36Chapter 1: It begins He is too far gone
The Three Fates gather,
giggles passing between them
like wisps of wind,
and in their innocence
they weave together a fate of
tragedy and torment,
Three Dancers
in a paradox of naïve power
(a giggle in the dark)
"Oh, Laios, my darling…"
(as stifled gasps echo from the walls)
The warming torches bracketed onto the wall
scream and burn ¡warning! in red,
yet the young king is deafened to all alarm.
The wise woman is before him
. cool wise-eyes of grey
. and life-wrinkled fingers
and she is loathe to share what she knows
And oracles always know the truth
"Childless you may have been
and such is a terrible fate for a king,
but heed my warning, for tis a blessing twofold
since a grave misfortune shall await such a child.
Any babe hence twined from this royal pair
be it girl or boy, dark or fair
will kill his father ere coming of age
How or when I cannot presage."
King Laios stumbles to his feet and backs away
vision blurred and ears ringing
and the flames flicker and dance
(pleading, calling, praying)
before his disbelieving eyes
She swirls the fragrant wine
the scent heavy in the air
his resolve is failing
(I must not allow my lust to
cause her downfall
but I cannot tell her…)
and she leans forward to place her glass
on the floor,
the gentle clink of glass on stone
not breaking him from his reverie
(I cannot let her see
this fate we have been bestowed
yet I cannot resist this-)
the young queen entwines her fingers in his hair,
the perfume of heady grape
sweet on her breath
"Laios…"
and his blood is thinned with tempting wine
(I cannot
I cannot
I cannot)
the darkness covers his deceit and
her tongue tastes of desire
("Any babe twined from this royal pair…")
"Jocaste, my love, I…"
and he realises he is too far gone to stop her