The Successor.
There was a man in the kingdom that had grown in popularity over the years and appeared to be fanatically supportive of king Herbert and his policies. The king had been well pleased with this man for he had exposed a plot to depose of him some time earlier. This plot had led to the king divorcing his bride of such short time. After many months of prayer the king had picked this man who he knew that would be true to his memory. He trained him in all the ways that would ensure that his legacy would live on in the hearts of men. And a decree was put onto parchment and it was so.
And it was found one morning that the king was without breath. As those who had watched over him anticipating their next move in grabbing a piece of the kingdom, a commotion was about in the land. It has been said that at that time of the kings death a sudden stirring commotion rattled the empire. The lunatics amoung all the asylums of the kingdom began screaming in torment, slashing themselves and pounding their bloody hands onto the walls shouting ‘I am going under, I am going under! I am king Herbert and I’m going to hell!’ Among the many stories about the king, this indeed was one of the strangest ever heard in the land!
It came to pass that a grandiose funeral for the dead king was held. Dignitaries from outside kingdoms came to pay their respects to the king at that of his family. Also present were many of the governors from the inner chamber that once advised his holiness. As they gazed at the casket one could only wonder what they were thinking.
And the parchment was unsealed before all the people of the kingdom. And the final pronouncement of the dead king was read to all:
‘Hear all the words of His Majesty the King.’
‘There has been many men of my inner chamber who desire the power I yield.
Those who like wolves will try to lead you astray. Repel them and do not follow them. They will divide the kingdom and remove you from the graces of God.
Therefore, it is my will that the man of my choosing to lead you will ascend the throne. For my successor shall be Comrade Tkach. A true friend and a man who I hand pick as the next king. Obey him with your heart and with all your soul.’
And the people cheered with joy shouting ‘The King is dead, long live The King!’
Ascension to the Throne.
King Tkach was anointed with oil and took power over the kingdom. There was no undo fanfare as the people rejoiced in their new king. In all his glory it looked as if the kingdom would continue on as it has since the early days. The days of growth and prosperity would continue. Or so they thought.
The new king quickly consolidated his power, placing armed guards around the dead rulers cottage. Spending days rummaging thru his predecessors personal belongings, he came upon a wall that didn’t fit with the construction of the day. Picking up a mallet, he began to eagerly wield it. Stone upon stone fell to the floor until an opening was in place. Using a torch, king Tkach enter the chamber. The torch light gently played upon the walls and that of the priceless paintings that hung neatly from them. In a corner the king noticed a odd looking device that he recognized. It was the spinning wheel that his predecessor used to weave fairy tales into gold. In the final days of king Herbert he had watched from afar the workings of the wheel. Indeed he thought, ‘…if I use this wheel I will grow my wealth and power.’
Spinning the Wheel.
The Fairy who taught the former king how the wheel was to be worked suddenly appeared before king Tkach.
‘Your dominance, do you also wish to learn the secret to the wheel? For such knowledge I desire a small fee. A tit for tat if you will.’
The king responded,
‘What is it you wish for that I might learn the secret of the wheel?’
‘Ahh’ spoke the Fairy.
‘For what I desire is the same as that of your predecessor was willing to freely handover. I desire your sons and daughters. Tell your servants that their children will be placed into the hands of their God. Then you shall spin the people and turn which is not yours into gold’.
With anger, the king loudly spoke:
‘This shall not be! I shall not need your services for I know how to work the wheel.’
And the Fairy replied:
‘Let it be as you wish. You will regret your decision for no man can do this work without an agreement’
“Poof!” And the Fairy disappeared as he came.
The king thought to himself ‘Why should I pay some Fairy for what king Herbert did with such ease? I too shall grow in riches and prosper, and without paying a price.’
The king immediately set about writing new books and booklets. Using the wealth of the inner chamber, the king began to slowly implement the changes he saw fitting. With the help of the kings son and others from the inner chamber, the king produced many new teachings, changing the laws and decrees of king Herbert.
