The Soulless One

At a time not so long ago, there was a king. This monarch had no name, for those without souls were simply incapable of being named. 

The King, who we shall refer to as The Soulless One, was a malicious man, envious of the power that others contained. He wished to be invincible, so strong no creature could ever best him. But, as his world was a place of magic,himself containing almost none of it, this was seemingly impossible.

And so he lived on as he always had. Craving power, and having only which his social status gave him. Until he gained the knowledge on where to find the source of magic, or in his eyes,power itself.

The source of the entity we call magic is the Skailyn. An overly common flower at the time, it resembles the chrysanthemum, just without quite as many petals.When presented with the flower, you will most likely notice the thin vine that spirals around the stem, and that each skailyn is a different pigment of sky.

No one knows exactly how The Soulless One had found the source of all things magical,nor where he had discovered this information. And no one dared ask, instead staying quiet and obeying the king when he ordered(or rather threatened, if we’re to be candid here) troops to be sent out to retrieve the skailyn. 

The soldiers obeyed, quickly leaving to find the one thing The Soulless One had desired in his entire life. The men and women endured many long days of travelling before they had uncovered the home of the skailyn. 

And so they set off for home, mesmerized by the skailyn as it mirrored the sky above them. Or perhaps the sky mirrored the Skailyn. And when you ran your finger across the vine that adorned the stem, you would be shown the result of every decision you have made. Who you really are. The disposition and natural reaction of your mind, for one is made good from the decisions we make, and our hopes for others.

The soldiers made it to the adorned castle. The Soulless One was indifferent about the state of the castle. He only wished for it to be defensible, so he allowed his advisors to do what they pleased with his home, as long as it did not affect his plans, nor his funds.

The day the soldiers returned to the palace, the king lay draped in his throne, absently listening as a Squire relayed the woes of the kingdom. Every once in a while he would interrupt with a solution, but would most often  let the Squire drone on about murdered sheep in the Lowlands. Or was it cows?

He was just about to ask this of his squire when a meek looking messenger arrived.

“Yes?” The Soulless One asked.

The ten year old boy swallowed. He had only gotten this job to help his family out. If he had known he was to be dealing with the power-hungry king he would NOT have agreed to it. Luckily, the king seemed to be amiable, probably due to the fact he no longer had to listen to the monotonous voice of the Squire. (The Squire was similarly relieved, for speaking about hanging horse fetuses at the Hobbes Cabin right before lunch was a very unpleasant experience)

Glancing once more to the black-skinned king, the messenger cleared his throat, and spoke in what he hoped was an audible voice.

Fortunately for him, it even bordered on confident.

“ The troops are back, sire.”

The King was delighted at the news. 

“Are they? Send them in immediately!”

Relieved, they boy turned, grateful to be given an excuse to leave.

“Wait! Boy!”

He froze, then cursed himself. If he hadn’t froze he could have pretended he had not heard the king. Oh well, too late now. He turned around.

The king grinned at him.

“So you’re scared of me.”

Not a question, but it was clear The Soulless one expected an answer. The boy complied, giving a short nod. 

The smile grew wider. 

The Soulless one reached over the side of his ebony plated throne, retrieving a bag of gold from the hidden compartment in the large chair.

“ For your trouble.” 

He threw the gold at the boy, who was dumbfoundedly staring at the king, jaw wide open.

“ What are you waiting for? Send my troops in!”

The boy flinched, then remembered where he was.

“Yes sire, of course sire, thank you, I-”

He waited until he was outside of the throne rooms closed doors to end his mumbling. He was definitely going to get a new job.