a long shortstory .. the 3rd part ..

" i am undone" the king said
" this has hurt me much
our kingdom is poorer for it all"

he paused..

" but we will not be undone ..
although we have a formidable enemy we will move on
i will restore peace and security in my kingdom
all is not lost ..
trust me

you know me
you have served this kingdom under my rule
and know i am an honorable king
a just ruler
and i love you my people with everlastinglove ..

as for the Darkeyed Scowler ..
i know your thoughts
i know he deserved harsher treatment ..
but tell me
rehearse for me the landlaw of our kingdom .."

" thou shalt love the king and serve him only
with all thy heart and all thy soul
and love thy fellowperson as thou lovest thyself  " ..

the city reverberated with the words ..
familiar words
an oath that was repeated by all
in unison
across the land
everyday
at suncome and sungo

they sounded from the balconies
echoed through the halls ..
there was nowhere the oath was not heard
nowhere it was not spoken

good words that had served the kingdom in good stead allalong ..
nowhere in the universe did a people espouse such a covenant
an oath rooted in love
rather than in power or strength or wealth ..

this was a dominion that sprung from love ..

it had served to bind them together
even in the worst of times ..
until now
until now
.. ..  . ..  . .. .     .

the king let the words hover in the airspace ..
from the balconies
through the halls
in all the homeplaces ..
words fervidly spoken
from his heart .. .  .     .    .
...

" today my son returns " he said
" he brings goodnews i am sure ..

together we will look into the future

we will look to a newpath
a way to extend the coretruth of our oath in the universe .. "

the people cheered ..
they loved the king
they loved the son
together they would see this through
the kingdom would stand
persevere
extend
even in these darkened days ..
... ..... .    ..

the son had been away for some longtime
he has been farroaming the universe
seeing what was out there
going where noone had gone before

he was on the other side of the Milkway galaxy when the rebellion flared
toofar to return any sooner
and now
he was here
homeplace
... . .       .

the king and the son talked for manydays
they spoke of the rebellion
they discussed the son's travels
the wonders the places the kingdoms he had seen
they talked longtime into the nights
took longwalks in the starlight
or perched on some highcliff
reclined under some talltree
longtalk ..

and so it went ..
... ..   .... .

then
oneday
a longlongtime ago
the king called the court together ..

as the king spoke
the halls were silent
the courtiers attentive

the people had gathered without
waiting eagerly for the king's words
they trusted the king and the son to lead them into longfuture
and secure their kingdom from assault by the Darkeyed Scowler ..

" today i bring good tidings of great joy " he said
" the son and i have spoken atlength for longlongtime
we have devised a plan to secure the kingdom ..
we will travel to the ends of the Cosmos
to a spaceplace called the Milkway
we will plant a people there
a new people
somewhat unlike us
but like us
a people of newkind .."

the court buzzed with the words
the people without talked
backandforth
backandforth
as the king paused
waiting for his words to settle on those that had earstohear
...

" i know this is a newthing ..
i know we have not passed thisway before
but we are confident this will work ..

the Darkeyed Scowler must be shown that our landlaw will prevail
for it is the bestlaw ..

the coretruth of our landlaw will prevail
for it is rooted in love
and love cannot fail ..
it will persevere in the Cosmos
as we extend its influence across spacetime
into the spaceplace called Milkway
with a new world and a new creature ..
a creature somewhat unlike us
but like us ..

the Darkeyed Scowler and his forces will see that lovelaw is bestlaw
for lovelaw is heartlaw
that flows from inside us
freely
without compulsion

our kingdom will prevail
it will extend across timespace into all the Cosmos
peoples everywhere will adopt our truthlaw of love
and the Cosmos will be a betterplace because of it "
...  ... . . .... .. .

               more to come