Inktober 2025 - 3 - Crown

"Heavy is the head that wears the crown."

These words echoed in Rik's mind as he stared at his reflection on the surface of the lake. He was particularly focused on the thin silver line over his brow, and going all the way around his head in a perfect circle. There were the tiniest of spikes all along its edge. The crown wasn't massive, but it was definitely noticeable. It seemed to him that he should be able to feel it on his head, and yet… How long had it been there? When was the last time he had looked in a reflective surface? He couldn't remember.

Earlier, when people had started staring at him as he walked across the town market to sell his goods - what game he had caught, and what fruit, herbs, and roots he had gathered -, he hadn't understood why. At first, he had guessed there was dirt on his face, but passersby had not seemed amused, disapproving, or embarrassed; no, they had looked scared. And not the level of scared you may get when someone still has dried blood on them, the genuine kind of scared. So, he had hastily concluded what little business he had there, and he had headed for the nearest body of water. That's when he had noticed the crown.

He did not dare to touch it, but it would not matter anyway. He knew he would not be able to take it off. That was how it worked in this land. Leaders were not elected, nor did they get where they were through lineage. True power could not be gained in battle or through corruption of any kind. A crown simply appeared on your head, and that meant your word was law, your judgement, final.

Rik did not want this responsibility. He was well aware of what had happened to previous monarchs. One of them had gone so mad that the crown had disappeared from his head before his death. The rest had mostly been killed at an early age by the very people they were tasked with ruling over. The latest one, she had been beheaded. And not with a guillotine, but with an axe. Nasty way to go… Very few died of natural causes, and even among those, none had an easy life. They spent it attempting - and failing - to satisfy everyone, dealing with complaints day in and day out. No, Rik did not want that.

He wondered what would happen if he simply refused. If he kept going on with his life as he always had, in the wild, away from the crowds, hunting and gathering peacefully in the middle of nature, far from the troubles of man. Would that be allowed? Would the crown leave, if he did nothing to wield the power it granted him? But did it even grant him any power, or was it the other way around, and he had that crown because he already had that power over people? Maybe he could lead by example…