Of Kings and Queens Demise
I work in the Kings castle. My job is to guard a small door in the lowest level of the dungeon.It is in one of the very few original parts of this castle built long before memory. There are only two things that are known about this doorway. First is that every king and queen in history has kept this door guarded at all times. Second if the guard who watches over it were to suddenly disappear, the King or Queen will either die shortly after or be overthrown and the kingdom will likely grow dark for a time.
History tells us this has happened many times, the last time was during the reign of Marion the Prosperous. Although seemingly unrelated the guard for this door was one night heard to scream in the middle of his shift, when others went to investigate they found nothing. The guard was never seen again.
The very next day the Queens son George was found to have gone insane shortly after the guard went missing and had then killed his mother. Now normally regicide would have prevented ole Georgey from taking the throne however he was declared to be innocent for reasons of insanity and was then promptly given his crown.
This resulted in the kingdom suffering through the most terrifying and arduous rule in recorded history. The day George the mad died caused celebrations which are still held each and every year.
When his heir Marie the Kind took her seat upon the throne she was able to repair much of the damage George had done to the kingdom. The madness which had plagued George had thankfully not been passed on.
My own King, Thomas the Just has continued on the same path as Marie the Kind and the Kingdom is now a lovely place to live once again. But it has been nearly 100 years since the reign of George the Mad, it has taken the kingdom this long to recover.
Now this history is well known and it is said Marion the Prosperous mother of George the Mad came to be queen herself within days of a palace guard disappearing from this doorway.
That guard went missing two days before Marion’s father the first king George, George the Magnificent died of a terrible illness. The body of that guard was found weeks later all appearances seemed to indicate he had suffered the same illness that killed his king. It was an illness never before seen in this kingdom nor ever seen again.
Admittedly his death was not followed by a dark period but it very easily could have. Marion was only a child of 11 when her father died and she became Queen. So even though it didn’t lead to a dark time it had the potential.
And so it goes back in history the death or disappearance of the guard who protects this doorway will result in the end of a king or queen, most likely with terrible results.
Having been given the duty to guard this door the past 5 years I’ve tried to learn as much as I can about its history and I must say it makes me rather nervous.
See it seems these mysterious deaths and disappearances which have been recorded always seem to come around when the kingdom is at its most prosperous as it is now. Always it happens at a time which has the potential to send the kingdom spiraling out of control.
So you see I can’t help but wonder what exactly it is I’m guarding and if no one truly knows why not have someone take a look? I can’t help but feel one of us who are guarding this door will disappear sometime soon.
It might even be me? I can’t help but feel I must try the handle, see what lays beyond this door perhaps I can find out what is hidden behind it and I will finally end this cycle; before it ends me.
