Tale 25- The King through the Door

 The Traveler walked through the streets of a town, eventually arriving at a school and taking a break from walking, sitting down on a bench nearby and opening her book. Staring down at the drawings and fixing the odd calligraphy mistake, she suddenly felt her wrist begin throbbing anew, and tears filled her eyes. The bruising was still there, but she tried to forget about how painful it made writing. It made her wonder if he knew what he was doing. Likely, since he always seemed a hundred steps ahead. Shaking away the thoughts, she was suddenly startled by someone approaching, a teacher from the school having noticed her. The man looked down at her bruising, then at how pale she was, and immediately brought her indoors, finding her some food and water and then running a cold cloth, placing it over the bruises gently. He didn’t ask questions about who she was or why she was there, just deduced she was young and possibly in need of aid. Suddenly ravenous, the Traveler ate the food extremely quickly, so fast that she got hiccups and needed to hold her breath for a minute. The teacher watched her, noting how starved she seemed, and prepared a meal for her to take with her on her travels. He then sat down, and gently introduced himself as the teacher of the many students in the school, and asked the Traveler some small questions about herself. Slightly reserved, the Traveler told him vaguely about her quest for 100 tales, the man nodding along as she explained the bare minimum. He then smiled, offering to tell her a tale he’d heard recently, named ‘the King through the Door’.

‘A few years ago, there was a young boy who lived in an enormous house. In his bedroom, there was a door that seemingly led to nowhere, simply being a small construction in the home that may have led somewhere once, but now was useless. One night, though, he awoke to find the little door had opened, and led him into a world full of magic and wonder, in which he could fly, fight dragons, and do anything he pleased. Crowning himself King of the magical world, he discovered that once night fell, he was free to explore and rule the world in any way he desired. He enlisted armies, built up a castle, and ruled over his subjects fairly, telling his friends at school all about his incredible adventures during the day. Unfortunately, though, the boy was skipping sleep by spending so much time in the magical world, to the point that he ended up losing sight of what was real and what was imaginary, to the point that one day the King declared that he could rule no longer, and threw himself off a bridge.’

The Traveler stared down, numb at the tale’s dark turn. A little worried, the teacher gently touched her shoulder, but the girl recoiled, trembling a little. Understanding, he passed her the meal, wrapped up safely, and watched as she walked out, giving her a small wave as she departed. The Traveler sighed, feeling full for the first time in a while, but nevertheless empty. She closed her eyes, and continued on.

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