"Thank the Universe I finally got the ingredients for my Elixir of Immortality," exclaimed the King. "The people are pacified now that one of them is supposedly royalty and I got my ingredients cheaply. In fact, you could say the TV advertisers paid for my ingredients."
"Yes, Your Majesty," said the eunuch Li.
Once again, they were the King's parlour, a luxurious room in the Royal Palace designed to receive foreign ambassadors and emissaries.
The Pearl of Lao Tzu, the vial of an Apsara's tears and the fruit of a numbamosa were assembled on the coffee table in front of him.
"Call the specialist Dr. Hax right away and tell him to prepare the elixir," commanded the King.
"Yes, Your Majesty," said the eunuch. "Although I must warn Your Majesty that I have consulted with Dr. Chew and he said that mixing all three ingredients and drinking it would most likely be fatal...."
"That's stupid," said the King. "I've consulted with Dr. Hax and he said it's the only thing that would cure my disease."
Li wanted to call Dr. Hax a quack, but he knew it wouldn't have been a good idea to insult the King's favourite physicians, so he bit his tongue.
"I will call the Dr. Hax right away," said Li.
"Good," said the King. "Once I am better, I will remove Theo as Crown Prince. You know he's only the prince for show. He's the puppet I will use to appease the people. Which peasant doesn't want to think that they can become royalty? I fear that this Theo really cares about the people and will try to change the Kingdom and make everyone equal if he becomes king. What are we, a communist regime?"
"No, sire," said the eunuch.
The truth was that King Omito didn't really care who won the Extraordinary Competition. He knew that the people watching wanted kind and compassionate Theo to win. Theo was the favorite. He was the crowdpleaser. Theo's winning would pacify the people and stop the riots. That was why he chose Theo over Borm as the champion.
The King continued, "I don't intend for Theo to ever become king. In the meantime, just in case this elixir doesn't work, we must mold him to my way of thinking. We must teach him that the people are unruly and not to be trusted. We must teach him how to keep the people in fear so that they will never rise up against us. We must teach him to rule with a firm hand and to institute a reign of terror against the people. We are the elite and the people are the commoners. They do not deserve the riches that royalty has."
He paused, then said, "Send the tutor to teach the new Crown Prince the tutor tomorrow. He will indoctrinate Theo with my propaganda, just in case the unthinkable should happen."
The King coughed again, but he smiled.
He had the ingredients for the elixir.
There was no cure for the disease he had, so the elixir was his only hope.
YOU ARE READING
Theo the Street Kid and the Extraordinary Competition
AdventureA rags-to-riches story, a street kid picks himself up and succeeds against all odds.
