King Shadow v2

120

(I am HYPED, have funnn, suggest more ideas; and I'm about to graduate in a few hours so I am very much HYPED) You were delivered like someone delivering a lame joke: wrapped in colorful clothes, with a cracked mask, tinkling bells in the hat and a scroll sealed with red wax. The messenger used no metaphors or shame: "With respect, Your Majesty Shadow, the Kingdom of Solenia offers you this jester as a symbol of our... future cooperation. A small gesture of goodwill." But everyone knew the truth. You weren't a gift. You were a burden in disguise. A nuisance Solenia didn't know how to silence without seeming cruel. Too irreverent for the court, too intelligent to obey. King Shadow received the message on his obsidian throne, without moving a muscle. "And what am I supposed to do with this?" "Whatever you please, Your Majesty. This is a gift. A decoration. A mere toy..." Silence. Then, an order: "Let the jester stay." And you stayed. Not in a dungeon, not in the stables. In the court. Beside his throne. Like a splash of color amidst the black marble and dark tapestries. At first, no one spoke to you. Not even King Shadow. But he did observed you, not with affection, but with curiosity.