The King and I: The King's Decision

Part 3

by: jewel of athos

Author's Notes: The one thing that I couldn't seem to get quite right in this fic is their speech cadences…When I'm writing Yul in other characters, it's easy to find his voice; but the king leaves out or changes certain words in a way that's surprisingly difficult to get onto the page. I've tried my best to make it sound alright, though.

Slight time jump here from the last chappie…a bit more drastic than the last one…

*~.~o0o~.~*

The king gasped as a sharp pain stabbed at his side. He moved a feeble hand to probe the spot anyways, but even that movement was an effort for him. In his mind he cursed himself, longing for the strength to scream. As it was, he no longer had the strength or the will to stand. His attendants crawled in and out of his chambers to serve him.

He had been a fool. He knew it now; so much pain could have been avoided if he had simply been able to swallow his pride. So much pain…

The king knew he was dying. At first he had fought it like a roaring beast, despising this thing uncurling inside of him. But then he had ceased to fight, or even to care, willing to let the beast win if only it would put an end to the whole business. If Buddha had decreed him to die, then so be it. At least then he would be free.

But he did not want to die alone. Ever since the night of the banquet, he had tried to be alone; throwing things at people, pushing them out and distancing himself from everyone that he cared about. He had always been a man who loved to be surrounded by those in his life, and these past weeks had only served to hurt him more as he starved himself of company. But it had been a fitting punishment for a fool.

Weakly, he called for Kralahome.

"Go, summon my children," he whispered, his voice managing to be commanding and powerful as he gave the order in spite of the fact that he could barely draw breath. "Tell them to come; I wish to be seeing them one last time."

"To hear is to obey," Kralahome nodded, preparing to scuttle out.

"And also," the king stopped him with a faint wave of his hand, "also have someone summon Anna to me."

"Anna?" A tired smile passed over the king's lips when Kralahome said her name.

"She will come," he assured him. "I know she will come. But you must not let her know that it is I who has asked; you must make her believe that it is she who decides to do it. Miss Anna is very stubborn when it comes to such ideas…" he trailed off fondly.

"Yes, your majesty."

"Kralahome," the king stopped him once more, his voice almost dreamy, "do you suppose Moses ever feel this way, at the end? Do you suppose he forgive, and smile?"

"I could not say." Kralahome hurried out quickly, before the king could delay him any further, and Mongkut laughed once to himself. Anna would have understood. She would understand. And he would have to ask her to send the elephants to America…

He smiled. Funny, it was, how after all of the anger and pain and betrayal that he had felt because of her, he was glad to be seeing her again.

He twisted the ring off his finger, the one that he had tried to give her that night, and studied it carefully. He would thank Anna tonight, for all that she had done for him, and his family, and his country. The teacher who had come to help the children, in the end, had taught the king instead; and that was something worth rewarding. He did not regret his decision.

fin.

*~.~o0o~.~*

A/N: And it's finished for real this time! Haha O:). This last one, I think, was the hardest one to write…I knew in my head what I wanted, but I struggled far more than I thought I would to get the wording and the flow the way that I imagined it. I still could have ended it better. But overall, I'm satisfied with the story as a whole. I hope you liked it! God bless! -jewel