Power doesn’t measure a man, nor doesn’t corrupt a man, power reveals. When someone achieved the power they’ve always wanted their true intentions are always revealed. -- Anon Guest
"Hold as much water as you can," instructed Da. "You can try to hold it tightly, but the more muscle you use to hang onto it, the less you have. As time goes by, it will drip away no matter what you do. So too is the power of a crown. It has to be supported. Not just by your hands." Here, Da let go of his own handfuls to cup his hands under Andi's. "But also the hands of the people around you. Surround yourself with people who have the same goals. They may see different ways to do it, but they will always have the same destination. Then... you can use your power to do all sorts of things."
The water went into a decorative ornament by the fountain pond, which set off a series of counterweights and whirlygigs, much to the amusement of Andi, who laughed to see it. He clapped his hands and splashed them both with moisture. Da laughed, too, catching him up and blessing a prickly kiss on Andi's cheek. "Power always works best when it is used lightly, and in the right directions," Da said.
Andi was ten when 'King' stopped meaning a Da like any other Da, who came into the nursery to read or play or teach important lessons with brightly-coloured toys. Lessons like the handful of water would stick. There were others. Some delivered in pithy little sayings that weren't, he would learn later, actual sayings of very many people. Things like, "There's a difference between seeking power and having to accept it," or, "The mark of a good King is having the people wonder why they need him," or, "Neither an oathbreaker nor a peculator be."
King Andreus III was called the Steel-taloned Dove. He was willing to fight for the kind of peace that was self-sustaining. He lived as frugally as any King could live, not spending in excess on himself or the palace. Instead, most of the Royal Purse went on the public works that the Lords would not support when it came to the council. Where the King spent his money, the Lords could not oppose.
Lords grasped for power. Kings held it carefully. Anyone who didn't have to knit their own hose thought that Power was wearing a crown and beheading anyone who opposed them. Andi had learned at his Da's knee that that was wrong. Few and rare were those who learned the patterns of history and saw the fatal flaws coming in the warp and weft of fate.
Kingdoms were not destined to topple. They allowed rot to come in through the wheedling siren song of privilege. They allowed it to eat away at virtue by letting the privileged break laws that would have the more ordinary folk executed. By feasting when hundreds or more were starving. By being warm when others were freezing.
Andi was the first Prince to learn how to make his own bread. From grinding the grain in a quern through breeding up a starter to kneading and baking it himself. It gave him a singular appreciation for the web of lives that made his life the shape it was. It made him very interested in monitoring the well-being of farms and farmers in the realm.
Lords used such knowledge to win bets with each other. Kings should use it to prepare for the inevitable calamity. Reports of rot in the hemp farms meant importing enough hemp to make up for the losses whilst also funding a solution to stop it from spreading. Which meant that the peasants had clothes, and the Lords lost a few gold for speculating on the price of hemp skyrocketing.
They called him Andreus the Prognosticator. The Juggler, sometimes, since he kept everything in as much balance as he could. The privileged gentry, unable to make bets or profits based on the misfortunes of others, were forced instead to follow his example. The power of the Prince rose as the power of his ageing Da faded, and the transfer of power was as smooth as water flowing from one pair of hands to another.
And as soon as his own son was old enough to understand things and keep memories firm in his head, he made the time to teach everything he had learned. Including the most important lesson of them all. By a pond with whirligigs and counterbalances and clever devices to amuse...
He remembered his father fondly, and repeated his lessons in kind. "Hold as much water as you can," he told little Andi.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / justinkendra]
If you like my stories, please Check out my blog and Follow me. Or share them with your friends!
Send me a prompt [63 remaining prompts!]
