Prose – King in a Guilded Cage – Ethan Zeichner

Guilded Cage King in a

Officially, Raul Diaz was King of Vergue and Master of all Curro. But this was merely a grandiose title.

King Raul sat at the desk in his private quarters, rubbing his temples in pain. For the bedroom of a royal, it was surprisingly disorganized and stank of tobacco smoke.

The King’s eyes darted across the desk, a pile of papers lay neatly stacked in the center. On the side, a collection of various pencils.

To be perfectly truthful, Raul didn’t feel like a King. He didn’t even want to take the throne. He was just an author, who just so happened to be of royal blood.

When the Diazistas first appeared, Raul begged them to stop. “Cease your violence!” He announced it on national television. “I am perfectly content with my life now. I do not wish to become your King!”

But no one can stop a movement, not even the unwilling head. The House of Diaz abdicated rule 50 years ago, and a sizable minority wanted them back. And who was the rightful heir than poor Raul, an author and poet. “For a little bit, he was no longer Raul I, King of Vergue and Master of All Curro. He was just Raul Diaz, author and poet”

They started off small. Protests, picketing. Perfectly legal actions. But then things got violent. Rioting. Small acts of terrorism. Then came the assassinations. Local politicians being shot while they ate dinner. Anti-Diazista speakers being burned