The Law of the Bones

The Law of the Bones
By Rino Palmani





It was the tenth month after the last war and the king was
getting restless.


"Peace does not sit well with me," he said. "For my hands are
built for battle and my legs are not content to be idle on the
throne."


So every morning, he would leave his bed, just as the sun
begun to rise over the hills like a golden plate, and he would practice
with the sword, the axe and the mace and he would ram his shoulders
against barricades made of logs.


But these exertions left most of his strength
unspent.


So he called his chiefs and he said to them, "Summon my
armies that we may wage a war against King Copronymus whose holdings
are to the north."


When his queen heard of this plan she said, "The dark days
are upon us if my king seeks to wage war without a good reason other
than the hunger in his blood."


"You would dare to question my decisions?" the king
said.


"I would, for when you took me to be your bride, you were
just. Your hand was heavy in punishment, but you were just. Now, I do
not recognize what you have become."


"I am but a man who must follow the law that is written in
his bones," he replied.


"And what law is that?" asked the queen. And the king did not
answer.


And so he forth with his armies, his scores of horsemen and
archers and catapults, to wage war on King Copronymus of the
north.





It was in the battle of the village of Rakia that the king
was wounded with a spear and had to retire to from the battlefield. And
as he lay in his tent, he had a dream.





He was in a hall of white marble and the walls glowed like
the sun and he stood before a throne of alabaster.


On the throne, sat a man who appeared to wear a crown made of
wood.



"Quirinus," said the man on the throne, for such was the name of the
king," what have you become?"


"I am but a man who must follow the law that is inscribed in
his bones."


"And what law is that?" And once again the king did not
reply.


And the man with the crown of wood spoke:
"The leviathan that used to dwell on the land has been made to dwell in
the deep waters to make way for you, and yet you do not know what law
it is that governs the desires of your bones.


The wild boar will devour its own because it does not know
any better.
The lion will destroy the offspring that is not its own because of the
law in its bones.
The worm burrows, and the seagulls dive because of the laws in their
bones, but you are above these creatures.


For you are not a servant to your bones.


Your kind has learnt the use of fire, and how the record your
tales on animal skins.
You have learnt the craft of planting grain.
You have become masters over cattle and sheep so they may provide you
with meat and milk.
You have fashioned weapons from stones and bones and metal, and your
children and their children will surpass what you and your fathers have
accomplished, for in time, they will plant their feet on the
moon.


You have been created to be far above animals, but it is sad
when you choose to live as such.


Whether you will scratch the land like chickens or walk on
the stars, it is not your bones, but it is your heart that determines
what road shall be open before you."



And the king woke from his dream, and he summoned a scribe so that his
dream may be recorded on animal skins.



The End