What have I done?

Two shrill blasts of the trumpet sound and emergency lights on the kingdom map blink on. There is a red light near the perimeter wall indicating where the emergency signal is being sounded. My stomach sinks, not another one. We hitch the medical wagon to the strongest steed and in less than one minute we are on the trail, headed to the wall.

I pull back on the reigns and give a firm “Whoa!”. The gallop comes to a halt, and I throw myself off the saddle. We’ve arrived at the wall. I can’t explain why but I hate this wall. I look up at the towering bricks and a chill goes through me. The wall feels menacing, alluring in an aggressive sort of way. It makes you want to come closer even as every cell in your inner membrane screams at you to turn and run. The wall circles the entire perimeter of the kingdom. I don’t know what is on the other side. Only the king knows. I think that’s part of what makes the wall so dangerously alluring, the mystery of the unknown. This isn’t the first time there has been an emergency here, not by far. For some the call of the unknown is too hard to ignore and there have been many instances of broken shells from unsuccessful wall climbs. Thankfully there is no easy way to climb the wall, its smooth surface usually prevents any curious thrill seekers from getting too far up keeping injuries minimal.

I’ve told the king time and time again that the wall is dangerous. He doesn’t listen. How many accidents will happen before he is forced to care?

As I approach the base of the wall, I can see jagged white pieces of shell scattered all around and I realize this isn’t a typical fall. This is much worse than anything I’ve seen before. There are pieces everywhere, so many pieces. Some big, some small, some so fractured they are almost dust. I think they’d blow away if it weren’t for the white clear albumen slowly leaking through the destruction, catching all the tiny pieces in its path, making them stick to the hard ground. A full recovery is going to be impossible but that’s not what I’m worried about. The albumen leaking is not good, that means the inner shell membrane has been compromised. I think I can see some yellow too, that’s even worse. We can mend fractured shells easily enough, even if we can’t recover all the broken pieces but we can’t do much once the yolk has been lost.

I reach down and lightly touch the two biggest intact pieces I can find, being as gentle as possible, I see if I can push the fractured shell back together. “Let’s gather as much shell as we can. We need to stabilize and try to keep more yolk from leaking out!”. In my head I know this is a futile effort but as the most experienced member of the King’s Men I must remain calm and take the lead. “I don’t think we can do a compression wrap without causing more damage but help me lift what we can into the medical wagon and let’s move.” We lift the biggest intact piece of the broken shell and balance it to ensure no more yolk spills out as something golden and shiny catches my eye. On the ground is a gemstone encrusted crown, no doubt it belongs to a member of the royal family. I do a double take at the unrecognizable face, and now I know who this is. My heart drops as we load the broken prince and race towards the kingdom.

“Prince Humpty Dumpty Dies – King’s Men Under Investigation

In tragic news from North Eggshire Kingdom, Prince Humpty Dumpty, first born son and next egg in succession for the thrown has died. Preliminary reports indicate Prince Humpty Dumpty was on the kingdom’s perimeter wall when he suffered a great fall. King’s Horses and King’s Men responded to the scene but were unable to save the young prince.

An investigation into the failure of the King’s Men to save the prince is ongoing and no danger to the public is suspected currently.

-Eggshire Times”

I toss the newspaper down in frustration, angry at how we are being portrayed. “No danger to the public? What a joke.” I think. Reading the word failure makes me furious. Unable to save the young prince, like we are incompetent, like we didn’t even try. It’s not reported that this was the worse fall in the kingdom’s history. It’s not reported how many hours we spent trying to piece the young prince back together. It’s not reported that nearly the entire core of the prince had leaked out, yellow mixed with milky white fluid, soaking into the ground, impossible to collect or replace. It’s not reported how many times I begged the king to make the wall safer, to be transparent with his citizens.

***

“Your majesty, please.” I plead “We can’t keep putting broken eggs back together. The falls are getting worse. The citizens want to know what is beyond the kingdom. We have been doing nightly patrols to deter wall climbers, but nothing seems to stop them. I fear eventually there will be a fall so bad we won’t be able to do anything to help.”

I can see the king grow angry. I don’t understand why. If the wall is there to protect us from something, why can’t we know the threat?

“Your job as the leader of the King’s Men is not to question my decisions. Your job is to keep the citizens of my kingdom in line, and if you think you can’t handle it, I will appoint someone else. I don’t want to discuss this again.”

***

Anger surges inside of me. It’s not fair. I’ve spent my entire career as part of the King’s Men. Trying my best to protect the land, protect the citizens, and protect the reputation of the king. For what? To be ignored by the king himself? To be ridiculed by the press? Mistrusted by the same citizens I have tried so hard to protect?

No. That ends today.

I let my fury guide me to the back storage room at King’s Men station. I look around until I see what I came for. The sledgehammer. I round the corner and run into a fellow King’s Men.

“Oh, hey. I didn’t expect to see you here today sir. Sir, are you okay? What are you doing with that? Sir, sir, where are you going? Come back!”

***

I look straight up. I study each brick, placing my hand on some, feeling the rough texture of the mortar between them. I feel an energy pulsing from behind the wall, warning me to get back. I ignore it. This all ends now. If the king won’t put a stop to this, I will. No more wall means no more questions, no more fatal curiosity, no more lies from the king. We deserve to know the truth. I’m here to get it.

I take the sledgehammer in both hands and lift it over my head. Using all my strength I bring it down and slam it into the wall. An awful noise reverberates through my entire being. The vibration is so loud and strong that for a moment I fear I may crack. I don’t stop. I let the fear mix with my anger and use it as fuel to bring down the wall. I move faster in fear that word will get back to the king and he will come here to try and stop me.

Faster and faster, I bring the hammer down until cracks in the wall become craters and bricks begin falling to the ground. Light seeps through and into my eyes. It’s so bright for a moment it is blinding.

When my vision clears, I gasp.

 “What have I done?” I whisper.