The Crown Below

 Down, down, under root and bone,

There sits a crown that isn’t stone.

Not gold, not iron, not made by hand,

It grew where laws could not command.

It counts the dead.

It counts the wise.

It drinks the names behind your eyes.

Wear it once and wear it true,

The world must bend to balance you.

Take it off—

The lie remains.

Leave it on—

The world complains

The Crown Below is the story arc for thr first season if my solo Shadowdark podcast. When the phrase popped into my head, I didn't know what it meant. It just sounded cool. To be honest, I still do t know what iteans, but things are starting to form in my mind as to what it could be. Whether the characters ever discover what those thoughts are, I don't know. But this little nursery rhyme came to me all at once almost full formed in a stream of consciousness kind of a way . I have an idea how one of my chara ters might be more intrinsically linked to the story than the others. Whether that character lives long enough for the story to mature, remains to be seen. But I'm looking forward to finding out 🙂