Before Mimo would find himself in a village, before he would hate his uncle with a burning passion more than he already did before, he had been living the best life in the palace. When he was only six years old, Mimo was the rightful heir to the throne, his father, King Gwai was the King of Aria. King Gwai always wore a ring and a chain necklace along with whatever attire he was wearing. Unlike other kingdoms, the ruler of Aria wears a ring and chain necklace made out of gems, instead of a crown.
The palace was very grande. The compound was large and filled with flowers and sculptures of objects. There was also a garden where Mimo's mother frequently visited. The throne room was magnificent as well. It had a colour scheme of gold and purple. It had high ceilings beautified with ancient tapestries of past events. There were multiple chairs arranged on either side of the throne, those were the seats for the council of elders. Finally, the throne had edges made of gold and the cushions were a light shade of brown.
King Gwai was sitting on his throne, addressing an elder who had come to lay complaints to him. Two of the king's guards stood beside him, holding spears. While two other guards stood by the entrance, guarding it.
"Your highness," the elder began, "things have not been too good in the lower region recently. I visited there not too long ago and my experience wasn't the best."
"And what exactly did you experience?" King Gwai asked curiously.
"Because there are few guards in that region, crime is at an all time high, also, the people have been complaining that the middle region has been taking large portions of resources entering the kingdom and leaving scraps for them."
King Gwai was heated.
"I have heard your complaints. First thing tomorrow morning, I'm going to the lower region to see this for myself and fix the issue."
"Thank you, my king."
Just as they were concluding their meeting, a young Mimo burst through the doors and ran to his father.
"Mimo," the King said, "I already told you before, you need to learn how to knock and also how to wait for my very important meetings to end before barging in."
"I'm sorry father, I just keep forgetting but I'll be better."
"I know you will."
"My King. I'll be on my way." The elder said before leaving.
"So, what seems to be the issue, son?"
Mimo sat down on his father's lap.
"Nothing. I just wanted to greet you."
Mimo listened to his father telling stories from the kingdom's past.
"Some day, son, you will sit on this throne and guide our kingdom." King Gwai said.
"Will I be a good king like you?" Mimo asked.
"Even better, you can be a great King, which is why you need to start learning a lot about your kingdom from now."
As the king, Gwai was a very busy man but he always made time for his family. Gwai's younger brother on the other hand was a man who only desired power. Right from childhood, he never cared about anyone but himself, one could only wonder how he ended up sitting on the throne. Duhu was a tall light skinned man with a full head of hair. He always wore different coloured robes.
One day, Mimo was in the garden with his mother. She sat on a bench close to a pound. In the pond were a mother duck and her three baby ducks. Mimo's mother, Queen Aya was busy feeding the ducks some crumbs from a small pouch she was holding. Mimo was busy running around the garden.
"Mimo." The queen called out gently.
Mimo ran to his mother.
"Please run to my room and fetch me my bag." She requested.
"Okay mom." Mimo said before darting out of the garden and into the palace.
While on his way to get the bag, Mimo passed by the throne room and stopped immediately when he heard a voice. There were two voices arguing.
In a split second, Mimo had forgotten where he was headed and was now interested in the voices arguing. He open the large door only an inch so that he would be able to hear more clearly. He finally heard the voices properly, they were the voices of his father and his uncle.
Gwai was seated on his throne, heated. While his brother was standing in front of him with a grimace.
"Duhu, why do I entrust you as the minister of the middle region if you're just not going to do your job?" King Gwai asked.
"Brother," Duhu said, "I have been doing my job. The middle region has never been more comfortable than it is now."
"Tell that to the poor people in the lower region who are being oppressed."
"With all due respect, the matters of the lower region are none of my concern!"
"I see, and I suppose if I were to remove you from your current position and put you in the lower re-"
"You can't do that! You put me in the middle region because you don't trust me and you thought I was going to fail but you were wrong. Thanks to me, the middle region is thriving and now you're bitter!"
Gwai was appalled by the effrontery. Of course, it wasn't the first time that his brother had stood up to him with disrespect. Duhu had always been jealous of Gwai and his jealousy grew worse when Gwai became King.
