THE KING’S STORY

A few days after the visit of Lear, the king called for his family,

"Come here children," the king called when they had all gathered in his chamber. The youngest prince sat by his feet, resting his head in his father's lap, looking up at his father, the eldest prince sat to his side, in front of him, and Nia clung to his arm, the king stroked the hair of his youngest and rested his head against Nia's in affection, as he smiled towards his eldest son, who nodded back.

"Dark times are upon us, upon all of Illis, oh how I miss your mother," the king spoke remembering his wife, and then shaking his head he continued.

"Let me tell you a tale,

"You see greatness is in all of us, it just takes the right set of circumstances to bring it out,

There was once a young orphan boy, who lived in Enyaal, like many others... with no feature out of the ordinary, he was just a part of the crowed, not knowing anything about the world. He didn't even have the inquisitiveness that you might think he would, for everyday for as long as he could remember was a battle for survival, of the streets and dumps he had to secure sustenance, he had to secure food.

Thinking of his future was a thought that didn't occur to him for even thinking of tomorrow was too much a task, but you see even with this particular blend of circumstances there was a silver lining. He in all of his worries and difficulties lived in the present.

Oh, he had friends and they died on a daily basis, disease, starvation or murdered. He saw his friends grow up to be slaves and prostitutes, those who lived long enough anyway. He had seen death, lived in constant fear of it but in his struggles for life didn't give up hope, for every day he lived was his victory over death. He outlived so many others each day, was that not reason enough to live for the next one?

What we pursue eludes us, and what we run from finds us.

The boy pursued a comfortable life and life played its part, so that Enyaal the town where he lived faced war. That was common. The war changed everything, but this boy who was used to the present accepted it, Enyaal was raised. People were slaughtered, people who had lived in the ignorance of bliss didn't know what to do or where to hide so that death wouldn't find them that day.

But this boy knew, so he hid. He saw families torn he saw the world burn, and the next day he was searching for food once more.

The boy cried at times, but he didn't know why, he didn't understand anything, nor did he ever think about anything. All he had to do was survive, outlive the others. Was there any more to life?

By the time he was seventeen he had finally found an honest living, a job, well a job of sorts anyway, he would work as a waiter in a pub. Still living for the day, still in the present, he started hearing stuff, from travelers who frequented, from customers, from people, and he found out that if he focused on them his own worries would slip his mind and he could relax more.

He learnt about places, people, and cultures. His parents had taught him how to read and write but he never had any interests in books. Now things were slightly different, so he started reading, at first for the heck of it and then because he found that rather than listening to people books were more wholesome.

He started learning things, anything and everything, by the time he was twenty five, life happened again.

A gang of robbers looted the pub, killing the owner and burning down everything. The boy felt loss, he felt pain, but as resentful as he was, he remembered how his life had been before. The boy stood up and carried on with life.

You always find what you search for, if you are honest about it.

And the boy searched for the elusive treasure known as love, and he found it. It was one-sided, he had taken a fancy to a daughter of a businessman, it wasn't love per say but she was the only woman he was truly attracted to. The difference in their statures prevented them from ever talking and she was wedded off eventually, so it was unrequited.

So, he gave up on love, and so love found him. He accepted it and got married to the daughter of the pub owner he used to work for. And again, blissfulness took over, but life. Poverty drove them to corners and separated them. The wife took their daughter and left him; only later did he hear they were murdered by some bandit. And so, life carried on.

He was thirty-five, had found success again, but this time he did not ignore life or death, he lived as he did to survive, even when he had enough to enjoy, he still remembered fate, he still out lived. His cation brought him more success as if life was testing him, giving him more and more so that he would lower his guard, but this time he was smarter, he was wiser.

At the age of fifty, life having tried and failed tried a different approach, life brought disaster to all without distinction. An earthquake hit Enyaal. A mighty one, and his success came down along with the walls he had raised to guard him, to hide him. All gone, he still persisted.

But unable to struggle as he had in his youth he could not get back on his feet, poverty and starvation, by the ends of his teeth he held on. By sixty-five he was too old, so he welcomed death,

As he sat stricken by starvation, he closed his eyes, his life had passed before he knew it, he had lived so long. Was there anything he wanted? He wanted to live, and he had lived.

As he opened his eyes, death walked towards him, along with her sister life, the two approached him both smiling, as life lifted him up pulling him by the hand death embraced him. Kissing him three times from cheek to cheek, she turned him around in her embrace and faced him towards life, who had the proudest look on her face, as a mother whose child had done something extraordinary. And so, life granted him his youth, and death granted him immortality. And life granted him wealth, and death granted him family and they both granted him love.

The old man was laid to rest in the same town he was born in, no one remembers his name, but everyone knows his story.

Life you see is a journey, with trials and tests and we all have our own battles. What matters is not the end, as everyone will get there, what matters is how you get there, "

The King finished as his children took time to draw conclusions,