The King Who Won't Marry

DEATH

Fallon

(4 years ago)

"My queen, please don't be sad. In my departure I want to bring your smiling face with me." He wiped the tears of his wife's face.

"Then why don't you remove mother's head and bring it with you?"

"My god, Fallon. Why do have to be so sarcastic, dear?" He said weakly.

My mother glared at me for interrupting their moment. I just chuckled weakly with tears in my eyes. I had my husband beside me and our little son, Louie. My husband, King Marion, was an apprentice of my dad and loved him dearly.

King Jethro, my father.

He was well-known in many ways. He was known for his kindness, sagacity, and how he is always happy. He comes up with festivals, and balls so that everyone in Sorah, our beloved kingdom, and even foreigners from other lands, will enjoy.

Being one of the greatest kings in the kingdom, his portrait hangs in Sorah's Hall of Greats along with the kingdom's greatest rulers.

During his reign, never was there an attack nor did Sorah engage in war with other kingdoms. He was the first Sorahian king who didn't need to win a war to prove his greatness.

Even in his death, he spoke as if he had a lot of breath left in him. He still made us laugh. He had a weak body and we knew, even with the best physician, he wouldn't last long. We lost hope but we didn't show it in front of him. He didn't get rid of his smile, that I adored ever since I was a child, even on his death bed. Being the eldest, I had the longest time with dad, and for that I am thankful.

My sisters, Genevieve and Blair, came to me and we comforted each other as mom was speaking to our dying king. When she was done, dad kissed her and she wept. Her tears never left her, no matter how hard she tried to stop them, as she sat on the edge of his death bed.

Finally, the time for his most important words has come. He called my brother, the youngest among us.

Aspen, our only boy, went forward with tears and knelt down in front of him and kissed his hand, "Father." He whispered.

Aspen loved our father for dad spent the most time with him. He personally trained him. He has always adored our father and was aiming to be like him in all ways.

He placed a hand on my brother's hand, and focused his eyes sternly on him.
"My boy, a son born from Sorah's own flesh and blood. The time has come for you to take my place as king of this nation." He said in his once mighty voice. "I am proud that I am able to leave this kingdom a king who has power in knowledge, strength, wisdom, discipline, justice, faith, but most of all... a heart."

"You forgot looks, father." Aspen jokingly said, trying to smile at a great man's death. We all managed a light chuckle except for dad, who laughed heartily. It's true that he got his looks from our king, who was a very handsome and dashing man. Blonde hair, chiseled teeth. Everything. The two of them resembled each other any more ways than one.

"I see in you a prosperous Sorah, my son. I raised you to be a wise and strong king and I know that you will love, lead, and serve this kingdom well. Yet, I don't want you to live in the shadow of greats, Aspen." He was catching his breath, feeling weak. "I want you to be your own great for you can never have someone else's. Sadly, I don't have enough days left to watch you surpass me." A tear fell from their eyes as father said that.

"Just remember every word of mine. I know they'll guide you. Oh, And you must also remember..." Then father whispered something that we weren't able to hear. Whatever it was, it made the both of them laugh and smile before he shook his brows.

He'll be the first man in history to be able to joke this much in his death. I mentally face-palmed but I quickly shrugged it off and smirked lightly.

He looked at Aspen intently, " Aspen, never forget...-"

"A great man isn't always a king but a great king is always a great man." They both said and smiled before father added, "And that's what I really want for you, my son. For you to be a great man."

It was dad's life motto. It served him well. I've known it ever since and I've always said it to Louie. He's gonna be king too someday. I want him to live by that. Whatever my father was, the world needs a lot of it, that's why I want my son to be more like him. Marion also wanted that.

After they said that, father placed a hand on Aspen's head and said a silent benediction. It was a tradition every time the crown was passed on to it's rightful heir. The king gives his blessing to his son.

"Now, take this." He took his crown that was beside his bed and placed it on my brother's head. Aspen bowed his head as the crown was placed.

"Your highness." Father whispered. "My son, I am so proud of you."

"I haven't even done anything yet, father."

"You were born, you became my son. You don't know how happy I am because of that."

Aspen cried. His tears were streaming down his face. The sight of them warmed and broke our hearts. My husband embraced me as I watched the scene.

Aspen took my father's hand as his voice started breaking,
"Father, I promise. I'll be a great man and a great king. I'll lead Sorah in your honor. I promise you."

My father nodded. Then he gestured to all of us. My sisters, my mother and I went to him. We embraced him and he held our hands and he cupped mother's face. He looked at us with tears. I placed my head on his chest, hearing his heartbeat weaken.

"Because of you, I am able to greet death with a smile. I wanted more days with all of you. I wanted to see Louie grow up-" He touched my son's face- "I wanted to see my future grandchildren, I wanted to see my son, and my sons-in-law rule their kingdom and prosper. Still, what we've had is more than enough for me."

Our husbands fell on their knees and knelt down as a sign of honor, which was indeed suitable for my father. We tightened our hold on his hand.

