The Prince

Authors note: Finally finished my story. I suppose that I had to wait for things to unfold.

Chapter 1
There was once a king who ruled his people well; as well as could be expected for a people who had a need to be ruled.

The king had a son that was his favorite. The Prince was next-in-line to be the king.

When the Prince reached his teen-age years, the behavior of his father began to change. The king was gone from his kingdom more often than usual and for longer periods of time. His reasons given for these prolonged absences were obviously untrue, and the Prince began to wonder what was happening to the king as his behavior had become more erratic as time passed.

The king gradually lost touch with his family as it reached a point where he was gone more than he was there in the kingdom. He no longer had time to spend with his son and they grew apart.

Unlike earlier days, the king’s decisions handed down upon his subjects were often unjust, favoring the party having the most money. Also, he had taken to counting his gold and the task often kept him occupied for much of the day.

But the worst actions of the king did not surface until after the fire. The granary had burned on the outskirts of the village. With winter coming on, this did not bode well for the villagers.

The king immediately blamed the Kingdom of the East, a land comprised of people who were said to hold strange beliefs and customs that were mostly unknown to the villagers. The king told the villagers tales of religious intolerance and punishment to anyone who went against the will of their ruler of the east. He told them that not only should they seek retribution against those who would have them starve but this would also free the people of the Kingdom of the East from further oppression by their own evil king.

The Prince remembered the king saying all of this just after the fire. He also remembered the prolonged trip the king had taken just a few weeks before.

During that time, the Prince had decided to follow the king on his journey. The Prince remained out of sight from the king’s caravan as their tracks in the desert sand guided him along the way.

Interestingly, the first place that the king had gone to visit was the Kingdom of the East! The Prince noted that the king had disguised himself while in public and then had met with the ruler of the Kingdom of the East. The Prince did not know what they had discussed.

But the king was not finished with his trip. After he left the Kingdom of the East, the next place his father went to visit was what was known to his people as the Kingdom of Darkness. When interacting with the people in this kingdom, the Prince saw that the king certainly did not travel incognito and was recognized and treated as if he was their king.

“Wait a minute,” thought the Prince watching the peasants groveling in the dirt before his father. “That’s exactly what he is to them. He is their king also!”

During those times in which he was gone from the kingdom of his own family, the king had been ruling over another. But even a king cannot serve two masters.

The Prince’s people had always been told that those in the Kingdom of Darkness were insane. They saw everyone else in other kingdoms as their inferiors by birth while they sacrificed the innocent to their god of war. Because they were a small kingdom and could not often overcome their enemies by brute force, they were said to be skilled in the art of deception.

“And their king is our king,” the Prince thought to his horror.

But there was even more for the Prince to learn on this day. The king then stood before this dark kingdom and actually told them the truth:

“Greetings my subjects,” said the king. “Our plans will soon be accomplished,” he said with a malevolent smile. “Soon, we will launch an attack upon one kingdom and blame it on another. This will turn both of our enemies upon each other. After we have enough of them kill each other off, we will betray the ruler of the Kingdom of the East, as I promised him more gold and power for selling out his own people. He, of course, will be put to the sword also.”

The peasants laughed heartily.

“You are my chosen so I will tell you the truth,” said the king. Our overall plan is to expand our kingdom while destroying all others!”

The peasants cheered.

At the end of his speech, the peasants were allowed to share in a huge outdoor banquet. Few of them realized that the food had been taken from the fruits of their own labor and was now being fed back to them as if it were a gift.

The Prince left the village still shaken trying to process what he had heard. Just about everything he had ever learned from the king had been a lie. Somewhere down the line, the king had sold out his own people in his thirst for wanting power over all people.

The Prince now found himself faced with a dilemma. Should he try to expose the actions of the king to his people? How could he convince them that what he said was true when he could only tell them what he himself had seen and heard? Obviously, his life would be in great danger from the king if he chose to follow this path.

Or should he keep his mouth shut? After all, he was heir to the throne and all of this would be under his control once the king passed.

During the time in which he had followed the king into foreign lands, the Prince had come to an understanding. He had seen how power over others corrupted the soul and no longer wanted any part of it.

Now remembering how recently his father had lied about those responsible for the fire, the Prince knew what he had to do. Sadly, he could already envision the difficulties of trying to convince people that the king was a traitorous liar and they didn’t have to live as slaves anymore. But how do you convince those who think they are free?

But mostly, he knew that his most difficult task would be to keep them from transferring their obedience to the king onto the Prince himself. He wanted the villagers to rule themselves. That meant that even if he survived this rebellion, he would have to leave society or be worshiped as a god by small minds who had no access to the kingdom within.

In a moment of clarity, the Prince remembered the timeless stories of those who had come before. Always, there had been those who had given up so much only to be turned upon by those they had attempted to free.

It was his time now.

Chapter 2
The Prince had been mistaken in thinking that he would be pursued by the king’s men after revealing to others that his father was a traitor. After six months of being left alone in his travels and attempting to expose the king for his treasonous ways to those in other distant kingdoms, the Prince decided to go back to his own kingdom and find out why.

Upon entering the village, the peasants that had once groveled in the dirt before him now turned their backs on him. The Prince was granted access to the palace once the king was told that he had arrived.

He found himself alone in the great hall with the king looking down on him as an enemy. But the Prince also felt the eyes of something else upon him.

“So, I hear that you’ve been spreading lies about me,” the king said, barely able to contain his rage against his once-favored son.

“I followed you on your last trip before the fire,” said the Prince. “I now know that you are both a liar and a traitor."

“How dare you insult me!” screamed the king. “I will have you killed!”

“I doubt it,” said the Prince calmly. “It’s my guess that someone else now pulls your strings when it comes to making such decisions. Otherwise, you would have had me killed already."

“Is your master hiding in the background even now?” the Prince continued.

From a curtain behind the throne, a man stepped out and walked towards the king. He approached the throne saying loud enough for the Prince to hear, “Leave us now.”

The king reacted as if he had been physically struck, but obeyed this strange man without even a backward glance towards his son as he exited the palace.

The man took his place on the throne and asked the Prince to be seated next to him.

“I figured you would come back here sooner or later," the man said. "Have you had any luck convincing anyone of your ridiculous story?” he laughed.

“First of all,” said the Prince, “Who are you and what do you have on my father to make him your subordinate?”

The man laughed. “My name is Lucius and I have nothing on him,” he said. I merely stoked his greed and the rest of him soon followed.”

“I understand,” said the Prince. “Your kind have been run out of all the other kingdoms at one time or another due to taking over their money supply and implementing usury to bleed the people dry. Then you stole a kingdom from people who only wanted to live in peace."

The Prince saw that the man had a change in his eyes for a moment, but maintained his composure.

“Whatever you may think, Lucius replied, “The aristocracy in my kingdom are the power behind the throne, both in your kingdom as well as my own.”

“And you are from the Kingdom of Darkness,” said the Prince. It was not a question.

The man laughed again. “You should talk with the villagers the next time you see them. They now believe otherwise. They are calling us the Kingdom of Light.”

“Of course, they’ve also been informed regarding your treason against the king,” Lucius continued. “They were told to turn their backs upon you if you were to ever again enter their village. As you have already surmised regarding the king, they would kill you themselves if allowed to do so.”

“You see,” said Lucius, “We know that you will never be believed by the masses as your kind never has been on a scale that has ever made any difference. Those like you have always ended up being killed off by the same mentality that we dupe into worshiping your image 100 years later. Of course, our lineage will recreate your narrative in a way that best serves our own purposes.”

“But it doesn’t have to be that way for you,” said Lucius. “Give your fealty to me and my kingdom now and you will follow your father to the throne. Your complete domination over the peasants will remain intact and you can use them as your beasts of burden to fulfill all of your desires. As long as those desires do not conflict with our own.”

Looking at this vile creature before him with his beady eyes and a mouth locked in a perpetual grimace, the Prince understood why Lucius could never be king himself. It was impossible for his visage to hide its contempt for all of humanity. He had the face that even his own people could not trust.

“Before you reject my offer out of hand,” Lucius continued, “Let me tell you what kind of future you will have if you do. As I’m sure you have already seen over the past months, no one will believe anything you have to say, even while everything you have been talking about is actually happening.”

“They will believe only what we tell them to believe as they have been trained to obey only the aristocracy. From our schools to our religions, they are used to create mindless slaves who obey without question, no matter how much we take from them in the process. We get them to kill each other off in the name of their god who was manufactured by us. That’s what they wish to bow before and that is what they get!” said Lucius, displaying his hidden emotions.

