Ninjago - Shadow Illusions (Season 2) - Sword In The Stone

Part 3 - The Duty of a King

Lloyd and Taylor left the castle and headed towards the village of the first realm.

At first, there was silence between the two, nobody said anything or even made a sound.

The trust between the two was broken and Taylor also knew that it was his fault, that Lloyd thought so badly of him.

The dragon also knew, that Lloyd probably wanted to kill him for his betrayal but couldn't as Taylor was still part of the royal army.

Ever since Lloyd was cursed... Lloyd wasn't the same.

When the two boys were almost at the village, Taylor took a deep breath and finally said something to break the awkward silence.

"What did you want to tell me? You said you had interesting news for me..."

"Oh yeah..."
Lloyd had to grin.

"Heh, only that my coronation is about to take place.
This realm, all this will soon be mine. You can count yourself lucky, I have a lot planned for this kingdom" assured the cursed ninja and looked at the village with a proud expression on his face, which the two would reach in a few steps.

"I hope... that these things you are planning are not selfish... This is about the residents, without them, this kingdom wouldn't exist. You have a high position, you could do them a lot of good. Especially in the wartime against the dragons."

"Awww Taylor, since when are you so caring? I always thought you didn't care about everyone. Especially when you lied to me!" laughed Lloyd.

The prince couldn't believe that someone like Taylor, would give him lessons in this kind of topic.
Like some Hypocrite...

Taylor stopped for a moment.

Lloyd was right, what he was doing at the time wasn't justifying.

Taylor did many bad things in the past, including hurting many innocent people unrelated to the war between Oni and Dragons.

Ever since Taylor lived in the castle, he believed that his dragon parents left him alone during the war to save himself.
Kuraiko, the oni king, showed compassion and took the little boy in.
While Taylor didn't have the happiest of lives with the king and was often brought up in a harsh manner, he was grateful not to be living on the streets.

But the hatred towards the Dragons was still in Taylor.

He didn't want to forgive his parents or the dragons for attacking the Onis.

According to Kuraiko, it was the dragons that started the war and even as a child, Taylor couldn't understand why.

But to prove to Kuraiko that he was definitely on his side, Taylor was willing to be the leader of the royal army and do his duty.

Even if his tasks would sometimes steal the lives of others...

"I know I'm not the one who should tell you this. But if I don't... who will?" replied Taylor.

"These people mean a lot to me... And I don't agree with everything Kuraiko wants either.
Still, I do it because he's my king, I don't have a choice.
But you do have a choice Lloyd.
If you get this position, you can you change the rules and maybe you don't have to... Make everyone suffer from the war."

"Damn, you can be a real softie.
Well, everyone has a choice, including you.
You have chosen to be a liar.
Now why shouldn't I use the position for what I want?"

Taylor had nothing to say about it.

"Now let's stop with this sappy talk, we still want to get to town. You have to get me some things."

Taylor nodded and followed the princes.

Meanwhile in the castle...

Luka and Ace, two Oni soldiers from Taylor's army, were tasked with taking care of the prisoners today, guarding them and providing them with food.

When the two men arrived at Harumi's jail, they were shocked to find out that the princess had escaped.

"Not again!"

"We have to find her quickly, before Lloyd finds out!"