DEATH OF A KING
In an ancient kingdom in time past, there was a king of great power and a stature unlike those in the outside kingdoms. The King had fought many battles during his youth until his time of old age. His father and grandfather before him were mighty kings of the lands. They made warfare and combat against any opposing forces that would seek to overthrow the kingdom completely. Some have vowed to witness the end of the kingdom, but have met their own end at the end of the King’s sword.
The King’s grandfather had one wife that guided him and supported him during his reign. The King’s father had two wives, both of whom had supported him during his reign as king. The King during his youth possessed a wife when he was a prince and a second wife when he became King over the lands.
“I have chosen a second wife, father.” The young King said.
“A second wife?” His father noted. “Are you sure you can handle the responsibility of two over one?”
“If I am able to become your successor in full, father, I must follow in your footsteps.”
The father chuckled at his son’s words. He understood them well and knew how similar they were to his own words to his own father when he became king.
“What is this second wife’s name?”
“Her name is Deborah. She lives near the creek in the outskirts of the kingdom.”
“The outskirts? So, she’s an outsider.”
“An outsider who has vast knowledge of royalty and how a king should rule his kingdom.”
“Explain to me, how would this “outsider” wife of yours know much about ruling a kingdom?”
“She said she had a dream about a righteous king and how he ruled over his kingdom where there was everlasting peace and security.”
“Everlasting peace, huh. I would’ve loved that during my reign as king. Yet, I am aware we haven’t entered the Heritage Age.”
“Do you believe I can give it a shot?” The young King asked. “Is it possible?”
“I believe you’ll take good care of this kingdom, son. Only make sure that no one spits into your ears false ideals and techniques that would see your downfall.”
“I will make sure of that, father. I will.”
The young King brought Deborah into his chambers and went into her and she became his second wife. Through her, he begat a daughter and from his first wife, two sons. After several wars with the neighboring kingdoms concerning the ways of livestock and ideals, the young King, now in his middle ages sought out a woman from one of the neighboring kingdoms, lost and frightened. Dirty from the ground she walked on. Her face almost unrecognizable from the amount of dirt that covered her face and body. He comforted her and was told that her husband was killed in battle against his army.
“Come back to my kingdom, my lady.” The middle-aged King said. “I can take good care of you there.”
“Thank you, your majesty.”
He took the woman back to his kingdom and she entered his castle, seeing the amount of treasures that they won through the spoils of war surrounding the castle grounds.
“This place isn’t as filthy as the kingdoms in Lelat.” The woman said. “What do you do with them, if I may ask of you?”
“We keep them as memories of the wars we’ve come to face. It reminds us of why we’re still walking upright in our days upon this land in the midst of the Battle of Caelum.”
The maidservants of the King’s two wives took the woman to a guest chamber of her own where she cleaned up herself and dressed in modest apparel similar to the maidservants. The King would visit her during the days to see how she was feeling and doing.
“I never got to know your name.” The King said.
“My name is Amana.”
“Integrity and truth your name means.”
“How did you know that?”
“Because I can see it in your eyes and hear it in your voice.”
“I take it you know of the meaning of names as well.”
“I did some learning in my youth. Still learning more as I go about this life.”
“You’re a different king that the ones that came before.”
“So I’ve been told.”
A few months later, the middle aged King married Amana and she became his third wife. Through her, he had one son and two daughters. The son looked up to his older half-brothers and the daughters sat at the feet of the mother and their step-mothers, learning the ways of being a woman in life within the kingdom walls.
Several years had passed and another war was waged between the Kingdom and the neighboring kingdoms. The neighboring kingdom brought along men of great stature with them and they stood nearly the height of the trees outside of the kingdom walls. The middle aged King and his first two sons went into battle with his army and slaughtered the opposing kingdoms within the span of five days. The men of great stature were slain and their weapons were taken as trophies of the war.
Time slowly began to catch up to the middle aged King, his body beginning to slow down on him. His great feats on the battlefield were slowly withering away. Near becoming an old man, his first two sons lead the kingdom’s army into the battles that came there way. Defeating the likes of the kingdoms of Lelat and Ostacre. The two sons were later killed in their middle ages, after having sons of their own. The near old King wept at the news of his eldest sons’ deaths.
“My sons. I know you are in a better land now. With your grandfather and great-grandfather. You’re among the family of the dead now. Soon, I will join you and see your faces again once more.”
The now old man King had witnessed the death of his first wife and his second wife. Only his third wife remained at his side when he became bedridden.
“Amana, command some of the soldiers, tell them to take me to the trees near the waters. Also call for my daughters to meet me there.”
“I will.” A middle aged Amana said.
The soldiers came and took the old King to the tress near the waters, where Amana and his three daughters came to sit with him as he looked out and witnessed the sun setting. His youngest daughter began to weep as she knew what was about to take place. The old King looked at her and grabbed her hand.
“Do not cry over me leaving this world. I am going to a place far better and far peaceful than what this world knows.”
The old King looked to Amana with a small tear in his eye. She read the Book of King Liam of Tropolton to him, a king that was a man made after The High One’s own heart. When she finished reading the book to him. He looked out toward the waters and could see two angels standing before him with their hands held out to him.
“It is time.” The Angel said.
The King nodded and kissed Amana and said goodbye to his three daughters as he gave up the ghost and entered the spirit world. The King whose name was Magdiel, meaning the chosen fruit of The High One, passed on from the natural world and was engraved in the Book of Rulers for future generations to learn from.
