Behind Blue Eyes

In her dreams she soared. High up in the pale blue sky, she looked down on the palace and town below. She saw her friends and her family waving up at her. The townsfolk, likewise, wondered at her passing, and shouted greetings of love at adoration to her. But then the faces of the people people began to melt, the sky turned red as blood and then to black. She tumbled from the sky, limbs flailing uncontrollably and just before hitting the ground she woke with a start.

Opening her eyes she realised that morning had broken. It was no wonder that she had had such troubled dreams. The feathered mattress and silken sheets were a far cry from the comforts she had once known and she ached all over.

She paced to the window and looked out upon another dark day. She could see the end of the swirling clouds in the near-distance. They did not cover the entire land, but encircled only this tower, held in place by some enigmatic power.

She was sure that her father would have tried to send help. The townsfolk had loved her in life as much as they had in her dream. She even thought that she had heard the sounds of a number of rescue attempts from far below, but none of them had succeeded. She thought of flinging herself to the ground far below so that no more brave souls would be lost trying to save her, but the gaps between the bars were too narrow for her to squeeze through.

She remembered the night they came for her - the men in the black cloaks. Silent as assassins they came, but more cruel. She would gladly have welcomed death than to be kept like a caged animal. How she longed for her old freedoms - to roam the countryside at will, to hunt with her friends, and to attend the parties in her honour.

Oh how she wished she could fly away - as in her dream - but it was no use. Even if she could fly, the bars held her back and besides, where would she go? She didn't know where she was. She didn't know the way home.

Her once sapphire eyes, now a dull blue, wept openly...