The Prince's Fate

What…is all of this?

Click. Clack. Click.

Who…is approaching?

Clack. Click. Clack.

Why…am I in chains?

Click. Clack.

Click.

The sound of swift movement echoes across the hall, signalling the end of one’s dramatic ascension..

And the beginning of another’s despair.

“You may begin.”

The royal guards unveil the mask hindering the prince’s eyesight, allowing Kayin to glance around. Immediately, Kayin realizes he has been dragged to the throne room, but is unable to understand the reasoning for such a tense situation.

And also…why the one sitting on the throne is not his father.

An elderly man, standing directly at the foot of the stairs that lead up to the throne, clears his throat; before slowly revealing a collage of ancient text from his tribal robes.

“Who dares to stand trial before the gods today?!” the elderly man bellows, as the text floats in the air while flipping its pages remotely.

The prince remains stunned, but tries his best to maintain composure.

“Kayin…son of Dayo.” He slowly responds. “Prince of the Eydo Empire…and designated wielder of Shango’s Avatar.”

The elderly man licks his thumb and index finger slowly, before stamping both of them simultaneously onto the ancient text. An intense glow bursts from both the eyes of the elderly man, and the ancient texts themselves.

“SHANGO! THE GOD OF JUSTICE! WE CALL UPON THEE!”

A whirlwind erupts out from the ancient texts, and a mighty storm of fire and lightning encapsulates the entire room. For those unaware of previous proceedings, screams of fright and awe escape from their mouths. But for those already accustomed, silence is all that remains.

During the process, a figure emerges, and stands directly in front of the prince. Kayin slowly glances up towards his avatar holder, the god Shango.

“For what reason could you have summoned me?!?” Shango asks, glaring directly at the elderly man.

“In the court of today! Under the mighty sun of Ra! The enveloping moon of Khonsu! And the heavenly skies of Olorun! Your avatar wielder, Kayin, stands trial for treason against our great Empire!”

“What?!” Kayin inadvertently screams out.

Shango tilts his head with an amused expression. “It seems the royal court has surely devolved since my time as a human. To think you would accuse my descendant of treason.”

The look of amusement quickly turns into one of pure rage. “Speak another foul word and I will cut off your tongue…before forcing you to choke on it and die!”

“Enough.”

The court room falls silent, as most are left shocked by the brazen demand.

Shango slowly glances towards the person seated at the throne. “You dare attempt to restrain me in my own home…”

Temi, princess of the Eydo Empire, smirks confidently as she looks down towards the frustrated deity.

“Now, now, great ancestor. This really isn’t the time for threats.”

In less than a nanosecond, Shango appears directly in front of the throne, glaring down directly towards Temi and invading her personal space. Shango lifts his hand up slowly, gathering up magical energy of fire and lightning to strike her down.

“What was that about a threat?!”

“Shango! Stand down!” Kayin yells.

Shango stops, and glances back at Kayin’s determined eyes. Kayin shakes his head, trying desperately to wave him off from fighting.

Shango only grows more frustrated.

“GOD OF JUSTICE! DO YOU WISH FOR TRIAL BY COMBAT?!” The elderly man bellows out.

Shango glares intensely at Kayin, whose long dreads slowly seep down until his head lays calmly on the floor. As if an act of pleading for mercy, Kayin bows his head to Shango.

Shango appears directly in front of Kayin, clearly wanting to strike down his own avatar holder. By only barely managing to restrain himself, Shango strikes the floor directly in front of Kayin, causing a burst of energy to disperse around the courtroom once more. Only after the energy disperses, do all of the people present realize that Shango has disappeared.

In that same breath, a voice echoes directly into the lowered head of the prince.

“As if I would ever fight for a pathetic child like you…”

Kayin slowly lifts his head up, and looks up towards the throne where his sister sits. Behind the golden throne stands a figure, measuring up to be as tall and mighty as Shango, but giving off an even more threatening presence.

Temi smirks.

“Trial by combat has been rejected…leaving only trial by due process.” Temi states, “Dear brother…how would you like to proceed?”

“Temi!…Why am I in chains?! You would really have that old man accuse me of treason?!”

“Address your queen correctly.” A different elderly man softly says.

“Queen?!! Has this fool gone senile?!!” Kayin shouts, before glaring at Temi once more, “The only queen I know is my mother! Who are you to sit on the throne?!”

“The law states that when the head is on trial, the next in line must stand in his place as arbiter. Am I not your older sister? If you were to die today, should I not be next in line?!”

“Is that what you are still after?! Are the lands we govern outside of the kingdom not enough for you?!”

“Who’s to say?! If I were born a man, I would already be king!”

“But you’re not a man! And you will never be queen!”

