The king lay in bed with a fever. He had been this way ever since three days before, when the peasants had waged an uprising in the town outside the castle’s walls.
He could hear them dancing and singing through his window. It made him sick. How dare they take his kindness for granted?
A servant entered the room: “My lord, the people are asking you to forsake the throne. What will you do?”
The king curled up under his blankets: “I will do no such thing! Woe is me! I am bombarded yet I stand here still! I will not give up my kingdom. It is my right to rule!”
The servant slid a long dagger from the sleeve of his robe: “I have enjoyed serving you, my lord. I am sorry to hear you feel that way.”
At DVerse today, the prompt is to write a piece of flash fiction or other prose of up to or exactly 144 words, including the given line: I am bombarded yet I stand.
Photo by Randy Fath on Unsplash
Seamus O'Shaughnessy, Jr. 
Gotta watch what we say!
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Lest we be hoist by our own pitard!
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Et tu Brute … Well done!
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Et Tu Indeed!!
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:>)
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Well, the title doesn’t bode well for the poor King. 🤨 Maybe he should have been nicer to the help!
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Often the shortcoming of kings, being bad to those below them.. 😦
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Very true!
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Treason! A great prosery!
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Treason indeed!!!
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A nice atmospheric tale with historical flair!
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Thank you!
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Nice, Evan! I actually wondered about the servant when he was first mentioned!
-David
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Yes, a foreshadowing, quickly reached!
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Nice twist there!
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Thank you!
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Ah, it is nobody’s right to rule, it is a responsibility to serve. Well, he’s been served.
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Indeed!
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Oh dear! I guess that king should have thought about his words and actions–and the consequences.
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Oh my!! And another one bites the dust! Well done ~~~
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Love your tale and particularly the twist. That king should definitely have thought better about what he was going to say.
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For a King, it is so easy to forget that the servant has much more in common with the people outside the gate than with you
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I kept applying this to a familia “king”, but I haven’t identified the servant!! Great write.
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The servant is the shadow by the door. The tragedy is that the peasants suffer, not that the king dies!!
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Oh yes. Peace, the old fashioned way. 🙂
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haha, indeed 🙂
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Sometimes the end has to come… a ruler has to know that once the trust with his people is gone, so is his real power to rule.
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Indeed!
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Very Vive La Révolution social commentary. A tiny bit overplayed/overillustrated but great ending 😘
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Get it? “Last Stand”? Bc he never stands up, literally or metaphorically? Get it? 🙂
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Woe is you
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