Keep Your Mouth Shut Too

Three years had passed since Theo spoke to the king. He had nothing, so I gladly opened my home to him. He was a shattered man. It was like all the life had been drained from him. Sometimes, I could get him to smile, but those smiles and little laughs were always fleeting.

I heeded his warning in the letter he wrote. When I saw the king, he didn’t honor my request, so I was left without medicine.

People began to call him King Death. After Theo’s meeting with him, the king would do similar things to other people who disrespected him. People felt what he did to Theo was atrocious, so many began to stand up to him. Unlike Theo, those people were put to death instead of their loved ones. Eventually, the people of our village fell in line and no one dared to challenge the king.

One day, the king got word that there was a planned assassination attempt coming his way in three days. The king was writhed with anger, so he prepared for that day. “I’ll feed them to the lion,” he thought. Light was the name of that white lion. 

King Death put Light in a tomb in order to starve him so that he would devour the assassins once they were captured.

Certain areas of the castle were rigged with gunpowder and explosives as a plan to trap the assassins.

I, of course, at the time, did not know this. It had been three years since I, myself, had spoken to the king, but I really needed the medicine. My doctor said that my quality of life would soon begin to decrease, as my fainting was becoming more frequent. I had a meeting scheduled with the king, and it was on the same day as the upcoming assassination.

It was a warm Sunday, when I arrived to the castle doors. A guard let me in and guided me through the halls. We stopped at a door.

“The king is busy right now,” the guard informed me. “He is expecting certain guests in about an hour. Once that situation is dealt with, the king will come and then you can make your requests known to him.”

I sat down on a bench beside the door. The guard waited with me for about ten minutes, then something at the end of the hall caught his attention. I didn’t see what he saw. He left me there.

My curiosity got the best of me and I wondered off. I only wanted to go to the other end of the hall opposite of where the guard went, to see what was there. But I heard something, the sound of music.

I followed the music as it echoed through the halls. I was led to a shiny door. I put my ear to the door. The music was exquisite.

The door began to open. I backed away suddenly, quite startled.

A young maid walked out and closed the door behind her. Then she noticed me.

“Oh, hello there,” she greeted.

I silently waved.

“Thought I was a guard, did you?” she smiled.

“Maybe,” I replied.

“You like the music?” she asked. “The king must have something on his mind. There is only one thing that calms him down when he is rattled up. It is the sound of music from his private musicians. And sometimes singers come from different cultures to sing to him.”

“It sounds beautiful,” I responded.

“Go in,” she encouraged. “The door leads to the balcony. The musicians are up here and the king is down in the ballroom. Neither of them will see you.”

I walked in by myself.

The balcony was like a stage with no railings. The king was standing still with his arms behind his back. His eyes were closed.

Unbeknownst to me, the king was not only in there to calm his nerves and ease his anger. He was also using himself as bait. The room was rigged with explosives at the exits on the first floor of the room, where the king was. There were other elements to the plan that I never found out, but something went wrong.

A guard came running through the door where the king was. He said it was time for the king to leave immediately.

Suddenly, there were explosions heard throughout the castle. The ground shook. Pieces of the ceiling began to fall. The guard panicked and escaped the room.

When the dust cleared. The lights of the room had gone out. Only slivers of natural light came in from the thin cracks in the wall.

 The king was on the ground holding his head. It appeared that some debris hit him on the head.

Some butlers, maids, and guards came into the balcony.

“Your majesty!” one said. “The lion has escaped the tomb. He is loose. The tomb could not contain him.”

“Someone saw him roaming the corridors that lead to the ballroom,” another added.

“None of this would be happening if it were not for those rotten assassins!” the king shouted.

“Shh!” said a guard.

There was a pause.

“I think he’s already in there with you!” the guard continued.

“I don’t see anything!” the king responded.

The room was quite dark. And there were pieces of debris and fallen pillars large and small all around the room.

“The lion tamers are already on their way, sire,” a guard said. “Just keep quiet until they arrive so you don’t draw the attention of the lion. He is surely weak from not eating. His senses are hopefully impaired.

“There is no lion in here with me!” the king blurted.

I was losing my patience with that man. I revealed myself and called out to him.

“Can’t you understand the situation you are in!” I pleaded to him.

“And who are you?!” the king retorted. “One of the villagers?”

“Stop talking, sir!” I yelled to him.

“You think I don’t know what you villagers call me behind my back. That’s right! I know it. And I own it. I embrace it! I am King Death!”

“He isn’t listening,” a guard said. “He’s the king. Simply talking to him and warning him won’t keep him quiet. He’s too rattled. You’ll have to do something more. It seems you’ll have to distract the lion and the king.”

“...I have an idea.”

I stood at the edge of the balcony. I looked around. Even I could not see the lion, but I felt that he was there.

The king looked at me.

“There are tons of terrible people in this world,” I said. “ But that doesn’t mean an attempt to save you all from a terrible fate shouldn’t be made. You can change. You don’t have to be prideful. Your don’t have to be self-righteous, thinking you are good when you are actually not. Believe me! Light is coming!”

“You are probably here to make a request,” the king continued. “Ah, I remember you. You’re the one who wants that medicine in my village. When I get out of here, you can count on it that I will never allow the use of it here.”

I sighed.

“You have ruined so many people’s lives,” I explained. “My friend wrote me a letter after you shattered him. You need to know what you did to him. I might not remember all of it word for word, but some of it even applies to you now, in this very moment.”

I looked back at the musicians. “We need to buy more time,” I told them. “Do you get my drift?”

They looked at each other. Then they looked at me and nodded.

*See “Keep Your Mouth Shut Reimagined” (feat. Summer Swee-Singh)

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There were no words from the king during the song, but the king did not humble himself.

The king struggled to get to his feet. “Shut my mouth?!” the king shouted. “You rotten…”

Suddenly the lion pounced on the king. He shrieked in terror.

I stood there, looking down at the remorseful man as he struggled against the lion.

“We even tried to save someone as loathsome as you,” I said. “But your pride got the best of you. You didn’t believe my message to you.”

Light devoured King Death.

Forty days had passed. 

I finally got the medicine I needed. I no longer had fainting problems.

As for the lion, it seems like he left us. We didn’t see him anymore. He set us free. Many of the villagers believe he is still around, watching over us and will come back one day.

 The village was starting to heal. The king had no children, so another person became king. We all wanted him. He was the first to stand up to the king three years ago and now he ruled with love, kindness, understanding, and forgiveness.

The End