(no subject)
Title: Devotion
Rating: G
Musical: Elisabeth
Disclaimer: Kunze & Levay & the Austrian Royal family all own these characters :)
Word count: 313
Notes: Got tossed to a Zuka-related list of drabble requests and ended up doing this little bit :)
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His room was dark and silent when he woke with a start. With effort, his hands closed around the edge of the narrow bed and he pulled himself upright. The dim light through the crack in the curtains made his once-elegant hands look gnarled and knotted, less than human.
As always, he was alone, and that made the nightmare only hurt more, and such a nightmare made him fear more than any other.
Elisabeth. The thought of another hunting her, as his family, their families, were cut down in swathes around him, made his heart beat more and more painfully. He wondered if he had cried out.
He had struggled to confront the stranger, that pale-haired man with the ancient eyes.
In his heart, he knew the identity behind those cold eyes. He had seen that face, if only in his mind’s eyes, when Libényi’s knife had struck so many years ago. There had been glimpses too, after that. In the crypt, when he had stood by his son’s grave, he could swear he had seen pale hair and that proud face.
It was horrifying, thinking on it.
He remembered the agony of knowing he was old, frail, tired and this young, fierce, proud man who could never be a man was seeking his Sissi, his beloved. Franz Josef knew the despair of knowing that as far as she ran, he would never catch her, but this man, so fast, so deadly, could find her whenever he wanted.
With a shaking hand, he rubbed his aching chest. Even when she was not here, she could break his heart, knowing she would never truly be by his side, her hand on his arm, as she had once been.
And yet, he could not find it in him to hate that pale-haired young man.
After all, how could he blame any man for loving Sissi?
Rating: G
Musical: Elisabeth
Disclaimer: Kunze & Levay & the Austrian Royal family all own these characters :)
Word count: 313
Notes: Got tossed to a Zuka-related list of drabble requests and ended up doing this little bit :)
____________________________
His room was dark and silent when he woke with a start. With effort, his hands closed around the edge of the narrow bed and he pulled himself upright. The dim light through the crack in the curtains made his once-elegant hands look gnarled and knotted, less than human.
As always, he was alone, and that made the nightmare only hurt more, and such a nightmare made him fear more than any other.
Elisabeth. The thought of another hunting her, as his family, their families, were cut down in swathes around him, made his heart beat more and more painfully. He wondered if he had cried out.
He had struggled to confront the stranger, that pale-haired man with the ancient eyes.
In his heart, he knew the identity behind those cold eyes. He had seen that face, if only in his mind’s eyes, when Libényi’s knife had struck so many years ago. There had been glimpses too, after that. In the crypt, when he had stood by his son’s grave, he could swear he had seen pale hair and that proud face.
It was horrifying, thinking on it.
He remembered the agony of knowing he was old, frail, tired and this young, fierce, proud man who could never be a man was seeking his Sissi, his beloved. Franz Josef knew the despair of knowing that as far as she ran, he would never catch her, but this man, so fast, so deadly, could find her whenever he wanted.
With a shaking hand, he rubbed his aching chest. Even when she was not here, she could break his heart, knowing she would never truly be by his side, her hand on his arm, as she had once been.
And yet, he could not find it in him to hate that pale-haired young man.
After all, how could he blame any man for loving Sissi?