The new king

“Bow down in front of the prince!” the tall soldier shouted. His armor was shining even on that cloudy day. He was walking in front of the royal escort, making way as they walked foreword, making sure no peasant dared to step in front of the prince. He knew what was going to happen if someone dared to be ungrateful to the king’s relatives. Even though he couldn’t wait to see some blood staining his metallic gloves, he knew today was an important day. 

“My lord” the peasants murmured as they bowed down in front of the royal escort while it passed them by. They looked at the ground, not daring to raise their gaze at the knight’s shiny armors, not even thinking of looking at the king. The king, a very handsome young man kept his eyes in the front, not looking sideways, his lips curled into a terrifying grin. He wore a dark shirt with chainmail armor, his leather boots were keeping him warm – apart from the clouds and the wet weather, it was warm enough to walk around in a light shirt. He was riding a majestic dark-haired horse and its hooves were making a flat sound in the mud as he walked slowly, surrounded by shiny and noisy armors. 

The small group, only made from 6 people was more than enough – the tall soldier in front of everyone, followed close by two other knights, holding heavy swords, at three feet in front of the prince and another two in the back of him. The prince was in the middle of all that ridiculous group, acting like he was grateful to be surrounded by those all-powerful men. They were walking on the trodden road, that was going right through the middle of the village. Everyone came to see the royal escort, it wasn’t something you see every day. It was rumored that the prince was going into the forest every month, each time taking another escort and another road. 

The wouldn’t let him go there by himself, so he had to take “the apes” with him. The king wasn’t necessarily loved by the people so he didn’t trust them. “The old fool doesn’t trust his people and so he’ll die by their hand”, the prince said to himself. A small laugher rolled out of his lips, “how poetic, not having faith in those who could save him and trusting the one who will murder him in the easiest way possible”. He looked around, keeping a straight face, admiring his future lands, he could already picture cutting a good part of the forest, so that he could build new lands for agriculture and new buildings for the workers, maybe a new church – somewhere where people will spend their money at. It was his land, he managed it indirectly all this time, after all. 

The peasants are easy to be fooled, just give them the bare minimum – give them a place to work at, give them a place where to drink at on Sundays, and most importantly make them praise you. If they trust you, they will trust your ideas. All that was easy, all he needed was to get rid of the old king. His dark hair flew because of the wind and he let his head fall on his shoulder. He liked this weather, a little bit cloudy, a little bit of mud, not too cold, not too warm either. The smell of rain was in the air and he looked around him once again, through the poor houses – made out of wood and maybe one or two made out of stone – he could see the green fields that were filling his vision. The prince knew that a couple of miles away were the fields destined for agriculture, where most of the people worked six days per week. A few miles foreword on the other hand was the great forest – it was said that it was so big that no one actually knew what creatures laid there and if you got there without keeping in mind every step you took, you would get lost and would never find your way back. 

After a few more minutes filled only with the sound of the horse’s hooves, they finally left the village. He knew that people were still there, watching them getting further away, wanting to follow them, wondering where they were going, but too afraid to actually move their feet. The first few trees appeared in the field of view. The prince could feel his palms getting wet as he took a more firm grip of the horse’s bridle. 

He pulled the bridle and the horse stopped in front of an old birch, with cracked bark from which long, gnarled branches were pouring. “This is where you stop”, the prince’s voice echoed, sounding deeper than usual and more distant as if it was coming from the old tree. The other five men looked at the young prince in disbelief, they knew they had to protect the prince, as the old king insisted, but they couldn’t confront the prince’s – the future king’s – command. Without wasting another second, the boy continued his way, urging the horse to walk forwards. 

The dead autumn leaves were crushing under the horse’s hooves. It was quiet in the woods and all that silence made the young man feel shivers down his spine. “I'm getting closer, I can feel that ”. He started counting his steps, making sure to always be aware of his surroundings. His horse felt his master’s anxiety and started blowing air out of his nose, moving his head from left to right, having to be roughed up. 

Something was wrong, he couldn’t tell the trees apart anymore. Swats appeared on his forehead. “Be calm, just breath. You're the next king, you got it!”. The dark-haired stallion was getting more and more nervous as they got deeper and deeper into the woods. The prince stopped in next to a young tree, trying to remember the right path to her house – front, right, left, front, right, one-mile foreword and you got there. His heart was beating faster and faster, his cheeks turning red – “only if I took those idiots with me. I can't get lost now. I'm the new king”. 

He was most definitely close to her, he could see all the red flags and cages for hunting. After turning the horse around a few more times, he realized that he's even closer than he thought, a few more feet away and he got to the right place, the witch's house. 

Twenty years ago, at the age of seven years old, he ran away from home when he found out that his parents wanted to sell him for a few more coins. He ran away in that forest, expecting to die, but after hours of wandering around, there it was – a big house made out of wood, covered in moss, that was so well hidden that you could just walk past it without realizing it was there. He knocked and in the frame appeared an ugly being, an old woman, whose face was covered in scars, with a dark, mourning like, dress. The little boy screamed his lungs out, in fear, but before he could run, the odd woman caught his arm and pulled him inside. The boy tried to scream and to run away. The woman turned to him and tried to calm him down. 

The prince continued to lead the horse up to the witch’s house. He hopped off and knocked just like he did 20 years ago. The womb appeared after a few more seconds and opened the door for him. As he entered the house, he smelled that odd smell that he could never forget, it is way too present in his memory.

“You're late, you know that right?” the woman asked. He looked at her scars, those which he looked at for so many times – she seemed so familiar but so distant at the same time. As he smiled at her, her features seemed to soften up. 

“Well, I'm here now, aren’t I? ” he said as he let those words roll off his tongue with such a devilish like passion. She never told him her name, but he called her “Ma” – she didn’t want to be called mom or mama, but he seemed to get away with ma. 

“Don’t use your charms on me, child, I created you after all. I know why you're here, you're ready to kill the old king, am I right? ” she turned at him with a grin on her scared face. He never asked her but thought she was burned alive, being accused of witchcraft. The prince nodded, as his smile vanished for a breath second, just so it could appear again, even brighter as before. 

He made himself forget his past, to think about his future, every day, every minute of his life was dedicated for that moment, for the moment when he would be the next king. She helped him, made the king that he was one of his sons, and he came there just so that he could help his dear father, but for him to live, his so-called father had to die. That’s why he’s here, to collect the final poison to kill the old fool. 

“You know, you could just stay here…with me, in the woods” silence “Unfortunately, I know you too well. I know that you're here for the poison.” She sighed and pointed her finger at a small bottle filled with a clear potion. Ma told him that he had to pour it in his cup for it to do the work, the liquid would do the trick in a day so that he had to be patient. 

The prince clutched his fists, it's the moment he’s been waiting for, his entire life. He needs to kill, in order to be the new king. He took the bottle and slammed the door before him, without hearing Ma’s calls, he hopped on the horse and shove his heels in its stomach. The stallion started running, running through the tree and their brunches, willing to do it as long as its master won't hit it anymore. 

The five knights were almost falling asleep when they heard the animal’s hooves. As they stood up, the animal appeared next to the prince on top of him, with his dark hair flying around. “We’re ready, let’s go back to the castle”, the young man announced.

“Yes, my lord”, the knights said at once.