The prince stood up and with a quiet rage looked at his friend

“your actions are beyond the likes of which you can defend

keep your fairy tails inside your head where they belong

it’s too late for the songs you taught this empire to be wrong”

The hero flinched while sitting in the shadow of the prince

every word the prince had spoken made the hero wince

it was hard to tell now why the hero was so weak

but all he had the strength to do was listen to him speak

“You led the human race into a war without an end

and now you’ve come back home to make a fool of your own friend

while you were gone we struggled on a battlefield so wide

that trying to defend this empire left us stupefied

Your own family is now in hiding far away

I wish I could promise I knew where they are today

such has been the cost of war that every man has paid

even foreign kingdoms are now starting to invade

Did you understand how many demons waited there

did you fear the endless war, or did you even care

for this war is no longer good and evil, wrong or right

this will only end when one side can no longer fight”

The hero’s face was pale but still his purpose there was clear

and so he spoke despite the growing sensation of fear

“but they are not the demons after all, they’re like ourselves

they’re much less like demons than they are like us or elves”

The prince’s fist came down upon the desk he stood behind

“you think such knowledge wasn’t easy for a prince to find

call them what you like, their enemies of this empire

so as always, call your foes however you desire

My father is in hiding and our walls are weakening

if the capital should fall, then we’ll lose everything

stories of their mighty hero kept some hope alive

you will fight to save us all if we’re both to survive”

“I thought I told you I would not be bound to any war

you still have no right to tell me what I’m fighting for”

the hero looked with new suspicion at the prince he served

being bound to fight was something no hero deserved

“You will fight with us because there’s nothing else to do

a hero brought this war to us, and it will end with you

if you have an ounce of honour, see it to the end

you’d have met my sword by now if you were not my friend”

Like his strings were cut, the prince fell back into his chair

for friendship mattered more to him than he had been aware

“before this war I thought you were a selfish, evil man

but now I know you’ve born a weight that no one else here can

Did you know they started calling me a hero too

it began when I was learning how to fight from you

now each battle rests on the illusions I create

showing them the confidence they all anticipate

Even with your strength, how did you do it all these years

just a word from you is all it took to ease their fears

that is why I will not question why you’ve grown so weak

but I can’t help you if a fairy tale is all you seek”

“I don’t know how you found out I was cursed, but it is true

right now I may be as weak if not weaker than you”

“if you had half the strength you did before you ran away

I can’t imagine you’d have heard a word I had to say”

Is this something you can fix, or are your powers lost

were your powers always something you’d one day exhaust”

“I do not know when they’ll return, but I am still a knight

if the capital is threatened, I will stay and fight”

The hero bowed his head as both his hands began to shake

he longed for this to be a dream, but he was wide awake

how had he once more become a slave to his own sword

hadn’t his heroic deeds earned him some great reward

The prince looked down in pity at the powerless hero

“the heavy ache of helplessness is something we all know

welcome to the realm of men whose fate is not their own

take solace that at least in war you would not die alone”