The Tale of the Smiling Knight

A Tornavale Story

INTRODUCTION:

BONG went the clock in the town square of Tornavale, and the children all bounced in the direction of the sound. It was time for the Wise Man of Tornavale to tell a story, and he invited all the children to listen, because children had yet to experience the ways of adults, and they often understood the lessons of the Wise Man in better ways than grownups ever did.

The Wise Man of Tornavale was tolerated by the townsfolk, because he was the town historian. The Wise Man never wrote his stories down—rather, his Father was a Wise Man who made the Wise Man learn every detail of Tornavale history through storytelling. This was the way of the Wise Men of Tornavale, as it had been for some time. The Wise Men of Tornavale were amazing storytellers, and as one listened to the tales of the Wise Men one could see the story unfold in their heads as if by magic.

Many times the townsfolk would let their children sit at the feet of the Wise Man of Tornavale and hear his stories, because it was a way for the children of Tornavale to stay occupied for a few hours. The townsfolk would get a chance to do things that required the absence of children, and the Wise Man loved an audience. Once a crowd of children gathered, the Wise Man in the town square of Tornavale began his tale.

ONE

“SIT DOWN, MY CHILDREN, and let me tell you a story.

A long time ago, in a kingdom far, far away, there was a cruel king who mistreated his subjects. The king was so corrupt, and so evil, the people of the land named the king The Beast. The Beast ruled from his White Castle at the Edge of the Realm, allowing his evil councilors to do his bidding. When the Beast King was not in his White Castle, he would travel the land on horseback, issuing edicts for all those who would listen. On days when the Beast King was not in his White Castle at the Edge of the Realm or on horseback traveling the countryside, he would spend time in the forests South of the Realm chopping down trees with his mighty axe, because this pleased the Beast King.

The Beast King, despite his cruelty, had many followers. These followers were called “Beastlings,” and they were relentless in their pursuit of the Beast King’s whims. The Beastlings took all the People’s money, and they did many things to oppress the People of the Realm, because as long as the Beast King was in power, they felt what they were doing was right. For you see, my children, even though the laws of the Realm said otherwise, the Beast King and his Beastlings operated under the idea that “Might Makes Right,” and they ruled the realm in such a manner.

One day, a Smiling Knight had enough of the Beast King’s cruelty. He decided that for the good of the Realm, he could allow the Beast King to rule no further. The Smiling Knight assembled a war party of like-minded knights and villagers and they stormed the castle of The Beast King. It took a great effort, but the Beast King was dethroned and exiled from the White Castle at the Edge of the Realm. The Smiling Knight laid down his sword at this victory, and his heart was at peace—because Good prevailed over the Beast King and the Beastlings, and the Realm could finally see prosperity again.

With a change in power, the Realm needed to solve some problems. You see, not all the Beastlings fled in battle or turned sides when the Smiling Knight and his war party stormed the White Castle at the Edge of the Realm. These Beastlings were a grumpy lot, sour in their disposition and decided that they must remain because it was the Right Thing To Do. The Smiling Knight was a kind man, but he was no ruler, so he asked the People for their opinion.

“What shall we do with the Beastlings that remain?”

“KILL THEM!” shouted some.

“SILENCE THEM! CUT THEIR TONGUES FROM THEIR BEASTLING MOUTHS!” cried others.

The Smiling Knight listened to these suggestions and said “No. This would be excessive. We must look to the Laws of the Realm, which say that despite their disagreeable nature, the Beastlings must remain and be given a voice. For this is the Law of the Realm, and we must abide by the Law, for it is good and right.”

There was no ruler in the Realm, and the Smiling Knight knew that without a ruler, a Realm could not function. Therefore, he asked the people who helped him storm the White Castle at the Edge of the Realm yet again for their opinion.

“Who shall we choose to rule the realm, now that the tyranny of the Beast King and his Beastlings is no more?”

The crowd’s response was deafening. “WE CHOOSE THE SMILING KNIGHT! THE SMILING KNIGHT WILL BE OUR KING!”

“Is this the will of the People?”

“LONG LIVE THE SMILING KING!”

And thus, the Smiling Knight became the Smiling King, and he set about the work of restoring a fallen Realm, because the People had asked for it.

