Thorvald

From his throne he rises and takes the field.
He fights and wins, or laughs and dies.
He loves his people and they love him:
He rises.

Like that Frederick of the West Tower,
King he was and Baron too,
Who ruled the West and then Three Mountains,
Who founded Three Mountains barony,
He rises.

Like Kevin Perigrynne, Baron and King,
Golden Rivers' Baron and King,
Well-loved baron, laughing king,
He rises.

Like Wäldt von Markheim, Baron and knight,
Beloved of Dreiburgen, Caid beloved,
Who founded Dreiburgen long ago,
He rises.

Thorvald laughs as Talanque laughed,
Thorvald speaks as Talanque spoke.
He sits and rules as Talanque ruled—
Thus highest of all he rises!

—Il San, Korea
8/12/2000 (XXXV A.S.)
The day before the Ides of August, 2753 A.U.C.
Copyright © 2000 by Green Sky Press.  All rights reserved.  Backgrounds and images are copyright by their respective authors, who retain all rights.

Published in The Serpent's Tongue, December 2000.