Heir to the Throne

The throne room doors stood as tall as the palace, taking the full effort of four guards to push them open for the king’s son, Abner. The 19 year old strut to the throne and bowed before his father.

“My king,” Abner said humbly.

“Arise, my son,” the gray haired king spoke pleasantly. His face was tired and his skin was sagging below his eyes, but his eyes remained youthful and full of life. “What is it you came to speak to me about?”

Abner looked behind him at the guards. “May I speak alone with you.”

The king agreed and waved for the guards and the remaining men in the throne room to exit. The heavy doors shut as the last person left their presence.

“Now we are alone, Abner. What do you wish to tell me without another ear to hear?”

“My king, my father…” Abner stuttered and felt the weight of his confession sink in. “I do not want to be king.”

His father leaned back in his throne and eyed his son, as if he misheard his words. He paused until he grasped it. “You don’t… want to be king?”

“No.”

“Is there a reason?”

“No.”

The king furrowed his brows in a disapproving way though he always loved his son. “What has come of you, Abner? I will forgive you, but only because you have failed to wrestle with the power of your words. A boy speaks freely without considering what he says but a man is careful with his words—”

“I am careful. I have considered what I say,” Abner said firmly.

The king stared at his son. Towards another the king would have rebuked him for interrupting him and defying the king, but since he was his son he allowed the conversation to change from one less regal and more paternal.

“Abner, the legacy you have been born into is beyond any measurable privilege. Just as you are now, I was raised in this kingdom and watched my father sit on this throne where he watched his father sit upon the throne as have nine generations before him. We are a dynasty of kings, my son.”

“I do not feel like I am a king,” Abner refuted his father’s claim. “I do not wish to sit on the throne as you have nor watch my son sit there.”

“Have I disappointed you as a king? Have I failed as a father?” The king’s words were sincere and fragile.

“Never,” Abner reassured his father. “But it is not the life I desire.”

“My son,” the king said softly. “Who is wise and will say they are worthy to be king? Who can see himself justly and say he deserves the crown? By the eyes of men we fail to determine who needs to be on the throne, but in the eyes of God we let Him call us to be kings. Abner, my son, God has called us to the throne for generations, not by our own will but by His. Do not run from your destiny.”

“My destiny is for mine to determine, father, and I have determined this far it does not lead me to the throne.”

“Why?” the king’s voice rose greatly. “You are my only boy! If you do not become king then our lineage upon the throne ends with me, and I have only a few short years left. Abner, you do not have brothers, you cannot pass on your birthright for there is no one to pass it onto. You will reign well, but do not deceive yourself—”

“I am not deceived!” Abner shouted. “I am sure of who I am and I am not a king! I am called for a simpler life, to be in the countryside with a young wife and children, to grow old and die far away, where no one shall concern themselves with my passing. I am not called to be like you, father; I do not want to be like you father. Since I did not ask to be born in this family, I ask that you grant me this request; since I did not chose my name, I ask you let me chose my life.”

The king’s shoulders sunk in despair. His son pleaded him with earnestly and yet they failed to connect, like foreigners. “My son,” the king spoke slowly. “You give great concern for the life you want, and I hear you. You have explained with great concern that you choose not to be king, and I hear you. Yet you have yet to tell why you do not believe you are a king. Abner, I will listen.”

Abner looked down and pondered his father’s request. “I am not great.”

“Who told you that lie?” the king rebuked.

“No one other than all that I can observe. I see yourself and the family before you and I am not the same. Your lordship is admirable and you carry great power like a feather. Father, you govern the kingdom with an ease leaders aspire towards. When I see my reflection in the mirror, I do not see you. I see a smaller boy who has no right on the throne. I do not hate myself, but I ask that you let me revoke my heir to the throne, for the peoples’ sake, for yours, and for mine.”

The king feebly stood from the throne and walked down the long steps that exalted him. He came to meet his son and held him firmly by the shoulders. “Abner, my son, God did not call you to be like me. You have not been called to be as the men before us, nor imitate the kings of the past. You have been called to be Abner, just as God intended. Do not seek to be other men, but let others show you how to be a man; yet no one can show you how to be yourself aside from you; and greatest of those is to be yourself. Consider this night if you truly seek to revoke your heir to throne. If you return in the morning and tell me you do not wish to be king, I will honor it and will prepare a new king in my place. If you return and tell me you will take my place on the throne, I will honor it and will prepare you as the new king. Whichever you decide you must always remember that I love you, and however you decide you must honor yourself as God intended.”

Abner his father embraced. Abner thanked him for his understanding. He would go home and contemplate who he is that night.