"As I depart, please smile. And keep on smiling. Through that, I can always be with you."

Even if it's hard, we'll try. We'll try to live on as if he was still alive, because he is and he'll always be.

A tear fell from his eyes as he said his final words," I love you."

Then...he breathed his very last.

I felt it as his heart stopped.

I felt it as his breathing seized.

He closed his eyes and stopped moving. It took us mere seconds to wake up from the heartbreaking stupor and finally accept that our loving father is now gone.

Like every loss of a loved one, it was unbearable. It was like a canon firing. Now, our father is no longer, and it destroyed us.

Although a king, his last words weren't for his kingdom. It was for his family.

Not a moment too soon, we started crying, grieving, whatever you do to show the pain and bitterness you feel. We howled as if were being skinned alive. We tried to cry quietly but the more we suppressed it, the more it wanted to come out.

We were ready for this day. But, turns out it's more painful than we expected. My sisters, my mother, my brother, my husband, my sisters' husbands cried as if they never cried before, and so did I. It was just too painful. We wailed, hoping to ease the wound. Tears weren't enough to heal though.

"Goodbye, dad." I said silently.

I stood up and went to the window. I saw General Eric, Blair's husband, on the flat roof of the castle where he let down the flag of Sorah and raised a plain black one. The people knew what that meant. That's what we do every time our kings die.

When the people saw, they stopped what they were doing, knelt down, and grieved. The Sorahians loved my father. You won't see one standing up right now. All were down on their knees in respect to King Jethro's death. Carriages stopped moving, the soldiers stopped their training for a while. All you can hear on that day was wailing, mostly my father's name.

"Your Majesty!"

"King Jethro!"

Then, it started to pour. Even the skies are crying. But, no one moved. They were still on their knees. They cried over the kingdom's loss, over the loss of a great ruler.

It was a very sad day for Sorah.

__________________________________________

Two days later, we had the public funeral. We had one yesterday, where the royal family and all the king's staff were required to attend. Today is where the Sorahians can pay their final respects to their king. And by final, we meant final.

Here in Sorah, when someone dies, we celebrate their death once only by their funeral. It is treason to celebrate one's death anniversary or any other occasions that are connected to the deceased, including their birthday. However, that law only applies inside the kingdom. If one wants to celebrate a dead loved-one, they journey to the Valley of The Fallen Sorahians, which serves as a cemetery and is far away from the kingdom.

Why?

King Regulus, one of Sorah's late kings, believed that anything associated with the dead brings pure bad luck to the kingdom's future. He wanted to cease the celebration of the dead but it would oppose the idea and tradition of honoring our deceased citizens and especially those who died for the kingdom, which was an idea supported by the former kings. So, to keep the tradition as well as keep the said bad luck away from Sorah, he came up with the Valley of the Fallen Sorahians.

Me and my family were at a balcony inside the church as we watched the ceremony. My heart warmed at the sight of the many people who loved my father. Suddenly, a messenger came with letters in hand.

"Sorry to disturb, your highnesses." He bowed.

"What is it?" I asked.

He then handed me the letters, " I believe this is for you, princess Fallon."

I sighed, "Thank you."

Then he excused himself and left.

I looked at the letters. From the looks of it and given the occasion, I believe that it was just letters of condolences from other kingdoms. But, I'm not wholly sure of that so I still have to read em.

I excused myself and before going to my room to read. I took one last long look at my father in his coffin. I smiled genuinely then I left. As soon as I got to my room, I started reading. As I expected, mostly were condolence letters. That's very thoughtful, I'll give them that. But, the other letters were about the crown, Aspen to be exact. They wanted to know when is the coronation, and some were even questioning about the future of Sorah in my brother's hands.

What the?

Those kingdom-oriented spawns of a-

"Fallon."

I turned around and saw my sister, Genevieve.

"I'm pretty sure knocking was created circa this century, Gen."

"Yeah, so is answering a knock." She chuckled.

"Sorry." I turned away.

She walked closer to me and held my shoulder, looking at the letters I was holding, then sighed,

"Fallon, you don't have to worry or be sad alone. We all feel what you feel. Don't carry everything like it's yours. Dad said that we should always share, right?"

"Unfortunately, he also taught us that there are some things we must keep to ourselves for the greater good. There are some things we can't share with one another, Genevieve, because we love each other too much." I uttered.

"Even though it could kill you on the inside?" She questioned, worried.

"Even if it's torture." I answered with my back still facing her. I then turned to look at her and snickered, "Hmm. The things that father taught us are kinda contradicting and confusing, don't cha think?"

"Aww, I'm sure he means well."

With that, we both laughed. I'm really grateful that she came here to comfort me.

Genevieve was the most lady-like among the three of us sisters. She was sweet, caring, thoughtful, optimistic, and attracted princes from foreign lands with her charm. But, father said that marriage was sacred and not for business, so she did marry for love. We all did.

Dad doubted us a little because I married a king, Gen married Prince Zhou of the Han Yu kingdom, who was coincidentally one of the richest and most powerful princes, and Blair married General Eric. I suspected that he was expecting us to fall in love with commoners like in those fairytales. He even questioned our love, but he was happy nonetheless.

