Children of Prophesy

When the common people first began to whisper of the prophecy, I paid them no mind. I whose ear was so full of the booming voice of my god could spare no time for the voice of anything lesser- especially nothing so nonsensical as prattling about the succession. What cared I for the succession? I had at least a dozen sons by my wives, and more by my concubines. The succession would take care of itself when the time came, and in the meantime I had a temple to build: a temple for the glory of my god. He had promised me I should not die before its completion, and I knew it would take a score of years or more. More than enough time for one or more of my children to show himself suitable for the role.

But as the great temple took shape, and the voice of my god grew softer and more content, the voices of the commoners gained in volume and urgency. Soon even the nobles were speaking- behind my back, of course- of the prophecy. Of the babe who would be king, not just of this land but of all lands. A child with two fathers- one royal and one common- but the blood of neither. A child who would grow to be a man who could not die, and who would enslave the world to his will.

And when the priests came to me, speaking of signs and portents and a star blue as death where none had been before- I decided it was time to listen.

Into the temple- the great temple my god had commanded, with its soaring columns and smoking altars- into the temple I went, and I knelt, and I begged my god to guide me, to tell me how I could prevent this invincible usurper from coming to power. How I might save the world from the coming darkness. I opened my heart to my god and I listened for what he would tell me- but the temple was complete, and His once-insistent voice had grown so soft it was now silent.

Three nights and days I knelt, and I waited, and three nights and days my heart remained empty. Until the the sun sank below the horizon on the third day, and I felt my heart grow heavy and sink with it. Because I remembered that the prophesy said the child would grow to be a man who could not die- but first he must grow to be a man.

What I did- what had to be done- I am not proud of it. It left me broken and empty, surely you must know that? But in fairness to my people I had to make an example of my own twins. Could anyone doubt the underlying purpose to my actions, that I sacrificed my own blood for the sake of my people? I asked nothing of them that I did not give to them in return, to keep them safe. To keep the entire world safe.

My people can have more children, new babes to replace those sacrificed. And those children will be able to grow up without fear of a prophesied tyrant who will not die. They will grow up in the light...