A tale of a king circled the world, a tale so old that it had escaped the constraints of time.
A tyrant who was so kind that the devil himself had succumbed to his endless kindness and nestled deep within his castle's walls.
A king who never once had looked down on his people and believed in their strenght, pulling them through times of fear and darkness.
Whenever a mention of his name echoed throughout his kingdom, a small light lit up inside his very soul, nestling deeper and seeping into an endless cluster of gentle flames.
His smile was gentle, like a touch of autumn wind on a walk, grazing your cheek weakly while making you take notice of the sun above.
He sat on a throne made of pure gold, shaped as if it were made of hundreds of thin needles that sprouted high above his hand into the tall ceiling of his throne room.
The walls were bathed in gold, reflecting each other's surface in a way that made you see everything around you.
A thick gate stood in front of his highness, spreading wide across the room he waited in.
His face was shrouded in a thin veil of luminescent light, reflecting glints of sun that passed by the tall and narrow windows mounted on both left and right walls of the throne room.
The same could be said about his clothes that flickered as if made by the sun itself, hovering over his skin to make itself into a ceremonial robe.
His blonde hair rested on his shoulders, swaying under the gust of wind coming into his room.
He looked up and saw a person standing before him.
The Identity of the person was unknown even to the king himself, but he couldn't help but play with a metal ring he recently got his hands on. He raised it next to his head lazily and spun it around his finger like a mere toy, a nuisance.
"Greetings."
The cloaked person spoke from below the king.
"I came here on behalf of our leader to deliver you the news."
The ring fell on his wrist, slipping perfectly over the other one he wore.
He raised the ring that fell, and spun it again without glancing at the person.
Something stirred beneath the cloaked man's hood as his head dropped lower, hiding his expression.
"As you may know, your request was an easy task to accomplish; there were no recorded witnesses from what our men had gathered, and we even managed to get rid of something else you asked about."
The ring flew from the king's finger, bouncing off the floor with a couple of dull clangs before rolling to the man's feet.
- Gulp
He took a deep breath as he continued, watching the clean floor below him.
"We got rid of the nuisance you always spoke about with our leader, the young individual whom everyone had their eyes on."
Silence stretched out in the throne room while the man added hesitantly.
"But... we didn't kill him. It was a request from one of our agents to leave them since completing the mission was enough to incapacitate him for a couple of months, maybe a year if you count the time we spent accomplishing it."
The man's eyes glanced at the king's silhouette playing with a metal ring on his index finger.
He looked unbothered, his face hidden without a shred of emotion to show.
"That is all I came to inform you of. If you plan to use our services again, I'm afraid to inform you that our leader has decided to cut contact with you for the time being. I hope your highness will forgive us."
He stood up sharply, before melting into the passing shadow from the windows.
Wind swirled where he stood, leaving not a single trace of him ever kneeling before the king's throne.
***
The king let out a long sigh, looking deep into the night sky behind the tall windows.
"The time until 'It' happens is so long that I could die of boredom."
His finger coiled around the metal ring, bringing it closer to his veil.
It wasn't that impressive, just an old scrap of metal with fresh maroon stains all over its dull surface.
He tapped on it with his fingers, making it let out a short buzz before opening up a half-broken screen that showed a keyboard and a chat with someone.
The veil moved faintly as an idea came up inside the king's refreshed mind.
He typed in two words that kept cracking with how old the ring was; they let out their last breath before turning into colorless sparks, dissipating in the air around the throne.
"I think that's a good enough gift."
His golden teeth peeked out from beneath the luminescent veil's cover.