Chapter 11: The Story

The king extended an arm towards us, inviting us to sit near him, his face covered in some kind of sauce from the chicken. Milo and I took a seat across from him, the big wooden table separating the two of us from him, and if things went awry, I was ready to call upon the sword gifted to me. 

As soon as we positioned ourselves to eat with the king, he made a stop sign with his hand and snapped his fingers.

"Guests shouldn't have to do any work," The king said.

 Two pixie fairies appeared in small maid uniforms from a different corner of the castle. They poured our wine and pulled our plates with great difficulty. When the fairies were done with the dishes, we found ourselves struggling to begin to eat. It wasn't that the food was in any way not enticing; it was that we were overwhelmed by the options. 

I was the first to finally dig in. My plate had at least three different types of meats, a big piece of carrots, and other less identifiable vegetables. 

"Your Majesty, if I May, How did you happen to stumble into a time bubble such as this one? I hear they aren't – Very common," I asked King Ludwig. 

He stopped chewing as his eyes revealed a sparkle. The same sparkle he probably had when he got to tell this story the first time to the villagers of his time, and the same sparkle that was probably crushed by the town doctor calling him unfit to rule and deeming him crazy. 

"You know, young lady, I told this story a thousand times, and no one ever believed me." His expression changed as his eyes lowered and crystallized. "Some could have enjoyed eternity with me if they would have listened." He cleaned the chicken to the bone and placed in neatly in his plate. He grabbed the towel in front of him and softly dabbed his face from any misplaced chicken pieces. 

"I saved the fates, and they rewarded me with eternity. But in a way, they saved me, too," The king finally said. 

Milo was barely keeping it together. It was clear that he admired this man, even though he had never met him; he knew of him, of his kindness and of his madness, but that didn't matter. To Milo, this was his version of meeting a celebrity; his eyes were big, and his ears were opened to listen to anything that the man in front of us might say; he wasn't really eating but snacking, chewing small pieces at a time, as if he was afraid to miss a single word the king would say next. 

"It must have been hard," I pointed around the room. "Been here all this time – Alone." 

"You know, Once the fates settled down, it wasn't lonely at all. First they came, then the other creatures started arriving, following them." His brown eyes widened as he let a pixie relax on his shoulder. He grabbed a small piece of cake from in front of him and gave it to her. "Honestly, above anything else, this was my dream." 

"Not to interrupt, sir, But what happened to you? How did you and the Fates end up together?" 

The King's fingers began tapping the table, Leaning forward slowly as if what he was about to say was a secret so precious no one else could know about it. A playful smile danced on his lips. The pixies started revolting around in anticipation, both of them settling down on a nearby cup, preparing themselves for a story to be told.

When the Pixies finished settling down, the King took a big, deep breath.

"Long ago, I reigned over this lands. The kingdom was growing, and with it, more and more people kept coming from all ends of the world to live here, where even the poor had many riches. I made it my mission to see my cities grow and develop, and I personally visited most of them." He shifted his weight around the chair and pointed towards the window. "On a night much like tonight, the fresh snow was unwelcoming to new travelers; as I was making my way back to my manor, I encountered Clotho. She was struggling to find cover as the cold became unbearable. The strongest blizzard we have ever seen was approaching the kingdom; little did I know that with it, the three sisters arrived in town." He smiled. "No matter what path I took that night, they all led to The Fates. It was my destiny to find them." 

"How did you know?" Milo asked curiously. 

"I didn't, at least not at the time. But I felt it…. It was like a strong urge to help Clothos, It pushed every fiber in my body in her direction." 

Milo nodded in affirmation; perhaps this is how he felt when we met, how he had to come with me no matter what. Perhaps he felt as if this was meant to happen, too, he was meant to help me on my quest. 

"That treacherous night, I found the woman I would inadvertently spend the rest of my life with. Clotho's dark hair was covered in snow, her clothing was dangerously wet, and her skin, already too white for her own good, was ghostly pale. If I hadn't found her, who knows what would have happened to her." His fist started closing up as he hid his face away from us. "I invited her to my manor for the night, and she said that she had been waiting for me. She knew that I would find her — At the time, I thought it to be a curious expression, a hopeful one even. I didn't know whom I was dealing with. That very night, I took her in, and she told me everything. She told me who she was: A Goddess of density feared by Zeus himself." He looked out of the window as if he feared that Zeus would retaliate against him, just by mentioning his name. The sky, however, remained calm. "She told me about her sisters, about how they dealt the cards of destiny; however, as powerful as they were, they were running from someone… something." 

The pixies started to come closer to each other, snuggling in as if they needed comfort from each other because they were afraid of the next part. 

He smiled softly. "Some might have thought she was crazy, but I knew deep inside of me that what she was telling me was the truth; I saw it in the way she was trembling – not from the cold but of fear."

"Who was chasing them? They can literally end any life, can't they?" I asked, 

"They said it was not for me to know — They can, but they also can't; it was written that they would upset someone very powerful, and it was written that they would have to help the one who will return the peace to the world above." 

"Butterfly effect," Milo whispered, mostly to himself. As he was rubbing his chin, 

"Wait, you said that they saved you too? How did that happen?" I asked.

"I'm getting to that, patience." he poured himself more wine, savoring telling his story to others who believed his words to be true. "Clotho spent week in and week out with me. She taught me everything about her magical world. She showed me, Elsie, and Pearl," pointing at the two faes in the cup. "She opened my eyes to so much more. I wanted to share it with the world; I wanted my subjects to be free and to learn the true beauty of the world." 

"But they didn't believe you," Said Milo, still mesmerized by the King. 

"No" the King's expression softened as his eyes gazed into the distance. "Why would they?" his hands extended towards the cup, Elsie and Pearl coming out of hiding to comfort their beloved King. Too small to do anything noticeable, they hugged his hand as much as their little bodies could. 

"They said I was crazy, believing in the fairy tales passed down and that I should wake up. Then my closest friend, and the person you would think you could trust the most, ended me. — My doctor. He had planned on helping others take control of my kingdom, and he let me die at the river that night." 

"But you are here today, how?" I asked, whichever way he returned, I might have too. 

"Atropos – the oldest of the sisters, found my threat and tied it back to what it was." he made a motion with his hands as if he himself was tying down an invisible thread. "She and Lachesis found me years after I was announced dead by the kingdom. I wanted revenge. I wanted to end him. But Clotho was there, too, and she showed me a better path. We settled on this castle after the construction was completed. They said that we needed to be here., that the day would come when you would arrive and help them." 

"Why you?" I asked, 

Considering they didn't really need him to come back. They could have taken the castle any time they wanted and waited for us here themselves. 

"They don't have the best reputation," Milo said. "There is a reason no one comes here. We have known for decades that they were here, hidden away – and we always had the best judgment not to bother them. Until now." 

The King smiled. 

"And that's why I'm here. To stop any unwanted visitors, the threads must be protected at all times, a destiny not fulfilled… Affects us all greatly," he placed special emphasis on the last word.