The tiger

He turned and with a firm and rapid step he walked across the empty space. Every heart stopped, every breath was held, every eye was fixed immovably upon that man. Without the slightest hesitation, he went to the door on the right and opened it. There was a flash of orange and the man started to scream but his voice was drowned out by the tigers ravenous roar for human flesh. The tiger lunged for the man, but by some miracle, the man ducked out of the way just in time. The tiger was surprised by the man’s speedy reflexes and ended up on the ground after doing a flip in the air like some circus animal. The man ran to the other side of the colosseum and stood like a man, tall and strong, awaiting his fate. The tiger started to charge again and was rushing towards him when all of a sudden, the tiger slowed down and fell to the ground after rolling a few times. Everyone in the stands led cheers of joy and happiness because even though they knew nothing of what happened, the handsome young man in the colosseum was saved. The king let out a roar of frustration and confusion at what happened. The man walked over to the tiger to make sure it was dead, he poked it a few times but it didn’t show any sign of life. The king dismissed everyone in the stands and the king and his daughter returned to the castle, the princess with a smug look on her face. The man, lover of the princess was returned to the dungeons while the tiger was being examined by the local physician. Later that night, the physician went to the king and told him that the tiger had been poisoned. The king confronted his daughter and she confessed after relentless questioning. The king was so enraged that he decided to execute her lover in two days time. The princess finds out and is so enraged that she confronts the king in front of his peers, but when confronted, he just laughs and tells her to get over it. The execution date is getting closer and the princess decides to save her lover, she is going to kill the king. She grabbed a knife from the kitchen and walks along the shadows. The king was sleeping peacefully when she arrived and she walked to his bed, knife at the ready. She started to raise the knife, but all of a sudden, the king opened his eyes. She saw his eyes, those deep blue eyes that had cared for her when she was a child, the eyes that had protected her and kept her safe through it all. The king reached up and touched her hand and said, “ If you must kill me to satisfy yourself and save your lover, then please do; I would rather die than keep my daughter from her true happiness. I only have one request before you end my life: please don’t make a mistake with your choice because if I die and he lives, then you will perish. I will not tell you why because I don’t want you to let me live just because I have information you need. It does not matter if I live or die; I will still not tell you. I will let you decide with your choice.” The king closed his eyes and lay there as if he never woke up, almost as if it was a dream. The princess stood there frozen in place not knowing what to do. She started to back away, but a hand reached out and grabbed her. The hand was small but strong, she started to scream but the hand muffled the sound and someone turned on the light. She was on the ground with her father staring at her with angry and betrayed eyes. She wanted to run to him and tell him that she was sorry and deserved whatever punishment he gave her, but she couldn’t because there was someone behind her with a knife held to her throat. The man behind her released her and she ran to her father but she was stopped by a knife to the chest, she fell to her knees and looked into the eyes of her killer: the eyes of her lover. She started to yell, but suddenly, her lover grabbed her and whispered in her ear, “I will always love you, forever and always.” The king laughed and clapped his hands, he went up to the man and punched him in the face. He fell on the ground with a bloody face. The king knelt down beside him and said, “You have served me well, young man; it’s a shame I can’t keep you around for a while, but you must go and warn the others. Tell them their princess has been murdered, but don’t let them see your face. After you do that, you may return to your family with no debts.”