"Duhu, I only have one thing to say to you. Find a way to stop the people of the middle region from robbing the lower region of their amenities or I will send you to work for the lower region."
Duhu was fuming. He opened his mouth but he couldn't form words because of the rage.
Mimo was still standing by the door and listening to their conversation when the door was kicked open. Duhu walked through it, glared at Mimo without saying a word and darted off.
Four weeks later, Mimo would come back home from school to receive terrible news: his father had passed away. The days that followed were tough on Mimo but they were even tougher on Queen Aya. Duhu never showed up for the funeral.
Not long after, Duhu called for a meeting with the council of elders in the throne room. There were eight old men seated in the throne room while Duhu stood in front of them.
His first words were "what would become of the Kingdom now that their King is gone?"
The elders had no reply for a few seconds, then…
"The king has a son, when he is of age, he can ascend to the throne." one elder said.
Duhu looked dumbfounded.
"I know that he has a son," he said, "I only wonder what will happen in the ten years before he is ready."
The elders grew silent again. Duhu wasn't interested in waiting for their response so he continued speaking.
"The kingdom needs strong leadership. As brother of the late king and uncle of the crowned prince, I humbly request that I be made interim king until he reaches the age of sixteen."
The elders exchanged uncertain glances. A good amount of them looked like they were not in favour of the idea while the others were not bothered by it.
"Very well, we have heard you Duhu. We shall deliberate on it and get back to you." One of the elders said.
The elders all knew that Duhu wasn't fit to be King of Aria but they also knew that Mimo wasn't old enough to be King either. After a brief meeting, they came to the conclusion that Duhu would sit on the throne, not as the true king, but as a placeholder for the next ten years before Mimo takes back the throne.
The moment Duhu was crowned the King was the moment that Aria fell. Duhu removed the council of elders and appointed a new council that obeyed his every command. He began to rule the kingdom with an iron fist.
King Duhu once decided to go into town, he sat comfortably in his carriage. There were two guards in the carriage and two horses pulling it, controlled by a rider. They finally got to the middle region of the Kingdom and the carriage stopped. Duhu stepped down from the carriage and made his way through the town as his guards followed him.
The people parted before him, their eyes pointed at the ground, avoiding his gaze. He enjoyed the fear he commanded, a twisted smirk formed on his lips as he approached a building. His guards kick the door open, revealing a man who looked like he was about to pounce on them.
"So you are the fool who has decided to defy my orders!" Duhu sparked.
The man was tall and had broad shoulders and a Gray beard. He stood firmly.
"Your Majesty," the man began, "I will not obey laws that strip me and my people of our livelihood. We have lived in these lands for generations, and we will not be driven from them because of your greed."
Duhu was almost impressed that a mere peasant had the courage to say those words to him. But Duhu didn't consider it as courage at all, he called it stupidity.
King Duhu's eyes narrowed, his smirk faded into a scowl.
"A man who can speak to his King in such a manner must be ready to face the consequences!" he hissed, his voice was low and menacing.
Duhu's guards grabbed the man and threw him out of the house and onto the street. A crowd of terrified civilians began to form.
"I'm only speaking the truth, something you know nothing about." the man replied, "and I will not yield."
For a moment, the entire street was silent. Then, with a flick of his wrist, Duhu signaled to his guards.
"Teach this insolent fool the price of defiance," he ordered.
The guards descended upon the man, their fists rained down blows as the crowd watched in horror.
The man made no sound, refusing to give Duhu the satisfaction of hearing his pain.
"Take him away," Duhu commanded.
The guards dragged the man off, his legs trailing uselessly behind him. The King turned and saw the uneasy faces in the crowd.
"Let this be a warning to all of you. Anyone who disobeys my orders will meet a worse fate than this one!"
In the palace gardens, Mimo was playing with his cousin Ochi. Ochi was seven years old, only a year older than mimo. The two children laughed as they chased each other around a flowering bush. The two of them grew tired of running and decided to lay on the grass and watch the clouds in the sky.
