As Hero, Amanda, and the members of the Taxi Resistance watch in wonder, the flame grows, and the laugh of the King is heard again. As midnight falls over Burning Place, a light appears, a small flower of flame amidst the ashes of the pyre. Death has done what it will always do.īut-as we know, as Lucy and Susan discovered at the Stone Table-in stories like these, death is never quite the end. The pyre is lit, and the death drums roll. The King speaks not a word in his defense, and the frenzied crowd begins a procession to Burning Place.
The King’s sacrifice will be the reprieve of all their sentences.
KINGDOM TALES DAVID MAINS FREE
In Traffic Court, the Enchanter agrees to free all of the prisoners currently in his custody in exchange for the life of the King. After the exodus, however, Big Operator is killed and the King is captured. With the help of Big Operator of the Taxi Resistance, the King leads an Orphan Exodus out of Enchanted City, freeing all the children who had been captive under the Enchanter and welcoming them to a new life in Great Park. In the final chapters of Tales of the Resistance, the authors draw a closer allegory of the true story of Jesus Christ. One night the King attends the play at the Palace of Players Thespia recognizes him for who he is, and at his invitation, she joins him in his work, using her own gifts to tell others about the Kingdom.Īnd Thespia became a street player in the back alleys and dead ends of Enchanted City, acting out the King’s story in such a way that all who saw her suspected-then hoped-that there was a real kingdom. As she acts out the old city “myths” about a long-ago king, she fills her lines with fervent wishes that they would be true, that there really would be a king who speaks hope to her city. Thespia has a true heart for her work her past pain and her belief that there must be a better life somewhere inspire her and fill her with empathy for the people and passion for the stories she is telling. My favorite story, however, is the one about Thespia, the Most Beautiful Player of All, who takes the stage each night at Palace of Players to present stories to the people. In each case, we also see how the King restores these children to light and happiness and frees them from their fears. The reader meets Sewer Rat and Boiler Brat, children who are forced to work in the city’s underground power supplier, and Carny, a young girl whose encounter with the Enchanter has left her fearful and withdrawn. While coming back to touch on Hero’s actions at points, the narrative turns to other individuals to show what life is like in Enchanted City during this time of the Enchanter’s rule. Hero finds a place in the city with the Taxi Resistance, a group of the King’s men and women, as the Keeper of the Chronicle of Sightings of the King. Like Tales of the Kingdom, this book begins and ends with Hero’s quest in Enchanted City and includes several side stories in between, while setting the tone and developing momentum for the final dramatic conclusion. In this second volume of his story, the time has come to serve, and Hero leaves everything that he knows is safe and returns to the Enchanted City, the place of his sad and frightened childhood. When we left Hero at the conclusion of Tales of the Kingdom, he was still a boy, learning and growing in Great Park with the goal of returning to the Enchanted City to do the King’s work there. I’m not sure if one is allowed to play favorites with a trilogy of books but if so, Tales of the Resistance is my favorite of the Kingdom Tales series. Once upon a time there was a lad, with boyhood behind him and manhood close, who heard the call of the King to follow him into Enchanted City and do the work of the Kingdom… To read about the first book in the series, click here. This post features the second book in David and Karen Mains’ Kingdom Tales series.