The New Yorker

The main was bounding and the ship was leaping. Sickness was general among the landlubbers (though not the sailors). The deck was every day slick, slick for seven whole days, ever since they'd left their homeland coast. Prince was in the captain's office, observing the captain looking over maps and charts as he tried his darnedest to understand exactly where they were, how north and how east, with only the looks of a neighbouring kingdom on the starboard side as guide. The captain said: "We've got a fair ways to go still; we're being pushed back by the winds and the waves."

Prince frowned and cursed. "Every extra day is a day wasted. Is it because of the timing of our launch?"

"I've never seen it quite like this," said the more mature of the two. "I think it may clear up overnight. If not, we're breaking a record for bad May days."

"There's other causes, though."

"I'm not a superstitious man. I don't believe your tales."

"The worse the beginning, the better the ending. Have you never heard tell of that?"

"That's just a sentence."

"Yes, but it's a good sentence."

"We're taking it an hour at a time, Prince. We don't know the future, and your old wives don't know anything about the truth either."

"Yes; I suppose it's a matter of falsifiability."

Prince was tall and strong; his father, King, was strong and tall, too. Both had straight auburn hair and green eyes. What of Prince's mother? What was she like? And what about his sister? Again, they were alike. We'll return to those characters later.

As for the captain, he'd seen a lot, and looked the part. Under his grizzled beard could be seen a scar one didn't dare mention, so hidden was it: his beard had a line of non-beard within it, where the scar tissue was. Prince understood the wound came from a battle with pirates, or possibly that the captain was himself one of the pirates, but no-one knew for sure. (He also had a scar on his forehead that would turn red when he got irate.) He could walk solidly, in all weathers, across decks practically vertical. He knew the waters, and he knew their destination. It had been mentioned to him once, and he knew how to get there, and that was enough said.

He said to Prince: "We may prove those ladies wrong yet. I hope you have you will prepared."

Prince replied: "Actually, I don't possess anything. I'm a ward of King's until I attain a mature status."

"And when will that be?"

"I don't know. I've never asked."

The captain snorted. "I've been on my own since forever. Cabin boy, sailor, other things in my youth. You've been lucky. Very lucky."

"Being a prince named Prince has its advantages."

"I understand. Anyhow, It's late. You should see if you can get some shut-eye. Goodnight, sweet Prince."

Prince left the office and went down below. He climbed into his hammock, and tried to sleep some, but it didn't come soon enough to prevent him from thinking.

Two days earlier, when three days out, Prince's chamberlain had come into Prince's cabin. The chamberlain looked quite worse for wear, so had the sea been treating him. He had been in Prince's service all his life even though he was only three years' senior. He suddenly left the cabin, to vomit off the side of the ship, then returned. "Prince," he said: "Why did you let me come along? Why did you insist so for me to accompany you?"

Prince laughed and said: "Because you're such interesting company! Oh, fine. It's because I couldn't make this journey solo, so naturally I chose you to come with me. I'm pretty sure I'll need your advice more than twice once we reach the far-flung shore; and besides, you know foreign languages better than myself, and that will come in handy; or at least I think it will give me something of an advantage."

The chamberlain sat down at the cabin's writing desk and asked: "Advantage over what?"

Prince looked up at the low ceiling. He had never been so close to a ceiling before, and it put him in a pensive mood. "I don't know what to expect. There could be other suitors to Princess, and some persuasion may be in order, through a common language."

The chamberlain nodded. "I see your point. I take back my complaint. I should help you in any way I can, but please let's get off this ship as soon as possible!"

Prince relied: "The captain told me we should get there in four days. Can you hang on until then? Please, just, hang on until then."

The chamberlain sighed, loudly so. "Moving along ... how will you know her, once we get off this godforsaken sea?"

Prince looked off dreamily. "Simple. Royals, see, have an aura, and I expect to know Princess by her aura. It's a kind of a purple glow, with little radiant lines going up to heaven, I suppose. So, I'm sure everybody near and far, but mostly near, know she's Princess, if you only ask."

"That's all well and good, I suppose, but how do you know she even exists?"

Prince had a youthful authority. "There has to be a princess there, named Princess, just as sure as I'm a prince named Prince. It's a kingdom, right? My father said so, and every kingdom has a princess. I'm certain her name is Princess. She's almost a goddess!"

