Groomed Prince Becomes a King

The ceremony went on in fine fashion. A huge crowd of thousands of Murtarians appeared to well-wish the new King, and seeing the crowning of their new ruler. Although they were at odds, High Council nor King let on that there was any split between them. King Dominick watched the Warrior Princess, if he didn't know any better, it looked as though she was smiling. Smiling for what? He was just another tyrannical King oppressing his people, was he not?

Now that he was the crown King of Murtar, it was time for the chariot ride throughout Murtar. It was a tradition since before King Dominick's father's father, the new King travelled through his new kingdom, receiving thanks from the people. His many royal servants stocked and readied his mighty chariot. But the King was looking for one in particular, the Warrior Princess. She sat at a dusty servant's table, staring down at the unappetizing portions servants were fed.

"There you are Princess. As the people of Murtar beg to bow before me in person, I feel the need to oblige, I am ready to take my leave for the streets of Murtar." He struggled to make his point, "Would you like to join me?" The smallest hint of hopefulness in his voice.

"Would it be wise to bring a servant with you on your ride through Murtar? That spot is usually reserved for a Queen." She asked with a sly curiosity.

"I am the King, I can do whatever I wish. Your duties as my chief servant don't end when I leave this castle. You are tasked with accompanying me on any of my numerous adventures." He smiled.

"An adventure, huh?" She got up. "What sets this apart from any other King meets people, people grovel at King's feet, King is gracious public appearance?"

"Well you'll be there. They may be too afraid to grovel." They took their seats on the royal chariot, layered with jewels and painted in the King's colors. Their journey began at the capital, the response of the people was overwhelming. They loved their new King. The King who as Prince won a campaign against the people of the north, increasing Murtar's size and vast riches. Through the streets into Lower Murtar the people cheered their new King. It wasn't until the royal chariot reached the outskirts of Lower Murtar that the response became more harsh. People dared to boo the King of Murtar!

"This is unacceptable. Soon these people will understand the devotion I require of them!" The King roared angrily.

A man stepped forward from the crowd and threw a rock forth at the King's chariot. King Dominick used his armor-clad body to protect the Warrior Princess. "GET THAT MAN!" The King shouted down to his royal escorts. "Bring me his head! We shall bring it to the house of every man who would dare oppose the King!"

The Warrior Princess, puzzled at the King shielding her, begged of him not to kill the man, "You can't make every decision through anger. If you are to a successful King, you must be more than just feared!" She choked out to the King.

"Bring him here." The King shouted to his royal escorts, roughly pulling the man from the safety of the crowd. The royal escorts hesitantly handed off the man to the King in the chariot. King Dominick pulled the dirty and disoriented man up on the chariot, the King looked towards the crowd, "You applaud this man?" The crowd laughed. "He has no plan for any of you. On my ride through Murtar I've seen some great things but unfortunately they have been matched by equally worse things. The people of Lower Murtar don't deserve any mistreatment. I will talk to your governor about what I've seen today, this is as unsatisfactory to me as it is to you. Each of you have a choice in life. You can throw rocks or you can pick up bricks and make something with them. I plan to pick up the bricks, for my empire, for my capital, for each one of you. Help me help you." He tossed the man back into the cheering crowd. Their attitudes had turned and now they booed the man.

He smiled at the Warrior Princess. After the ride through Murtar was finished, they made their way back to the fabulously massive castle. Before the Warrior Princess could stop herself, she asked the King why he had shielded her from the rock earlier. "If anyone, I'm going to be the one who kills you, Princess." He smiled a devilish grin.

Upon reaching the castle, Remis, the principal advisor to the King ran to the chariot and shared the news to the new King, "Good evening, Your Highness. I mean your majesty, emperor supreme, we have some bad news. Each member of the High Council has been killed. The royal ministry is calling for an investigation, we just need your consent, if you so wish." Remis was shaking in his tights, suspecting the true fate of those High Council members.

"That is most unfortunate. Having spent much time learning and speaking to the High Council, I know that they wouldn't want their deaths to hinder the day to day of Murtar in any way. Give them the proper burial of royal advisors and be done with it." He smiled and Remis nodded and bowed.

Once they were in private, the Warrior Princess broke from the King, "YOU KILLED THEM!" She shouted out to no one in particular before setting her sights on the King, "YOU KILLED YOUR OWN HIGH COUNCIL! I was.. I was talking to them. We were going to solve the problems diplomatically!" She screamed at the King.

"Watch your tone, servant. I never gave you permission to speak on my behalf. I have handled my problems without your help!" He barked at her.