INTERLUDE

“Is this the end of the Story, Wise Man?” asked one child. “Because if it is, then this is the most boring story you’ve told us yet. “

“Ah, but my dear boy, you have much to learn,” replied the Wise Man in the Town Square of Tornavale. “For you see, sometimes when a Knight becomes King, the story ends. In other cases, the story becomes about what happens AFTER the Knight takes the throne. This is one such story.”

With that, the Wise Man continued.

TWO

The Smiling King began to learn some things very quickly while in his first few months as a monarch. The first thing the Smiling King learned was that ruling a Realm was hard, and he needed some advisers. So the Smiling King turned to those subjects who had been loyal to him in battle and in life, and made them his Council.

The Smiling King hired a Justice of the Peace—someone to oversee the Rule of Law in the realm.

The Smiling King hired a Master of Coin—someone to make sure the Realm’s funds were well spent.

The Smiling King hired a Diplomat—so that he could better communicate with leaders of other Realms. He was, after all, a Knight at heart, and skilled only in the ways of battle.

The Smiling King hired a new Chief Spy—because people needed to be watched in the darkest places.

The Smiling King hired a Wizard, because he needed someone to oversee the flourishing craft of magic in the Realm.

And Finally, the Smiling King hired a Demagogue, because he knew the People helped him, and the People needed a voice in his Council.

And with Council assembled, the Smiling King began his rule. Ideals were important to His Majesty, and he made a point to ensure all he did was For the Good of the Realm. That was his Way. Each and every thing he would do For the Good of the Realm, and all would surely love him for it.

As the Smiling King began his time on the throne, he noticed the People of the Realm were good at one thing in particular—complaining. You see, children, the Beast King and his Beastlings had left a trail of devastation in their time. The People of the Realm had few jobs. Many were homeless. Many were too poor to feed their families. And many were extremely ill—and without the ability to find good doctors to help them. Some were even widows and orphans due to the wars the Beast King fought in the other Nine Kingdoms that HE said were “For the Good of the Realm.” All of these things bothered the Smiling King, and he wanted to make the People better. “If I can just take care of the problems, surely the People will love me,” thought the Smiling King. “All I do I do for the Good of the Realm.”

So the Smiling King turned to his Council, and asked them what to do.

“My people do not have jobs or homes because of things the Beast King did,” said the Smiling King. “My trusted advisors—what can we do to change this?”

The Council of the Smiling King thought about this and returned to him with a solution. “The reason the People do not have jobs or homes is due to the Beast King giving certain Lords the chance to do bad things and say they were Good for the People. These Lords abused the Peoples’ money, and they took the Peoples’ homes in an effort to save their own lands. What we must do, however, is give these Lords a chance to redeem themselves. They are powerful allies to the Crown, and if we can soothe their wounded lands, this will benefit the People.”

“This makes sense,” thought the Smiling King. “I have always learned as a Knight that forgiveness is divine, and that all deserve second chances. I have received many myself. This is truly for the Good of the Realm, so I will decree this as Law.”

And the Smiling King pronounced this. Many did not agree with the Smiling King’s edict—but most of those who disagreed were Beastlings, and those individuals really didn’t understand that the Smiling King did this For the Good of the Realm. So therefore, the law was passed, and all stood by—because as it was said, this was For the Good of the Realm, and even those who had done wrong deserved a Second Chance.

The Smiling King’s next thought turned to the health of his people. “My people are sick, tired, wounded, and very ill. They must be taken care of, for they are good in their own right, and they have served us well as subjects. How may we better serve our People so they can have good health? Many are so poor they cannot even afford a chance to see a medicine man!”

The Council of the Smiling King thought about this and returned to him with a solution. “The reason the People do not have good health is because the power of medicine is controlled by the medicine men. We must pass a Law that says all must have good health, and we must tell those who are in medicine that they will have their actions watched by the Crown. The People of the Realm will pay a tax, and that tax will go to ensure they have quality care from medicine men that the Crown oversee.”

The Smiling King thought this a good idea, and he proclaimed it from the White Castle on the Edge of the Realm. The Beastlings did not agree with this, mainly because they were grumpy. They asked the Beast King, “What if we don’t want to pay the tax? What if we want to keep our money and remain ill?”

“I do not understand why you would wish to remain ill,” said the Smiling King, “for all deserve health. You live in our Realm, though, and our Realm is based on choice. So you may refuse to pay the tax if you so choose. However, if you do not pay the tax for medicine men as others will, you will pay more money as a penalty to the Master of Coin. This is done so that those who cannot afford the tax will have health.”

