Dots

Glory

A life of glory wasn't a choice that Walter got to make.

He was born into the first bloodline of peace among the kingdoms and blessed with brilliance in every aspect of his life. He was the smartest boy in all of his classes, the most effortless with his physical activities and overall the most loved of all the village people.
Walter had been blessed with the extraordinary gifts of what many would consider "The perfect man" but he was an empty vessel for people's hopes. He didn't want to be the golden child or the king, he just wanted to travel the world and hear people's stories. Walter was a wanderer and no amount of glory could change that.
So before his crowning, he disappeared. He ran away to the furthest reaches of the land and resided in a quaint village filled with old people and their stories. He heard from the town blacksmith, who used to work for a sorcerer, about how he saved a fair maiden from a castle in the clouds and nearly gotten eaten by massive crows. He heard from the baker, who used to work in a castle, how he'd once helped a runaway bride escape her marriage in a wedding cake.
He heard from his old landlord about how he'd started out from nothing and acquired enough wealth to escape poverty and build an entire village.
Walter envied the old folk and their fulfilled lives and soon began to reconsider his own.

Back at the kingdom, everyone thought the young heir was dead. Chaos erupted as the bloodlines once again turned against each other. Anarchy and betrayal ruled superior.

Walter returned, ready for the life of glory but instead faced the bloodshed and misery, consequential to his sudden disappearance.
There was no longer a king.
There was hardly a kingdom.
All because people had placed their faith in the wrong person.

A life of glory wasn't a choice that Walter got to make.
It was a chance that he didn't take.