A Tale Of Two Princes
The tale of the two princes
by Bran ‘The Tricked’
Once upon a time in a land far far away, there was a Queen. This Queen was at the height of pregnancy, and she and the King were preparing for the joyous occasion of the birth of their firstborn child. There was something wrong though, for when the expected date came and passed, the child did not. More than a month went by, and the Queen fell ill, with the princeling still within her. The greatest healers and wisest midwives of the kingdom were gathered and they inspected her Highness. After much and heated debate, one finally stated: “There rests not just one child within you, a second also grows inside, we are sure. But I’m afraid that as ill as you are now, none here can cure you. Only your children have a chance to survive.” Another proclaimed: “And both are boys, contenders for the throne the both of them, and only birthright shall determine which one shall claim it!” To this proclamation a great hubbub occurred, for such a thing had never happened before. A quick and quite superstitious midwife then exclaimed: “Anyone who helps birth these children will be the plaything of the Lady Fate for all their lives! It is clear that she has had a hand in this! I want nothing to do with such things, and I will not be here to subject myself to such whim!” “Imagine the rage of the second born son when he learns of this when he grows older and decides that those at fault are those that helped birth his brother before him, I will not call upon me the wrath of nobility!” called another voice, more concerned of earthly problems. Soon every midwife and healer had cleared the room, all but two, who were unafraid of gods or kings. One midwife and one healer still stood beside the Queen. The midwife said: “Milady, I am already an old woman, and the rest of my life is not such a lot to look forward to, I do not know if Fate is playing a game here, and nor can I see the future, the only thing I really know anything about is midwifery, and I intend to help you with your birthing.” “You are a kind and wise woman.” whispered the Queen, for she was quite weak, “I do not expect you to save me, but the line to the throne must continue, this is imperative!” The healer, who had been the youngest of all those called, and still unafraid of such things as defying the gods and kings, spoke: “I care not for such foolishness and fancy’s, what I care about is the future of this beautiful kingdom, and so I give you a solution to the problem of who should be the firstborn, for I say, let them both be born at the same time, and on their 21st birthday, let the king decide which of them is most fit to rule his kingdom.” And thus it happened, that same afternoon, that the healer and the midwife, in a feat of extraordinary skill not seen hit hereto and never after, birthed the two princelings simultaneously! Sadly, as the healers had expected, the Queen died shortly thereafter, not able to cope with the strain of birthing the two contenders in her weak state. Whilst they grew up, the princes learned of their peculiar fate, and they swore to each other to become the best rulers that the kingdom had ever seen. Quite soon they were competing over everything. They excelled in their studies and both could, even at a young age be strict when it was called for and merciful when it was needed. At the age of 16, both of them had turned into competent, bright young men, and the King, as of yet still unable to decide, who of them should become king after he’d passed, for the two seemed equally fit, and gave them both a dukedom to rule, so that they could prove that they were worthy of his favor. Prince Daerion went to the western duchy, simply called Westhold, whilst prince Bors, the other twin, went on to the eastern duchy, by the name of Ostfell. Where they both displayed their efficiencies as rulers. Westhold consisted of the wood groves and stone quarries that supplied the kingdom all its building blocks. Daerion ruled there by taking the power from the nobility, for he did not trust them but to keep them from revolting he let them keep their estates and other riches. And by creating a system of representatives that listened to the citizens of their designated areas and who then reported to him while making the smaller decisions themselves he governed Westhold. Ostfell was home to the trade capital of the land. It was were the already large tributary rivers joined the great Flow. And the land around it was fertile from the rivers. So that agriculture and luxury goods were its greatest contribution to the country. Bors had chosen to leave the nobility in their right, and together they ruled the main trade city, whilst the agricultural land was governed from inside the city, and as is often in situations where you need to keep your allies friendly, he learned the ways of subterfuge and bribery to keep his part of the kingdom whole. But despite the fact that both had entirely different views of how to rule their duchy’s, both kept their citizens content and the land prosperous. And this went on for some 4 and a half years without the king making a decision. No one knows what happened on the night before their 21st birthday. Some say it was Fate, taking what was due to her, others say it was foul play from one of the princes. Some even stated that the King had made up his mind on the night before, and first went to speak to the son he saw unfit for the kingship, to inform him of his choice. Whereupon the prince who would have been forced to remain a prince the rest of his life, had killed his father before he had had the chance to tell anyone else. Nevertheless, the fact remained that the king had passed away that night, without anyone knowing for certain who the true heir to the throne of their kingdom would be. For the first time since the dawn of the kingdom, the chain of direct succession from king to king, was broken…