I Will Be a Better King

by Madeline, Writing Foundations Level 1
3rd Place Winner at the 2009 Minnesota State Fair for Original Stories in 7th Grade Category

“Follow me,” an indistinguishable figure whispered. Along the castle wall the shadowed tiger crept softly avoiding the gaze of the night watchmen. An undersized parade of prisoners followed their guide alongside their enemy’s fortress.

The evil king, Black Raider, a black armored horse, ruled the land as far as anyone could see. He had recently conquered the noble king, Tiero, a Bengal tiger, who now led the prisoners to freedom. Black Raider had caused the war over land and had sent a clever spy into Tiero’s territory to learn his battle strategies, gain the righteous king’s trust, and make a fool of him. Tiero had fallen for the trick, later making the spy into his top advisor. When the battle started, the clever spy pounced onto Tiero as the honorable king let his mistake be known by a screeching wail. When Black Raider had finally won the war he tied Tiero to a pole, half starved him to death, and made him into a prisoner. Presently, Tiero and his son Andreas, who Black Raider also tossed into prison, escaped from their cells to freedom.

“There they are!” a sudden voice yowled from behind them.

“Black Raider’s guards have noticed our disappearance!” barked a Jack Russell Terrier at the rear of the herd of prisoners. Tiero’s heart sounded like massive war drums that could be heard from miles away as he fled the panthers, Black Raider’s guards. He scrambled to force his muddy paws to move more rapidly as his unsheathed claws slipped in the soil. However, the panthers were gaining on them quickly. Teiro paused for a split second to turn and glance back to see if the guard’s had captured anyone. What he saw was a horrifying sight. At the end of the group Andreas ran as fast as his short legs would let him, a strong panther only a yard behind him. He accidently lost his balance and slipped on the wet mud. Andreas fell with a splosh into the mud. Teiro swiftly turned around and sped toward his helpless son. As soon as he had done so a guard crashed into his side pinning him down with a thud. Teiro winced as thorn-like claws were dug into his side. He saw a quick glance of Andreas being roughly picked up by the scruff and the other prisoners getting swiftly captured. Shackles were securely placed on all the captives. The swift guards led their catch to the king. After getting a lecture by His Majesty for their failure to notice the absence of the prisoners earlier, the guards escorted the prisoners into the court room. Black Raider glared at them.

“What do we have here?” asked Black Raider. When no one answered, his voice boomed loudly, “I said, what do we have here?”

“We escaped your prison,” Andreas replied regretfully because he knew they would be punished.

“You all have done a horrible malfeasance! Every one of you will become slaves and also stay in a dirtier prison than the first one you stayed in!” arrived Black Raider dreadful reply.

***********

A kindly jail keeper, an elderly Lipizzaner horse, led Tiero and Andreas their cells.

“This is where you’ll stay,” he explained as he pointed with his pricked ears to an old musty cell. “I’ll show you your job,” he added as the tigers’ faces dropped, wishing for the repose that many had long since forgot. The stallion led them to the opposite side of the castle where countless slaves worked. While some slaves tiredly pulled heaps of dirt out of the ditch in wagons, others carried loads of supplies to and from the monstrous moat the scrawny slaves had dug. As slave drivers’ whips cracked and slaves used all their effort to do their jobs, the gloomy felines followed the horse out into the clearing.

“Your job is to dig the moat,” he explained. “It’s dirty work, but if you don’t do it, you’ll have him to deal with.” He pricked his ears in the direction of a muscular wolf supervising a group of slaves. Blankly, the tigers nodded while setting to work. After they worked all day, they dragged their paws back to their cells with tired expressions and mud stuck between the pads of their feet. They collapsed with overwhelm to the damp floor. The tigers were exhausted from hard work and their claws were broken from vigorous digging.

“I don’t know how we will survive,” muttered Andreas. Suddenly Tiero shot up from the floor terribly frightening Andreas.

“I have an idea!” he announced and hastily explained his plan. He suggested they dig a tunnel underneath the king’s castle and out into the country where escape is easy.

“Don’t dig too low or you will hit water and drown. Don’t dig up too high or you will end up in the King’s bedroom,” noted Tiero. They set to work. At first Andreas obeyed his father, but later decided it was delightful to dig lower. He dug lower and lower not listening to his father’s cries for him to stop. Andreas hit water. He nearly drowned in the deluge, but was saved by his father. To their cell they padded, once again, drenched with water and even more miserable than before. They settled down to rest for that dreadful night.

When they woke three days later, Teiro was surprised to be lying in his chamber he had slept in when he was a king. A concerned face of a gray stallion looked down at him.

“Commander? Is it really you?” the tiger asked. Commander had been his second in command when Teiro had still been king.
“Shhh, you need rest. I will tell you everything you need to know.”

Commander told Tiero that there had been a recent battle between Black raider and Tiero’s warriors. Tiero’s warriors had won and all of Tiero’s people had agreed that he must be king once more. Andreas was fine and all was well. I will be a better king thought Tiero as he drifted into sleep.