The story of a new king
ONCE upon a time, there lived a people ruled by all sorts of evil and vile kings and queens. Many became hopeless, while some were cynical, even as many harbored a sense of hope.
The king at the time was an idiot who loved only himself, his family, and his dead parents.
One day, dukes and duchesses launched simultaneous but separate rebellions.
The rebels knew one of them could succeed to the throne, given the fact the people hated the king for the untold humiliation, indignity, poverty, and corruption that reigned throughout the kingdom. The king’s defender could only depend on his own wealth and that of the king and his corrupt court.
The victims of the king were so many. The merchants complained of favoritism, and of the deals the king made with merchants of other kingdoms. The slaves remained slaves and longed to be free.
One of the rebel dukes emerged as the strongest opponent of the king. He came from south of the kingdom, where he ruled as a benevolent dictator. He promised prosperity and change, and to bring peace throughout the land.
The battles among the rival rebels and their common battle against the king and his defender lasted for months. Competing towncriers and newspapers tried to outwit each other and to grab people’s attention. The marchants placed bets on all the candidates. The slaves joined the battle armies.
The benevolent dictator vanquished the king and his defender. The other dukes bowed and gave him homage as the new king. The merchants were happy that peace would reign. The slaves could not wait for the breaking of their chains. The other Kingdoms also honored the new King.
The noble men and women – including the other dukes and duchesses who united with the former duke-turnedking – became his allies.
The new king befriended the bandits who lived among the slaves and the freemen in the mountains and hills. The king told the bandits that he was like them and, like the bandit Robin Hood, he would give justice to the poor.
It didn’t take long before the new king became as rotten as the last king and all the past kings and queens.
The slaves demanded freedom, but he had only changed their chains’ locks into something new and colorful.
Thousands of thieves were found murdered, and people saw their bodies and their broken chains bloodied and trampled by the wayside. He raised the wages of his troops who acted as if they were princes.
The king ordered his ministers to arrest the corrupt ministers of the old king. One of the ministers, a duchess, was accused of being a thief. She was jailed.
The few free men could not decide what to do and what to say, and the merchants were busy with the good business the king was giving them.
The free men asked the king to lighten their burden by reducing the tributes he asked of them. The King said “okay, it will be done.” And he reduced the tributes from the free men.
But to the surprise of the free men, the king also reduced the tributes he collected from the merchants. And he asked for a bigger share in the crops and the barter trade. Now the slaves who had nothing, got even less in food, shelter, and the things they need. The free men paid less in tribute, but paid more for the goods they need.
The king gave parts of the kingdom’s fertile and bountiful rivers to the ruler of a faraway kingdom. He also welcomed the troops of another, more faraway kingdom to train and station anywhere in the kingdom.
The king threw out the bandits he invited to his court in the early days and launched a war against them. The bandits returned to the mountains and hills to fight the King’s potbellied troops. Many free men and slaves left town for the hills to join the bandits.
Today, the king’s towncrier announced at the town center that a new edict would be signed soon. The merchants would be paying even less tribute. The noble men and women would get more power. The troops would see their wages doubled due to the goodness of the king. New palaces would be built, new roads and bridges would be constructed, and the merchants would be doing all for the King. The tributes would pay for these new things. The town crier said the King would be the greatest in the realm and in history for decades to come.
At the end of the town crier’s announcements, the priests and the bishops entered the square in yet another funeral procession. Another young boy had been murdered. The parents were inconsolable, even by other widows and orphans.
The merchants could not hide their glee for the business the king was giving them and the tributes that would go to their coffers.
The slaves held their chains as they listened. “This cannot be change. The new king is as evil as the others,” one of them whispered. “We must break these chains and run away. We must join the bandits,” one of them replied.
A few slaves said “Are you crazy? The king will free us. Trust him. He is only trying to deceive the noble men and women, and he will ultimately tell them to free us. Didn’t yet see the new chains he gave us?”
Many of the slaves were disgusted, and could only shake their heads in disbelief.
The next morning, news spread of the ambushes done by the bandits. They seized the goods of a corrupt merchant, and defeated some of the king’s troops. They were looking for recruits.
In another part of the kingdom, a young teenage daughter held the calloused hands of her peasant parents. She said she would take care of herself, and that she would come back with good news. Outside of their shack, a band of bandits waited for her.