Bob Stewart - A King Walks through Time

In dark of night a child cries,
A child cries most fearfully.
His mother comes and comforts him
Then cries herself to sleep.

For they are bound by walls of stone,
By walls of stone so hopelessly.
King Mykel's wife and only son
Held fast in Saxony Keep.

Mad Johan would use them the King to control.
Foul treason betraying his liege.
But with his Companions King Mykel stands strong,
They throng him about
And hold Saxony Keep under siege.

Young Magda is a Gypsy bard,
A bard who sings most beautifully.
She came to sing for bed and board,
Now no one pays her heed.

With naught to do the Keep she walks,
The Keep she walks all restlessly.
In cellar deep a tunnel gapes,
She follows where e'er it may lead.

But the end of the tunnel is stopped with a Ward,
Besiegers there seek to come through.
They beg her assistance, she says she may not.
It is too much to risk,
This fight is not hers to pursue.

Now through the press an elf comes forth,
An elf comes forth most forcefully.
'Tis Arigil of handsome face
And voice of silken songs.

Though spellsongs in his voice could ring,
His voice could ring all magicly,
He speaks a tale of pain and woe,
And broken heart that longs.

Now he sings her a song of a father's deep grief
For his wife and his son in the Keep,
His eyes robbed of light and his arms robbed of warmth.
She is touched to her heart,
And cannot help herself but to weep.

So Magda vows the key to fetch,
The key to fetch most stealthily.
She seeks and finds the tunnel guard,
To try some Gypsy tricks.

She smiles, so sweet with shining eyes,
With eyes that shine enchantingly,
He lets her near and does not feel
The pocket that she picks.

Now she brushes him off with a touch and a swirl.
She dances away out of sight.
She returns to the troup and she lowers the Ward.
They pour into the Keep,
Which they conquer with courage and might.

Before the King Mad Johan laughs,
Mad Johan laughs most horribly.
"Your wife and son you'll see no more,
You've come for them too late."

In magic circle they were bound,
There they were bound all helplessly.
The ritual done, the magic did
Their lives Obliterate.

But the Queen's brother Ambrose says, "Do not despair,
I've a plan that is wild and sublime."
With the power of the stars he calls elements strong,
And a bargain is struck
Among Mykel and Amber and Time.

Now Time rips open, the King steps in,
The King steps in courageously.
A short time more and there appear
Queen Katherine and her son.

Lord Amber now his sister greets,
His sister greets all tearfully.
"Our King's gone there, and you've come here,
And I have just begun."

"We will tell all the land of the King's sacrifice,
Though its nature can not yet be known.
You will raise up your son to be wise, brave, and true,
And as Regent you'll reign
'Til Prince Berthold succeeds to the throne."

With heart that breaks the Queen stands strong,
The Queen stands strong most nobly.
Two kings she mourns, two husbands lost,
But still she stays her path.

Outside the tower whose light had shone
Whose light had shone so brilliantly,
She calls her curse on Saxony Keep,
It trembles before her wrath.

Lord Amber steps forward, his staff lifted high,
Lightning flashes, the tower consumes.
His staff swings about, the Keep walls crumble flat,
The Queen burns her shoes,
Ne'er again she'll set foot in these ruins.

Two hundred years, now Richard reigns,
Now Richard reigns most righteously.
With his Queen Katherine at his side
But childless they do stay.

Now one dark day the King falls ill,
The King falls ill most hopelessly.
Nor herb nor healer can make him well
And Death takes him away.

Though Richard named heirs and said how they should choose
A new will is said to be found.
With clouds of suspicion and rumors of plots
There is almost a war
But Joseph of Saxony's crowned.

Queen Katherine flees to a haven safe,
A haven safe all mournfully.
To find amazed though near Death's door,
King Richard has left her with child.

The months go by and the babe is born,
The babe is born most happily.
She names him Berthold, King Richard's heir,
She'll raise him here, safely exiled.

So time passes by and the child grows strong,
Now the seeds of his future are sown.
The land is informed of the King's rightful son,
There will be a great day,
And he'll be recognized for the throne.

The time has come, King Joseph proclaims,
King Joseph proclaims most royally,
"Let all now gather at Saxony Keep
The King's rightful heir to be named."

