Gilded Sunset

Gilded Sunset


         Flames engulfed a cloudless blue sky, turning it orange and yellow, and reflected off the pristine water of Lake Mortaire.  Behind the lake rose the delicate, white spires of a colossal, fortified palace; and behind that, mounds of black, jagged juts scratched the heavens.
         A pensive figure waited, listening intently to both the birds and the wind, anticipating the time when their speech would reveal long-awaited tidings of homecoming.  Blue and purple swirled about his person, lending him the illusion of floating.  Gold crowned a silver head while pearls held long strands at bay.  His slender arms were tucked into long, elegant sleeves; the wind had grown cold.  Crickets creaked, announcing the day’s final summaries.  Trees swayed their good-nights.  A single ripple broke the water’s smoothness; a creature had investigated nature’s intruder and then retreated.
         The king turned on the gentle rise to greet another dressed in white.  He returned her offered smile and brought her sparkling hand to his lips.  Above, a golden hawk soared freely, and the wind rustled leaves that had just begun to fall.
         An almost hesitant glow pushed away the fire of day; the trees fell to sleep; the birds settled and silenced.  The crickets, most importantly, spread word that the queen had finally returned.  There would be much celebration in the bastion that night.