The Fall
The king stood at the top of his castle, looking out to see his kingdom which stretched as far as one could see. He had ruled for many years and now had to give all of his power away. His queen had died before she could have a son, so all he had were his three daughters, who meant the world to him. Now he had to choose which one to give his kingdom to.
When each of the daughters told him how much they loved him, he was outraged at his younger daughter, and he sent her to be killed. However, soon after doing this, he realized what a terrible mistake he had made. How could he the parent expect his child to fully return his love? He had lost one of the only three people whom he cared about.
The kingdom was required to mourn for his daughter's death, and the king locked himself in his quarters, and refused to eat for many days, despite his remaining daughters’ objections. He had refused to name a successor, and many people thought he never would.
After many moons, the king resumed his control of the land. He used to be a very kind and carefree ruler; however he now became bitter and ruthless. When the man he sent to kill his daughter returned, the king had him brutally, publicly executed, despite his claims the king’s daughter was alive.
The king imposed harsh taxes on his people, in order to gain more wealth for himself, and he used the militia he had created to force people to pay. He even began to raise an army to war with other nations. His bitterness had led to many people now despising their once beloved king. Some even hoped for his speedy demise.
Two years after his daughter's death, the king was going to travel to the neighboring country, to negotiate a peace settlement. This was the perfect opportunity to end his tyrannical rule and return peace to the kingdom, or so many of the common people in the nation thought. While eating from the neighboring king's table, the commoners planned to have his food poisoned, with the help of the neighboring nation; they were ready and willing to help.
The King marched triumphantly through the neighboring king's castle. He strode with confidence, as he had come too far to lose all that he had built after his dear daughter’s demise. They fed him terrible food, which he was insulted and enraged by. How dare they treat him as a peasant, giving him food like that of a dog? Then his daughter which he had so long mourned and thought gone revealed herself, and shortly after she foiled the plan to assassinate her father. The king was at first bursting with joy to get to see her again, but he soon realized the horror at his actions. He had gone to war, terrorized his people, turned his nation into one of fear, and murdered an innocent man all for not. He couldn’t face his country again, so despite knowing what it would do, the king ate the poisoned food, and left everything to his youngest daughter.
