Peace: An Unachievable Dream

Open The Gate

"Open the gates!" A voice cries out. The gatekeeper, opens the castle gates of Lion's Den, the Royal Castle in the capital of the kingdom Lyonden. We see the Royal Barristan Army returning from the battle at East Den, lead by none other than King Gregor Barristan.

Gregor Barristan, the King of Lyonden, took up this mantle at the tender age of 17. The kingdom remained at peace for the most part of his 48-year reign, until Rhyon Cartell, the King of Derington, declared war against Lyonden

Alongside the massive army, we find two young squires just chatting.

" No, it was Sir Royland" claims Dion Layne, the king's squire

" I saw it my own eyes, Prince Godrik was the one, ripped his bloody gut out!" argues Randall Enion, the prince's squire.

"You're a dreamer Enion! But you have to admit, it was quite the gruesome battle."

"Aye, the King completely outsmarted the Cartell bastard! They never saw us coming!"

"Woah, hold your horses, he may be the enemy, but he's still a king! And you know how King Gregor feels about honour and respect and that stuff, if you keep spouting shit like that, he'll have your head on a spike! Once, I mistakenly said 'my, lord' instead of "your grace' and he completely freaked out! Y-"

"What are you two talking lazy lads doing here? The council meeting is about to start, you, and you, go to the Prince, see if they need any assistance!" commands Sir Royland Catilyne, the Commander of the Barristan Army.

" Yes, m'lord" the boys ran off to the castle.

A girl is curiously looking out the kitchen window, lost in some deep thought. She is starting at the barracks outside, watching the returning soldiers and wondering how the battle went down.

"What are ye lookin' at? See to it that the potatoes are ready, 25000 men won't be waiting for ye to finish yer daydream!" scolds Odlena Bitlinger, the castle's head cook. "Curse these soldiers and their damn appetites! 25000 men! Are ya kidding me? And these men eat like dogs who haven't been fed for weeks or months!"

Randal walks in.

"Randy boy? What are ye doin' here?"

"The Prince needs a drink." Randal answers

"Should he be drinkin' before the meeting? The King won't like that ya know?"

"If the Prince wants a drink, he'll get a drink! Besides I'm just a squire, I can't question the Prince!"

"Alright then, on with it now."

Syllia Gilpin, the princess's handmaiden, is running rampantly across the castle yards, the Princess has sent her to run an errand, who is already running late for today's council meeting. As she continues her run, she gets hit on the arm with the blunt wooden object.

"I- er am-er I am-er sorry, s-sorry miss," says a scared little boy who was playing with his wooden sword, worried that he might get in trouble.

" It's okay, I don't have time to deal with this..." says Syllia as she continued to sprint.

On the other side of the castle land, in the hospital room, we find a young lady trying to treat a wounded soldier.

" Does it hurt?" she asks.

"Try gettin' sliced on the shoulder with a sharp ass sword miss, it doesn't exactly tickle!" said the man as he starts getting annoyed.

The lady tightly ties a cloth around his shoulder.

"This should stop the bleeding, and here, drink this, it should ease the pain, a bit" as she begins to walk out of the room.

"Er... miss" the man calls out. " I'm sorry, it-its just the pain talkin'"

"It's alright" she replied as she gave him a beautiful smile.

Dion, the king's squire, is escorting his King to the council chambers. "Off you go now, and don't forget to clean my sword! We'll be needing that... tomorrow." commands King Gregor.

"Yes, your grace," says Dion.

There is still some blood left on the sword, the grand sword of the Barristan family, passed down for generations. As he wipes the blood off, he tries to imagine being the one who used this sword to kill someone or being the one who was killed. Dion's just a squire, on top of that, a low born squire, he never experienced the war. He's the one who remains on the tent, waiting for the glorious warriors to return.

After finishing it, he returns the sword to its place, at the heart of the castle's great hall, right above the King's throne. A grand hall, the colours of the Barristans, blue and white shine throughout the hall. The King's throne sits at the top of the stairs and beside it stands the queen, the Prince and the princess's throne. Dion feels overwhelmed each time he enters these halls, he then decides to go out and just walk around the castle grounds. As he walks across the farmland, he finds a middle-aged man, lying on the ground, crying.

"What's the matter, old man?" asks Dion.

"Er..my son, Mance, he hasn't returned from the battle yet. I told him that the battlefield is no place for a pig farmer's son! Well, you were there, weren't you? Where is that idiot? Is he with the other soldiers? Ya know what, I'll just ask the Commander." says the man.

"...he...I'm...he-he..sorry, but he-he di-didn't make...it" Dion somehow pushes the words out.

"What do ya mean? You know nothing, I'll ask the Commander myself" as the man tries to walk away.

Dion stops him. "I....am sorry! But he's dead!"

"...no...!" says the man as he falls to his knees and starts to burst into tears.

Dion tries to comfort him, "He died honourably."

"Honor! It doesn't bloody matter if it was honour or was for pig shit! He's dead! He is dead! My son is dead! So you can keep your honour and shove it up your bloody arse!" the man shouts.

Dion simply gets up and begins to walk away. "Dying on the battlefield is a great honour!" He says to himself, but deep down, he knows that he's just saying that to cope with the situation. The reality is that that man just lost his son, in a war that wasn't his. Mance was supposed to inherit this stinking pig farm. But because of his stupid ambition, he is now dead, and this man just lost the only family he had.