Guess he just didn't want to be that kind of dad in those tales who got in the way of his daughter's love affairs with commoners. It made us love him more.

I suddenly felt a tear roll down my cheeks. I touched it and realized that I was crying. Then more rolled down. Soon, I was silently weeping.

Genevieve walked to me and hugged me tightly. She too, was crying.

"I miss him." She whispered.

"I know. We all do, obviously."

Suddenly, we heard a knock on the door. It opened without warning and saw Blair, our sister.

"The funeral's that way, you know." She silently smirked.

"Blair." I rolled my eyes and wiped my tears.

"Sorry." She shrugged.

"What's wrong?" Genevieve asked.

"It's time."

"What? It's not even sundown." I exclaimed.

"They wanted to go early to the valley so that more important events can be held." Blair said. And by that, I'm guessing she meant the coronation.

"They didn't consider honoring the king important?"

She shrugged as I sighed in frustration.

"Fine. Let's go."

We nodded and walked out the door. When we reached the ballroom, the generals and the ministers were already down there. About 100 foot soldiers and 100 on horses accompanied us. The coffin was carried by 8 soldiers, our husbands and Aspen was with them. We went outside and climbed onto our awaiting carriages. We sat together with mother, who refused to speak. We just let her be. In the meantime, we rode in silence as we head off for the valley.

_________________________

Once father's coffin was in it's place and now covered, we, his family, were given a few moments with him. I just bowed my head down, prayed, and bid farewell, since there's nothing more I can do. I know that it wasn't a total goodbye. In body, he is no longer, yes. But as long as we're here, his family and his people, he lives.

Aspen knelt down in front of the tomb," I promise, father. I'll be a great king for our kingdom. I'll live up to Sorah's greatness. I'll be everything you wanted me to be. I promise you." He whispered. After that, he got up.

"I'll miss you, my love." Mother said as she caressed the tombstone of our father. " See you soon."

I held mom by her shoulders, "But please not too soon, mom." She chuckled softly at my remark.

Blair came to us, " Dad, will always be right here." She said pointing at her chest, referring to her heart.

Genevieve and Aspen came close to us too and hugged us. "And here too." Aspen reached for mom's lips and curved it into a smile.

"There. Now, it's like he's still here." He said as we laughed at his gesture.

"He is here." Mom suddenly said. We looked at her and she gently touched our faces one by one, "All of you are a part of him. He left me the four of you and for that I couldn't be happier. He lives in you, in us."

Our hearts warmed at her words. We feel honored to be born into this family. Loving parents, and great people surround us.

It made me wanna cry again. But, I already used up all my tears at the funeral, besides if I start now, I bet it won't stop.

We looked at Dad one last time before we exited the tomb. The soldiers straigtened themselves up and went to their places as we climbed onto our carriages. Aspen rode his stallion as he went on ahead, leading the people.

I looked at him from behind, through the window of our carriage. I remembered his face, the way it looked like our father's. The way he smiles and his attitude resembled my dad in his youth. The way our father rode horses and the way he thinks, everything, all of it still lives through my brother.

King Jethro lives in Aspen.

The aura of a king, you can feel it from both my brother and my dad.

With that, I can tell how great a king Aspen will be.

He should be. He learned from the best. And I bet that he'll take Sorah higher than before, higher than where father took it.

I smiled. Looking back at the tomb as it disappeared from my sight,

"Dad, you left Sorah in good hands. I'm sure they'll be pleased." I whispered.

"Fallon, who are you talking to?" Blair asked.

I chuckled, "Dad."

"Sweet Turkey, he's a ghost!" Then she started screaming and sliding to the side in horror. She rolled her eyes, searching for a ghost.

"Calm down, stupid. I didn't mean it like that."

"Aww, look. I can see him smiling at you." Mom stated creepily.

"Ma! Not you too." Blair exclaimed.

"I bet he can't wait to kiss you goodnight later." Genevieve added.

"Stop it!" Blair demanded.

Then we all started laughing at our family's youngest girl. Did I forget to mention that she was a little bit childish and scared of ghosts? Yes. Yes she is. Every time we had tea, she would always tell hilarious tall tales that would either make us doubt or laugh.

"Stop laughing! "She commanded like a baby, if babies can command.

"I can't help but wish your dad was here. Only he could make this better." Mom said.

"But hey, as mom told us, he lives in us. Therefore, he's still here." Genevieve pointed out, making us grin.

"Yeah, b-but just to make clear, not as a ghost, right?" Blair added.

"It depends." I teased.

"Fallon!"

With that, we laughed once more.

This family really is Sorahian, being able to smile in times like this. Though being sad would be much more appropriate for the occasion, it would get us nowhere but....well....sadness. So, we would smile instead, like dad told us too. I'm pretty sure, he's doing the same right now as he guards us, as he guards Sorah.

And as soon as we get back, we're gonna have a new king, a new era.