The Royal Phoenix

The fire pops and snaps, spitting out bits of embers that dance upward to the night sky. Around the fire sat the children of the Southern Kingdom with their parents and other adults sitting closely behind on roughly cut wood benches patiently waiting to hear tonight’s fable. The old woman, Gran, the village elder, sits next to the fire for all to see. Her withered hands lay on top of her cane as she waits for everyone to settle in.

“Gran, can you tell us the story of the man and the golden fish?” a boy asks.

A girl wearing a faded red dress sitting next to the boy shouts. “No we heard that last time. Tell us the one about the Warrior Princess!”

“Children, this is a special night. Do you know why?” The old woman asks. “Today is the day of the Phoenix. Do you know what a Phoenix is, my children?”

Silence ensues for a moment until a child calls out, “It’s a bird!”

“That’s correct, but not just any bird, it was a giant bird that can only be born in smoldering ash.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. How can anything be born from ash?” The girl in red asks.

“A bird from the gods can, and has, for this story is true.”

The children awe in their seats, anxious to listen.

“Ages ago, long before the oldest books were written, there were four kingdoms of this land. There was the Kingdom of Scholars to the west, the Agricultural Masters of the south, which is where where you sit now, the Great Warriors of the Eastern Kingdom and the Kingdom of Life in the North. In the mountains just above the kingdoms lived a beast known as the Royal Phoenix.”

“What’s the difference between a Royal and a regular Phoenix?” a boy with a blue tunic blurts out only to be nudged in the shoulder and hushed by his mother sitting behind him.

“This was a gigantic beast with wings as bright as fire. It was the last of its kind. The last beast in the Realm. Both royalty and villagers alike would set out to see the Phoenix as a rite of passage to adulthood and nobility. They would bring gifts to the mountain and pray for health, goodwill and fortune. The Phoenix was able to hear the woes and wishes of the people and listened to their tales, but it was unable to reply or speak the language of the humans. All it could do was sit at the top of the mountain, listening and watching the humans. Every 200 years, the royal Phoenix would become weak, signaling the end of its life. The Royal families from all the surrounding kingdoms would make the trek up the mountain, setting aside all their petty squabbles to witness the death of the great Phoenix. The beast would breathe its last breath, and in doing so, the feathers would crackle and be set ablaze only to be born again as a baby Phoenix in the ash.”

The children sat in awe at the thought and looked to one another with excitement.

“What happened to it, Gran? Did the bird just get reborn over and over?” The boy next to Gran asks.

“Oh indeed. This happened for generations. As Royalty within the kingdoms was ever changing, the great Phoenix was always there for the humans. The Phoenix loved the humans, but being unable to speak made the mountain a very lonely place. After every death and rebirth, the Phoenix retained the knowledge of its previous lives and knew its presence brought the humans joy and peace, so it never left the mountain peak. It believed the only way for everlasting peace between kingdoms without its presence was a permanent death. Unbeknownst to the beast, a demon lurked nearby. It had been watching the Phoenix and knew of the beast’s loneliness.

One night, the Demon approached the Phoenix to make a deal. The Demon knew the beast didn’t truly wish to leave the humans, but to live amongst them. He told the Phoenix that he had the power to make the beast human and it could live among the mortals. It would have friends and feel love, just as the humans do and die as a human. The beast knew nothing about demons and their trickery, so the Phoenix happily agreed. The Demon said that the Phoenix shall live this one final time as beast, but be reborn as human.

Years pass and the Phoenix grew weak. All the kingdoms traveled to the mountain, as was tradition, to see the rebirth of the Royal Phoenix. As the Phoenix burns to dust, it was not the squawks of a baby bird the Kings and Queens heard, but the cries of a human baby girl born of ash.

This shook the very foundation of the Kingdoms as they must hastily decide what to do with the child. After retreating to the Northern Kingdoms with child in hand, the King and Queens argued over who should get the child. After hours of argument, it was a stalemate as they all thought they should take the child as their own and raise her with their superior customs, all but the Queen of the West. The Queen said that no Kingdom should get the child as their own as she is a gift from the gods. The kingdoms were not happy about this, but felt it was not for them to defy the gods. They agreed that once she was old enough, she would travel between kingdoms and they would train her in their own customs throughout the child’s life.”

“What happened to the Demon?” A child asks causing the others to nod their head in agreement.