The chamberlain replied: "I suppose I have to take your intuition to heart, Prince my prince. We're not going to turn back--yet still I regret agreeing to this horrible journey."

"The sea will settle down, just you wait. I've heard tell it's always darkest before the dawn."

"Is the entirety of your knowledge things you've read in books of proverbs? You seem to believe in almost anything that sounds superficially and intelligently counter-intuitive."

"But--I haven't been wrong yet! So there has to be some truth to it."

Things turned out quite differently, five days later. The sea had calmed some, but the landscape had not: still the same white earth with the odd tree on it and looking pathetic. A whale had been spotted the day before, a great northern whale, with its great bursts of spray blasting in the distance. On the upper deck, the captain replied to a question of Prince's: "No, we are moving. Look out and you can see the land passing us by. By my charts, we have about four days and three nights to get."

"Including today, I suppose," said Prince.

The captain looked at him sternly. "It is terribly unlucky to jest with the captain of the vessel upon which you are taking up space as a passenger."

Prince stopped for a moment before replying, for he had realized his logical error. "Yes, captain," he replied simply. "The sea has calmed some," he continued.

"A very little. I'm considering taking it a bit slowly, because there are signs of another storm brewing. See? Over there?" He pointed north by northwest. Prince looked carefully at the patch of sky, back and forth, but saw nothing for he couldn't see with a captain's eyes. He said: "Yes, I see."

The captain said: "I must go down to my office, for there's some numbers that must be crunched concerning the cargo we might be taking on in A‑."

Prince bowed and the captain bowed. The captain went below. Prince looked again at the sky and wondered what he would be seeing if he could see like a captain.

After a while he started feeling the cold north and descended, down to the cabin spaces, below which lay the storage spaces containing all the things not wanted on the voyage, including his regal clothing, touring clothing, hiking clothing, and winter clothing; gifts of gold and silver and jewels for whomever he would have to charm (including Princess); plus stocks of dried food just in case things went sideways wherever they were. Prince went into his chamberlain's cabin. The chamberlain, greener than usual, was lying in his hammock with his eyes closed. He was groaning softly. Prince watched him for a while, wondering if he had been wrong to bring him on this so-far-terrible journey. Suddenly he dismissed the thought, for the chamberlain was his servant and no-one else's, to be commanded at will for any task. "Chamberlain," he said.

The chamberlain opened his eyes and looked over. "I was dreaming of a shipwreck. The noise was incredible, all splintering wood and the screams of men calling for their mothers to aid. Phew! I'm still alive. I was thinking of jumping off the ship and making do with the salt waters."

"You wouldn't survive five minutes, or so the captain has told me. The water is extremely cold, and no-one could hope to ever survive."

"Like I said: I'd still want to take my chances. Why did we ever leave? Do you recall the day we set sail? Weren't we so hopeful?"

And Prince recalled that day, while his chamberlain quietly went from one green to another and back again. The crowd had been small, for he was only a prince setting out on a sea journey.

Few from the court showed up to see them off. Queen, his mother, was there, perhaps from true affection, for the lady had known Prince his entire life. (Prince's sister, Princess, didn't show.) The exchequer there, to oversee the expenses involved, and looking to it that there weren't any 'empty calories' in the hold, for all had to be proteins plentiful and roots readily, on such a voyage to some far-off and mysterious land. Also in attendance was also a priest, brought by Queen, to watch the skies and offer offerings.

The townspeople were curious to see the action, and they were there plentifully. They had never before seen a royal. In fact, it had been twenty-five years or so since their little harbour had any play in the greater scheme of things. A single ship, a fated decoy ship, had been sent out from the harbour to entice any number of ships from the professional piracy towards itself to reduce in any slight way the odds of an attack on Prince's vessel. What happened to the decoy ship? I don't know, for I'm not omniscient.

But on the day when Prince's ship set sail, all the townsfolk felt a part of something greater than themselves. This was Prince their prince to sail, to who knew where, after someone named Princess, absurd though that name was. For all they knew, Prince would have to go through trials involving but not limited to sea monsters and giants and wizards. They, like all people that day, were in the dark.

