This story for the "Finish The Story" Collaboration is based on a prompt from Nidheesh Samant (https://thedarknetizen.wordpress.com/).
Prompt: “The Emperor had summoned his Knights..and they had answered his summons. They knew that it was a matter of great importance. They waited patiently as their Emperor began to address them.”
Messengers
had been sent out, riding hard. All across the land the Knights received their
Emperor’s summons. To call them all in, this had to be a matter of extreme
importance. The last Knight had arrived in the dark hours of the previous night.
They were now seated around the round table, a table designed specifically for
them, as it showed allegiance to their Emperor, while giving each of them equal
status.
The
Emperor was announced, and they all stood in respect. The room was beyond
quiet. He looked out over his Knights, then took his seat. He began to
speak.
“This
is a very blessed day for us all. I want to thank each of you for responding to
my summons. As you all know, our land has known peace for over a decade – in large
part to your efforts. Not only are you great fighters, but you are great
thinkers and strategists. You keep the needs of the people in mind at all
times.”
“I
brought you together to celebrate a new treaty, one with our neighbors to the
north. Some of you have been with me on peace missions to them. You have given
me input that has enabled me to make the decisions that will make this, our
final border, safe for all. I thank you for this.”
“Each
of you has a document in front of you. Over the next few days I will meet with
each of you individually, to discuss what is in your document. You will all
have expanded rights, and will be taking on added responsibilities. You will
also be receiving a greater percentage of compensation.”
“Each
of our borders has different needs. You may be called to a border that is
distant from you, if the need arises. At this time our borders are peaceful, in
large part due to you and your men. I thank you for your service.”
“I
look forward to speaking with each of you privately. There are some minor
issues to iron out, but I feel that we have a strong ethic in this land of
ours, and that we can maintain our stability and our honor.”
Goblets
of wine appeared at the elbow of the Emperor and every Knight. They were filled
with fine wine. Each Knight raised his glass to the Emperor, who raised his
glass to each of his Knights.
All
borders were peaceful for many years to come, and the land prospered. What was
never voiced, but had a seat at the table, was that several of the Knights had
been restless before they were summoned by the Emperor. He talked to each
Knight, restated his expectations, and they all reaffirmed their allegiance.
Mutual respect goes a long way to preventing war.
The "Finish The Story" collaboration was organized by Tanmay Jain (Tanmay_Jain@Bookinton).
© November 2018 Bonnie Cehovet
Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.
No comments:
Post a Comment