The Book of Knowledge

There was a kingdom, one prosperous and peaceful, and ruling it was a king wiser than any that came before him. However, one day, the king died. The king died of poisoning after drinking from his cup. The one who poisoned him was the king's only brother, his twin, the second prince, born merely a few seconds later and lost it all to his elder brother.

Upon the king's death, his court was in uproar, his advisors, the councilmen, the dukes, all turned their accusations towards each other. Yet, amidst all of that, none suspected the king's brother. It was due to the fact that the brother was a quiet man, quiet and elusive, to the point that few even remembered he existed.

Seeing the peace maintained by the late king on the verge of collapsing as the members of his court began to conspire against one another, the queen turned to the only person she believed she could count on, the royal historian, the man charged with knowing all there is to know about the kingdom's history, the man that also happens to be the late king's twin brother.

Once, the queen, the king, and the king's brother, they were close friends, and the queen knew that he was clever, and asked the brother if there was a way to know for sure who had killed the king.

"For sure, Your Majesty?" He addressed her formally, maintaining distance. "Only two in this world would know for sure who killed His Majesty the King. One would be the killer himself, the other would be the Book of Knowledge, within which records all there is to know."

The Book of Knowledge had been spoken of in legends and myths, and as it was aptly named, it was a book that held knowledge, all of it. With but a peer into the Book, all questions would be answered, so the legends go.

"Does it exist, this Book of Knowledge?" the queen asked.

"I have on good authority, my authority, that it does, and I think I know where to find it."

For a long time, the king's brother had investigated this elusive book, and he had desired it greatly. To know all there is to know, to know why fate had chosen his brother to be born first and himself second, to know how his brother could be so talented and perfect in everything that he himself could not help but be inferior, to know how even though his brother was so perfect he was just as diligent, and therefore there was absolutely nothing he himself could do to even match his pace, much less catch up.

For the longest time he had pondered about such questions and got no answers back. Even though they were born from the same parents, even though they were raised in the same place, why was there such a difference? Was it merely fate? Was it fate that decreed that his brother be superior and he inferior? Was it fate that had caused him to fall in love with the same woman his brother has? Was it fate that he became so consumed by jealousy that the thought of murdering his own brother had crossed his mind countless of times? Was it fate that had him finally decide to carry out the deed? Has all this been long ordained? Then what is free will, what is good and evil, when all of it was just fate?

Am I just blaming fate for my own evil? He asked himself.

No, he answered, I know what I have done, I know of my own evil deeds, but what am I to do? My brother was far too superior, and there was nowhere for me to go but within his shadow. What else am I to do? Simply live in his shadow for the rest of my life, to be constantly reminded that whatever I do or achieve, he could easily do better and more? That I shouldn't have even bothered and let him do it instead? I can't, I can't possibly do that.

Then, perhaps I should have done better? He asked himself again.

Perhaps I should, he answered, after all, I haven't yet worked till my arms are completely worn and my eyes till they bleed, I am incapable of such diligence, but if it's him, my brother, I'm sure he could have done it and go even further if need be.

Still, what is our difference? We were born in the same place, raised in the same place, lived in the same place. The only difference I know of is that he was born a few seconds earlier, that was it... or was that the very thing that mattered?

No matter how much he thought about it, the answer never came to him. And so, instead of waiting for the answer to come to him, he decided to go to the answer himself.

With ease, the king's brother persuaded the queen to let him set off on a journey to retrieve the Book of Knowledge. To escort him on his quest, he was granted six of the kingdom's finest knights and together they set off on their journey for the truth.

The seven of them travelled far and wide, seeking out locations where the Book may lie, finding it long gone from one place but learning where it had went next. They came across trials that tested their spirits and dangers that threatened their lives, till at the very end, only the king's brother remained.

Fate, he told himself, fate that they had died and him alive, fate outside of anyone's control. Accidents happened, and mistakes committed because they couldn't have known any better. No matter how much he thought back at them, he saw no path out of any of it, no way any of them could have known what is to come, the six knights died, and none of them could have saw it coming. However, if one held the Book of Knowledge, the book of all there is to know, past, present, and future, then perhaps, it could all be avoided, one could easily avoid any mistakes, one could perhaps even choose their own fates.

With such thoughts driving him, the king's brother pressed onwards.

In the end, he did find it, down in the deepest, darkest abyss any man has travelled, there lies the Book of Knowledge, and when he finally read it, he could not help but despair.

In time, he returned to his kingdom with the Book in hand, and to the queen, he confessed his crime of regicide. Promptly, he was thrown into prison, the darkest there is in the realm, along with the so called Book of Knowledge, and he is to stay there for the rest of his life. From that day onwards, the people came to know him, mockingly, as the Book Keeper.