Fate Breakers
The Death of the King
In the morning in a house that is not big enough but not small enough as well, Riel family is busy eating their breakfast. The round dining table was filled with jokes and laughter from a family of four. The food they eat is not fancy. Although Riel's father was a Warlord, his lifestyle was not much different from other societies.
From a distance there was a person shouting the name of Riel's father.
"SIR CURZE! LUSTY! HURRY TO THE PALACE, THE KING IS LOOKING FOR YOU. HE IS DYING!" A royal soldier anxiously approached the residence of Riel who was engrossed in breakfast.
"Alright I'll be there soon" Riel's father's wise face suddenly turned shrouded in the same uneasiness as the royal warrior's face. He hurried to prepare and went straight to the palace without further ado.
"Your Majesty why ma'am?" Riel asked as she chewed the food in her mouth.
"Your majesty is sick." Answer Riel's mother who does not want to explain the word 'dying' to Riel.
"Oh, do you want to treat the King?"
"Have finished your food first." Riel's mother began to look agitated because the King did not have an heir son and his daughter was still not old enough to be appointed queen. He thought about how the fate of the kingdom in the future if the King died today.
The dining table is no longer filled with chatter until all the food has been eaten. Riel who usually immediately played with Aira now just went to his yard while daydreaming to look at the old house of Aira.
--
The royal palace.
"Curze, come here." The king was helpless on his bed.
Curze slowly approached the King with concern.
The mosquito net from the King's bed kept swaying from the small wind that entered through the King's room window. Making Curze can clearly see the pale face of the King from a distance.
"All will be well, your majesty" Curze sat on the chair beside the king's bed.
"I don't have a son to bequeath this kingdom. My daughter is too small to be a queen. What's the fate of the kingdom in the future after I'm gone?" The King's words were just like what Mother Riel was worried about.
"You can definitely get through this, your majesty. You will recover and return to lead this country. And I'll still be your right hand." Curze tried to calm the King's heart.
"No Curze, my reign will end today." The King smiled faintly with his pale face.
"Not your highness. You can definitely get through all this." Curze's voice began to tremble and his eyes began to glaze over.
"Hey hey, Curze Eraxoth. The warlord of the Sapphire kingdom is also my right hand. You're not gonna cry in front of this helpless king, are you?" The King patted Curze on the shoulder.
"Not your highness. Because I believe you will return to lead this country."
"And I believe that you are capable of leading this country." The King breathed. He looked at the ceiling of the room calmly.
"Curze, if you meet your death later. Meet me in the afterlife and bring me the happy news about this country you lead, huh? This country needs a new king."
Curze couldn't answer. His feelings were too mixed and made him unable to even look at the King. The king no longer spoke. His gaze was blank and engraved a faint smile on his lips.
"Your highness?" Curze grew more agitated when he realized the King was no longer talking.
"YOUR MAJESTY!"
Curze's words to the King were denied by himself. Tears fell on the King's bed. Trying to hold back his stuffing. Curze closed the eyes of the King who was no longer alive and then called all members of the kingdom to hold a funeral ceremony.
--
The Queen could not help but cry as she tried to explain to her daughter that nothing had happened. The Kingdom of Sapphire is rained down on the cries of the people left behind by the King they are proud of. The Curze family was placed in a special place during the King's funeral because he would replace the King later.
The funeral ceremony went well, even the day seemed bright as if giving a sign that the death of the King was not the end of the Sapphire kingdom. Members of the kingdom immediately prepare the next event, the Inauguration of Curze to become the new King of Sapphire. Riel looked puzzled at his father who seemed to be thinking of something. He also approached his father.
"Well, what's up?"
"It's okay, son. I have little doubt as to how I will lead this country."
"Leading the country?" Riel doesn't understand what her father means.
"Yes son. Father will take the place of the King and you will become a prince." Curze answered as simply as possible while ruffling his son's hair.
