It was supposed to be a day of relaxation for everyone with a simple meal. Things don't always go as planned though. The Dragon King had no royal duties scheduled, but the kingdom doesn't rest. Instead of the relaxing day planned, the Dragon King ended up taking care of business most of the day. His lack of fun time with his children weighed heavily on him bringing his mood down lower. The High Prince always treasured Sundays with his father and waited rather patiently for the Dragon King to finish his tasks. Occasionally he would ask questions about what the Dragon King was doing and even tried to help him out even though that was pretty much impossible. His thoughts were solely based on getting the Dragon King to finish up so they could spend time together. The Princess of Dragons and the "Spare" Prince were taking naps per the Queen of Night's insistence. It was the perfect time for just the two of them.
As the day wore on, it became clearer that this quiet time with his siblings would be over before the Dragon King finished. His boredom weighed heavily causing him to question if he could invite subjects from around the realm over to play. "Father, can I invite the peasants in to entertain me?" the High Prince asked. "Only if you don't want to see me any more for the day," the Dragon King replied grumpily. The High Prince thought about what his father had said and instead went to the Queen of Night, who was not fully paying attention to their conversation, if he could invite the peasants over.
"Ummm. I suppose you can, but when dinner is ready they will be leaving. I'm not feeding the entire realm. Is your father finished working?" the Queen of Night looked to her King to see what he was expecting her to say. "I'm not. I will go to the pit and work alone if that is really what our son desires." The Dragon King was placing a test on the High Prince. What was more important to him, seeing his father even if he was working or being entertained by others? The High Prince did not fully understand what was happening or chose not to because he ran out the door to invite over his friends.
Annoyed and disappointed, the Dragon King packed up his work and moved to a quieter place where the screaming children and peasants wouldn't cause him to have to work even longer. The High Prince returned alone just in time to see the Dragon King leave. "WAIT! You don't have to leave!" screamed the High Prince. "Yes, son, I do. You made your choice. The peasants are more important than seeing me. I will leave you to your fun." The High Prince began crying and begging for his father not to leave. "You made your choice. I will not be able to work with your friends here. You are too noisy. Choices have consequences and this is part yours. Do not ask me to do what you want later today. You'll find that I won't be interested," said the Dragon King descending the stairs.
The High Prince's friends arrived and the screaming and yelling to be overheard began. The table the Dragon King had been working on became completely cluttered with toys proving that the Dragon King had had no choice but to leave. The "Spare" Prince and Princess of Dragons soon joined in and the Queen of Night busied herself in preparing the banquet. Tonight's dish was very simple so working around all the kids was not a problem. The only problem she had was that she did not have the right amount of pizza crust that the recipe required and at one point the kids distracted her enough to leave out a key ingredient, cheese. How dare she forget to put the cheese inside of the Beefy Taco Pillows (which looked like hot pockets). It was an important ingredient, but cheese is easily poured on top at the end.
The peasants all exclaimed how amazing the food smelled and how cool it looked. Their eyes glazing over with hunger. The High Prince looked on with disdain and threatened to end their games if they didn't leave the kitchen. When the food was ready, the Queen called the Dragon King up from the pit and sent the peasants out of the castle, much to the disappointment of the High Prince and Princess of Dragons. They knew what was to come. While the peasants were enticed by the meal, the royal children dreaded what was to come.
"Do we have to eat all of it?" the High Prince asked. "You will eat whatever your mother puts on your plate," huffed the Dragon King not interested in having any kind of argument at all. His stress level was through the roof and all he wanted was for everything to go exactly as the Queen of Night wanted it to go, easily and happily. "Can I have more cheese?" the Prince asked. "ME TOO! I WANT LOTS OF CHEESE!" exclaimed the Princess of Dragons. "I forgot to put cheese inside of them, so you can have a whole handful of cheese on it. Whatever it takes for you to eat it," the Queen of Night chimed in. The Princess of Dragons took this seriously and poured almost an entire cup of cheese on her food. The High Prince was a little more sparing, but also claimed enough to cover his meal.
They ate slowly, but with very little complaint. They didn't love the meal, but knew that any arguments would not be wise with the clear cloud of anger and stress circulating around the Dragon King. It went relatively uneventful and was followed up with baths. When the required tasks of the day were finished, the High Prince begged the Dragon King for his attention and again was told, "Your choices have consequences. I am doing what I want to do now since you got to do what you wanted earlier. Begone."
It's a lesson that must be learned over and over by kids. Every action has a reaction. Every choice has a consequence which may or may not be a reward or punishment. Some adults fail to understand these concepts and so the royal family takes every opportunity to teach each other and remind each other of these simple facts. Tomorrow is another day and another lesson will have to be learned.
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