Once my destiny was explained to me, I stopped caring. I was fated by prophecy to slay and replace the evil king, and to bring prosperity to the realm. I was the chosen one but I had not chosen this path.

I was sent off to meet my mentor, an old advisor to the queen, before the evil king took over. He now lived at a monastery, serving the divines.

For two weeks I followed my master's training in statecraft and intrigue, on governing a realm, and on handling weaponry. I prayed at the temple of the divines morning, afternoon, and evening. My master told me never to fear death, for I was protected by divine prophecy.

I was to train for years to become the king-slayer and new ruler of Alruna.

But I didn't want my life's story laid out for me, to follow a predefined set of steps. I was bored by the prophecy and rejected the guiding hand of the divines.

In the third week, my master told me of the king’s palace, where I would sit once I took up the throne. More importantly, he told me how to get there.

The next day I woke up early. I put on my most evil face and headed to the capital. Protected by the prophecy I managed to just walk with straight confidence through the city. The stench of dead bodies filled the air. The evil king’s men terrorized the streets.

I got to the throne room and threatened the guard to let me in.

When I got close to the evil king, I readied a small dagger and launched myself at him. A royal guard tried to stop me by swinging his axe, but in his haste he misplaced his feet and fell of the steps.

My blade found its target and the king died. I pronounced the start of a new era. Not knowing what to do, everyone just accepted it.

I had short-cut the prophecy.

The evil king's rein just stopped. His men were killed off by the resistance troops, who became my new army. In a week's time we redesigned the evil-looking palace into something more befitting my new rule.

My master wasn't happy about the whole 'skipping his training' part of my victory though. And he told me that the divines weren't thrilled about short-cutting fate.

One day my old master stormed into the palace, ranting about how the divines would take their revenge. He even threw a knife at me, but of course it missed.

I ordered my master to be thrown off a cliff. Problem solved.

I was the king-slayer ruling over Alruna. No-one could stand above me, so I had worship of the divines banned throughout my kingdom.

✶✶✶

Sitting on the throne became boring quite quickly, so I decided to spice up the job by applying my creative problem-solving skills that got me here to the problems that presented themselves.

A dispute between farmers? Throw the farmers off the cliff. Problem solved.

Not enough money in the treasury? Appropriate land and property. Sell it. Throw ex-owners off the cliff. Problem solved.

Some wench accused of being a witch? Cliff. Solved.

This went on for months. I felt glee every time I could send someone to the cliff. Sometimes I’d order them to do a flip.

Over time no more problems were presented to me. Until one day, my general, a man called Kanoobi—whose job after the death of the king mostly consisted of throwing people off the cliff—told me that I couldn't throw anymore people off the cliff, because so many remains gathered at the bottom that it wasn't high enough to be fatal anymore.

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So I appointed a new general and threw the old one off the cliff. Problem solved.

Kanoobi returned, bruised.

He addressed me in the center off the hall, holding his broken arm with the other. "I believed the evil king to be dead, yet yours is the greatest tyranny our people have ever suffered."

I threw him off the cliff again, for treason this time. I didn't hear from him again. Problem solved.

✶✶✶

Months passed, sitting in my palace, when the urge came over me to go outside. I hadn’t been out since taking up the throne. But upon heading to the door, my advisor told me that my subjects wouldn’t respond kindly to my presence, that there even had been rebel activity in the east.

I knew they could do no physical harm, yet I decided to remain inside for fear of my feelings getting hurt.

I did peek outside though, expecting to see the afternoon commotion in the city center, but there was no-one on the street. It was quiet outside my palace. In the distance I saw one thin man staring at me. I promptly closed the door again.

The rebel agitation escalated until my new general came into the hall one day saying saying: "Sire, a paramilitary rebel group has seized the east barracks."

This problem stunned me. I couldn’t just throw them off a cliff, for I’d have to capture them first. But, maybe we can shortcut the capturing.

I asked the general: "Can we–" I was interrupted.

"No sire, we cannot throw the barracks off the cliff."

Damn. Problem not solved.

Under the threat off the cliff, I told the army to attack. But we lost far more men than they did. Rumors spread that they were protected by fate just like me.

Eventually, after losing a whole sector in the east to the rebels, I invited their leader, a man simply called One-arm, to the palace under the guise of discussing our surrender.

The doors swung open and in came the man with two of his guard at either side.

"Hello there!" He proclaimed. His voice echoing through the hall.

When he got close enough I recognized the face of the man I thought to be long dead.

"General Kanoobi?" I gasped.

He stood before my throne, right on the spot where I had previously sentenced him to death by cliff... twice.

"You are a bold one." I said.

I got out of my throne, brandishing the dagger with which I had slain the evil king years ago. Ignoring his guards, I lurched at the general.

He deflected my blow.

His guard attacked me, but they missed.

I stabbed again. Missed.

My royal guard attacked Kanoobi, but they couldn’t get a hit in either. We fought on.

One of my guard was hurt and one of his was killed. But both me and Kanoobi where unharmed.

"The prophecy mentions no general. What is this?" I shouted at him, unsettled that I wasn't the only invulnerable anymore.

"The divines have amended the texts of fate to set right the loophole you’ve exploited. No longer shall a heathen blasphemer sit on the throne! No longer will you send innocent citizens to their deaths. In the name of the divines I shall liberate Alruna!" The general went on with a monologue about justice and such, but I tuned out.

"You can't depose me!" I yelled. "I am fated to rule!"

He laughed. "You will continue to rule as I liberate the kingdom. Your men will defect. Your court will desert you. You will be left alone, in this empty palace, ruling over a kingdom of one." And with that he left, leaving his dead guard on the floor.

"You can't do this!" I yelled. "I'm the king!" I'm the chosen one! I'm the ruler." Tears welled up in my eyes and streamed over my face. "I'm the special one... right master?" I laid prostrate on the floor. "I'm the hero." I said to the tiles.

✶✶✶

What the general promised came true. My kingdom decreased in size as those whom I threatened defected, as my army disobeyed my orders to attack their own kin, until it was just me, sitting in the palace. I yelled orders, but nobody was left to follow them.

I peeked outside my palace and saw people going about their business: merchants selling their wares and street-urchins pick-pocketing them; a boy playing with a wheel; a woman feeding a dog.

My throne was cold. My hall was silent.

It was sunny on the day when I went outside the palace for the first time since I killed the evil king. I took a walk through the city I had ruled over for so long. People did not recognize me or care that I was there.

Banners with the rebel’s sign were raised high across the city.

I walked through the market to the sky district to see the view of the land that once used to be mine. What dazzling impression those colors of sky, hills and clouds made after seeing the same gray walls for so long.

But when I looked down beyond the parapet I saw the gray stones of a graveyard. It was a massive set of tightly packed tombstones that littered the ground.

This must have been the cliff, I thought. This was the solution to all my problems.

Everyone left me. I had nothing, but my prison-palace. I was alone.

I stepped onto the parapet and let myself fall into the sky.

Problem solved.