This made the Beastlings very angry, because they believed in choice and they believed in doing with their money as they chose. However, the People loved this idea, and they took to the streets to celebrate the Smiling King’s accomplishment. People would get the healthcare they deserved, and it would be For the Good of the Realm.

The Beastlings still had a voice, and this concerned the Council. They went to the demagogue and said “What can we do to make sure the Beastlings don’t have influence among the people of the Realm? They are a small number, but quite grumpy, and their grumpiness is making it difficult for His Majesty to accomplish that which must be done for the Good of the Realm.”

The Demagogue said to the Council, “Relax. All this will take is a bit of my work.”

With that, the Demagogue went to the podium in front of the White Castle at the Edge of the Realm where the Smiling King and his Council would make speeches to the people, and the Demagogue used his powers of speech to sway the assembled crowd.

“People of the realm! I tell you on this day that there are those among us who are stopping the Good of the Realm from being done! Those who would stop the Good of the Realm are called Beastlings, and they wish ill on you all! They do not do this out of a desire to hurt you. Rather, they do it out of a desire to hurt our Smiling King! They simply cannot stand him being our ruler because he is different from The Beast King! Do not be swayed by their words and deeds! Listen to your Smiling King, for all that he does is For the Good of the Realm. If you disagree with this then you hate the Smiling King for his differences as well!”

This caused quite an uproar. No one wished to hate the Smiling King because he was different. People in the Realm got quite upset about such statements. So many of the Beastlings were silenced by this. Happy with his work, the Demagogue went about his business and that of the Good of the Realm.

The next order of business for the Smiling King was to fix the war situation in the Nine Kingdoms. You see, the Beast King had wars fought in his name—wars that he claimed were For the Good of the Realm but in fact were solely to hurt others that had things the Beast King wanted. Many brave knights died in these wars, leaving loved ones behind. “This cannot continue,” said the Smiling King. Turning to his Council yet again, he asked: “What can we do to see that no more of our knights leave women and children behind?”

The Council thought on this and returned to the Smiling King. “We can use the Wizard to create golems that will destroy our enemies. We can use magic to have our knights control these golems far from the battlefield. No one will be hurt but those who would dare stand against the Realm.”

“This is good,” thought the Smiling King, “for I am a knight, and I have been wounded in battle. I know I would never wish for my brethren to be harmed. This is truly for the Good of the Realm, and it shall be done.”

So the Smiling King went to the Wizard and had an army of golems created. The golems went on a campaign of destruction and flattened the homes and palaces of the Realm’s enemies all through the Nine Kingdoms. Of course, there were unexpected casualties. This saddened the Smiling King. No innocents should ever have to die on his watch—but the Smiling King was aware of the ways of war, and he said “Some things are things I don’t need to know—especially if these things are done For the Good of the Realm.”

The Council, ever attentive, paid attention to the Smiling King’s words. Emboldened by His Majesty’s actions,the Councilors took their own measures For the Good of the Realm. The Master of Coin decided it was time for the Beast’s supporters still in the realm—albeit in a vocal minority—to suffer for supporting the Beast. To accomplish this, the Master of Coin targeted those who challenged the Smiling King’s authority. The Master of Coin had these challengers attacked, scrutinized, and harassed repeatedly—all, allegedly, For the Good of the Realm. Now the Smiling King did not know of these actions, and he admitted that it was not his place to know. “Some things,” said the Smiling King, “are things that I don’t need to know—especially if these things are done For the Good of the Realm.”

The Justice of the Peace took action as well. The Justice decided that those in the Realm who would dare question the Smiling King’s actions needed to be watched closely. So the Justice had the town criers watched in every corner of the realm. The Justice had the town crier’s books taken from their homes. Now the Justice knew this was against the laws of the land, and that there was no good reason to do something of this nature. And the town criers said “This is wrong!” But the People responded: “The Smiling King is benevolent. He does no ill to us. There is surely some reason the Justice would come take your records, Town Criers. We’re just not being told what that reason is, because it’s surely For the Good of the Realm.” Again, the Smiling King was not told of the Justice’s actions, because as before—“some things,” said the Smiling King, “are things I don’t need to know. Especially if it’s done For the Good of the Realm.”

