A/N: Okay, this fic is sorta a song-fic, but the lyrics do not, in any way go with it. I suggest you listen to the song while reading it, just to encourage the feeling of the fic. =D
Karma Police -- Radiohead
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Karma Police...
Arrest this man,
He talks in maths.
He buzzes like a fridge,
He's like a detuned radio...
Roald of Conte stared up into the faces of his mother and father in the portrait gallery - King Jonathan III and Queen Thayet.
Why, oh why did they, of all people, have to be his parents, or why did they have to be royal? It just made it worse for him. How he wanted to be normal, but instead he made people feel nervous around him, and being called, "Your Majesty," was enough for him. He absolutely hated being royal.
First he had to go through a year of etiquettes, taught by his parents. His brother and sister, Kalasin and Jasson, went through it also, but he had to be taught more. How to be very wise in making friends, since he was heir to the throne, he couldn't become too close to somebody. And how to handle a crisis, of say, famine. And since he was going to be training in the palace with other boys, he would have to be friendly with everybody, not making anybody jealous.
He had to make people listen to him, and to be very polite, and not joke around. He had to be betrothed to some Yamani princess. He couldn't choose who he wanted to marry, even when his father got to.
Roald had never had any real affection of love from his parents, no hugs, no encourages, and even his name was in honour of his grandfather.
Okay, so what if his father had to go through all that also? Wait, no, he didn't. He had friends, Gareth the younger, and Raoul of Goldenlake. Oh, and of course Alanna of Trebond, or Pirate's Swoop.
Karma Police...
Arrest this girl,
Her Hitler hairdo,
Is making me feel ill.
And we have crashed her party...
Now Roald was outside of the portrait gallery, heading toward the library. He passed Keladry of Mindelan's room. He knew she had it hard, being a girl going through this, and his father made it no easier. For one year she had to be a probationer, extra tricky and hard for her. She seemed not to like his father too much, but it was hard to tell.
He sighed, looking down. But Keladry, or Kel, liked him fair enough, and knew he didn't like to command, and use his position. She was sympathetic towards him, only sometimes, when people asked him to force someone to do something.
'Oh well,' he thought as he pushed the library door open. He was going to be king one day, and he'll have to command. He wasn't looking forward to his father's death, and when he'd be crowned king. Some people think being a king is absolutely wonderful, having everything you wanted. But really, there isn't much to want.
This what you get...
This is what you get,
This is what you get,
when you mess with us.
Oh, those were normal people's dreams. And Roald dreamed of being normal. Nealan of Queenscove seemed normal enough, and Roald envied him. He had friends, could joke around, not worrying about anything, except for work assigned to him. Neal could marry anyone of his choice, become a knight, and take it on from there.
Roald took a book off a shelf, flipping through it's contents. Oh woe. It was a myth about King Midas, and the gift he received from the god Bacchus. Everything he touched turned to gold, but realized that was not important, but his daughter was worth more than gold.
He jammed the book back into the shelf, and took another off the same shelf. Roald sighed yet again, seeing that it was about dreams and how they can be achieved.
He shook his head, his dream of being "normal" would never come true.
Karma Police...
I've given all I can,
It's not enough...
I've given all I can,
But we're still on the payroll...
He wondered suddenly, if anybody cared about him. Sure, his parents and siblings did, but not anybody else... He wasn't somebody to think much about. He didn't have a best friend who would care about him... And the Yamani princess probably was just worrying about what kind of a person Roald was.
But one day, people will care about him, not yet, but they will, soon. He was going to be king. King of all Tortall. People to look after, wars to lead, that was his future. Somebody had to lead the fights that others fought in. Somebody that everybody died for. And that person was him. He didn't know to either grimace or to grin.
But right now, he was just Roald, the heir to it the kingdom. Not the king himself, just the heir. And he needed to live and breathe every minute before becoming the king.
This what you get...
This is what you get,
This is what you get,
when you mess with us.
For a minute there...
I lost myself... I lost myself
Phew, for a minute there,
I lost myself... I lost myself
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A/N: Yeah, I know, corny ending. But I couldn't get the feel of the last part. Oh well. I just had to type this out, it's been on my mind for a week or more now... Flame it, compliment it, whatever. There are some things I don't remember as clearly, like if Shinkokami died or not. Oh, and this is a one-shot.