Old Fable

BANG!

The door to the Theapan King's study slammed open. He could see the glare of Princess Isis while she was out of breath from rushing over. Exhaling deeply he waited while she stomped her way towards him.

"Father! The rumors flooding the streets! How can you still follow such a man that could do something like this to his own brother?!" Isis's blood was boiling. Rumors about the Cadirade King being killed in the palace had spread quickly.

From the rumors that started from General Edgar's death to the rumors about the King. Things were not looking good for Prince Leo who had not been seen nor heard from in a while. The Cadirade Palace had naturally fallen under Prince Curtis control in Leo's absence.

"Curtis gaining the throne will only benefit our side in the war. It was part of the agreement when he was taken under Chynir." King Luke clicked his tongue. "I don't understand why he favors that child like he does the Ice Queen."

"Father, you never listen.. Don't you know the old fable about the gods in our library that mother use to read me as a child?" Princess Isis she knew convincing her father was impossible.

No matter how much she stared deep into his eyes they would never hear her clearly. The war between this man and the others would come with time. Still she could not understand her own actions as to why she wanted to hear his answer. She wanted to know the answer to something she already knew the outcome of.

"Why are you bringing up some fairy tale?" King Luke squinted for a moment before turning back towards his desk to work on some papers that were laid out before him.

"Gods getting involved in war never end well..." The princess muttered under her breath as her expression darkened. Complicated emotions were taking her over.

King Luke's hand paused a moment while holding the feather pen he always kept on his desk. It was something the princess had grown up watching her father use on a daily basis for work. That feathered pen was an item that she had seen almost as much as her father himself. He was always working and he was not a bad person.

Although he was not a bad person, that did not mean he was good either. She knew her father was willingly following the will of one of the most dangerous gods that existed, Chynir. The princess knew that her father was partners with the Kingdom of Ethiadan and always did shady things during the war. Their kingdom was loyal to everything that went against being able to call themselves a good king.

Why was the king like this? Perhaps he was doing what he felt was best to protect his own child. Willingly putting himself in a position where he was doing things that he knew was wrong. That position where he knew he could die at any moment as long as his daughter was safe even if she'd come to hate him for it. Though his mindset was something nobody would ever come to understand it was what kept the king driving forward each day.

"Princess," King Luke made her stop muttering and look at him. "I will do what I feel is best for the royal family and this kingdom. When you inherit the throne the choices made will be yours at that time. At the moment it is my choice. Not yours."

Princess Isis grit her teeth and turned away from her father. Rushing out of the room as quickly as she could while trying not to make her emotions too obvious. The king was still able to tell there was something bothering her yet remained sitting in silence as he watched.

"Your majesty-?" one of the knights wanted to ask what they should do while seeing the princess rush off.

"Follow her and make sure she doesn't leave the palace. I can not have her running wild during such a dangerous time among the kingdoms." The king's voice was cold causing the knight to shiver.

"Ha, haha.." King Luke laughed to himself as he muttered. "That old fable... To take a story like that so seriously.. Though she was against my decisions from the start ever since she was a child."

He could not help but be reminded of the old story his deceased wife had read the princess as s child every time he thought of the war.

It was a tale about a god who had fallen in love with a mortal. Gods were not meant to intervene in mortals lives. They could walk amongst them, interact, but they were limited. Romance for them was taboo and yet he had created a child with the mortal.

One day while the god was away from the village he had come home to find the village had been burnt to the ground due to the on-going war. His wife and child were both missing without a trace.

Dropping his pride as a god that he held so dear to himself he begged the other gods to get involved and locate his wife and child. The other gods ignored his pleas for help. Only a couple gods were willing to accepted his desperation.

It was said in the old fable that one god did locate the wife. The god was devastated by the death of his wife. That wasn't what destroyed him completely. It was only the first step.

The god slowly went mad over time as his child was never found. He developed a hatred towards mankind to point that he began to take joy in killing. Eventually he even raised a war that caused a huge calamity.

Nobody ever knew if the story was true because the child was never found. The story itself is ancient as well as the continent has long restored itself since that era in time.

The story was only a popular children's fable in Theapan because of the location the story took place.

"Should we call it Theapan's dark history more then a story?" The king's brow twitched as he turned his head to glance out the window.

Leaning back in his chair he could see the mountains off in the distance. Everything was silent around the palace as he thought to himself until...

Tap.

He felt someone clasp hold of his shoulder from behind. The enormous pressure from the man caused him to instantly know who it was without turning his head around. His body reflexively flinching at his cold aura.

"Have you been well your majesty?" Chynir whispered next to his ear causing King Luke to shiver.

"Of course, my lord." The King Luke forced his voice to remain firm. He knew it would not be good to look weak in front of this god.

"One of my fellow gods may be up to something.. You wouldn't have heard anything about other gods being involved with mortals recently, right?" Chynir slowly wandered his way across the room and picked up a bottle of wine and a glass.

Filling the glass as he swirled the wine elegantly. His cold gaze slowly raising to look at the king as if demanding a response to his question as quickly as possible. This god was feeling impatient to find answers. It was abnormal for Iemis to involve himself in worldly affairs.

"Perhaps, we should have a chat." Chynir's lips smirked as he sipped at his glass of wine. "I heard your daughter recently left the palace. Tell me everything you know or I shall question her myself."