For the first time, the Warrior Princess's eyes began to well with tears. "How could you do this!" She cried before turning away from the King and running off.

The King cursed his predicament and threw a royal painting to the floor. By the time King Dominick caught up with the Warrior Princess, she was done crying. His royal servant sat silently in his own sleeping quarters. The King walked in with his head low. "Maybe you're right. I don't know. But I have to tell you, having you disappointed like this.. it... I don't know what to call it... it hurts me." He whimpered, "And now we can never be what I want." He answered his own question.

The Warrior Princess pressed her palm to his cheek, "I saw something in you today with that man. A decent King, a decent man." She soothed the great weight on his shoulders.

He looked at her like never before, not with anger or annoyance, not even with his trademark grin, but with respect, respect as best as he could show, "What you said the other day.. about the Queen of Murtar. I think that's what Murtar needs, I think thats what I need. I need you to believe in me... because Murtar is safer when you do."

The Warrior Princess pulled the King to her and kissed his forehead tenderly, then his lips. "If that was a proposal, I accept. I.. I accept you as my King."

The King wrapped his steady arms around her and held her close to him, "So then there will be a royal wedding." He kissed her head.

"Close your eyes" She spoke softly. The King gave her a skeptical look before complying. By the time he opened them again, hot coals from the fire circled them on the floor. He looked at the Warrior Princess quizzically. She sat down across from him and took both of his hands in hers. "In the outskirts of Lower Murtar, we weren't allowed marriage ceremonies by decree of your father, to combine man and woman in marriage, we began like this. Repeat after me."

"As man, who seeks matrimony with this woman, I pledge myself to her."

"As man, who seeks matrimony with this woman.... I pledge myself to her." The King assured his future Queen.

"As woman, who yearns for the matrimony with this man... I pledge myself to him." She spoke each word slowly, "If we ever stray from this pledge, the hot coals symbolize the fire we will inherit." King Dominick nodded his head at her words.

"Within each other we are one. You are my husband, I am your wife." She searched his loving eyes, "Now repeat, You are my wife, I am your husband."

"You are my wife, I am your husband." He spoke surely to his Queen.

The Queen's face lit up with a smile, "My King."

"My Queen."

Their lips touched to seal the ceremony, cautiously at first they moved towards each other.

The next morning the new couple ate breakfast happily in the royal dining room. Remis, the King's advisor walked towards the King, interrupting his meal, "Great King, I apologize for this rude entry but I must inform you of another resistance against your monarchy. A group of rebels vandalized the governor's mansion just down the road from this very castle last night. We have reason to believe some of these people are the same as the ones who fought against you and the Imperial army with the Warrior Princess."

The King spoke, "That is very troubling. Very troubling indeed. I have to think about this. Excuse me and the.. oh.. this is as good as time as any." He smiled at the Queen. "I'd like you to set up a formal public wedding ceremony for me and the Warrior Princess. I want the best of everything, talk to her for supervision on this process. It doesn't matter what she wants, make sure we have it."

"Yes, Your Highness. Your word is the word of Murtar. What you say shall be done." The King's advisor rushed from the royal dining hall.

"And so the King of Murtar, the King of the desert, the jewel of all the world will wed his Warrior Princess." He said cheerfully.

"What are you going to do about the people who vandalized the governor's mansion?" She asked of her King.

"I'll deal with it accordingly. A King cannot stand for open defiance like this. We have their names and we will track them down." He spoke, sure of himself.

"In the past, your dealings usually lead to deaths, my sweet King. The royal ministry doesn't want to just drop the deaths of the High Council. People are beginning to ask questions about what the Imperial Army did with the disbanded army of the north. Please... no more, my love."

He caressed her cheek affectionately, "Don't worry yourself, my Queen. I know just what to do." He kissed her forehead.

"Don't kill them. Please, you're better than that. I know these people, they're not rebels. They're decent men forced to do indecent things. Let me talk to them. I can get them to..."

The King cut her off, "Out of the question. If they know about us, they'll kill or kidnap you just to get to me! I will handle this!"

"Promise me, King, promise me Dominick. You won't kill them?" She begged of her King.

"I promise you, Love. Don't worry but of our wedding. The day will be celebrated by every citizen of Murtar. Every Murtarian will have a Queen." He convinced her.

