❦ .・。.・゜❧・.
from forth the fatal loins of
these two foes, a pair of
star-crossed lovers...
━━━

██ 00. | ❛ DEATH ❜

█ ❦ ... / THERE HAD ALWAYS BEEN a fine line between order and destruction. Between beauty that stood still — taintless, unmoving — and that which would ultimately decay.

    Order was a thin veil, after all. From a distance, it appeared alluring, with everybody spread out in their neat little line. Those born with value to the left, and those who had to earn it to the right. But if you dared to look a little closer, you might find that there is no real order at all.

You see, it's a fragile thing — perfection.

    Most of the time, it exists only as a charade. Disguising any blemishes, so that nobody can get distracted by the hideousness of flaws. Order is beautiful, but division? Division implied impairment, and that just wouldn't do.

At this point, you may be wondering how our setting even survived in the midst of such a disconnection. Well, in a place where perception is more precious than diamonds, it was tolerance alone that kept the fragile system afloat.

    But alas, it does no good to start this story orderly with a beginning, and remain ignorant to the destruction that will mark its end.

    And so, we start this tale not with a beginning,
but with a warning...

    Take caution, because this is not a story of happy endings — it is not even a story of success. This is a tale of empty promises and of broken dreams, of a cycle of disappointment so endless that its victims fall blindly to it again, and again, and again. It is a tale of pain, with a promise that love can destroy even the strongest of systems if only one knows how to use it right.

    Where naivety is dangerous, and a single misstep is capable of far more damage than the blade of a knife.

    And thus, I want to present you with an image. Taken among pictures of fallen buildings and of crumbled stone, with entire populations reduced to ash. Of ancient grudge and of new mutiny, in which civil blood makes civil hands unclean. Where the rising of three fingers has the power to turn a nation into an army.

    And amongst it — a tragedy of the stars, and a fateful romance marked for death...

    But please, you must forgive me, for I fear I may be getting ahead of myself. Our tale is one of much smaller magnitude than a civilisation turned to war. Our tale begins instead with the beauty of a princess, golden and fair. With bloodstained carpets, and a curtain of billowing red hair.

    In need of her knight in shining armour? Perhaps.

    In need of rescue? Well — that much was certain. But then, our princess was always capable of doing that part herself...

    No, this is not the story of a saviour. It couldn't possibly be, because the hero of our story is no mighty prince. There is no glistening sword. There is no crown or glory. Hell, there isn't even a glimpse of influence to the poor boy's name.

    Our story instead, stands with a boy who lost everything, despite not realising he had anything to lose at all.

    His power, you may ask? Well, there was never anything quite as powerful as the need to save one's family from starvation.

   And so... we are left with little. Only crushed white petals and wine-stained lips. Fingers clutched around a necklace — a gold chain holding something dazzling and blue.

   Lapis Lazuli.

    If only they had known that the biggest threat to their system would be the power of a single, semi-precious stone. A frightful reminder of a harsh truth.

    That everything beautiful must tarnish in the end.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

AUTHOR'S NOTE... hello my lovelies! welcome to the new and improved prologue! for those of you that have read the book before, this will be very familiar (as it hasn't actually changed that much from the original), so I won't ramble on for too long. but to be honest, the style of this prologue wasn't any easier to write the second time than it was the first. obviously, this prologue is based on the prologue from romeo and juliet, so it is very dark and prophetic, but do not be deterred! we have plenty of wholesome and fun stuff to come.

the foreshadowing is very fun though and I do love our narrator. they aren't going to show up very often (just a couple of instances across the book) and the rest of the book will be in regular first person. BUT, in the play the "chorus" pops up every so often to directly address the audience and lead them through the story, so I wanted to get that across a little!

anyway, that is all i'm going to say for
now. i hope you're all having a lovely day!

all my love, dani x