TotW 258: Rulership- VOTE THREAD!
TotW 258: Rulership
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Submission 1 "With great power comes greater responsibilities, we should do something to help!" argued Seban.
"With great power comes great stress," Alu grumbled in reply. "If we help now, they'll expect us to help whenever something bad happens. Every. Single. Time. Trust me, I've been in this position a lot longer than you."
"I know that, I do, and I respect your wisdom Elder Alu, but surely we can intervene - if only a little," Seban protested. "They show us such devotion, we should show them why it isn't misplace."
"If they were as devoted as you seem to think they would have faith in us regardless of our intervention. That is the way it has always been. That is the way it always will be." Alu paused, looking down at the scene below them. "Look, if they only believed in us when we did something then what is the point in their belief?"
Seban let out a resigned sigh, "I know, I know... it's just I've wanted to help people all my life, and now that I have the power to I feel more helpless than ever."
"Such is the burden we must bear," Alu reasoned. "You are young, you have years of this ahead of you - and eventually you will take my place as Elder when I pass on. When that time comes it will be up to you to give verdict on how we should act, but by then I hope will have learnt that inaction can be the best cause of action."
Submission 2 Clad in his robes ,seated on an ancient throne ,the young boy sat watching .But he was no regular boy .He was a Ceasre .Which Ceasre you ask .Well its like this ,Julius Ceasre was medival history by then .The old glory was gone ,replaced by the thin silence of a court filled with plotters and murderers.Currently the boys eyes rolled side by side,for the regular eerie silence was gone .On one side was the ancient ,rusted world of the powerful demi gods ,on the other ,a quiet religion preached by a great prophet .On one side was a wailing women being hit by a martial temple priest of the ancient temple of Jupiter and on the other a wailing man seeking the help of the priests of the golden cross and the virgin mother to rescue his wife from certain death .For the only crime that she commited was to show devotion to the man on the cross .She was right .On the other hand ,the laws of the Armenians were not applicable here .Rome’s purity depended on its religion however ancient and intolerable it had grown to be .Currently the boy boy wondered which side he should take .The stress of power was too much for him .He didn’t want the responsibilities .”You will soon grow sick ruling,you have lost your childhood “were the last words of the regent as he died on the noose .How foolish he had been ,thought the boy ,to believe the courtiers who had said that the regent was the one who had killed his father .But then he had seen the regent meeting with some strange men clad in black armour .Whom to believe and whom to not,wondered the boy as the people stood in silence waiting for his verdict .Say yes and he would be responsible for the gruesome murder of this women who would curse him to burn with Saturn .Say no and he would make enemies with half the people of his court and project himself as a weak emotional boy rather than an emperor to the other half .The shadows and lights had got mixed together .Was this,he wondered a beginning of a new order .Was Jesus right .Was the women pious .Should he say no to the killing .No he should not be thinking this .Jupiter was right .The temple priest should be allowed to put her up on a noose and hang her .So he guessed he should say yes .Or should he?The weight of royalty was hard .But suddenly a strange power came in him .It surged through his veins and heart alike .Now his decision was crystal clear in his mind .With a posture of confidence and authority the boy got up .He stopped the priest and the Christians alike .Then he shouted his decision .And all questions were answered ,the shadows had disappeared in the light ,the boy said just one word “NO” .
And that’s how the light of the cross reached Rome .
Submission 3 Rex Quondam...
How can I do it?
How can I not do it?
I am the King. The only man with the power to reach the verdict; the only man with the power to pass the sentence that has to be passed. I have responsibilities. All know my history; the story of how I came to my throne. I cannot refuse to do my duty now; that would be to turn my back on God and on all my people.
I have served my people as well as I could. And so have my Knights; the men who sit at my Table on feast-days risk their lives for me and for this realm all the rest of the year. The loyalty of every one of them is undeniable… almost. As is that of my wife.
They tell me there is no doubt. They tell me she – and he – have betrayed me utterly. They tell me there can be only one verdict, and only one sentence. Death. Death by burning. I have asked if some other death might be permitted, and they say no. No. The woman I love – the woman who has stood by my side with devotion through so much – must die a hideous, agonising death, and all must see it, for only punishment of such enormous horror and pain lays sufficient stress on the gravity of her crime.
There can be no forgiveness. No amount of remorse is enough. No repentance will satisfy them.
How can they tell me that killing a good woman is serving God? Burning alive a loyal, dutiful, loving wife? If only I could save her from this. My only hope – and my greatest fear – is that he will come to rescue her. Perhaps that’s why he fled. After all we have faced together, I know he is no coward. My closest friend. My best ally. Maybe he can still save my wife.
Still, I must oppose him. If I assist him in any way – if I leave my wife inadequately guarded – it will seem to the people that I think myself above the law, able to act however I wish with no penalty. So I must send my nephews to defend the honour they tell me I have already lost, to fight a battle I do not want to fight.
If he comes to try and rescue my wife, it will divide my Knights. It will divide my kingdom. It will shatter the peace we have built together, remove our protection of my people. But if he does not, my wife will die screaming in torment. How can I choose between the safety of my people and the very life of my love? I cannot abandon my people… I can’t bear to abandon my wife…
Submission 4 Kingship
He thought he had heard footsteps approaching. Slow, precise pacing around him, perhaps, but with every slight movement of his head, the almost imperceptible sound would disappear.
- Is there someone there, he whined, the words choking him.
