The Two King’s of Chaos

Here is another snippet from my little collection of Fables and Folklore. When I tell this story to my children I always ask them a couple of ‘no wrong answer’ questions that I have included at the end of the story.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Once upon a time, there were two young Kings born into a Kingdom that was filled with hate, bitterness,violence, ignorance and fear. One was named King Wylde and the other was King Justus. Their father, the old King, decided to divide the land and give each son a half to rule in hopes that they could help the troubled people. The old weary King told his sons “The Kingdom’s I give you are filled with suffering. I have struggled for many years trying to bring order to the chaos of my people. Now it is up to you to find a better way to lead them.” And with that the old King died and the two son’s were left to manage their realms and people in whatever way they saw best.

King Wylde took his Kingdom and immediately began dealing with the people. The inexperienced King did not want his innocent people to suffer at the hands of his more violent people.  He began slowly getting to know every person in his Kingdom. This took a great deal of time. If the person had goodness within and a strong sense of purpose then the King would assign him a portion of land to care for. If a person was deemed violent and hateful and useless, the King would cast him out of his Kingdom and forbid them to ever return. These cruel outcasted people became many and collected just outside of the Kingdom’s boundaries always causing trouble for the other kingdoms. Soon very few people would come near King Wylde’s realm because of the chaos that surrounded it. King Wylde regretted that no one would come visit his Kingdom, but with the angry hateful people gone he and his people enjoyed a special sort of peace. Because of his hard work there was no chaos inside his cities.

King Justus took his Kingdom and he immediately began building a great wall around it.  King Justus was ashamed of the angry restless people in his Kingdom and saw them all as dangerous. He wanted to make sure that they did not get out and hurt the innocent people on the other side of the wall.  He spent a great deal of time building the wall to be beautiful and impressive but also tall and strong and impenetrable. If anyone would try to escape the Kingdom the young King would push them back, deep into the city. People in the nearby realms looked at the beautifully constructed wall that King Justus had built and thought that inside must be the most desirable and peaceful place in all the land. Yet, when people outside came to see the bulwarked Kingdom they found that the wall did not let it’s people out nor did it allow people in. King Justus regretted that no one could visit his Kingdom, but he found peace knowing that he had protected the world from the anger and unrest within. He was glad no one knew about the troubles he had within his cities. Because of his hard work, there was no chaos on the outside of his realm.

King Justus would sometimes look over at King Wylde’s realm and shake his head. He saw the craziness that surrounded that Kingdom and was ashamed that his brother did not hide these people from the world.

King Wylde would sometimes look over at King Justus’ realm and shake his head. He saw the turmoil within the incredibly built wall and was sad that his brother had hid himself inside with the craziness.

The End

Which King did the right thing?

Which King was at peace?

Who worked harder?

Both Kings wanted to protect people, who was successful?

The Kings did things very differently but, what did they do the same?

G.R.