"That's good for them. But you should understand it's about you and me." She kissed him, "We could just as easily keep our union secret, in my mind, we are already one. But since Monarchy politics are like they are, we need an open public wedding, I'm going to catch up with your advisor and set up plans for the wedding. Don't lose yourself at my leave, my King." She kissed him with a smile before she parted from the King, "You're a decent man, Dominick. You can walk, so take those small steps with me towards a greater future, for us, and for your people. For me."

King Dominick sat finishing his breakfast. Murtar had woken up to a new day, the age of King Dominick, the all-powerful. As the day wore on, the King wandered through his castle, he saw one of the Imperial Army's generals, the same one who fought with him through his campaigns in the north and the mountains. The general bowed before the King, "What do you require, my King?"

"I've been apprised on this recent uprising at the governor's mansion. I want to take a band of the Imperial Army, and find these rebels. Teach them that there is no defying my empire. I will not stand for this terror."

The general took note, "What should we do with them?" He asked of his King.

"Slaughter them. Every single one. Make them suffer for this." He roared angrily to his general. The general pledged his alliegence with the King and went forth to complete his new task.

The King spent the day rather pleasantly, walking through the royal gardens, taking notice of the commoners around the capital, it wasn't such a bad thing, being a King around the people, maybe even of the people, he thought. It wasn't until around sundown that the King started feeling especially lonely for his new Queen. He thought he might find her in his Chambers. Through the long corridor, an official in the Imperial Army caught up with the King. "Your Highness, there's news on your mission." King Dominick stared down the slight lieutenant, "The general and three other military officers were killed in this incident." The man spoke, now very cautiously.

"What!? That's impossible. Did they complete their task?"

"Yes, Great King, the rebels are dead as you ordered."

"With incompetence such as this, I will go and see for myself. Ready my royal chariot, lieutenant." The King stormed off angrily. Couldn't anyone do anything right? Why must the King of Murtar handle everything. What incapability surrounds this young King. I am the crown King of Murtar, the most powerful country in all the world with the strongest army this world will ever see, yet they can't complete one simple mission secretly? The King growled to himself.

It was nightfall by the time the King rode through the capital on his royal chariot. Murtarians peeked out from their houses to find the source of the commotion. The King had no time to mingle with commoners. With any luck, he might make it back to the castle before the Queen even knew he was gone. He could clean this up quickly and no one would be the wiser. The night became blacker and blacker. King Dominick and his royal escorts lit torches to see as they got to the house where the rebels had been hiding out. The house was a mess. Blood on the walls and even covering the ceiling. The King and his escorts made it into the main room where the incident had taken place. Remis, his principal advisor and a handful of Imperial Army officers were in the room, surveying the mess.

The King noticed the general's body on the ground, badly bloodied. Now he walked through the rebels There, on the floor was the familiar figure of a woman's figure. Suddenly, Dominick felt a hot rush up his neck, he shuffled towards it and looked closer. On the floor at his feet lay the lifeless body of his once and future Queen. "NUHGUHHH.. NOOOOO!!" The King shouted at the top of his lungs. The men in the room nervously moved towards the King as he cradled the motionless body of his Queen in his arms, "My Queen!! My Queen, Nooooooo. Please No!!!!!!!!!" Suddenly it fully dawned on the King's advisor. The woman in the King's arms was the Warrior Princess, Murtar's future Queen.

"My Queeeeen!" The King wept, still holding his love.

The King's advisor touched his shoulder, taking a long moment, "This was an unfortunate accident. Fortunately, the news of your pending marriage had not gone public yet. You must put this embarrassment behind you, my lord." He offered solemnly.

The King spun around, his eyes filled with rage, he grabbed Remis, "SHE WASN'T AN EMBARRASSMENT! SHE WASN'T! She Was As Good As Any Man! Better! She... She Was Better Than You, Better Than ME, Better Than Anyone! Better than I deserved. SHE WASN'T AN EMBARRASSMENT!!!" He cried.

The King drove off his royal escorts and escaped from the bloody house. His face red with tears, his legs wobbly. King Dominick fell into the sand. He had not the indomitable will to walk. The King who had any possession, any title or riches he so wished, truly had nothing.

The Queen had sought out the rebels in the hopes of solving their issues diplomatically, with no bloodshed. Unfortunately during her stay the Imperial Army struck, she tried to explain, and fought like the Warrior Queen she was, but it wasn't enough. One can only guess that with her last breath, she realized that her love, the King, had gone back on his promise to her. In anger, he strayed from her side and doomed them both to the hot fire.

Maybe if the King had not been so quick to anger, things would have been different for him now, for his Queen. The price of anger is unknowable, because it's not us, but the ones closest to us who end up with the bill.