Cruel, to be kind….

I have been misjudged in my actions during the incestuous liaison that existed between my nephew Tristan and my beloved Isolde. Some have called me gullible, foolish and cruel as I stumbled in the dark, surrounded by treachery. The throne is truly a lonely perch, the ruler forever destined to stand alone as nobles and sycophants tumble from the woodwork. Yet may I remind you, these tales of my actions are told by another’s pen, a man who has his sympathies solely with the traitorous pair, declaring that their love was proof against all punishment or censure. This cannot be, for as a monarch, I cannot be seen to be weak in a matter that lies upon my very doorstep. To not have put Isolde to her just punishment would cost me my kingdom and the lives of my people….

I will admit that I spoke out of anger and despair when I put her to death without a trial and the stains upon my mortal soul that giving her to the lecherous lepers as a worst punishment shall ne’er be cleansed away. Yet I ask you, who here can say that they have not been driven mad with passionate anger and a lust for revenge? Once my reason returned I truly felt unending guilt for what I had done, thus when I saw my dears in the forest, so innocently beautiful, I thanked God that I had not destroyed them. This Beroul who seeks to know my heart cannot ever know the sadness and joy that I feel when I think of my kinsmen and my wife, lost to me in the wild evergreen……