There once was a queen who used to be very, very special to her husband the king, just as he was important to her.
But the king hated the queen for what she had done. He blamed it all on her. Every death of every child, man, and woman in their village. She had opened the gates for him. The enemy had held the king hostage, with blades pointed at every hair on his head. They let the queen see him like this at the gates. Him vulnerable, with a bloody painful death seconds away from him. All the queen had to do to save his life was open the gates for the enemy's army. Let them kill every villager and take anything valuable from their kingdom.
You see, the queen, she loved her husband more than she loved any person in their kingdom. He was all the queen had ever known, all she ever had, all she had ever touched. It was always the king and queen in that castle, for many, many years. The king was never seen without his queen linked to his arm, and the queen never left his side. So as you could some what understand, this was an almost ridiculous question for the queen:
"The kingdom or your king?"
She chose her king without hesitation. The gates were opened for the enemy to march right in. She watched with deep sorrow but no regret as the soldiers stabbed the innocent children who ran from them, and stole the fair maidens away from their homes. They took strong young men for slaves, and kidnapped the healthy babies to raise as their own.
The king, he was let go from the grips of these evil men. He stood in the middle of this chaotic battle field. Not able to believe what his wife had done. He could do nothing, but march to his castle where his beautiful wife waited for him. Her lips were tight, her dark eyes held back tears. The king took a long look at his wife, he studied her, she was not who he thought she was. Tears rolled down his cheeks. He fell on his knees. He wept for the dead children, and the stolen innocents, he wept for his kingdom. And he wept for his wife he felt he lost even though she stood right in front of him.
How could the king still love his wife after that?
She may not have killed those people, but their blood is on her hands.
That was the problem the king now had you see. A problem much bigger than not having any people left in his kingdom. He now no longer loved his wife; he hated her. He hated her for the horror she caused.
"Why didn't you let them take my life, my queen?" He would ask his wife, shaking her by her shoulders. "My life is no more important than a thousand peoples'!"
And the queen would say, "It was not my fault that they are dead and stolen!" She cried along with him. "I could not watch you die!"
But the king didn't ask any further, he didn't even try to understand her, let alone even think about forgiving her. So he left her, he left her alone in the empty castle, and he marched outside of his empty kingdom. He took a horse and traveled far out into the country. His anger towards his wife for all the death she caused almost drove him mad! He couldn't stop dreaming of her every night, and he couldn't seem to escape his thoughts of her. She was weak, and allowed a thousand people lose their lives he would constantly remind himself.
He got a job as a simple fisherman on the coast, never letting his anger go. Nightmares of that day haunted him every night, even in his daydreams. He came to understand that he needed to go back to her, to face his source of anger. On his journey home, he came to realize that you cannot simply run away from your problems, for they will only haunt you more vigorously the faster you run. His wife greeted him at the gates of the castle. He told her that he forgave her.
And she in turn said, "I didn't do anything. You are hating me, when you should be hating the enemy." The king thought about this for a minute, figuring that his wife was right.
"My darling, you are right. I thought I ran away from you, when really, I was running from the problem I have to face; our true enemy." The king said. And together, the king and queen raised a rebellion in the enemy's kingdom, killing the evil enemy king and his faithful soldiers from the inside out. The king and queen forgave each other for their hurtful acts, and learned to face their future problems head first.
