The Four Heirs

 

Once, a long time ago, in a far away kingdom of a forgotten name, there lived a king. The king was loved and admired by all his subjects and was very much missed when he passed away. All mourned him when he did.

The king had three sons and one daughter, each of which had a talent; a gift that had been given to them from birth by the spirit of the Night's Lake, Naya.

And when the king died, one of them had to rule over the kingdom.

The eldest son was very manipulative and was able to convince nearly anyone to become his allie with his sly and sharp tong.

The second son had the gift of unconquered intelligence. Indeed, from the tender age of twelve, he could already outdo even the most gifted of tacticians.

The third son had the gift of kindness and patience. It was said that he was so kind and forgiving that all who set eyes on him loved him.

The youngest child of the four, the king's daughter, was the only one who could not claim the throne, because of the primitive laws of the land. She had the gift of wisdom and an intense will to learn. It is said that many came to her when seeking advise.

When the king died, he still had not chosen which one of his children would rule over the kingdom. And his dying words took the great weight of the decision off his tired shoulders: he had left his young daughter to choose for him.

Being a female, the daughter could not claim the throne and so the King thought it would be wiser to let her decide. The King knew his daughter to be a wise and resourceful child, hence he relied on her gift to himself escape his decision.

The young girl spent a long time evaluating all the qualities and flaws of each of her brothers to consider which of them should rule the kingdom. In the end, as she was just about to fall asleep, she found a way that would work. She spent the rest of the night working on how she would tell her brothers.

The next morning, the daughter asked to see all her brothers to share her decision.

The brothers were to rule together.

At those news the three princes laughed.

"Me? Work with them? Don't make me laugh!" said the eldest son.

This made the general laughter increase. But the young princess could take no anymore.

"If you do not rule together then you will not rule at all! That is my final decision!"

And so none of the three princes became king.

Without a king to rule over the kingdom, the monarchy soon collapsed. Everywhere insanity ruled and the dark shadows of fear and madness took over the once bright kingdom.

All throughout the years, the three princes grew angrier; even the very patient third son found himself torn apart by hatred and longing.

The princess locked herself up in her room and refused to see any of her older brothers for she knew they would try everything in their power to trick her into making them king.

Those were very sad times for the people of the kingdom that was once a beautiful haven.

For many years the people of the court tried all they could to find a way out of this insane hell on earth. They even went as far as to making a plan to assassinate the four heirs and find a new king.

This was all done in vain, however, as the second prince tricked them into bursting into a room filled with a lethal dark magic that would poison anyone who entered it.

Finally, it was decided that the people of the kingdom were to vote on who their next ruler would be. The princes made speeches to get the favour of the now all insane subjects.

When all the men in the kingdom had voted, the four heirs found themselves with yet another problem on their hands. The votes were equal.

After a week of consideration, the princes decided to let the women vote as well. But again the votes were equal.

Even gambling failed to produce a winner as for some reason, the dice turned blank.

It was as if some black magic wanted the kingdom to stay that way, lost in the darkness of despair.

You would think that the situation could not get any worst until the plague came, taking with it the youngest prince and a third of the kingdom's population. At the funeral, many claimed to have seen a spirit wandering around, aimlessly pleading to be forgiven.

After that, a terrible thunder storm raged out across the country, sending half of the remaining subjects and court members to their grave. The kingdom was in ruins and , no matter how hard they tried, the repairs just wouldn't work out. This led to the eldest son's death after he was crushed by a falling clock tower.

In the end, these unfortunate casualties wounded up being a great help to the kingdom as only one heir remained. And so the coronation began.

In the middle of the ceremony, a fire occurred and all that attended it were reduced to ashes. All except the youngest member of the royal family. All except the princess, all except the queen.

Being the very last of the royal family, the young princess was the only one who could possibly rule the kingdom.

And so the girl was left, sat on a rotting throne, with a crumbling crown on her head and a cursed, empty, ruined kingdom to rule. Alone.

Long Live The Queen.