Work Text:
Irene
There is no other way
You cannot say “I have seen
The thickets of thorns you fly through,
Here is a safe place to land,”
While I still have thorns
Piercing my feathers.
You cannot say “My love,
I have built for you a nest”
When I must still fly
Through fire to reach it.
I need thorns halved, fire banked,
I need your hand in mine.
Eugenides
You do now know what you ask
Irene
I know more than any.
Have I not run the gauntlet myself,
Every day since I took my first
Toddering steps at my mother’s knee?
This is not what you promised me.
Eugenides
I promised you my heart.
Irene
You promised me your life.
If you meant it–
Eugenides
You know I did.
Irene
Then you cannot be angry
When I ask you to keep it.
Eugenides
It is my soul you ask of me.
Irene
Then it is your soul I demand.
Gods know my own is ragged enough.
If you love me as you claim–
Eugenides
Do you doubt me still?
Irene
Of course.
You knew the state of my heart
When you asked for it.
Eugenides
I love you.
I love you to the point of madness.
You are the fixed center
Of my world, the core
That guides my turning.
I love you to abandon,
My home lost to me,
The mountains that cradled me
Empty, lifeless, at your word.
I learned how to live for you
When my soul longed for rest.
I love you to distraction,
My sacred duties scorned,
To the point of fealty.
Here i am, pious as a holy pilgrim,
Kneeling at your feet.
I love you into my nightmares
And every wondrous dream.
Do you doubt me still?
Irene
I believe you.
Eugenides
Then for all the love you bear me,
Do not ask this.
Irene
You know I must.
Eugenides
I know nothing.
Irene
I have no need of a doll on strings.
Eugenides
I will not take your sovereignty from you.
Irene
No man can take
My sovereignty from me.
I give a part to you,
A burden shared.
Eugenides
I cannot accept.
Irene
You must.
Eugenides
It would be my ruin.
Irene
As it is already mine.
You married me to save me,
But you cannot save me halfway.
My dearest heart,
I love you to the point of reforging,
Of unmaking myself and remaking again.
I love you to a haunting,
Seeing you in every shadow
Hearing you in every breeze.
I love you to the point of blasphemy,
To a leap of faith off a rooftop.
I love you to discovery,
To guilt, to countless apology,
To admittance of endless fault;
I love you to forgiveness.
I learned how to breathe again
For you, when my brittle body
Had long thought any solace lost.
Do you doubt me?
Eugenides
Never when awake.
Irene
Then doubt me not when I say
I cannot go on alone.
I am drowning in power.
You took my crown,
And you must wear it now,
Or damn me,
Or damn us both.
Eugenides
And damn myself?
Irene
I am here. Take my hand.
[he does]
Irene
By the love I bear you,
You will never be alone.
Eugenides
I will consider it.
Irene
Promise me. Swear to me.
Eugenides
I swear.
Irene
Together, it is easier to bear.