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“Get up there.” George nudges me, grinning from ear to ear.
I’m about to yell that I can’t move in this crowd, but rough hands grab me from behind. Noah hoists me onto his shoulders. A spotlight circles the crowd before landing on me. Faces turn to stare. The room lurches and spins. I can’t speak, I’m so mesmerized by Gabriel.
He waves at me and I wave back, shy now that the spotlight’s on me. Gabriel winks. He opens his mouth and begins to sing.
All I ever wanted was a knight in shining armor,
To rescue me from your tower.
All this time, the sword was mine,
The clock strikes the final hour.
Now the only weapon I have left,
Is beautiful, damaging words.
Words that cut,
Words that kill,
Words that blind,
So you’ll never see
The broken boy you left behind.
Tears well in my eyes at his words. I know they’re for his father. All the things Gabriel wanted to tell the duke but never could, he sings them into the starry night instead, for all the people in this room who can pluck their own truths from his poetry.
It’s a song about betrayal, about what it means to find out your life has been a lie, that the king you desperately wanted to please was too busy burning his kingdom to ash to see you.
Every word drips with blood.
The element of surprise,
Is the deadliest blade,
I see through your disguise,
Your legend will fade,
As my star lights up the sky.
The crowd surges, swirling and twisting in a hypnotic dance. We’re carried forward by their tide. I squeeze my thighs around Noah’s ears and grip for dear life as we’re jostled closer to the stage. Gabriel leans one foot on the foldback and rests his hand on his knee, casual-as-you-please as he leans out over the crowd to deliver a gut-punch of a chorus.
I’ve sharpened my steel,
I’ve made my sacrifices.
I’m unleashing war.
He screams the word war, pouring eighteen years of neglect into a sound that tears apart the room with anguish. His eyes reflect his love for Dylan, his love for me, and I know that even though we never met, the two of us will forever be linked in Gabriel’s mind – the boy who gave his life for Gabriel’s freedom, and the girl who will lay down hers to protect it.
A warm hand encircles mine. Gabriel yanks me on stage. I trip on some wires and fall into his arms. People laugh and cheer. He holds me, crushing me against him as he cries into the mic, stoking the audience into a frenzy. The noise rushes in my ears, and my heart is ready to leap out of my chest as Gabriel holds the mic between us so we can both sing. I can hardly hear our voices over the roaring of the crowd as they chant the words along with us.
I’m unleashing war.
I’m unleashing war.
