Work Text:
they are traitors
you were my parents
they betrayed the Empire, sold information, plotted, schemed
you were my kin
we do not tolerate their kind. we do not let them live. we burn them -
i burned you
- we leave them to die, weeping,
you were crying, you were screaming
left with nothing, desolate, surrounded by the true fruits of their labor, the Empire in power, the traitors dealt with, crushed into nothing,
Father, did you know me?
more than that. they hold information that could not be shared, they plot things that cannot be spoken
Mother, would you be proud?
they cannot be allowed to speak, to live, to possibly tell another soul,
i served my country, my people
they will die the way traitors should, burning in their own lies and deception
you once shook hands with one you considered highly esteemed, a confidant to the king, to his people, to those he protected
a board over the door
you offered him dinner
leather, transmuted to iron
you gave him your soup
a spark. a little spark.
were your plots written between the pages of the books i read? were your schemes exchanged at the table, after i lay my head and curled beneath your handmade quilt?
a firestorm
were there any at all?
screams
i didn't know. i do not know. i will never know.
a cat, yowling
there was scratching at the door, Mama.
the cat had not schemed. the cat had not betrayed.
she was scared, Father. you all were.
she was a good cat
she scratched my master. do you remember?
she has done nothing.
do you remember the blood on his finger, Mama?
why is the cat burning?
do you remember how scared you looked, to have angered a master of the Empire, a confidant of the people?
the cat shouldn't be burning
why were you scared, Father?
they should not be burning
did you truly have nothing to hide?
stop
Mama, did you want for nothing but for your boy to be happy?
aufhören
to be cared for, to be strong, to become more than a meager farm boy, to grow, to change the world?
sie rauslassen, aufhören
there is fire, so much flame
nein, NEIN
i loved you
NEIN
am i still your Little Spark, Mama?
am i still your boy, Father?
am i everything you wanted me to be?
heat. fire. warmth. pain. screams. the cat need not die, why does anyone need to die
you are gone
i am so sure
i was so sure
bitte, lass mich sicher sein
until i wasn't