Gaiman and Keats both knew: Her charred fingerprint is on every human heart.

The Queen of All Deceivers
© Allison Lonsdale 1998
Live at Lestat's, Disc One, Track 2

Last call in the House of Dreams,
Won't you take a little false fire for the road
It burns so sweetly going down
Heading home across the water
You don't know you’re carrying a heavy load
If you slide under you might drown

        That light's not leading you to harbor; you're sailing through a fever
        It's the moon's reflection on the water
        She is the queen of all deceivers

For a sinner's candy heart
For a dragon valentine
For the lips of a woman who burned herself on beaury
Would you forget your part
Miss your cue and go up on your lines
Would you live life derelict of duty

        That song's not calling you to harbor; you're listening to a fever
        It's the voice of the king of Elfland's daughter
        She is the queen of all deceivers

            And your ship gets carried in the wake
            When her vessel of stars and thorns is leaving
            You can try redeeming her with sacrifice but she will always be deceiving

Like a face you can't forget
She slides beneath your secret skin
And you open your heart and she drags you under
She's not done playing with you yet
She knows just how to pull you in
And she baits the hook with a taste of wonder

        That flag's not signaling the harbor; it's the color of a fever
        She is the undertow that pulls you deeper
        She is the queen of all deceivers

            And she wants to wear your heart in chains
            She wants to know you cannot leave her
            For she loves the taste of human pain; the lady is a bold deceiver

Last call in the House of Dreams,
Won't you take a little false fire for the road
It burns so sweetly going down