The minister said “Oh young prince, the battle is a huge challenge. The King has a very less chance"
I was silent for a moment. Millions of thoughts flashed through my mind and then I smiled.
True, the battle would require my father, the great king, to gather all his strength and fight. It surely is an enormous task for him. But my instinct told me that its a battle the king should win. And my instincts rarely failed me. However, I would not be fair if I said my confidence came from instinct alone. It stems from my knowledge about my father.
All these years, I have seen him waging a number of wars. Battles so fierce that others simply fled due to sheer fear of them. Father was unlike any of them. He was a true figher.He dint let the shadow of evil fall on his Kingdom or his family. Fierce as he was on battlefield, he was adorable and loved by all in his kingdom. His very presence instilled confidence in us.
As years passed by, his strength and his fame only grew. It was about time he enjoyed the fruits of what he had sown almost 25 to 30 years ago. His children grew up and were more than eager to help him. It was then that he faced the biggest challenge of his life. The enemy was not targeting the kingdom. He wanted the king himself. He challenged father to wage one last battle alone to show his supremacy. King responded positively. He knew the enemy was more dangerous than his previous ones but he had little to lose. He was the only stake holder from his kingdom. He was relaxed when he set out to the battle field. He said” This will be my last battle and I will win it. I have you to succeed me anyway. Minister, please prepare for the war"
The minister did not see victory. He tried convincing the King but in vain. He came to me.
The minister said “Oh young prince, the battle is a huge challenge. The King has a very less chance"
I was silent for a moment. Millions of thoughts flashed through my mind and then I smiled.
Its been more than 150 days since the battle has begun. It was far more ferocious than what i had imagined. Every night, the King returned, he saw we were worried .He would say “I am fine" with his radiant smile. That smile evoporated all the fear from our hearts.
But today is different. We observed to our horror that he had been bearing pain all by himself all these days just to keep us happy. He is now fatally wounded and is too exhausted to even smile. The war is going to end but the winner is not going to be the King. The great soldier lies there motionless. All men and women of his kingdom come to pay respects. I was surprised to see that that there is not a single soul he hasn’t helped and not a single soul he has ever hurt. We stand there hoping that he would still flash the radiant smile of his. We want to tell him that he was the best father once could ever have.
But it is too late. The pain in the Kings body shoots and then subsides, all in an instant. Peace returns to his face. He stops breathing. He lies there motionless; a fearless soldier, a doting husband and an adorable father who succumbed to the brutal force of enemy.
It was not an end that fits his deeds but the world will remember him as its bravest martyr and more importantly as a finest human being it will ever bear.
