot instead.
Mordred's Lullaby - Heather Dale
Song
I remember my foster-mother's lullaby. She would sing to me as I fell asleep, a song of her own heart. She sang my future, my fate. I recall the words to this day, and I wonder always if they are true. Was she singing a future she'd Seen, or one she only hoped would come to pass? Was she singing indoctrination, or a promise? I sit before my father now, and the song plays in my mind. I didn't know it then, but now that I am older, it is clear. It was not a lullaby; it was a death-knell.
Stand My Ground - Within Temptation
Stand
I cannot stand with you, barát. I am sorry. It kills me to say these words to you, but it is so. However much I love you, your cause is not mine, and I cannot - will not - lie to myself. Lives are hanging in the balance. If I lie and betray my own heart, I could not face you again. You beg me not to turn my back on you, but lover, I do no such thing. He is not your enemy, as I am not, and when all is said and done, you will see this. Of course you will be forgiven, for you are human as we all are, and it will be behind us.
Black Annis/Jardin de Lumière - Spiral Dance
Witch
They call me many names. Witch. Sorceress. Temptress. I do not deny any of these, for they are all facts in some measure, but none are wholly correct. I am a witch, yes, but also a daughter of the Goddess. I have done evil, true, but only in response to evil first done to me. No one knows me beyond what the stories say. In the days of my childhood, when the Goddess was loved, such tales did not exist. I may be a witch, but I am also a woman. I have a heart, and it is not stone.
Quietus - Epica
Ignorance
That night remains in my memory. I did not know him for who he was, and he did not know me. We held one another as lovers, our bodies perfectly aligned. It's impossible to forget the ecstasy of his skin against mine, the timbre of his voice. It was only a single night, but the repercussions remained long after. I could not bear to look at my boy when he was born. I saw so much of his father in his face, even if his hair and his eyes were mine. I had no choice but to let him go.
Hand of Sorrow - Within Temptation
Fate
It is something I try not to think about overmuch, now. Try, but ultimately I fail. I have loved only two men in my lifetime, and both ended up on the wrong side of my sword. I should have known better, looking back on it now, but they call it "fate" for a reason. I was blind to everything then; I saw only the wrongs done against me. Everyone has suffered the consequences, and part of me understands that it had been designed already, but I can't help but feel that I should have done more to change the unchangeable.
Drumming Song - Florence + the Machine
Beat
Your voice beats in my head like a drum, low and earthen. I can't drown it out; it overtakes my thoughts when I lie alone at night. When you're close, it's all the more insistent, and it drives me closer to the edge of insanity. I want you to quiet the noise somehow. I can't find relief, no matter what I do. I stay away from you, I come near; I avoid you, I talk and talk. It won't stop.
Then you kiss me, and the entire world goes silent but for the beating of your heart, the sweetest drum.
Explanations:
Song: I love how this was the first song on the list. Listen to it; it's pretty self-explanatory. Mordred's POV.
Stand: Sagramor silently pleads with Mordred as the Last Days creep ever closer.
Witch: A rare peek into the heart of Morgause, so often assumed to be a villainess.
Ignorance: Morgaine recalls sleeping with Arthur, and the birth of Mordred. Is an ignorant sin still a sin?
Fate: After his death at Camlann, Mordred regrets everything. Hindsight is 20/20.
Beat: Mordred is in love. I wrote it with Sagramor in mind, but it could just as easily be Lancelot instead.