Again, I Loved the End.

“It’s actually quite a chilling tale when you think about it. King Sable was a kind and loving King who cared greatly about his kingdom. It’s widely known that when he was younger, he resisted all of his father’s attempts to set him up with an arranged marriage because he said he wanted to marry for love. We know that’s a nice sentiment and the norm now, but back then, it was silly and laughable, especially for a person of his status. A politically arranged marriage was the norm and the earlier he had conformed to it the better it would have been, honestly. "His kingdom was an old one but struggling and healing itself because of a war with another kingdom. This was the same war that claimed the life of his father and had him become King even though he was not ready to ascend the throne. But he did and he excelled at it. He didn’t shy away from the battlefield and was a great strategist. It is believed that it was through his brilliant mind that the war was won. He came back to a broken kingdom, and he set out to bring it back to its former glory. And that's when a political marriage was proposed to him. Marry the Princess of a neighboring small kingdom, rich in agriculture and infrastructure, as well as a formidable army to secure the future and lives of his people or watch his kingdom slowly starve to death and fall to attacks from enemy kingdoms. It was not a hard decision for him to make. For him, the lives of his people were of a greater value than his happiness. Thus, the marriage was arranged and things were planned. The next step -” “I’m sorry but is this really necessary?” Esme’s voice cut through that of the narrator. Honestly, she was tired and she wanted to sleep. A family meeting had been called, and she thought it was something important, but she would rather watch paint dry than have to sit through this to the end. Esme saw her siblings roll their eyes at her as if to say she should stop being a drama queen and just let them watch in peace. Her father gave a tired sigh. “Yes, Esme. You know this is tradition. I won’t waste time and bore you with my usual lectures, but it won’t hurt to listen and watch how people out there are going to be seeing a part of our family history and how they might interpret it. The image of the family is vital to our brand as a company.” With that, he continued playing the droll documentary they had been watching. But for her, it was more like an audiobook than anything else they would like to call it. She turned back to it. “It was said that King Sable and his bride-to-be, Princess Zina, got along quite well and given time, they were bound to fall in love. Princess Zina was nice to everyone and was always willing to help those in need.” “Oh Zina, that’s a perfect description of you. Are you sure you’re not the reincarnated Princess?” Esme asked her older sister with a playful smirk, and she heard her brother, Kaelen, snort in amusement. “Esme,” their father said in warning before Zina could retort. They all turned their attention back to the documentary. “Finally, the week before the wedding arrived, King Sable and a few people from his kingdom traveled to Princess Zina’s kingdom and that is when the undoing of the once great King started. Some historians say it was love at first sight. Others say that it was merely because they were so alike in nature and others contest this by pointing out how different they were. All of this is to say that King Sable’s undoing started the moment he met Princess Adora, Princess Zina’s sister.” At this point, Esme couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She’d heard this part already. So many times that she was tired of hearing about it again. But she sucked it up and continued watching. “The week before the wedding, it is said that King Sable and Princess Adora spent quite a lot of time together. It was easy to see they got on quite well. The day of the wedding came, and the wedding happened in style. After that, King Sable and his wife returned to his kingdom with quite a few people from Princess Zina’s Kingdom. It is said that Princess Adora returned with them as well and, upon their arrival, the coronation of Princess Zina as Queen of the Kingdom commenced. Princess Zina, now turned Queen Zina, was beloved by the people of her new kingdom. She was kind and fair and treated everyone equally. The people loved her. Under her reign and the alliance formed between the two kingdoms, King Sable’s kingdom flourished. Now, we’re at the point that confounds a lot of historians to this day. King Sable was well known for loving his people and sacrificing for them, so they cannot explain what caused the events that took place in the years that followed, especially when his kingdom was flourishing. It all happened shortly after Princess Adora got married. She chose to stay with her sister but unlike Queen Zina, who was clearly beloved by her people, Princess Adora remained an enigma to them. Many historians to this day cannot tell you exactly what she was like, but she was described as a free spirit. There was another war on the horizon. But it has been documented that King Sable’s strategic mind that won the previous war was nowhere to be found this time around. He was distant and moody and always distracted. He made the wrong decisions which cost so many lives. He didn't call on his allies for help as he should have and refused all outside help. And eventually, Princess Adora’s husband was lost to war. He was a general of the kingdom’s army. During this time, it was well known that Princess Adora was pregnant. And finally, what devastated the kingdom the most was when, on a routine visit to some of the villages in the kingdom, the Queen’s carriage was ambushed and the Queen was killed. Not even a month after the death of Queen Zina, King Sable announced his intention of marrying Princess Adora and making her Queen! This shocked the entire kingdom and there was outrage over this. The people of the kingdom felt it was disrespectful and highly taboo for him to even consider that, especially because Princess Adora was already pregnant with her late husband’s child, and she was the late Queen’s sister. But all of their concerns fell on deaf ears, and he went ahead and married her and made her Queen. Now, Queen Adora wasn’t like Queen Zina, she seemed to still maintain her old ways, and she barely went out to the various villages. People believed her to still be grieving. But alas, the same fate that befell Queen Zina also befell Queen Adora. It is believed that she was seven months pregnant when she died and the child died along with her. After this event, the kingdom fell into total ruin. The King seemed to have fallen into a depressed state where he would cry for Queen Adora and what he claimed to be his unborn child. Not long after that, King Sable was overthrown and thrown into the dungeons. But it is said that he took his own life before he could be either publicly executed or stripped of all his authority and titles.” “Am I the only one that thinks he was probably in love with Queen Adora and f*****g her in secret?” Esme asked incredulously, because to her, it was very obvious. “Don’t be ridiculous.” Zina said, looking at Esme incredulously. Their father seemed to be deep in thought and Kaelen nodded his agreement. “It is believed that King Sable was actually in love with Queen Adora and that he had been ever since he met her. The palace workers were known to see them together often, even when Queen Zina was alive. And some of them speculated that the King and Queen Adora were having an affair back when Queen Zina was alive and that the baby Queen Adora was carrying was actually the biological child of the King.” “That can’t be right! There’s no way that is true.” Zina exclaimed, looking like her world had just been tilted upside down.