Suddenly, a shadow fell across the grass. Ibina, Ochi's twin sister, stepped out from behind a tree, her arms were crossed over her chest and her face was stuck in a frown. The two sisters looked very much alike except for their hairstyles being different. Ochi had short curly hair while Ibina's hair was longer.
"What are you doing, Ochi?" she demanded.
Ochi sat up and turned to her sister, confused as to what Ibina was talking about.
"We're just playing," she said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Ibina's frown deepened.
"What did father tell you? You shouldn't be playing with peasants," Ibina said, looking at Mimo.
She continued, "we're daughters of the King now. We have a reputation to uphold."
Before Ochi could respond, Ibina stood over Mimo. As the boy got up, she shoved him hard, sending him falling onto the grass. Mimo looked up at her, his eyes wide with shock and hurt.
"Go away, peasant," Ibina hissed.
Ochi was speechless. She rushed over to Mimo's side, trying to help him to his feet.
"Are you okay?" she asked, but Mimo did not respond.
Then Ochi turned to Ibina and said "leave him alone, he's our cousin, not a peasant!"
Ibina laughed. "He's not like us anymore, Ochi. We're royalty. He's just... nothing. That's what our father said."
Mimo's face was filled with anger and humiliation, he pulled away from Ochi's grasp. Without a word, he turned and ran from the garden, his small fists clenched at his sides. Ochi called after him, but he didn't look back.
Meanwhile, inside the palace, Queen Aya was dealing with a similar situation. She stormed into the throne room. King Duhu sat on the throne, his demeanour changed drastically as she approached.
"Duhu!" Aya's voice rang out, filled with pent up rage.
"How heartless could you be. Having a poor old man locked up for not paying tax. By the way, taking seventy person of someone's livelihood isn't tax, it is just a way for you to steal from the poor. The people suffer under your hand, and you think of yourself as someone who is above everything!"
"I am above everything!" Duhu sparked. "And I would watch the way I address the King if I were you!"
King Duhu's eyes flashed dangerously, his hand tightened on the arm of the throne.
"Don't forget, you are not my equal. You would do well to remember your place."
"My place is to speak for those who cannot!" Aya shot back. "You were not born to rule, Duhu. The people do not love you, and they never will. Someday, Mimo will be King and all the people you've hurt will get Justice."
"Careful, woman," Duhu growled, rising from his throne. He loomed over her, his shadow swallowing her small frame.
"If you challenge me again, I will not hesitate to have you imprisoned, Queen or not!"
Aya glared up at him. For a moment, she considered striking him, but she knew it would be pointless. She had to think of Mimo, of the kingdom's future.
"Very soon, you'll regret this." She turned around and left the throne room.
Duhu sat back down and watched her leave.
A while later, Queen Aya and Mimo walked through the upper region of the Kingdom, Aya had a peaceful look on her face. It was good to get out of that palace and enjoy the calmness of the Kingdom. Mimo was holding his mother's hand. He looked up at his mother, his little face was serious.
"Mother," he asked, "why is uncle Duhu the King?"
Aya sighed, her heart was heavy with the weight of her son's question.
"It's only temporary, my love," she said softly, resting a hand on his shoulder.
"Duhu is just there so that the Kingdom has a king for now, nothing more. One day, when you are of age—when you turn sixteen—you will take your rightful place as King."
Mimo frowned, remembering all the times Duhu told him he would never be King.
"But... what if Duhu doesn't want to step down?" He asked.
Aya's voice hardened, "he will have no choice but to do so. You are the true heir to the throne, Mimo. And when the time comes, I will make sure nothing stands in your way."
Mimo nodded slowly, though he didn't fully understand everything at that age, he knew that his mother had promised him something important, something that made him feel both excited and a little afraid. For now, he would hold onto that promise and wait for the day when he would be King.
Not long after that day, the queen also passed away, in the exact same way as her husband. Mimo was only six years old but it felt like his whole world had shattered into a million different pieces. There was no one left to hold onto when life got dark, from that tender age, he became lost.