Challenge #04689-L305: Lessons of History

Over the objections of his advisors, the youngest of seven princes makes friends with a warren of kobolds whose home was right under the estate he'd been given. That friendship pays off during a brutal rebellion, when he is able to get innocents hidden so they do not suffer. How did the alliance form? He almost paid his life to protect the warren from poachers trying to take eggs. -- Anon Guest

History easily becomes stories. Some of those stories transform in to nursery tales. Once that happens, there is serious investigation to unriddle the truth from the fiction. And this fiction begins with, Once upon a time, there was a king who had nine sons... This is commonly attributed to the famously fecund Thrice-Sworn King, but he had eleven sons and four daughters. Other ruling parties have been just as fecund, if not more so with multiple spouses.

The youngest and furthest from the throne was one prone to wandering hither and yon, and thus saw more of the kingdom than his brothers. Noble children have historically had staff, including bodyguards. Especially when their polity was in conflict with others. There have been notable departures from this norm, usually when the heir in question had undesirable qualities. This has lead to the ninth son in this story being portrayed as a Hellkin in the media. They have had centuries of consistently being Unwelcome People.

So it was that the youngest Prince found a warren of Kobolds under his father's mountain fastness. With sweet words and sweetmeats, he made fast friends with them. It is not unusual for mountains to have Kobolds. They are famously easy to befriend with food and simple kindness.

His father despised them. His mother feared them. His brothers scoffed and sneered. His tutors advised him to distance himself from the Unwelcome little dragons. He was a kind young man, and asked why they should not be friends. A common occurrence, again. When forbidden something, children will often ask why it's forbidden.

He was told the Kobolds were filthy, and the young Prince taught them how to be clean. He was told they were rude, and the young Prince taught them courtly manners. He was told they were greedy, but the Prince had already learned that Kobolds didn't know what personal property was, and he tried to teach his family how they were wrong. Children are frequently determined contrarians when they wish to keep something they're forbidden. Few are known to go as out of the way as this Prince, but it is not entirely unlikely.

The Prince's family might have chasitised him, but there happened to be an uprising in the kingdom at the time. It's astonishing how much politics interferes with Nobles' childrearing opportunities.

In the time of terror, the youngest Prince asked his Kobold friends to help him save the people in his father's castle. This is most likely the moral core of the story. Kindness repaid with kindness, or how it is good to help others even when you might believe them Unwelcome.

The Kobold warren remembered the youngest Prince's kindness, and dug a tunnel up to the castle's lowest chambers. It was big enough for men and horses to pass through without bumping their heads. Many people think this is fantasy, but Kobolds can and will dig tunnels larger than their own diminutive bodies. They need the air flow.

The youngest Prince dashed all over the castle, telling all within, "Come down, come down, my friends have made us a way away!" His father sneered at him and said, "I will not come down and leave my throne to the filth!" The young Prince ran on, shouting, "Come down, come down, my friends have made us a way away!" His mother and his brothers scoffed at him and said, "We will not come down to crawl through the dross!" So the young Prince ran on, shouting, "Come down, come down, my friends have made us a way away!" And the servants and civilians heeded him and followed him to the way away. Typical law of three in nursery tales, but there is historical evidence for several mountain kingdoms where peoples under siege escaped with the aid of local Kobold warrens. None which can be definitively matched with this tale.

Thus the innocent found shelter with those beneath them, and escaped the terrors weighed upon the wicked. The Prince lead them out to a different land, which they settled and lived, happily ever after. Almost a pat ending to the tale. The guilty are punished, while the good and kind are permitted to have better lives. A reward for the good and kind, but few details about punishment for the wicked.

Compared with some of the grotesque punishments dished out in nursery tales, this one is astonishingly mild for them.

[Photo by Zach Lucero on Unsplash]

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