"Well, you're gonna be king? And I'm a prince? Engrossed. I'll show it off when Aira gets home." Riel looked excited when she knew she was going to be a prince.
"Will Aira come back here?" Riel's excited face slowly faded.
"Dad doesn't know about that, son. But hopefully Aira will come home and see you become a prince."
"All right, Dad."
--
The inauguration ceremony of the new king begins.
The Queen walked up to the podium.
"today. We lost someone we loved so much. Someone we are very proud of. Someone who leads our country into this prosperity. He left many services to this country, leaving many memories to all his people. Today he goes ahead of us to the afterlife" The Queen tried to hold back her tears and continued her speech.
"But this is not his death. He lives with us. His soul will always burn in our hearts. And his soul was reincarnated into his right hand and our honorable warlord. Today on her final order, I, as Queen of the Kingdom of Sapphire, declare that the leadership of the kingdom will be left to the right hand of the King. Curze Eraxoth's." All the people present at the ceremony cheered with hope for the new king who would lead them.
Curze walked up to the podium where the Queen made the speech and knelt before him. Curze turned his head down, where all the people of Sapphire gathered to see the birth of their new King. All were small from the balcony of the palace. However, Curze was the one who felt the smallest there because it felt inappropriate to bequeath the throne of the kingdom.
"Curze Eraxoth, by order of the King. I leave the entire government leadership in your fist. Bring Sapphire to prosperity." The cheers of the people began to rumble as a royal aide brought a crown before the Queen.
The Queen took the crown and placed it over Curze's head.
"With this I declare. Curze Eraxoth is the new king of Sapphire."
The people's cheers are getting louder.
"Hopefully the fate of Sapphire in the future will be better than before. So much and thank you." The Queen retreated from the podium and let Curze as the new king deliver his speech.
Curze's face looked extremely tense as he stood on the podium.
"The people of Sapphire whom I respect. His Majesty the king gave a very heavy task before his departure. He entrusted this country to me who was just an ordinary soldier who did not even have royal blood at all. It's really an honor." Curze's voice sounds wiser now.
"Therefore, I am Curze Eraxoth as the new king of the Sapphire kingdom inviting all of you to jointly advance this beloved country. Together we fight and defend what the old king has given us. As the Queen said, today is not the day of the king's death. The soul of the old king will remain burning in the hearts of us all. VIVA SAPPHIRE!" Curze's loud shout sparked the spirit of the people that began to extinguish.
"LIVE SAPPHIRE!" Curze shouted in front of his people.
"LIVE SAPPHIRE!" The Sapphire people began to build trust in their former warlord to lead their country.
They returned the cry of their new King with renewed vigor. The spirit to build this country under the leadership of their new King. Curze Eraxoths.
--
"Dad, if you're king then what about you? Is mom the queen?" Riel asked plainly as Curze tidied up the messy files at the old King's workplace.
"No Riel, the Queen's position will remain in the hands of our Queen. But even if you don't become queen, you're still considered a royal family." Answer Curze while keeping busy with his files.
"If I were king, would I ever see Aira again?"
The busy Curze suddenly stopped when his son asked about his little friend.
"Riel, you're a prince now. And you can't keep thinking about your own ambitions. You have to learn to think about the people. Maybe not yet, but I'll teach you how to be the king that society dreams of."
"All right." Riel lost her spirit after getting that answer.
Riel finally went from her father's room to the balcony of the palace in front of which lay a large and beautiful garden.
"Why is it like this?" Mumbled Riel.
Suddenly he remembered what Aira had said about fate.
"Is this what we call destiny? I'm destined to be the new king after dad? I'm destined not to be able to meet Aira again?" His little head was filled with questions he did not understand.
"The destiny is not real. I'll prove that I can fight destiny. Even if the gods will hate me for this."
A new determination awoke in Riel's heart. His bright brown eyes exuded an aura of hatred for destiny. He had promised himself that no one could control him, not even a god.
***
