Sticky Situation

"Kneel before the King!"

"Hurry up! Bring the prisoner!"

"Yes Sire. Guards! Fetch the criminal!"

"Read me the crimes!"

"Yes Sire. Warden! What crimes has this man been accused of? Read them for His Majesty."

"Of course. Right away Your Majesty. Adam Locke, former Captain of the pirate vessel, Destiny's Curse, known by his shipmates as Captain Crossfire-"

"Yes, YES!! I know, I know. He's a God Damn pirate! A filthy, sewer dwelling bastard! I know! But why? Why in God's name is he kneeling on the floor of my castle! My sparkling, pristine castle, dirtied by the rotten flesh of this excuse for a man! Hurry up and get on with it! Why is he here?"

"Your Majesty, if I may-"

"You may not!"

"I'm not that man anymore."

"Do NOT speak prisoner!! You may continue warden."

"Locke was caught yesterday evening breaking into the store room of a locally owned inn. Claimed he was 'borrowing bread' for his young companion."

"And where is this 'young companion'?"

"Guards! Fetch the boy!"

"No! Don't bring him into this! It was all me! All my fault! Please, he's just a boy!"

"Sir? What's going on? What's going to happen to us?"

"Shh! Leo, be quiet!"

"Just perfect. Another stinking rat in my palace. Agh! Why is it always me!?"

"Your Majesty. Please. Leo isn't involved in this. Whatever my sentence will be, leave him out of it. My last request, Sire."

"Unfortunately, Mr. Locke, it is not your place to make requests. Hang him."

"What! No! Let me explain!"

"Hang you? Sir, you can't let them do that!"

"I know Leo, shh! Your Lordship, hear me out."

"Sir? Where are they taking you?"

"I said SHH!! Stay where you are. SIRE!! Remember what happened to mother?"

"Stop! Guards, stop! How dare you!? How dare you speak of that in my castle, in MY kingdom?"

"Who killed her? Huh?"

"Who ran away? If you had stayed brother, YOU'D be king right now, not me! And mother wouldn't be dead! I wouldn't have had to kill her!"

"You killed her for the power, and the whole country knows it. I know it, you know it, and mother knows it, wherever she is."

"No. I killed her because she despised me. She wanted YOU to take the throne. She loved you, the older, bolder, nobler son. Father MADE me kill her! He forced me to do it!"

"Prove it!"

"After you left, Mother was distraught. She wailed every night. And Father... Well, Father was old. He knew he wasn't going to outlast Mother and he wanted to make sure she was gone before he was. He gave me a dagger. He FORCED me to stab her! I swear I didn't want to!"

"But you did it anyway."

"Yes! I di... did! *sniff* Over and... and over again while she slept! I couldn't stop! ... Why are you laughing?"

"Ha! You do realize you just confessed to murder in front of fifty of your royal guards?"

"Wha-! They wouldn't arrest me!"

"No. No they wouldn't. Not unless the true king commanded them to. Arrest my brother on the charge of manslaughter!"

"You wouldn't dare! Stop! Get these cuffs off me this instant! I demand you listen to me! I'm the king! ME! Me, me, me! Not that dirty, filthy, lying, cheating, pirating son-of-a-bitch! NOOOOOOooo!"

"What a baby. Warden. Release me."

"Yes Your Majesty. Right away Your Majesty."

"You don't have to call me that. Leo? What turned you so bug-eyed? Did you expect any less from the crazy middle aged man you met in town? Ha, ha! Now, somebody bring my horse. We're getting out of here."

"Pardon, Your Majesty-"

"Sir."

"Right, Sir, you can't just leave! The kingdom is without a king! You must stay and rule!"

"Must I? Maybe I was wrong, but being the supreme ruler of the land I was under the impression I could DO WHATEVER I WANT!! Including take a midday ride down to the sea. Am I mistaken?"

"Um... No, Your Ma... Sir. You are correct."

"Good. Well then, we'll be back in a couple hours."

* * * *

"Are you really the King Sir?"

"Stars! Your believed it too! Ha, ha! Well, I'd call that a success!"

"What do you mean?"

"Kid, sometimes all it takes to be the part is to act the part."

"But the King really is your brother?"

"Yes. Sadly."

"And he really did kill your Mother?"

"You're a bright one, aren't you?"

"But you don't want to be King?"

"Hell no! I'd rather die than have to sign papers and listen to invalids all day. But I couldn't leave you to fend for yourself."

"So where are we riding to now?"

"Like I told the guards. Beach. We should be able to catch a boat as far away from here as possible. Look. There's the harbor ahead."

"Sir? Do you hear that? It sounds like-"

"Hoofbeats. Leo, right now I need you to trust me more than you ever have before. RUN!!"


EDIT: This piece has been edited since the winners were announced.