The Smiling King’s detractors did not approve of his actions. They cried out in anger—because, as we have previously noted, the people of the Realm were very good at complaining. Eventually, the cries of the Smiling King’s detractors were passed off to the Demagogue. The Smiling King was tired of hearing about how all he had done was WRONG, you see. He wanted to make sure people understood that he was the Smiling King, and all his work For the Good of the Realm was the Best Thing They Could See. So the Smiling King tasked the Demagogue with responding to the claims of the people—that the Smiling King had broken the Law of the Realm.

“Give us the Smiling King!” cried the people. “He has broken our laws!”

“You cannot judge the Smiling King!” cried the Demagogue. “You do so because you do not care for the Smiling King’s appearance! He is different from you, and you simply do not approve of someone ruling you who is DIFFERENT!”

“That’s not it at all!” cried the people. “What the Smiling King has done is WRONG!”

“Blame the Beast King!” returned the Demagogue. “The Beast King instituted unjust laws that oppressed you! The Smiling King has the Good of the Realm at heart! He just uses the laws the Beast King ordered to serve the Good of the Realm!”

“That’s a terrible excuse!” yelled the people. “Just because you have the power to do something doesn’t make it right! That’s why the Beast King was dethroned!”

No matter how strong the Demagogue’s oration, it fell on deaf ears. The People cried for the dethroning of the Smiling King. The Smiling King was eventually taken to a Court of the People, and placed on trial for the wrongs committed in his name. The case was pronounced, and the Smiling King was given the chance to defend himself. This was what the Smiling King said:

“Well, here we are. All of you who supported me are now against me. All I ever did, I did for the Good of the Realm, and this is the thanks I get? I gave you health. I gave you jobs. I gave you homes. I gave you everything, and all I asked for was that you worship me. I asked that you believe what I told you without question. When your complaints got so loud they drowned out my ability to think, I asked you to understand a King needs some peace and quiet to do his job. And where has this gotten us? Now, instead of giving me a chance, all you want to do is complain! You want to say I’m doing wrong! You want to say that I’m evil, just because I twisted a few of the Realm’s laws? I did it For the Good of the Realm, and this is how you treat your king?”

“Just remember, my “subjects.” This is all your fault. Every one of you who supported the Beast King, every one of you who kowtowed to his rules and his laws, you created this mess and now YOU are responsible for my actions. This is a messy Realm in which we live, and none of you can ever seem to be happy. I did what I could For the Good of the Realm, and now you want to hate me for doing my job!”

The People, frustrated at the work of the Smiling King, did not believe him. They did not believe the Realm’s undoing was their fault, and they promptly deposed the Smiling King. And all the while, the Smiling King never realized during the course of this ordeal—his fall from power—that he had become what he feared most in the Beast—a greedy, vicious thug who abused the power of the Crown for his own ends.”

THREE

With that, the Wise Man in the Town Square of Tornavale fell silent. The children sat wide-eyed at the Wise Man’s tale.

“Wow, the Smiling King was really bad,” said a little girl. “I can’t believe he ever got that way. Didn’t he learn anything from the Beast King?”

“Ah, but you see he DID!” replied the Wise Man. “It wasn’t until the end of the Smiling King’s reign—after he’d been deposed and stripped of all his power—that the Smiling King realized something important. The throne on which he sat corrupted him into thinking he would do better than the Beast King. He failed to notice the Beast King was a Beast Knight before wearing the Crown of the Realm, just as the Beast King’s father before him. That seat on which the Smiling King sat was cursed to an extent. For as long as one man believed he was above the Laws of the Realm, he could not rule without being corrupted—even if he felt what he was doing was For the Good of the Realm.”

A crowd of adults had gathered around the Wise Man in the Town Square of Tornavale as he told his story, and one such adult spoke up.

“You speak treasonous words against our Mayor! He is just like the Smiling King in the story you tell our children! Our Mayor suffers from scandal and problems imposed by his enemies, and those who speak against him are racists who cannot stand to see someone different hold the Mayor’s office! You are the historian of Tornavale, Wise Man! How DARE you question the Mayor and his ways!”

“I never mentioned the Mayor,” replied the Wise Man with a smile. “The tale I tell this day is of knights and kings and realms long ago. Isn’t it interesting, though, that you believe a fairy tale of this sort to be about our beloved mayor?”

One boy looked up from the crowd. “DAD! GO HOME!”

Turning to the Wise Man, the boy apologized. “Sorry about my Dad. He can’t tell the difference between stories and the truth.” And the Wise Man smiled gently. “My dear boy,” he said, “you’d be surprised at how many adults cannot.”