The Prince

The prince looked at the rusty chains that bound his hands.He leaned against the metal pole behind him, he felt the coldness on his back.The heralds were describing the charges against him.He tried to listen to it, he was too tired to make sense of it.What is there to make sense of ?.It was simple, they told him to protect the people, conserve the traditions, now that the traditions no longer serve them , he is the wall in their way, which has to be destroyed.

He prayed to Apollo, the sun god who commanded him to take the oath, who sent him on this path, which ends at this scaffold.The prince raised his head towards the sky.His eyes searched for the sun there.But he couldn’t find Apollo there.The sun lay veiled behind a tapestry of clouds.

“O Great Sun God, Father where are you, why have you forsaken me?”.He whispered.Suddenly the sky became darker, the thunder shocked the crowd.A gentle but strong breeze passed through, like a harbinger of something more dangerous.

The prince’s prayer has been answered, but not by Apollo, by another god,a forgotten god.The sorrow in his face faded into a smile teetering on the edge of madness.He broke his chains.He took the sword of a guard and moved through the crowd like a storm towards the Judge’s throne.Before the Judge could react , his head rolled down the dais.The blood smear on prince’s face made his smile more terrifying.While the crowd cried out, he sat on the throne,and the gentle breeze, like a harbinger of the coming storm, whispered the name of the forgotten god in his ears, “Rudra”.