I have sat upon the throne for many years now, though the weight of it never quite ceases to surprise me. Not because it is a seat of power—power is fleeting, ephemeral—but because it is a seat of solitude, of perpetual distance from the world I once knew.

I remember, as a child, how much I longed for the day I would take the crown, when I would stand in the court and hear the applause of my peopl...

Beneath the guise of laughter’s gleam,
Friendship whispers a darker dream.
A hand to hold, a heart to share,
But in its depths, deceit is there.

With smiles they cloak a hidden knife,
A bond that bleeds, yet shapes your life.
They teach you dependence, not to grow,
As they control what you should know.

Their love is a tether, not a flame,
A leash to bind, a cruel game.
They cheer for you, but envy...