A king with a ring

Grand kingdom of Ekinsland. It was known for two things: one, the grand kingdom, and the another one, a royal, magical ring.

When prince Ady sworn in as a King, King Stephen presented him a magical ring that has been given to him by the ancestor kings. It was the ritual of the kingdom that King will take care of this magic ring. But destiny was waiting for something else.

Once upon a time, King Ady was out for a royal hunting. It was a pretty sunny day. A best day for the hunting. King Ady was lost in the thoughts of hunting the deer that was giving him a challenge. Anyone would have been surprised with the beauty of the deer. “I will kill the deer and present his skin to the queen. She will be very happy, thought the King”. Deer heard the sound of king’s group approaching him. The moment he heard the sound, his extremely alert brain signaled him to disappear without delaying for a second. He tried hard to hide but the sound of the wind gently blowing through the tall grass around him played a role of an enemy spy that messaged the King about his location. That a little signal was enough for the king to pierce the deer with the dangerous arrows.

With a satisfying, victorious  smile on his face, king Ady was returning to the kingdom. “Entire kingdom would be very proud of me on today’s success, murmured the king.”  But, unfortunately, it was something else written in the destiny.

Morning 4 AM. King Ady got up and started his day. “Oh, no. Where is the ring?, he mumbled. ” It is a rule of Ekindsland that king must protect the royal magical ring and have it in his own possession. People of the kingdom share many stories about how the ring saved kingdom from storms, heavy rains, earthquakes, and many other calamities. In 1982, when a dangerous earthquake almost killed everyone and destroyed almost all the buildings in the neighboring states, why only Ekinsland was saved, without harming even a single person or a building? Was it not the power of magic of the royal ring that guarded the kingdom?

With disturbed thoughts and uncertainty in the mind, king Ady asked ministers to join a special meeting. “Oh wise ministers of the kingdom, " king addressed. "Today is the worst day in the history of our kingdom. In brief, yesterday, we lost our royal ring in the jungle. It’s all my fault", said the king. " Oh respected king. It is not your fault. It was in the destiny" minister said. " Oh, I can’t believe it", said the king. Then he lost in the memories when a purely saint warned the king that one day it is destined to lose the royal ring, if king of Ekinsland does not stop killing animals. But the king did not believe the prediction and neglected saint’s words. It is the royal ritual to hunt the animals and there is nothing wrong in it. King never believed in the astrology. “ My majesty”, the minister continued. “We suggest you visit the saint and ask him for the solution to this problem. We also suggest to announce this problem to the people of the kingdom and ask for their help and stay together at this tough time. The last thing, we should send our army also to search the ring everywhere." King Ady nodded to the royal meeting members and agreed to take all the three actions.

A royal informer informed the people of the kingdom about this situation and asked them to help in searching the ring and save the kingdom. The royal informer also suggested the people to not to let this information leaked to the other states, so as no one takes the advantage of this situation.

With lots of scary thoughts in the mind, King Ady traveled to see the Saint. “Oh King, you don’t believe in the astrology, then why are you here to meet me, " said the saint. "Oh respected, great saint. It is true that I do not believe in the astrology but what happened to the kingdom’s ring is not hidden from you. You know everything. Though I do not believe in the astrology, but for the sake of kingdom’s prosperity, I am here in your lotus feet, to get your help, to protect the kingdom. Pardon my arrogance, if I ever disrespected your knowledge“" said the king. Saint took a deep silent moment, looked at the king and his associates who traveled that far away to see him. After all, it was his duty to protect the kingdom. He offered everyone to take the rest in the his place and proposed to have a meeting in the morning at 4 AM. King and his associates thanked the saint many times and felt somewhat relaxed as saint shown a sign of offering the help.

