Cut the strings and set me free

Part 3- a puppet tied to countless strings

Her eyes are full of grief though. Devastation in them.

As she looks at us with raw feeling eyes, I feel myself stripped away of everything except the bare essence of me, vulnerable and at her feet as I peer at her. See her eyes sweep over me, both unseeing and seeing, see how they sparkle and shine with glassiness.

Hovering over a fine delicate line from being turned into hardened marble and yet teeters dangerously into the tender-hearted, emotive person she is.

She kneels down in front of us, uncaring as her skirt folds under her and leans forward.

Her hand is soft and chilled as it sweeps over my brow, brushes tenderly through my hair and drifts to trace my face, to do the same to Tae- unable to fight the urge and melt into her touch, that ignites a thousand fires, a thousand desires- all of them roaring and demanding to pull her close, duties be damned and just keep her there.

Hold her before she shatters and breaks and nothing can put her together anymore.

"Know that in another world, another life I'd find you. That what I couldn't have here, I'd have fought for in another existence. That in that world, I would've asked for the real beating versions of what you leave me behind with." She says, fingers sliding to fiddle to the pendant almost unconsciously, clenching at it tightly for a few moments before her hand relaxes, the slither of a red cut visible before her hand falls.

And it feels like a farewell when she doesn't hesitate to lean forward, brushing her lips across our foreheads, a whisper of love that had the strength to voice itself whilst the rest is swallowed up.

And when the tears slip down her cheeks, she looks at us through glassy eyes, lips trembling as she smiles.

"Thank you for every moment. Thank you for giving me the biggest gift of all. Thank you for breathing life into me." she says, standing up and backing away quickly, feet treading into the grass as her figure retreats, painfully beautiful as she leaves, the glimpse and tantalising taste of what summer beauty was given to us in the midst of winter. And she fades from sight, hurrying away from us, the curve of her back as she turns away the most heart wrenching sight, the biggest wound to be inflicted on us.

Tae scrabbles up, fumbling and he falls forward onto his knees, clutching at the ground as he weeps, head bowed and defeated, whispering her name over and over in pained cries, tears soaking the earth, watering the roots of the very tree that became so special to us decades ago.

He gasps and shudders, crying without restraint. The figure of a defeated crushed soul with no hope left.

And I can't bring myself to hold him, to soothe him, because when she'd left she'd turned some part of me into stone, numb and frozen- unable to break away from the drawn-up posture, eyes focused on the point where she'd vanished from sight.

And the tears that silently trickle down my cheeks are cold too.

As if with her leaving, the warmth was sapped out of me.

And nothing but a permanent frost remains.

The rare bloom of winter vanishing from sight, leaving only emptiness in her wake.

TAE POV:

The doors are shut and yet are unable to bar the sounds of rambunctious laughter, of rowdiness as the courtiers gather and begin filling the palace halls, of the life and merriment seeping into every corner of the palace and every living being coming together to celebrate the historical, monumental union.

The doors are shut and yet the floodgates of my weeping heart are open, each droplet of blood fused with tears, with grief so profound that I find myself listless, feel an ache deep inside me that gnaws away, chipping away large chunks of me. And soon enough nothing will remain.