In her eyes, a pain bittersweet to my own.
Her tear bringing a memory of the first time I saw her.
Outside, she had escaped her guard to walk along the river.
The rocks were loose, and she stumbled, cutting her leg.
Even in tears, she was of a beauty that left me questioning my senses.
I felt a pull towards her, wanting my very presence to draw her pain away.
I felt an eagerness to wipe her blood with the sleeve of my own uniform.
But her guard quickly appeared, and my approach would have been met with arrest.
On her lips, a quivering I had hoped never to witness.
Yet I find it now comforting to a corner of my heart.
She had been waiting in her room to be introduced to me.
I'd had the great fortune of being her newly appointed guard.
They believed me the most qualified, but had they known my true heart,
Then surely I would have never had the chance to hear her say hello.
I cherished it, as I was to not expect her to speak to me again,
For it was my job and vow to protect her from harm, and nothing more.
At her touch, I feel a burning heat.
A troubled pleasure as the rest of my body grows cold.
Once, in the cellar, she had been careless to bump a shelf.
A precarious jar had toppled from above, and then fell.
She raised her arms to shield herself just as I reached to catch.
I stopped the jar, but for an instant, we had touched.
It was nothing more than her hand grazing my own,
But for a moment, the world seemed to freeze as my heart pounded with agonizing force.
With her voice, it seems as if I am to awaken.
Hearing her speak my name fills me with joy and fear.
On many days and nights, I had dared to dream.
Dared to imagine her speaking her thoughts to me.
That she would confess to the times it seemed she had glanced my way.
That her barely hidden smiles were not the memory of an anecdote.
I had often weighed my heart against my honor, my honor against my loyalty, and all against my life.
To protect her from harm, and nothing more.
Her face draws near as my sight fades into blackness.
Her lips touch mine as all feeling leaves my body.
I hear the words, "I love you",
And the rest is silence.
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