There was no answer, just that distant, faint whisper of sound, around him, everywhere. He couldn’t move, as if bindings held him in place. He couldn’t see, as if a heavy, tarred blindfold had been cast upon his eyes. He found he could hardly breathe, as if serrated blades went up and down his throat, inching their way ever closer to his lungs. I am indeed lost, forsaken, he thought.
- Tell me what you seek, a voice broke the silence. Tell me what you seek and I will tell you what awaits, the voice continued.
It was an eerie voice. Was this a man or woman? Or was this neither? Was it a maiden’s song he had heard or the guttural threats of the lowest of the lows? Was it just an echo in his mind, like the footsteps? It seemed to surround him, to go through him. It inched closer and closer, as if he could feel the person’s breathing on his face but at the same time it sounded far away, muffled, somehow at the other end of a tunnel. Again he tried to move his head, focusing on the source, without success.
- Who are you, he said, gasping for air as he spoke. Are you the one who brought me here?
- No. You came to me, the voice replied, of your own volition.
My own volition, he thought. No, no. I don’t want to be here, I don’t even know where here is, his thoughts came pouring.
- That cannot be, he spoke, not without effort.
- And yet it is. You have come before me for judgement.
- Judgement? You jest. I am the king, not some petty thief, he replied angrily, overcoming the pain of his speaking, stressing the word king.
- Indeed. You are, but you are also not. You, who want to command the devotion of others, to hold responsibility, you, who want to hold power over others, must first be powerless. You are here to receive the divine right to the throne...or to be held it, the voice said.
- And who are you to deny me my birthright, he asked, rage growing inside him, fear as well.
- I am, we all are, it matters not who, the voice...or voices, spoke. I am also not, for we are not, it...they, continued. It is only you who are important, but only if you wish to be, and if you think you are, then you are not. Three questions you are to ask, or answer, and only then you shall receive a verdict. Only then you shall receive the right to rule, or be held it.
- What? Stop talking in riddl...
- Silence! It starts, the voice echoed throughout.
Submission 5 "Do you remember the price of the power you wield?" questioned a hooded man as he approached the hushed room.
A silhouette of a man advanced ever closer towards the throne by which the king calls home. The throne room was lit with but a few torches, with dim flickers here and there with no distinguishable pattern. The torches continued to burn, the stars continued to shine, and the hooded man continued to advanced but all of man kind were frozen in time.
"Your devotion as of late has been pitiful" again the hooded man spoke, knowing fully well that it would fall on deaf ears. With long strides he continued his path, walking past guard, after guard, after guard. The hooded figure's stride was long, his shoulders broad, and his stature proud yet no matter the proximity to light, his face was shrouded.
As he approached the throne, the hooded figure waved his hand in a slow motion, undoing the mysterious binding he had set on the world.
"Another king, and yet again another verdict. Have you forgotten me so soon King Leon?" The shrouded figure declared. His voice echoed back and forth between the walls of the somber throne room.
"It cannot be, this must be a trick of the mind, or perhaps a deep slumber, I stress that it simply cannot be!" the king shifted in his royal seat as he laid eyes on the mysterious figure. "GUARDS, GUARDS ARREST THIS MAN AT ONCE" yet no reply came forth, only that of his echo. The king slumped low in his seat, his brows buried deep, and his eyes retreating back into the midst of his face.
"I find it ironic don't you think? That a king of all people would forget his responsibilities." The hooded figure produced a parchment imprinted with a hand print in the distinct scarlet shade of blood from his clothing, and with a snap of his fingers the room was lit with a ghastly blue flame.
"A contract is a contract, and I have come to claim my dues."
Submission 6 I arrived. After an eternal journey lasting but a few heartbeats I was finally there. I must admit I was stressed; there were few things I wanted less than to be at that place, at that time, after all that happened. As I went to knock on the front door, I realised it was already open. Not a burglar, surely nobody would dare? My suspicions were both calmed and worsened when I saw the old man leering evilly at me. I took a deep breath and forced myself to smile, before taking the hand of the man I used to know.
“Share a glass with me, old friend.”, was the first thing he said to me.
“Of course. Have you any servants or..?”, the question was left unanswered as he simply prepared the drinks himself. Whether he had lost his fortune or his pride I do not know, but either way I did not grieve for him.
We drank in silence, me wishing I was somewhere else, he greedily, as the fool he always was. I was considering asking him why he had invited me, but before I had a chance he brought it up himself.
“Great misfortune has befallen my house”, he spoke slowly, clearly fumbling for words. This was not the first drink of today I mused silently. “As you know, my family enjoyed great power once, was entrusted with several responsibilities, but since the new age he have been given nought but dust and disregard!”, by this point he was almost shouting, and a froth was building around his mouth. He seemed so much older than me, despite everything. For a while he did not speak.
“When I became the head of this cursed house, I was young and foolish”, ‘was’, I almost laughed. “In order to restore my family’s mud-dragged name I did many things I now regret. I stole and I cheated and I broke all the rules of nobility for a chance at redemption for my name. But no matter how hard I fought, how well I spoke, how ambitiously I sought betterment, the verdict was always in favour of someone else, someone with a better name! I had enough, old friend, and frankly not a moment too soon.”
I was beginning to feel very uneasy in his company now. The dark room was somehow darker than before, the shadows longer and more menacing.
“I sought a greater power than what is to be found in your petty palaces and royal games. My servants do not spite me for my old name, but have fear for their master, as I have devotion for mine!”
“Why did you call me here?!”, my head was beginning to spin, and with terror I realised I could no longer feel my legs. In the corner of my eye I could sense shadows moving.
“We have always room for another pair of hands, should you desire to stay.”
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