Library: A slightly celestial fable

Long ago, long ago, there was a small kingdom nestled in a perennial war with it's close neighbour. Although the war taxed both the country and population heavily the royal family enjoyed full support from their people. Indeed, the people unanimously all agreed that the king, kingdom and land was holy, and that invading neighbours were evil for they had brought war on the land through jealousy and less than wholesome intent. The situation could have probably lasted like this for a good while, but the Evil King, thoroughly disappointed with the stagnated pace of his grand conquest decided to deploy another ploy in disguise of peace talks to capture and ransom the Good King in order to gain what he so maliciously coveted. The news for possible truce was favourably received as a faint glimmer of hope to end the consuming conflict, but both the Good King and his loyal subjects could not shake off the crawling feeling that this might again be just another plot from the enemy who had unsuccesfully tried to subjugate them by attritious war, and as such further negotiations were made, and accepted, that only the youngest son of the Good King would act as an envoy at the forthcoming parlay. With burdened heart and fully foreseeing the chance that his son could be abducted and used as an expensive bargaining chip the Good King made haste to prepare the prince not only with a weapon, courageous praise and travelling supplies but also with wisdom that exceeded his youth. "My son," said the Good King, "The day you were born was very special. That day The Sun blessed us with seemingly endless warmth and radiance, and when it finally receeded, spent, below the distant horizon the Stars and the Moon took it's place on the firmament, forming a new, never before seen constellation we came to call 'The Caryatid'. Our astrologists, clerics and diviners, alerted to this phenomenon quickly agreed that you are the only person in this world under the full blessing of vault of the heavens and should your upbringing include nobility, discipline and honesty, you would be entitled for divine aid even in the most direst of straits." "I personally saw that you would be grown to meet that particular destiny and indeed you've grown to fit that prophecy perfectly. Today it is woefully obvious that you will not only need your own courage, strength and wit, but the very aid of the Celestials our diviners said you would be able to someday harness.", continued the Good King somberly. That said, with the journey preparations complete, the Young Prince left and traveled by foot for three days and three nights first across the treacherous and arid highlands dotted by numerous dangerous ravines, gullies and devilish pits wherein both humans and animals had perished by accidentally falling and trapping themselves. During the second day of his travel the Young Prince speeded through the magnificent and verdant forests situated right in the middle of the opposing kingdoms. Unable to fully clear through the lush emerald-coloured canopies the Prince, wise to not take travel in a forest by dark, set up camp for the night, but faced a problem in a fact that he had not brought enough of the foods that satiated his palate. Never at loss, the Young Prince set up a snare to catch some of the abundant wildlife, and as if by magic, just before he was falling asleep a high-pitched shriek cut the night air indicating something had sprung the basic trap. Rushing to assess and subdue his catch the prince quickly spied upon a lone flying squirrel dangling wildly from a string of rope. Just as he was pulling his knife to end the life of the small beast the Prince's eyes met those of the squirrel and sudden recognition was shared between the two in unexplainable glamour. The Prince was taken back for the eyes of a supposedly unwitting animal shone with intellect not from this world - and shortly it spoke not with the usual chitter and chirps of the squirrels but with words that men used and invoked. "Prince of the Moon! O Prince of the Moon!," uttered the squirrel frightenedly, "I know that I carelessly stepped into your hunting trap, and by right you could consume me fur, flesh and bone!" It's eyes sparkled once more with otherwordly wisdom but it quickly continued, "Spare my life just this once, o Prince of the Moon, and I will see that you are rewarded in kind when troubles manage to overcome your modest abilities!" So odd was the sudden meeting, and rewarding the promise that the Young Prince, culling further his hunger and pride let the squirrel go free. It darted quickly for the darkness of the underbrush, glancing only once behind and Prince could see that whatever magic had played it's work here was gone and the squirrel was once again free of the miraculous wit that should not be there to begin with.

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Library: A slightly celestial fable