With the skills of an incompetent community organizer, the king spoke at every opportunity to get his ideas to be accepted. Many railed against him saying ‘Who is this man that ascended the throne? His words are hard to accept! How could king Herbert have appointed him as his successor?’
When king Tkach heard these words he spoke out in aggrieved anger towards those who so easily grumble with dissent. ‘Was it not the king before me who prayed to the almighty God as to who should follow in his shoes? Was it not God who led him to my appointment to the throne? Then why do you speak-out in rebellion?’ And there was silence over the kingdom.
The king set forth to correct the people of the land. Placing himself before the wheel he began spinning out more books using the wealth that his predecessor had left. Book after book, he spun away! Surely with so many books his wealth shall increase ten fold! In the time of ten years the king spun so many books that many of his governors left his service and began to build their own spinning wheels so they might have such wealth in their golden years.
Before long, the king had to return the children in his service to their parents, for there was little gold or silver coming into the treasury. These were the children that the first king had given over to the Fairy in exchange for much wealth and power.
The king in ever growing desperation, and content to patch and darn, to piece and cobble at the worn and rotten fabric of the former kings rancorous précis, spun the wheel more and more. Soon he was working night and day, spinning book after book, changing the fairy tales of king Herbert into new works of greater understanding. However his labor was nothing more than frustration founded in defeat.
Conclusion
And it came to pass that the empire was in deep decline. Many of the assets of the kingdom, assets that in reality belonged to the people, had to be sold off to pay for the error of the king. The error of his way was found in not paying his true master for the knowledge and understanding that would have allowed him to gain from others for what was not his.
Steeped in failure the kings health soon diminished. As he lay on his deathbed a visitor not unknown, appeared to him during the night. For this night the servant of Belial, the Fairy who tempted the king years before, stood before him and spoke:
‘Remember these words oh king when I asked you if you wanted wealth and power?’
‘Your dominance, do you also wish to learn the secret to the wheel? For such knowledge I desire a small fee. A tit for tat if you will.’
‘And you spoke to me saying’
‘This shall not be! I shall not need your services for I know how to work the wheel.’
For in his folly the king had spun the wheel counter clockwise turning the wealth of the kingdom into straw. He had gone against the natural flow that the first king had devised. For if he had spun the wheel clockwise as the first king did his wealth and power would have grown. And to add to his folly, the king had not sought after the counsel of Belial as did the first king.
With a mighty effort, the king spoke:
‘My efforts have not been blessed. For in contempt even my governors have departed in order to build their own spinning wheels to gain money and power, to take for themselves that which is not theirs. For what will become of them?’
And the servant of Belial replied:
‘These Merchants Of Misery have bowed to me and given me honor and sacrifices. However in your greed, you yourself have refused me, for you thought to have it all without price. Come now and meet with your reward!’
King Tkach soon perished and the kingdom went the way of Ozymandias’s dead empire. Many of the people who had not left the kingdom of the first king now found themselves disheartened and penniless. All that they sacrificed for the kingdom came to naught. For they realized that like secular empires, theirs also had been a scam. One that removes all true personal choice at the end of a spear.
In time many who did leave found that life itself was worthy of living if they only would never allow men ever again to rule over them. Some continued to honor the God the two kings spoke of, others viewed the teachings with contempt. And a few, those who acted as court jesters, moved to the kingdoms that the dissenting governors built for themselves. These men would spin the wheel hoping for some miracle that never would materialize. Belial had no intention of honoring his agreement with these worthless men. For the sons and daughter given over to Moloch were considered worthless. They would soon leave their retched kingdoms and seek out a land of their own. The land of milk and honey. A land where sanity resided.
Year after year the wealth of the dissenting kingdoms would be expended to men who sought after personal monuments and financial gain. And in all of these splinter kingdoms, one could never again find a man with moral direction.
END.
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