But times grow strange, grave portents rise,
Grave portents rise most powerfully,
To Ravenholt dark Nemesis comes
So goodness and light are defamed.

But balance is kept in the fullness of Time,
With one more Elemental at hand,
His face scribed in runes and a staff in his fist,
He is unknown to all,
But Lord Amber again walks the land.

Now Gypsies find stories and dreamers find dreams,
And dreamers find dreams all mysteriously,
Of people, a crown, and a Keep under seige,
Twelve rings each a Hero to name.

At old Port Jakara the history they find,
The history they find most incredulously,
Of Mykel and Ambrose and Katherine, Queen,
When they gather the Prince to proclaim.

As the King and the nobles their claims do renounce,
To the throne that is Berthold's by birth,
Bold Nemesis comes with her minions of dark,
And the people must fight them,
To show her their courage and worth.

So Nemesis leaves them and Amber appears,
And Amber appears most ominously.
He shows them the Ring of their true Lord and King
But he says it's not Berthold's to wear.

For the Ring bears a curse if put on the wrong hand,
Put on the wrong hand even innocently,
It's Death to the wearer, to never return,
It Obliterates he who would dare.

Though Berthold from Richard is Mykel's true blood,
This Time Elemental says nay,
So who is the King and where will he be found?
But Amber pleads, "Balance,
Or Nemesis will rule the day."

A royal feast, the people all dine,
The people all dine most sumptuously,
They're finishing nicely some elegant sweets
When Amber appears with a flash.

Behind him comes a noble dwarf,
A noble dwarf most confidently.
'Tis Brandobar, astrologer grand,
With statement both shocking and brash.

He read in the stars after Richard's demise,
Of an earlier time than revealed,
Of a murderous death by unnatural means
And he wrote it all down
Then he signed and in blood was it sealed.

So men had come to Brandobar's rooms,
To Brandobar's rooms all violently.
A messenger sent by a secret way out,
He one of his lives gave to flee.

Iloni the Seneschal now he denounces,
Now he denounces most vigorously.
The men served her and Richard she'd slain,
So Joseph her puppet could be.

Accusations now flow as a dam that has burst,
With strength that no one can refute.
Iloni defies them and Joseph looks crushed
So a challenge is made,
King's silver can Joseph transmute?

So Joseph on silver his blessing bestows,
His blessing bestows all royally,
To Mage's Guild circle a runner dispatched,
With proof of King's right will return.

To add to the furor has Nemesis come,
Has Nemesis come all contemptuously.
She ridicules people and Amber she taunts,
Time's balance it seems she would spurn.

Now the runner returns and the silver's unchanged,
King Joseph renounces the throne,
Iloni and Nemesis Katherine taunt,
They've abducted the Prince,
But would give back his life for her own.

So Katherine vows her life to yield,
Her life to yield unselfishly,
Though Amber protests, foul Nemesis laughs,
Iloni devised this herself.

As Nemesis snatches poor Katherine away,
Poor Katherine away most powerfully,
Iloni goes, too, Amber loudly proclaims,
"Katherine, I give you yourself!"

Now Katherine is gone but the Prince is gone, too.
No bargain the traitors has bound.
Then Joseph recovers, "No more am I King,
But I'm Lord of this place,
We will not rest again 'till they're found."

So far and wide adventurers seek,
Adventurers seek most diligently.
Now Katherine is found and her rescue achieved
But Prince Berthold a captive remains.

Then Berthold's found, too, and the Ringbearers go,
The Ringbearers go most resolutely,
Through terror and blood the young Prince is returned,
To a place where a King no more reigns.

And as Berthold is rescued foul forces attack,
Coming wave upon wave in their prime,
But the people stand strong and defeat the great hoard,
Then the ruins are split,
And King Mykel steps into our Time.

A tender touch, a moment's kiss,
A moment's kiss most fleetingly,
Now mother and son must go back to the past,
Their lives once cut short now reborn.

Here Mykel stands with heart of grief,
With heart of grief so achingly,
But we need a King, and the nobles all press,
The will give him no time now to mourn.

Mykel cannot but honor the land's crying need,
His lost crown he recovers from stone,
He dons the King's Ring, Amber crumbles to dust
But returns in the flesh,
To serve Mykel our King by his throne.