“Anyway, what do you care about these slaves?” said Lucius more calmly. “You will have them back bowing down to you before this day is through. All you have to do is give your allegiance to me.”

The Prince shook his head sadly. “Those are not my ways anymore. I can’t be part of the bloodshed of war used to enslave them. I also know that ruling others always comes with a price of being ruled myself. Your presence is the only proof of this I need.”

“I will never give fealty to the likes of you,” continued the Prince. “You are a betrayer of all humanity, the lowest of creatures who has deluded yourself into believing that you are something you are not. But even in your own kingdom, there are those who see you for what you are. They no longer wish to participate in enslaving others as the chains are now also being fitted around them.”

“Enough!” Lucius shouted. “Be on your way; you are banished from the kingdom. I will have my servant announce it shortly.”

“You must never come back here under penalty of death. But go anywhere else you wish. We will not pursue you. You are not a threat to us as you will simply be ignored.”

As the Prince walked away from the kingdom, the villagers once again turned their backs upon him. He wondered how much of what Lucius had said was true.

Chapter 3
The Prince had been banished from his kingdom by a stranger named Lucius, an inhabitant from the Kingdom of Darkness. But everywhere the Prince traveled, he found that the villagers had changed their views and were now calling it the Kingdom of Light.

The Prince had tried mostly in vain to awaken the villagers in these kingdoms and to warn them how they would be betrayed by their rulers. In spite of the threats to his life, he told the people from his own kingdom (when they were away from the village), the Kingdom of the East and even ventured into the Kingdom of the Darkness (he would never call it by any other name) that they would be turned upon by the king’s men in the end.

Almost without exception, the peasants of the three kingdoms rejected the Prince’s words and held him in contempt. To believe what he said was to admit that they had been fools. Therefore, most chose to remain so.

Many would even turn their backs upon him when not under orders; for one of the few pleasures of a slave’s mind was to find someone he could judge to be lower than himself.

The Prince soon realized that only the words of Lucius had spared his life even when away from his own kingdom as many wanted him killed for telling them his tales of their coming woe and strife. They didn’t think they had it so bad and if their neighbor suffered more than they did what was that to them?

At the end of a long period of time, the Prince once again made the journey back to the kingdom of his birth. He no longer cared that he had been marked for death upon return.

He soon discovered that his father who had once been the king had been replaced by a younger man who spoke in a staccato-like cadence that gave him a headache after listening to him recite his litany of lies to the peasants.

After gaining his audience, the Prince asked to see Lucius. The king departed without so much as an introduction.

Lucius walked from behind the curtain, his shoulders more stooped and gait more awkward than the last time he had seen him.

After exchanging initial greetings, Lucius asked, “Have you had any success in convincing people of their coming fate?”

“You mean your betrayal of them?” the Prince replied.

“I simply wish to consolidate the kingdoms,” said Lucius. “They will all now be part of the Kingdom of Light.”

“Have you let them in on the part where you will be killing off most of them first before bringing them all together?”

“These herd animals from all kingdoms have never known what was best for them,” Lucius replied. “They require a ruler or they wouldn’t know what to do with themselves. Culling them down to a smaller and more manageable size only makes good sense. We have suppressed technology that we will bring out after they’re gone which is another reason why we don’t need them anymore.”

“Haven’t you wasted enough of your time on them?” Lucius continued. “I have rescinded my previous orders regarding your arrest and execution, so my offer still stands. We will make you king.”

“What about who you have in there as king now?”

“He’s temporary,” said Lucius. “He is in place to create chaos. It is you that could bring back order. Don’t worry, we’ll get them all to love you again. Just a few turns of the screws of both pleasure and pain and the peasants will forget about your silly conspiracy theories.”

“What happened to my father?” asked the Prince.

“He outlived his usefulness,” Lucius replied.

Sadly, the Prince realized that he was not deeply affected by the news. He had mourned his father’s loss long ago while still in his body.

“I need some time before I make my decision,” the Prince replied. "I didn’t expect your offer to be made once again.”

Lucius stared at him a moment and then nodded.

As the Prince walked away from the kingdom of his birth for the last time, he knew what he must do. He would try once more to convince the people of the other kingdoms to prepare for what was coming. A few would listen and be ready, giving themselves a fighting chance. The rest would perish or be enslaved.

Because of this, the Prince was also prepared for what he knew was coming.

But even he could not have imagined exactly what the enemy had planned. It began with a war of attrition…