“Such boorish law should remain in the past like the pagans of old! Respect your elder!”

“My elder?! I am the future king! The only woman I am forced to respect is our mother!” Kayin shouts.

“And yet, it is our mother that is dead because of you!” Temi shouts back, as she stands up aggressively.

Kayin freezes. His eyes shake frantically in disbelief.

“...what?”

“Don’t try to play us for fools, you conniving bastard!” A councilman shouts, “We know all about your relations with your promiscuous mother!”

The chains holding Kayin snaps, causing the councilman and those around him to jump in fright. Kayin remains in place, but glares deeply towards the councilman.

“Speak ill of my mother again, and I will throw you to the beasts.”

The councilman gulps loudly.

“He speaks the truth, so do not try and fault him.” Temi interjects. “Do you wish to know our mother’s last words?...Before she killed our father?!”

Kayin’s entire body shuts down. His breathing becomes stifled, and his vision becomes blurry.

Temi sighs. “You know what? We can get to that later. Let us be professional with this process. Old man! You may continue.”

“In the court of today! Under the mighty sun of Ra! The enveloping moon of Khonsu! And the heavenly skies of Olorun! Kayin, son of King Dayo, prince of the Eydo Empire, and wielder of Shango’s avatar, stands trial for treason against our great Empire!”

“In the late night, our king was murdered in his bed chambers! Stabbed to death by the queen! Soon after, the queen was struck down swiftly by the royal guards!”

“Therefore! After having been named as the rightful heir to the late king…our new ruler…is King Kayin!”

The room remains silent.

Kayin remains frozen. A barrage of horrid images of his parent’s deaths flood into his mind.

“However!...”

Kayin snaps out of his trance and slowly glances up.

“After having been married for over twenty years, and sharing the same bed throughout all that time, this grave incident suggests foul play being involved! Especially from a third party!”

The old man turns towards Temi, “I would like to call upon one of the royal guards involved with this incident to brandish his testimony!”

“You may,” Temi responds.

The royal guard steps out from the crowd of councilmen.

“Guard! What were the final words spoken from the late queen, before she met her death?!”

The guard hesitates.

“Speak!” Temi demands.

“...oddly enough, the late queen appeared to be in her right mind. Even in the face of death. Her final words…were, ‘Now, I can finally escape from my son,”

The entire room gasps loudly, pretending to be unaware of the contents of the case at hand.

Leaving the only one truly unaware to be even more distressed.

…from…me?!

The guard returns into the crowd of councilmen, as they continue to whisper aggressively between themselves.

“Quiet down! Quiet down!” waves the old man in tribal robes, “The final words of the late queen inspired a secret investigation into the relations between mother and son! And the findings were even worse than we had imagined!”

“Many letters have been found in the queen’s chambers, all sent from King Kayin! Suggestive messages of sexual relations! A deep sense of love since he was a child! And especially…that of a husband that was only in the way!”

The councilmen become restless. Temi rests her head against her palm, but remains silent, as she stares fervently towards her brother. Interested to see his reaction, she had been expecting him to break down right then and there.

Instead, Kayin’s expression appears completely amused. Smiling from ear to ear, revelations begin to play across Kayin’s head. However, he refuses to move.

“So what do you have to say for yourself, brother?” Temi asks, “You may now state your own account.”

Kayin’s eerie smile meets the gaze of Temi, but Temi remains unfazed.

“You accuse me…of what exactly?” Kayin asks.

“Incestual relations. Rape. Coercion. Assisted Murder. Take your pick. The handwriting in the letters is indeed yours…is it not?”

Kayin’s smile fades.

“Are you guilty? Or are you not?” Temi asks sternly.

As Kayin remains focused on Temi, the insulting whispers from the councilmen continue trickling into his ears.

Every single one of you in this room…

You all wanted the King to die…

And now, you all wish the same for me…

All so you can place the hidden princess on the throne…

All so you can play with war…

Kayin slowly rises to his feet, causing a great panic across the throne room. Some rush away from him, hoping not to be caught up in his supposed rage. Others stand firm, wanting to hold onto the dignity they have as nobles. While few rush towards him, wanting to be a hero in an otherwise devilish perspective.

Kayin breathes in deeply, forcing everyone present to freeze in place. As he breathes out, he stares at his sister ominously, knowing he cannot escape from his perilous situation.

“The letters are mine…do with me as you will.”

Temi calmly smiles, knowing the victory is hers.

“Alright then.” Temi says, as she slowly rises to her feet once more. Temi then waves her arms towards her younger brother, holding out a golden ball that dangles lightly on a golden chain.

“As acting queen of Eydo…and in the case of treason against the empire…I pronounce my younger brother, King Kayin…”

“Guilty!”