Category: The Dreams Of The Waiting Prince

The Ninth Dream Of The Waiting Prince

Now this morning my Lord recounted to me his most recent dream. And he said to me, “My dear scribe, last night as I slept, I dreamt. And I saw again the Lady Of The Silver Hair, and now she showed to me the Charts Of The Known Kingdoms and the Maps Of The Unknown Expanses, and said to me that only by my hand could these separate worlds be reconciled. So she handed to me a needle, and a basket of yarn, in which there lay many millions of threads, and told me to choose from this bundle the strongest, for only one among them would prove to her my worth. Now each thread was indistinguishable from the others, and I knew not which one to choose, and I soon became frantic as I searched, for there were too many to check, and time was short. Yet I placed the threads back in the basket, and handed the basket back to the Lady, and said that of these threads I would not choose. But though she looked at first as if rebuked, when I took the thread of her silver hair, which in a dream once from her own head she had plucked and placed around my own wrist, she smiled. For I had shown her I was worthy of her trust, and together we joined the halves of the world, and for the first time made it whole.”

The Eighth Dream Of The Waiting Prince

Now this morning my Lord spoke to me of his dream of the night before. And he said to me, “My dear scribe, last night as I slept I dreamt. And I saw the clouds below the High Palace, and I saw the unblemished skies above. And I saw the unblemished skies above the High Palace reflected in the waters of the Lake Of Thought in which I swam. And I saw the clouds below the High Palace reflected in the mirrored ceilings underneath which I swam. And I saw a bird in both reflections, though no birds fly above the clouds, nor none below the unblemished sky.”

The Sixth Dream Of The Waiting Prince

This morning, my Lord recounted to me his dreams of the night before. And of his second dream, my Lord said to me, “My dear scribe, last night as I slept, I dreamt. And this dream was as comforting to me as the silence of these halls, for in it I was aboard a ship of such majesty it surely came from the boatyards of the First Emperor, who in his achievements has among us no equal. And beside me sat a Lady, of beauty unsurpassed, and with a wisdom that was revealed in every word from her lips, and every gesture of her body, and from the choice of clothes that she wore, that showed to me the depths of her elegance and understanding of occasion. And when I asked her for her name, and where she was from, so that I might find her in the waking world, in reply she simply smiled, and from her head plucked a single strand of silver hair, and tied it round my wrist, and whispered then in my ear that by this thread I shall know her, and find her, and together soon shall we be bound, in happiness, in joy, in love, in duty, beneath the blessing of the suns, and the moons, and the stars of all our worlds.”

The Fifth Dream Of The Waiting Prince

This morning, my Lord recounted to me his dreams of the night before. Now of his first dream, he said to me, “My dear scribe, yesterday, as I meditated in the evening sun, I found myself beginning to slumber, and as I slept, I dreamt. Yet when I woke, it was still light, and so to you I was not permitted then to speak. And though I tried my best to remember the facts of this dream, it began soon to fade. And by this morning no trace of it was left, except for a vague impression of its effect on me, for it had been a vision of beauty equal to that of the setting sun.”

The Fourth Dream Of The Waiting Prince

And this morning, of his latest dream, my Lord said to me, “My dear scribe, last night as I slept, I dreamt. And in this dream I stood on the balcony of the Palace Of The Imminent Prince, and looked across the waters of the Lake Of Stately Repose, and saw there in the garden of the Palace Of The Emperor’s Reign my father, beckoning me to join him at his side. And so I crossed the Lake, by means of the Jagged Bridge, and with each step the flowers before me blossomed and bloomed, while behind me they wilted, their petals scattering in the wind. And the waters of the Lake turned silver, and resembled beneath me a mirror, in which I saw this world and the other in equal clarity. Now when I reached my father’s shore, the Palace by then was empty, and though I searched could find there no memories of the Emperor, nor any evidence of his reign. And when I looked back across the Lake, I hoped to glimpse a figure there, so I could beckon them to follow me, and witness the glory of my reign. But all across the lake a mist had settled, and not even the nearest edge of the Jagged Bridge could by then be seen.”

The Third Dream Of The Waiting Prince

Now this morning my Lord spoke of his most recent dream. And he said to me, “My dear scribe, last night as I slept, I dreamt. And this dream was as calm as the waters of the Lake Of Thought, in which yesterday I bathed. For I dreamt I was in the bed of my Palace, and sleeping soundly. And as I slept, I dreamt. And this dream was as calm as the waters of the Lake Of Thought, in which yesterday I bathed. For I dreamt I was in the bed of my School House, and sleeping soundly. And as I slept, I dreamt. And this dream was as calm as the waters of the Lake Of Thought, in which yesterday I bathed. For I dreamt I was in the cot of my Nursery, and sleeping soundly. And as I slept, I dreamt. And this dream was as calm as the waters of the Lake Of Thought, in which yesterday I bathed. For I dreamt I was in the womb of my Mother, and sleeping soundly. And though I slept, I dreamt not at all. For I had then all I wanted, and no thought of anything more.”

The Second Dream Of The Waiting Prince

And this morning my Lord recounted to me his dream of the night before, though of course this dream was one born of the turmoil of the day before, in which the events that occurred were numerous and unending, and so there should to this vision be ascribed no special meaning, for it has not derived its power from any meditation undertaken within these halls of solitude. So to me he said, “My dear scribe, last night as I slept, I dreamt. And this dream was as troubled as my sleep, for in it I was pursued by the waves of the Circular Sea, which rose and rose, no matter how high I ascended the stairs of the Endless Spire. And at each window a new wave broke against the walls, and burst into violent explosions of spray, which threatened to knock me from my feet, and sweep me down the steps back to where from I had come. And though I never fell, nor even stumbled, there was upon me a fear that soon I would, for surely I would tire soon, and the rising tide would then outpace me. Yet still I climbed, and in my exhaustion I woke long before I reached the top.”

The First Dream Of The Waiting Prince

Now this morning I woke to find the doors to the Palace had been opened, for the period of solitude was to begin, the date having been set for my Lord’s ascension to the throne. As is customary at such a time, my Lord had journeyed here to the High Palace for this period of reflection, lasting one short year, until the ceremonies of the Emperor’s Passage Into Heaven and the Emperor’s Ascension To The Throne, where the crown shall be taken from his father’s head, and placed upon his own, beneath the light of the Second Sun, in the Summer Palace of The Golden Realm, through the Mist Of The Burning Pyre, for though the line of the Emperor’s reign may on occasion be cut, never shall it break.

Here in his solitude, only upon his rising in the morning shall he speak, so as to recount to me his dreams of the night before. And though as his chosen scribe I am allowed to record them, it is for others to study their meaning, and find in these visions the knowledge and wisdom that shall guide his reign, for within these dreams are the portents of his future, and his future is the future of the Empire, and as we all know the Empire is the future of us all, his lowly subjects, who are blessed to walk the ground and sail the skies that in their glory are to be his and his alone.

So to me did my Lord hand this pen, and the scrolls upon which I am to write, and though he was not yet permitted to speak, he said to me, “My dear Scribe, last night as I slept, I dreamt. And as I dreamt, I slept.” And then he took to the chambers of his solitude for a moment of rest, and lay down there to sleep.