The Flower of Dunmaire

I was just a weary traveler exhausted from the road
Through muggy days and restless nights my breakneck pace had slowed
Still, I struggled on across the hills beside the sea
The alluring call of the city walls forever beckoning

I arrived in a quaint village, all for to stay the night
I ordered two pints of stout to drink my worries out of sight
Then, from behind the bar I heard a harsh voice boom
"Pray tell, how do you plan to pay for your board and room?"

As I bowed my head and made to walk out the door
A kindly man sat next to me and ordered me one more
He said, "age has dulled my mind, my back ain't what it used to be
Come tend my humble garden, and I will pay your fee"

Should you come upon a tavern veiled by the ocean air
And should you find yourself without a penny to spare
Be wary of the offer to tend a garden oh so rare
On the scent of desperation thrives the Flower of Dunmaire

The first few nights were magic; the wind put me in a trance
The exotic plants bowed and swayed in their clockwork dance
Bursting with colors the likes of which I'd never seen
Shimmering and radiant in a glowing moonlit sheen

But soon the nights grew lonesome, isolation crept in fast
And the fates decided they had yet another spell to cast
As a lilting voice began to croon outside in the mist
I thought, "what good is paradise if there's no one to share it with?"

Should you find yourself in a garden far from ocean air
And should the nights invite a temptress drawn to your despair
Beware the silver in her tongue and the rose fixed in her hair
Your fortress will soon be breached by the Flower of Dunmaire

"So many gifts of earthly beauty locked away inside
Why shield nature's splendor when it doesn't wish to hide?
It takes two to grow a garden, so why would you keep your sanctum from me?
Spurn your locks, be rid of your keys, and we will pollinate sheer beauty"

As she slithered through the gate I came to understand
An apple this sweet would not be in my reach again

I felt ice shoot through my veins and I woke in a daze
The beauty that had been my palace, now barren and gray
Ruby, citrine, emerald, sapphire - shades of gold now lost
Never had a moment of weakness come at such a cost

As her eyes fanned flames of passion, I let a dragon through the door
Too blind to see forbidden fruit is poison at its core
In the throes of my misery, I had to run away
Far from that woman and the man whom I'd betrayed

Should you find yourself atop white cliffs, savaged by the cold
Should the tears fall to the stones to reflect a man so gray and old
When paradise is lost to temptation and despair
You'll regret the day you sold your soul to the Flower of Dunmaire
You'll regret the day you sold your soul to the Flower of Dunmaire