Casualties of Love

Let me tell you a story, about love…

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, lies the Kingdom of Aramtea, a Kingdom of hills and valleys. Aramtea was ruled by a wise and learned King, a King loved and venerated by the masses regardless of creed and class. The King ruled with a fair hand and was assisted by his Princes and his courtiers.

One such Prince was Prince Ohim, a Viceroy of South Aramtea, who was a humble and care-free bachelor, well-liked by the people under his care. He had a lover, Reyna, the Court Historian, but as Prince Ohim preferred a care-free lifestyle, he had never agreed to marry Reyna or loved her as a lover. Reyna’s love however was unconditional, and she loved him despite the lack of love from Prince Ohim.

At Prince Ohim’s fort in South Aramtea, stayed four young daughters of the Ukhara, a warrior clan from a friendly neighbouring land. The Ukhara had always assisted Aramtea in matters concerning defense and as a matter of fact, provided most of the Generals and soldiers of Aramtea. The four daughters were however not soldiers but court maidens of the Ukhara, brought there by Reyna to help Prince Ohim with matters concerning the upkeep and running of his abode, the Fort at South Aramtea. With time, Prince Ohim grew to regard the four maidens with high regards and loved them as his followers.

The King of Aramtea also loved and regarded these four maidens as his own daughters, and the maidens in turn regarded the King as their father. One day, the King brought his favourite among the four Ukhara maidens, Hara to the King’s Palace in North Aramtea to assist him for a short while and Hara was promised that she would be returned to South Aramtea in a short time. A month went by, and then another, but Hara still stayed in the King’s Palace in North Aramtea. Hara was a sweet and charming maiden, kind and caring to all but the worst. She was also brave and could as much wield the sword as she could prepare the most sumptious of food. Like Prince Ohim, Hara was care-free, always cheerful and had provided Prince Ohim which much joy during her stay in South Aramtea. Hara would always bid Prince Ohim farewell when he had to carry out a mission away from the Fort and would wait for his return even when her other sisters were asleep. Hara used to come up with ways to cheer Prince Ohim up when he was unhappy and to keep him company during bad times.

When message finally came to Prince Ohim, that Hara, due to the long absence from her sisters, was feeling alone and sad in North Aramtea, Prince Ohim decided to return a favour to Hara by conveying daily messages to the King’s Palace to cheer Hara up. As time went on, a love slowly blossomed between Prince Ohim and Hara, and in one of his messages to Hara, Prince Ohim finally proposed to Hara for her hand in marriage, and Hara happily accepted although both knew that a marriage between two people of different cultures and backgrounds would be difficult, but love knew no boundaries. When the King found out about the proposal after Hara confided in him, the King was furious, as unbeknownst to others, the King harboured a secret love for Hara, beyond the love as a father figure. Blinded by love, the King started wooing Hara for himself regardless of his love for the Queen or his Princes. Prince Ohim and Hara were distraught and appealed to the King to extend his consent and blessing but the King persisted, intent on winning the heart of Hara at any cost.

On the other side, jilted and overcomed by grief, Reyna became emotionally unstable and plotted with the King to put an end to the love of Prince Ohim and Hara. The King banished Prince Ohim from North Aramtea and forbade Hara from leaving North Aramtea, so that he could poison Hara’s mind to break her love for Prince Ohim. When the Ukhara found out about the whole issue, they demanded for their daughter to be returned to them. Unbeknownst to all but the Ukhara, Hara had been earlier betrothed to a prince of the Ukhara. The Ukhara took the opportunity to force Hara to marry her Ukhara betrothed, bringing much grief and sorrow to Hara. Prince Ohim secretly sneaked back to North Aramtea to try to stop the marriage, but had to grievingly concede to prevent bloodshed and conflict between Aramtea and the Ukhara.

There is no happy ending to this story. There are no winners in this affair, as everyone is selfish to a certain extent, especially when it comes to love.
The King had to live with the shame of knowing that because of his selfishness, he betrayed the trust of the Queen and his princes and to finally swallow his pride and learn that sometimes the cost is too high to pay, if one wants to win something at any cost, the price this time, the grief of all concerned, especially to his beloved, Hara and to the Queen.
The Queen had to live with the fact that the King betrayed her love and trust.
Reyna had to suffer grief and sorrow as Prince Ohim loved someone else despite her unconditional love for him.
Prince Ohim had to pay for the consequences of leading Reyna on, and had to suffer the sorrow and difficulty of breaking his promise and having to tell Hara that he is leaving her so that she can forget about the Prince and put undivided love to her betrothed, despite Prince Ohim’s promise to Hara that he will never leave her and will help bring her away no matter what the consequences.
Hara had to learn that the things one does some times although insignificant earlier, may come back to haunt one, like agreeing to the betrothal without putting enough thought to it, and to suffer the pain and anguish of not being able to do what she truly desires.
The Ukhara prince had to suffer the grief and sorrow of knowing that her betrothed, Hara’s heart had gone to someone else although Hara married him.

Looking on the bright side, the King and Prince Ohim can finally put their feud at rest. The King can learn that sometimes you have to accept that you are fallible. The Queen can get back the undivided love of the King. Reyna can finally learn that love cannot be forced and that Prince Ohim’s heart would never be hers so that she can move on with life. Prince Ohim can discover that Hara had a betrothed before and he can move on with life as Hara is now already married. Prince Ohim and Hara can learn that there are always consequences to the actions one does. Hara can hopefully focus undividedly on her new life with her husband now. The Ukhara prince can regain Hara, and hopefully in time, Hara can give undivided love to him. Aramtea can save the shame of a big scandal. The Ukhara can save the honour of their community.