“Don’t worry children, we’ll get back to him soon enough, now where was I? Oh yes.” Gran readjusts herself in her seat. “The child grew and learned the ways of the neighboring kingdoms until, one day, the Royal family of the North had been killed by unknown assassins, leaving the throne ripe for the taking. Again, the Kingdoms argued that they should take control of the kingdom by putting their oldest child on the throne. All kingdoms disagreed with each other and felt they wanted someone not of Royal blood from another kingdom.”

“The Phoenix girl!” The children called out.

“Not at first.” Gran explained. “The child, now a woman, was not to belong to any kingdom for if she were to become Queen and die while on the throne, she would just be reborn again and nobody should rule a kingdom forever. The Phoenix could not remember much of the mountain after being reborn a human, but she did remember the deal with the Demon. After telling the Royal families about the deal she made, to live amongst the humans she loved so much, and to also to die as a human. The Royal families were saddened to hear that their beloved Phoenix was to live one last life, but the Phoenix’s story convinced the others to allow her to rule the North, and rule she did. She was the Queen of the Phoenix Kingdom and showed compassion to her people. Crops were bountiful, trade was bustling and there was always coin for those who needed it. She ruled for decades until she too grew old and lay to take her final mortal breath. The other kingdoms, now ruled by the kin of the former families, took watch as the Royal Phoenix were to die for the last time.”

“What happened next?” The boy in blue asked only to be nudged and hushed again by his mother.

“Well, she took her final breath and began to burn and smolder, much like her previous lives, but something was wrong. Among the ashes was a baby, but not like the baby before, a baby boy lay crying in the ash. This left the royal families confused as was this was not supposed to happen and argument ensued once again. After some time, they decided to do what their mothers and fathers did before them and raise the child between kingdoms until the Phoenix child was old enough to take a seat as a royal advisor.

Their plan went as it should, until a young prince named Mordak took the throne of the Eastern Kingdom. He was a spiteful king with a lust for power. As his Kingdom began to dwindle in resources and he refused to trade with the other kingdoms, he was shut out from the treaty between realms that had lasted for so long. His thirst for power was unquenchable and decided the only way for his kingdom to thrive was to have the Phoenix as his own and have the blessing of the gods. He gathered a small army in secret and marched them to the gates of the North. It was a bloody battle, but the North was not prepared to fight after living in peace for so long. The Kingdom fell and the Phoenix was taken. The South heard of the Eastern Kingdom’s defiance and, as no kingdom should ever claim the Phoenix as their own, they led an army to the Eastern gates their own to reclaim the Phoenix. To their dismay, the Phoenix was not there.”

“Did he run away?” A child asks.

“Yeah where did the Phoenix go?” said another child.

“Some stories say that the few survivors from the North banded together to take the Phoenix back. Others say the Phoenix was killed during the battle only to take on a new form, but nobody knows what happened for sure.

“And what of the Demon? Well, the tales say the demon was behind all of it. He lied to the Phoenix about its mortality, which began the struggles between kingdoms. Legend says the Demon was behind the assassination of the Royal family in the North and also Mordak’s lust for power. Some say it was the Demon itself that took the child. Nobody really knows. Any books of the Phoenix’s existence had been burned in battle and all songs have long been forgot. The Royal Phoenix, the child born of ash, has been lost to time.”

“Oh poppycock.” An adult sitting in back blurts out. “If you’re going to fill these children’s head with nonsense, at least tell them the story is made up. Now they’re gonna get night scares fearing a Demon is going to get them.”

Gran cackles at the man. “The story is about how one simple lie can bring down kingdoms. If you lie, no matter how simple, you are no better than the Demon himself.”

“I thought it was delightful.” The mother of the boy in blue reassured her. “Come on now, thank Gran for her story and let’s go, it’s getting late.” Nudging her boy on the shoulder.

All the parents agreed and started to stand to their feet. Four children come up to Gran and thanked her for the story before running off to their homes.

“That was quite the story. Do you need any help getting home?” a tall slender man named Jonathan asks as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Oh come now. I’m old, not dead.” She chuckles.

“Even if you were, you’d just come back from the ashes, right?” Jonathan jokes.

Gran’s cane shakes under her hands as she grumbles to her feet. “Oh aren’t you the sweetest. Run on home dear, I’ll see you in the morning.”

“I do have one question about your story.” Jonathan asks.

“What’s that dear?”

“Why did you tell the children that it was a true story?”

Gran chuckles. “Well it’s simple really, I don’t have proof that it isn’t.”

Jonathan laughs and nods his head. “Very well, have a good night Gran.”

He kneels to the ground, scoops dirt into his hands and throws it into the fire. After several more handfuls, the fire dims to smoldering embers.