When the court magician first came into the service of the king, he made friends with the general. The general was a good and honest man, decent to a fault, and brother to the queen. It wasn’t so much a matter of skill or leadership that the general possessed, but good moral values. And rightly so, for the general held the greatest power in the land. The armies of the kingdom responded to his call, and since power corrupted, it was only right that the holiest man in the land should wield it.
So the court magician and the general became fast friends. And he learnt that the general, brave and beatific that he was, was himself but a pawn of the king. For the king had a terrible, terrible habit of declaring wars on the slightest slight, and withdrawing his troops at a moments’ notice. The general, on the other hand, had to lead his 500,000 strong army across fields and hills, and right back when the king decreed that this was not the day to go to war.
The court magician thus decided that he would enthrall the king in song, and turn his attentions inward toward the governing of the kingdom, rather than the conquering of territories. For the king, old and wise as he was, was not a peasant in his own land. He knew not the sufferings of the common people, and he was hardly ever around to witness a day in his own land.
It was a slow process, and it took months. But the court magician did his work, his cantrips and illusions subtly turning the king’s attentions towards his own people. Slowly, the king brought back prosperity to the land, especially once he was focused on the betterment of lives rather than the expansion of territory. It helped, somewhat, that he always felt that he had the heavens upon his side, for they gave him justification in what he did.
And so the general, who was paid handsomely, was left to train and gild his armies for the next royal battle that they would embark on. All was peaceful in the land, and the court magician thought that he had saved the day.
But the king didn’t see it that way. The king now saw that the gold from his coffers were being diverted to a man who did nothing. The king would frequently discuss matters of coin in front of the court magician, telling him how many more fields could be rescued if the general were no more, telling him how much of a liability the general, and telling him that they had no more need for a general, when there were no more wars.
In a careful, calculated attempt, the king sent the general off to war, but neglected to provide supplies. The army was routed, and the general died on the field. Some say that it was not an arrow to his heart, but the betrayal of the king, that stopped it from beating.
The king felt sad, and made sure that the kingdom knew it. He vowed to take good care of the general’s family, that his wife Bathsheba would be given every luxury and treated like one of the royal family. The king even moved the general’s entire family into the palace, and gave special care and attention to Bathsheba whenever she needed it.
The court magician wondered. The lives of the people were better now, but was it worth the price of one good man?
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