To Rule the World

To Poison a Tyrant

Hidden in shadow, light from within only. Gustav, my leader, my comrade, hides behind his army, behind the thick oak doors of his palace. The crisply uniformed guards stand at attention a front his office, monotone expression, not a hint of movement, so still they could be marble statues. In my hand I hold the key to my bitter sweet freedom, all inside a single bottle of alchohol.

He sits like a raven behind his desk, shrouded in darkness. From a room close by, I hear a tiny slash of water over the faint, eerie notes of a Shostakovich waltz tell me that his young, sweet, beautiful wife, Elise, was near. I take my seat across from my dictator, the tyrant, look the old man in his soulless, grey eyes, and smile at him, just as I always have.

"Dmitri, what a joy it is to see you again. The people in your village are well I trust?" His voice echoed through the dark, heavy atmosphere. The paintings of his predecessors leer down at us, daring me to answer with honesty.

"Yes. Quite well" I lie. In all these years, I never thought I would have to do natures work, yet, alas, here I am.

"I see you have brought me a gift, friend" He cried, peering greedily at the bottle in my hand.

"Aha, you noticed. Here, it makes good drinking" I replied, pouring the sweet liquor into a glass and offering it to him.

But the bastard did not drink.

"Try it!" I urged, and after a pause "It was brewed by my own father, I would be offended of you didn't"

"I should not intend to harm you, my young friend, even if it is only emotionally. But perhaps you too should drink" He muttered coldly as he pushed the glass over the table to me.

"Oh no, I am fine" I have no doubt that my voice quavered or my hands began to shake, the bravery I knew before almost gone.

"I insist"

"Alright, if you insist" I put the glass to my lips and drank the the orange liquid, thanking God that I had anticipated this slight hiccup in my otherwise flawless plan.

Convinced, Gustav finally drank from the offending bottle, all the while eyeing me with suspicion.

"You know, Dmitri, you are my closest friend."

"And you mine"

"Ha, there is a reason you are my right hand man. But these past few months you have been acting rather strangely. If I didn't know better, I would say you were trying to kill me!" He chuckled, eyes remaining cold.

"I would never dream of it." We clinked our glasses and gulped down the beverage simultaneously. I watched as he sniffed the liquid he had just drank from and could contain myself no longer.

My bitter laugh bounced off the tall room so it sounded as off every painting and photograph were laughing with me at the foolish dictator.

"What is so funny, Dmitri?" Gustav asked, narrowing his eyes, glaring at me with the utmost confusion and annoyance.

"You believe I have poisoned you" I chuckled.

"I wouldn't put it past you to kill me because you want my power. You are clearly a megalomaniac."

"But we drank from the same bottle!" I protested.

"Perhaps you have an antidote."

"Perhaps I have two" I cried, prodicing two small vials from my jacket, containing a sparkling liquid.

"I see. One for you, one for me"

"One for myself, yes, but the other could just be there to tease you while I watch you die" I proposed, holding up the vials.

"Or I could call my guards, they fetch me a doctor and I live. You will be hanging by dawn amongst the other revolutionary scum." He rasped, already starting to feel the effects of the poison.

"How can you be so sure that you guards are loyal enough to do even that?" I smirked, standing and drinking from the antidote.

"Give me the antidote, Dmitri" I shook my head, dangling it just out of his reach.

"Give me it! Guards! Guards!" He yelled, straining across the desk, trying to grab it out of my hands.

I stepped away from him, dropping the vial onto the stone floor and crushing it under my boot. Crunch.

"YOU SONOVABITCH! You traitor! I trusted you!" His shouts reduced to almost a whipser.

"You rule the world, yet it is a worse place than it ever was under your reign. The people hate you. I am doing than a favour." I explained, resisting the urge to shout and scream at him.

"You liar. They love me"

"Blind! You are so blind you cannot see that you are a tyrant. You have had ultimate power for decades, time to stand down, old man" I told him sourly.

"Traitor... I'll have you shot..." His last words were barely heard over the concluding classical peice. Finally Gustav was dead.