Morning 4 AM. Saint invited king and his associates into the saintly meditation place. Saint asked everyone to pay attention and remain silent. Saint started the meditation, and got lost in the meditative state. A deep silence in the room. It appeared as saint is silently seeking a solution deep inside within. It appeared as if his closed eyes are searching the royal ring everywhere in the jungle. It took 13 long silent minutes. With the closed eyes, saint smiled. That smile was an indication of the ray of hope. Saint opened his eyes and said, “ Oh king and dear ministers who came all the way far here along with the king. We have two good news and one not so good news. Which one you would like to hear first?”. “Oh dear saint, first I’d like to listen the not so good news,” said the king. “Then listen king, “ said the saint. “ Your army, your people of the kingdom, yourself, or even I can’t search the ring”. After hearing this, king and his associates lost their hope and appeared very sad. "BUT, "said the saint. “I have two good news as well. Your kingdom will have to wait for a long long time. After a long time, one day, a brave young man from somewhere within the jungle, will come to the kingdom and he’ll have the ring in his necklace. So, you will see the ring that day, after many many years. You do not have any heir for the kingdom, You tried all the efforts to get a son, but you did not succeed.Second good news is that  this young man will be the future king of your kingdom, ” announced the saint. " But saint, what will happen to the kingdom for these so many years?. Will any enemy attack and harm us? ", asked the king. " Oh brave king, yes it’s possible. You’ll will have to fight back. It’s in the destiny to have the ring back but not everything is in the destiny. It’s your birthright to fightback with the enemies with your full strength", said the saint. King understood it that it is not advised to do nothing and just wait for the destiny. They thanked the saint and return to the kingdom.

After 15 years, one day, in Ekinsland kingdom, a bright young man, Alex came from the  jungle to sell the woods. It was a time when no one needed woods. Coal was in high demand, not woods. He was upset that no one is buying the woods. It was getting difficult for him to earn his daily bread. He approached the royal state for some job to survive. Being a wood seller and a wood cutter, he built his muscles well. He looked a strong candidate to join the army. It was the right time for Alex. Army was looking for many people to join. Army selected him on a junior position, for temporary basis, with a minimal salary.

Years went by. Once, there was a war with the neighboring country. Alex joined the group in the war. It was a tough fight between the two great states. After a long battle, Alex remained the only soldier left from his battalion. He was the only one that enemy was not able to defeat. After winning one region of the enemy's army, Alex moved to another region and won there as well. One by one, Alex was claiming the victory. Enemy was looking feeble now. Alex found the King in the trouble and approached the king to save him in the battle field. Finally, it was Alex who helped claiming the victory for Ekinsland. King was very happy and surprised too. How this young man is so powerful and skilled in such a short time within the army? After winning the battle, king invited Alex to his palace. When Alex bowed down to the King, it felt like the world clock stopped.  Because, when Alex bowed down, the sparkling, beautiful royal ring in Alex’s necklace was shining and everyone’s eye was stuck on it.  With wide eyes open, the king stood up, so as all the people in the royal ceremony. That moment, Alex thought he did something wrong. He recollected his memories when his friends caught him doing a weird act at the last moment. King walked towards Alex with a very big smile on his face. “ Oh future King, welcome to your kingdom, “ said the king. Alex was astonished. “My majesty, pardon my ignorance, but there is a huge mistake, " said Alex. “ I am a wood cutter who joined your army on a junior position just few years ago, to earn my daily bread", continued Alex. King smiled again and explained everything about the royal ring that was in the neck of Alex. Alex told everyone how he got the ring. It was in the jungle, near a dead deer on a day. He took this ring by thinking as if it’s a toy to play. He was wearing in his necklace as that ring did not fit into his fingers. After hearing the story, king, then, asked Alex to now try to wear the ring in his finger. By obeying King’s order, Alex tried it. He realized today that he no longer has to wear the ring in his necklace as now it fits into his finger. After some time, their emotions were in control and the people of the kingdom decided to swear in Alex as the prince of the Ekinsland.  Fir the ceremny of swearing in the prince, king announced to invite the holy saint to the kingdom as a chief guest. He also announced that he will respect the saint to bless the kingdom by living inside the kingdom and accept the position of the special advisor to the king. Alex was very very happy. He couldn’t believe that such a wonderful destiny was waiting for him. Prince Alex was sent to get the special trainings. After few years, prince Alex was sworn in as a King of the Ekinsland.

Finally, a king, once again, with the royal and magical ring !!!