The Woman Before the Winter

Before the frost.

Before the crown.

Before they decided what I was —

there was a girl who believed in light.

The mountains were her first and only confidantes.

They did not ask for crowns. Only for truth.

She told them everything. They told no one.

It was a place of laughter, of harvest and song.

Children ran without fear.

The banners carried sunlight.

We thought it would last forever.

Then came the choice —

not between good and evil,

but between saving them

or saving myself.

She chose them.

History rarely forgives that kind of love.