The tower stands. It is stone. It is old. I am old.

I climb. The stairs spiral. My lungs burn. The air is thin. It tastes of dust. It tastes of time.

I am Edward Ashworth. I was a king. Or I thought I was. Now I am a ghost. I am a memory that refuses to fade. I am the exile within the exile.

The tower is my home. The tower is my prison. The tower is my body.

I reach the top. The room is small. The window is round. The glass is thick. It is dark. Outside, the world is gray. The rain falls. It hits the glass. It sings. It weeps.

I look into the mirror.

The mirror is silver. It is framed in oak. The oak is carved. Dragons eat the wood. The dragons are dead. The wood is dry.

I see myself. I see a man. He is tall. He is thin. His hair is white. His eyes are black. They are deep. They are wells. No light enters. No light leaves.

I see my wife. She is there. She is not there. She is in the glass. She is behind me.

Margaret.

My heart stops. My heart starts. It beats like a drum. It beats like a war horn.

She is young. She is always young. She is twenty. She is twenty. She is twenty.

She looks at me. She does not speak. She smiles. It is a small smile. It is a sad smile.

I do not speak. I cannot speak. Words are heavy. Words are stones. I drop them. They sink.

I love her. I loved her. I will love her. It is a fact. It is a law. It is the sun. It is the moon. It is the stone.

The system came. The system is a beast. It has many mouths. It has no heart. It ate the kingdom. It ate the people. It ate me.

I fought. I drew my sword. I was brave. I was strong. I was wrong.

The beast is the court. The court is the tower. The tower is the beast.

I am part of it. I am the stone. I am the mortar. I am the silence.

I do not know why I am here. I do not know why I remain.

I think I am waiting.

I think I am watching.

The rain continues. The glass vibrates. The sound is loud. The sound is soft.

I look at the mirror again.

Margaret is still there. She is looking at me. Her eyes are wide. They are full of fear. They are full of love.

I want to touch her. I reach out. My hand passes through the glass. It feels cold. It feels like ice. It feels like death.

I pull my hand back. I am alone.

I am never alone. I am always with her. I am always in the glass.

I am the exile. I am the prisoner. I am the mirror.

The beast is still there. It is in the walls. It is in the floor. It is in the air.

I hear it. It is a hum. It is a low sound. It is the sound of power. It is the sound of control.

It wants me to leave. It wants me to break. It wants me to forget.

I will not forget.

I will not leave.

I am the wall. I am the stone.

I stand up. I walk to the window. I look out.

The world is gone. There is only rain. There is only gray. There is only the tower.

The tower is eternal. The tower is forever.

I turn back to the mirror.

Margaret is gone.

The glass is empty.

The glass is dark.

I scream. I do not hear it. I do not make a sound.

I am silent. I am still.

I am the stone.

The beast laughs. I hear it. It is in my head. It is in my bones.

It says: You are nothing. You are dust. You are gone.

I say: I am here.

It says: You are a lie.

I say: I am the truth.

It says: The truth is power. Power is me.

I say: Power is a cage. I am the key.

The beast is angry. The tower shakes. The stones rattle. The dust falls.

I do not move. I stand still. I am the center. I am the eye.

The shaking stops. The silence returns.

I look at the mirror.

Margaret is there.

She is older now. She is fifty. She is sixty. She is old.

Her face is lined. Her hair is white. Her eyes are tired.

She looks at me. She sees me.

I see her. I see the years. I see the pain. I see the love.

We are together. We are apart.

I am the exile. I am the home.

I understand now.

The beast is not the court. The beast is the choice.

I chose to stay. I chose to remember. I chose to love.

The choice defines me. The choice is me.

I am the tower. I am the stone. I am the mirror.

I am the beast.

I am the prey.

I am the love.

I am the loss.

I am the self.

The rain stops. The sky is clear. The stars come out. They are bright. They are cold.

I look at the stars. I look at the mirror.

Margaret is smiling. It is a real smile. It is a happy smile.

She is not a ghost. She is not a memory. She is there. She is real.

I am real.

We are real.

The beast is gone. The beast is dead.

I am free.

I am not free.

I am the tower. I am the stone.

I must stay. I must watch. I must remember.

This is my duty. This is my penance. This is my life.

I close my eyes. I feel the stone. I feel the cold. I feel the warmth.

The warmth is her. The cold is me.

I open my eyes.

The mirror is gone.

The wall is bare. The stone is gray. The air is still.

I am alone.

I am never alone.

I am the stone.

The tower stands. It is eternal. It is forever.

I am inside it. I am part of it.

I am the exile. I am the king.

I am the end.

I am the beginning.

The stone is cold. The stone is warm.

I am the stone.

The beast is silent. The beast is dead.

The love is alive. The love is strong.

I am the love.

I am the loss.

I am the self.

The tower stands.

The tower stands.

The tower stands.

I am here.

I am here.

I am here.

The rain falls. The rain rises. The rain returns.

The cycle is complete. The cycle begins.

I am the stone.

I am the mirror.

I am the exile.

I am the home.

The beast is in the walls. The beast is in the air. The beast is in me.

I fight it. I conquer it. I wear it.

I am the king.

I am the ghost.

I am the truth.

The mirror is gone. The wall is bare.

I look at the wall. I see myself.

I see Margaret.

She is there. She is not there.

I am there. I am not there.

We are one. We are two.

We are the tower. We are the stone.

We are the mirror.

The beast laughs. I hear it. It is soft. It is kind.

It is me.

I am the beast. I am the prey. I am the hunter.

I am the choice.

I choose to stay. I choose to love. I choose to be.

The tower stands.

The tower stands.

The tower stands.

I am the stone.

I am the silence.

I am the sound.

I am the end.

I am the start.

The rain falls. The sky is clear. The stars are bright.

I am here.

I am here.

I am here.

The beast is silent. The love is loud.

I am the stone.

I am the mirror.

I am the exile.

I am the home.

The tower stands.

The tower stands.

The tower stands.