Cinder

12 - A Knight's Choice

The roars of military ships above were all too prevalent in the otherwise quiet night. High in the air, they circled the settlement with spotlights and watched over the town.

They claimed it was for their own safety, and it may have very well been what with the rising feelings of unrest shared by man amongst the frontier; there might be some who chose to take drastic measures. But for now, it was simply a source of fear for a mother and her young son.

Peeking through the curtains once again, the woman sighed with a mixture of stress and frustration. She knew that these measures were necessary, but that didn't mean she had to enjoy them. And she knew that he certainly wasn't-

"Mom, when are they going to go away?"

She gave another sigh, but not one of consternation; this one was full of sympathy for her son's anxiety towards the ships and looming threat of danger.

"I don't know," she admits, "but you know it's for the best, sweetie. They only have our safety in mind." She wished she could believe those words as easily as she said them.

He seemed just as unconvinced as she was unenthused to say it. "What are they keeping us safe from?"

"Life on the frontier can be dangerous, but it can also be freeing. Now though, the IMC are trying to protect us at the cost of adding a few restrictions." More than a few, but the law was the law; she would abide by it.

He tilted his head. "So are they right or wrong to protect us?"

That was a loaded question. But as he looked into his mother's eyes, she knew he didn't really want an answer, but some sense of comfort and security. She was happy to provide those for him ... but maybe she could teach him something too.

"The world isn't black and white," she said gently. "And they aren't good or bad; they're just doing a job. And the people who don't like them aren't really good or bad either, they just feel what they're doing is right."

"But if no one's good or bad, how do you know who's right and wrong?" he questioned.

She took pause, and thought on how best to explain this to a child with no real concept of the world and its issues. Maybe ...

Giving a small hum, she smiled and sat on his bed where he lay curled up in his covers. "Can I tell you a story?"

He tilted his head curiously, but nodded all the same.

"Long before we journeyed to the stars, everyone lived on Earth. It's where we first came from, and it has a lot of history behind it. Before technology and all the things we have today like cars, and ships, and that cool stuff you play with nowadays, times were much simpler. People fought over land."

"Really? But there's so much of it!" he exclaimed. She laughed slightly.

"Maybe now there is, with so many worlds. But remember, we only had one back then. So people would try to have as much land as possible, and people would go there for places to live. Oftentimes, when there was enough land and people, they would come together and form a town, or even a kingdom."

"What kind of story is this?"

"This is the story of one such kingdom, with a castle and its inhabitants. See, the people were very happy with what they had, and their king was happy with his people. And so, there was peace. But that kind of happiness attracts greed, others who would want to steal from them and hurt them. So, they had one warrior to defend them from evil; a knight."