King Edward (Ed Sheeran)

The Curse

(Forgive me for having to fictitiously kill off Ed's dad. Sorry!)

The Curse

I would dare a soul not to hang their head in sorrow at the death of my father. I dare any pair of eyes to wander across the ghastly sight before them and see him, my own father, and his moonlight pale body lying in a bed of flowers and jewels, adorned in the very armor he rode in. I dare any drunkard in any pub to take his name in vain and test that he was not the greatest leader who ever lived. I dare him, and then I shall smite him where he stands.

I hold my father's sword in my hands, my head bowed as I prayed to whatever God would listen to me. I prayed to my father, the most powerful man I knew, asking him for his guidance. I asked him for strength, as I would need all I could get on my journey to take the life of the man who had taken the life of one person who meant everything to me.

Gripping the sword in my trembling hands, looked over my father's body one last time. "I will avenge you. Your words have not left my mind nor my soul. I will carry on your legacy father." I told him. Rage seeped from my eyes in the form of salt water. I dared a person to challenge my strength based on the tears I shed. I shall smite them as well. I shall smite everyone!

I turned away looked out towards the pews, were massed of people prayed for my father, their rightful king. If they knew what was good for them, they would not provoke me to make this gathering a death at a funeral. Heads stay bowed, eyes stayed lower.

"Prince...King, what are we to do with your Father's body?" Borin, my father's regent asked me. The coward's voice was low, as if the discussion of what to do with a dead man's body, lying before hundreds of people, was to be kept a secret.

"Burn it," I instructed him without hesitation.

"But, King--"

"You asked me a question, I have you an answer!" I shouted, my voice hitting every wall and returning back. "Burn it! Then scatter his ashes. We can't risk any possession of his getting into the hands of our enemy. This was some previously discussed, and had you actually been around for once in your life, you would know." I was well aware that he were present when my father was trembling with paranoia and old age, begging Matthew to burn his body when he died. He did not want a cursed placed over he or his family.

"Yes, my King." Borin stuttered. He stood there idly.

"Take it and burn it now," I said. Borin turned and I kept my back to him as my father's body was gathered. Everyone kept their heads bowed. No one uttered a word. Not a single word.

~*~*~

*~*~*

My father had placed his weak hand on my head as I knelt before him. It was cold, pale, and bony. There was no longer life present. His soul seemed to be hanging on the frailest of strings, his body had already passed on. His wound was getting the better of him, and he did not have much time left. I knew this since the beginning, yet I was finding it very hard to deal with. "Edward, my son." he coughed.

"Father," I whispered in return. My voice was harsh and cracked from screaming in my room, crying and throwing things about.

"You have shown me promise, and courage, and strength. And for that, I leave this life with no regrets on how I have raised you." He manages to choke out slowly. A few, acid hot tears escaped my eyes and I smiled to myself, a new found pride swelling in my chest.

"Thank you, father," I said, lifting my head to show him my weak grin to repay him with. His lips twitched but did not turn into a grin. It was much too hard.

"In return for all you hard work..." He stopped to cough, "in return for all you hard work when I die, you will become the next King of Feragon."

A pit formed in my stomach. My very own brother, three years older, stood across the room. He had his hand in more of these things that I had. Coordinating battles, trading. I hardly knew anything about having a kingdom. Matthew stayed quiet across the room, however. I thought they had already discussed it.

"You have to be willing to die for your kingdom, Edward. Are you willing to die?"

"Yes!" I say without hesitation because I was.

"Are you willing to lead your army to victory, and have your blood be the first shed on the battlefield?"

"I am prepared, father. I swear I will honor your wishes."

"Then the kingdom. It is yours, my son. Take it, and protect it with your life. It is a blessing as well as a curse, but I trust that you will lead your people into prosperity. You will end this war with honor, my son. And only with honor."

"Yes, Father," I said, my voice strong though I was unsure of it all. The battle has been long and bloody. We were training and sending out more fathers and sons then mothers could produce. But it was what my father wanted. His last dying wish. I would get as close as I could to victory as I could before being killed. Even if that meant right after my head rolled to the ground the war ended in our favor. "I will not disappoint you."

"I know you will not, son. That is why you are now the king." He said. He closed his eyes and I thought that he was dead, but his fingers began to move on my head. "I have always loved you more." He stroked my head with a tenderness I expected from my long gone mother, not my father.

I was sure Matthew, also present in the room felt something just as deeply as I felt something. For years I felt as if I had to struggle to keep up to a race I was losing. I worked harder to compensate for our age difference only to find out that my hard work had actually put me ahead. "Thank you. I love you as well father."

"Go now. I must talk to Matthew in private." He told me. I took his cold hand in my own, feeling as if I were about to lose everything. I was distraught. I wanted to cling to him, the last bit of guidance I had before I was in the world on my own, a grown man.

"Yes, Father." I obliged.

~*~*~

*~*~*

I had no regrets about the talk with my father, though it was the last time I talked to him. He said everything he wanted to say to me, and I listened. I had nothing to confess, nothing to object to, and nothing to clarify. He died, and I had no emotion on my heart but sorrow and grief.

Was I ready to be a king? I wondered, standing aboard a boat, clutching the ashes. "Yes," I answered aloud. No one rushed me. It was going to be hard to let him go. There was no one to protect me now. I removed the lid from the top of the urn and moved to the edge of the boat.

"King?" Borin called out softly. I closed my eyes in annoyance. How did I remove him from his rank? Did I have to kill him, or did I simply say that I no longer want him around? Not him in particular.

"What?" I demanded.

"Would you like of offer a eulogy?"

I turned around to the masses of men standing behind me. "Say goodbye to the greatest man who ever lived," I instructed them. I leaned over the boat and deposited the ashes into the ocean. Once it was barren, I dropped the urn in as well.

"Turn this ship around!" I ordered. I could feel something disappear within me. My purity, my childhood perhaps. Either way, it had died with my father and was thrown into the ocean. There was nothing left of me but what needed to be in order to make me a strong leader.

It was a blessing as well as a curse.

Well, thank you for reading the short beginning of this story, just to get the drop on everything before it happens! I don't know how many people are going to like this story, but hopefully, it's a lot!