You have developed an intreging idea and suddenly twisted the unthinkable. It is a moral dilemma that really makes one think. I like reading your well developed stories. YOU ARE AWESOME.

A real shiver went through me when I read the words, "but he couldn’t be the man that our people needed", and realised that the king must have had a hand in his own brothers death. That, my friend, was a brilliantly executed twist.

The only part I have a couple of suggestions for is the two paragraphs at the very end. The king's narrative is an excellent build-up for the last line, but I think since that build-up is so long then the last line might have more impact if you end the king's dialogue before going on to the description of the historian, instead of putting that last little bit of dialogue after the description. (i.e. Put "The Historian couldn’t speak... &c." after "'Did I do the right thing?'”.) That way you'd move smoothly more smoothly from the king's perspective to the historian's and then to the ending line.

But I'm not even sure exactly what I'm saying, and it's your story to write and rewrite as you want. Not to mention it's already one of the best I've ever read on this site; I love the characterization of the Historian and the king. Amazing work on this one!

Osprey

I can understand why the Historian had trouble coming up with an answer. The only thing I would have asked the Emperor is if he thought about advising his brother on what he should do, help his brother to be a great man. A really well written piece. Keep Writing.