Week 6 Story: Kill the King

Kill the King

by Connor Dugan

One day, the king of a town was observing his people.  He dressed in a disguise so nobody would recognize him and came upon a psychic.  The psychic told the king, not knowing who he was, he could tell him his future.  The king agreed, but told him that he had no money, so he gave him his necklace that was priceless.  The king told him that he would come back later to give him the actual cost of the psychic session and retrieve the necklace he held as collateral.  The psychic then told him that he would die within 9 days.

Appalled, the king retreated to his home and demanded to see a servant.  The king was in denial and believed the psychic was not really able to tell the future.  He was going to put him to the test.  The king told the servant to go to the psychic with the intent to steal the necklace and see if the psychic is able to tell the future of the necklace being stolen.  If the servant failed, his head would be cut off, but if he succeeded the psychic's head would be cut off for lying about being able to tell the future.  The next day, the servant approached the psychic and asked to tell him his fortune.  The psychic took a long pause and told him that he would kill a man within 8 days.  The servant, not realizing what this meant, proceeded to think all of it was false and stole the necklace from him.

The king was pleased at the retrieval of the necklace, and the next day went to the psychic to claim his property.  The psychic told the king that he couldn't find the necklace, and outraged, the king told the psychic that he had one week to foretell where the necklace is or his head would be taken.  The psychic obliged, and for 6 days he meditated and prayed.

The 7th day came and the king held a ceremony, inviting the whole town to see the psychic be proven as phony.  The psychic approached the king on the stage in front of the massive crowd.

Large Crowd sourced via Flickr

The king screamed, "Psychic!  You speak to the world that you have powers beyond this world, yet can't find the necklace I gave you when your life depends on it!?  What say you to this ridiculousness?"

The psychic replied, "Liar."

Outraged, the king grabbed the psychic and pulled him in, ready to slug him in the face.  "What did you say to me you low life phony?"

The psychic screamed to the crowd, "This man is not the powerful one you see.  He is a fake, and I can prove it.  I make a bet that if I can prove that you cheated me that your head might replace mine's fate."

The king laughed hysterically.  "Oh really?  Alright then you have a deal!  You prove me a cheat and I you may have my head.  But since you dared to accuse me of such ridiculous claims, when you are wrong I will have your whole family slaughtered!

The psychic looked at the crowd and announced "The necklace was stolen!  It is in the left shoe of the king's servant!"

The king let out another burst of laughter.  "You really think I would be so sloppy as to do that even if I did try to cheat you?  Why that necklace would be countries away from here if I did that.  Servant, show them he lies!"

The servant was ghost white.  He looked at the king with eyes of despair.  "Sir... I don't think I want to do that... My foot will get cold.."

"Nonsense!" said the king.  "Take the shoe off! That is an order!"

"But sir.."

The king finally realized what was going on.  "Oh.. I see."  he turned to the crowd and announced "This is ridiculous.  Why must my servant obey the commands to a liar?  Must we really do this?"

The crowd screamed "Have him take his shoe off so we might slaughter him and his family!"

The king, sweating bullets, approached the servant.  "Take it off."

The servant took his right shoe and turns it over.

"See!? he lies!!"

"Take off your left shoe like he asked!" the crowd screamed.

When he does this, the necklace falls out.

"TRAITORS!"  screamed the crowd.

In tears, the servant told the crowd "The king told me he would have my head if I didn't steal the necklace!  Let him pay for the crimes, not the psychic for he has proven his worth!"

The crowd restrained the king, put him on the chopping block, and the servant cut off the head of the king.  The town rejoiced, and the psychic's prophesies were all fulfilled.

The end.

Author's Note
In the original story, a king goes to a bakery, sees the owner is praying, and decides he wanted to test to see how loyal the owner is to god.  He dresses in a disguise and gives the owner a ring for some bread as collateral.  The king asks a servant to get the ring from him, he succeeds, gives the ring to the king, and the king tells the baker if he doesn't find the ring he will kill him.  The king drops the ring in a river, a fish eats it, the baker owner buys the fish and finds the ring, and everyone lives happily ever after.  I didn't like how manipulative the king was in this story, so I did it in a different setting, changed the plot a bit, and made him die!

Bibliography:

The Praying Baker translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer