0 she can't win!

i had an epiphany while driving home last night...go figure, it seems most of my epiphanies come while driving. anyway, i realized our princess cannot win.  


while i was never 100% sure how the battle would turn out, there were only two scenarios i saw.  (1) she wins, then reveals herself and her plight and potentially looses her knight.  (2) he wins and there is no need to reveal herself because he is who she would have chosen so what difference does it really make.  okay, so i think i was leaning towards (1) from the get go because obviously there is the potential for more 'woe' embedded within this outcome.  it never really dawned on me that there was yet another option...and probably the most logical.  how i missed this possibility, i cannot say.  but when her secret was accidentally reveal at the end of the bout, it seemed off somehow.  i liked the idea of the premature reveal, but something didn't work.  the answer was, "she cannot win!"


so i did a little tweaking.  it didn't really take much to alter the appropriate part.  i left the original post up, just because...below you will find the reworked act VIII.   

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Check out the first seven parts of the ballad in Act I - VII.

Act VIII – The Bout

It happened quite some time ago
when dragons roamed the land
where men were measured by the sword
and swiftness of their hand

the time has fin’ly come to pass
for our two loves to meet
no longer in their secret place
upon their garden seat

instead they strut the battlegrounds
two men for all to see
and bow to king and princess dear
but wait, how can that be

the princess in two spots at once
not possible you say
(hmmm) but ‘tis our lady’s maid who stands
as princess on display

‘tis with a cry the king declares
“the victor here within
will wed my daughter as proclaimed.
now let the bout begin!”

(ahhh) but to describe the artistry
with which our two loves sparred
their courtly dance with clashing swords
no one could disregard

oh what a match these two do make
both on and off the field
they fight with every breath they have
and still they do not yield

yet like all things that come to pass
this bout must find an end
for with a trick he stole from her
our young knight does descend


and with this final move he makes
her helmet goes astray
revealing who she really is
to everyone’s dismay

And thus moves on our tale of love
in shadows filled with woe
our knight now knows of love’s deceit
his princess is his foe

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