heelofspades | An Old Bard's Tale (Reply)

Let me sing you a song of a kingdom so sublime and alluring. Yes, let me sing you a song of enigmatic blue. Let me chant the beautiful words. My voice shall escort you to the beguiling castles of Sapphiro. Let me bring you to the Kingdom of Spades. My words shall introduce you to a man you will never wish to meet~.

"There exists this Kingdom of different depths of blue. A kingdom with enormous walls of grayish blue and sky-high turrets of cobalt blue. It was filled with mountains and plains of blue-green grass, which had sprinkles of opal blue roses. These deadly roses had a life of their own, which crept along the walls of the kingdom and furnished every garden. Most of the buildings were aqua blue, if not navy blue in colour. Women wore long dresses of blue. And both men and women wore flowing coats and thick scarves of bluish black, with the signet of the kingdom embellished on them."

"The sky reflected the deep blue shade of the sea. And in this land, the sun shines for no more than 8 hours. Allowing 16 hours of beautiful blue-violet sky to drape over the sparkling kingdom. At night, almost like magic, torches all over the kingdom shone with blue flame, which protected its citizens."

Sapphiro~ Oh Beautiful Sapphiro~

"In the middle of the vast kingdom, there lies a lake of unknown depth. It had a beautiful Alice blue shade and extended for miles. In the center, floated a colossal crystal of the same electric blue colour, as the gigantic crystals that scattered throughout the kingdom's grasslands. This specific crystal was known as 'Sapphiro'. Upon it, the Castle grounds of the Kingdom can be found. It had four known gates, but only the Northern gate provided entry and exit for most of the citizens."

"Sapphiro itself was large enough to be considered a country of its own. Within Saphirro two large castles stood, surrounded by buildings and turrets of different shades of blue. And like the rest of the Kingdom, blue-green grass and opal blue roses stretched all over Sapphiro"

"Within Sapphiro, there stood a small bldg Yale blue in colour. It had no windows and no other openings aside from a dark-blue door, with a sapphire stone as its doorknob facing the south. It went down 7 levels through Sapphiro and was called 'Dracoulis Dungeon'. This is where the misfits of the kingdom found permanent residence. Although there are few exceptions, almost all criminals that stayed in this dungeon never saw the light of day. Without the permission of the king, no man or woman can ever visit its tenants"

"On the 2nd floor of the dungeon, there were no prisoners. Only endless bookshelves creating a winding maze filled this floor. These shelves created partitions, which served as a dining hall, a study, and a bedroom with a four-post bed. They say, in this bed sleeps a man, who rarely walks during the day. Only a few members of the Grand Council of the Kingdom of Spades have ever met this man. And a smaller number has ever wished they would"

"They say that this man enters the King's castle at the oddest hours. There are also rumors of this man traveling to the ends of Sapphiro to tend to beasts who lurk around at night. Similar rumors state that this man also travels to the mountains of the kingdom to feed creatures that hide in its forests. He is said to have a friend that resided in the Kingdom of Clovers, which he visited quite often."

"They say that this man has good relations with the Royalties of Spade, most especially its Queen Arthur. But no one has ever confirmed this. A lot of men and women of the kingdom have visited the King's castle to warn him of this man. They didn't like his policy of never allowing guests inside the dungeon to visit those punished by the kingdom. They never liked the rumors spreading about this man throughout the kingdom. But the king's reply is always the same.

"This man is a loyal Dungeon Keeper. He has never broken my trust. And he serves his king and queen with utmost reverence and discretion. He holds an invaluable position in my kingdom that I cannot freely discuss, except that he has done masterfully at every assigned task."

"These men and women resented the king for it. However, it never lasted for long. Because the dungeon keeper would visit each and every single one of them who visited the king that day to supposedly apologize. They'd leave their homes happily the following day and greet everyone, before tragedy befalls them. Some jumped off cliffs. A few of them banged their heads continuously on the walls until they bled to death. Others slit their throats. And the rest, committed crimes for which they had to be locked inside the dungeons for the remainder of their lives"

"Enemies of the kingdom suffered similar tragedies as well. Only one thing was common. Every single misfortune started with the dungeon keeper visiting far too early in the morning to say the words which drove me to create this song for everyone to read. The words he uttered to me this morning after I visited the King with my concern"

"Good day. Let's be friends, Da?"

"I don't want to.. to..."

"This was a letter found on the desk of today's suicide victim. He stabbed himself with his pen 20 times on his chest. Upon closer examination, this was thought to be the suicide note of a mentally unstable man who was good at fabricating lies. As an article in heinous crime, these shall be sealed in Dracoulis Dungeon Library". According to the king.