And so was Prince, certainly. "How do you know she exists? Did you receive any notice at all of her being? What does she look like? How will you know her when you see her? Does she have some special mark on her? Can you even mention a single letter in her other names? A? E? I? O? U? You don't have a clear clue about what you're doing or why. You have no experience of the world. You may never return, even if you survive the journey. There's so much unknown, and yet you're still going to do it."

Prince answered himself. "Yes, I am going to do it. My reasons are hidden by myself from myself. Something has to be done. Action must take place."

"Are you lacking in companionship? Your father King can provide anything for you. Women, girls, men, boys. You can change your mind. You can invent some excuse to save face. The winter is coming. An augur warned you against it, saying Princess is dead or deformed in some way."

"No, it's something I'm destined to do. I must go, and so I go. I'm travelling across the world, on faith alone. I know I'm right in this, and there's nothing more to be said about it."

"Well, have it your way. It's your funeral."

"It'll be yours too."

"Don't I know it!"

Fifteen or sixteen days later, maybe seventeen or eighteen, the captain said they had reached the bay or fjord which was their destination, and the end of his services. "Somewhere in there, according to certain stories, is Princess, or someone much like her. Let's get you into your small boats and ashore. You'll have to find your own way from here on in. Take this rough map and this compass. Good luck to all of you!"

Prince, the chamberlain, and their retinue of ten climbed into the three boats they'd already paid for and rowed ashore, taking a fourth boat full to the 'wales with provisions and gifts. The captain had told them he would be sailing somewhat nearby, but that he would certainly be back in four months.

The ship sailed away speedily before they were even ashore.

The chamberlain said: "There goes what we know; and now we will be amidst all sorts of things we do not know. So, what do we have here?"

They looked around. They saw nothing but a beach and rocks and cliffs. The place was quite deserted.

Prince looked over the map. "It seems we should head directly inland. There's something like a road, or perhaps it's only a topographical line. In any case, we'll want to move inland. Any ideas, anyone?"

Everyone shuffled around nervously, all being afraid to speak in the royal Presence. Finally, one after another, they nodded resignedly, for, as I've indicated, they had nothing to say.

They moved up an angle of a hill, and a half and hour later found themselves at the top of it, with a view of the surrounding country for all to see. They'd come to something of a forest, unusual in its place but there it was. Trees as far as the eye could see, with depressions where it was safe to assume were rivers, went off into the far distance, and in the distance, far away, some smoke arose in a pleasantly vertical shaft. It looked like a sign of civilization to Prince.

"Chamberlain," he said, pointing: "That looks like it may be a habitation, don't you think?"

The chamberlain looked to the distance and paused for some time in thought. "No, I don't think it's a habitation. However, I think we should go in its direction. We'll be able to spot it as we go along."

"If it's not a habitation, why should we go towards it?"

"Look around at all these trees. There is something keeping this vast valley fertile and fine, and the source of that smoke is, in effect, the source of the trees."

"Stop talking in riddles, man. I don't have time for riddles! What is the thing that is the source?"

"A volcano. It has made this valley what it is. There are probably springs galore in the valley, and where there are springs there's likely to be people. We must move along; we will come to people in a short time."

Prince put his hand on his chamberlain's arm. "Yes, we have to go towards the volcano.

"You see, perhaps a week and a half before we departed, I visited our wizard. You know who I mean. He knew by then that I was planning to go in search of Princess, so he knew I was coming to him for some fortune-telling or augury. I didn't know at the time which direction we would sail--that didn't get hashed out til two or three days later--so neither of us knew, and he didn't ask and I didn't tell. We were in his large round room, the one with the octagonal table and crystal ball in the middle of it, and sat side by side, turned at slight angles. He asked politely about King and Queen and Princess--my sister, not the one we are pursuing--and I asked him if the plants and animals in his menagerie were healthy and happy. He nodded ambiguously, then turned away.

"Turning back after a spell--meaning a period of time, not some hocus-pocus--he said: 'I'm seeing a triangle in your future. The base is upon the earth, and it slopes to a peak. Ah, I see it's a mountain of some sort, somewhere in your future. O goodness me, I see smoke rising from it! Is it on fire, is it a mountain forest fire? No, for it is merely smoke. It's not on fire, at least not yet.

"'Now I see it: it is what people call a volcano. We don't have more than tales about volcanoes, yet we know, from the ancients, that they exist and are marvellous enticing and dangerous. (Dancing upon volcanoes is, I understand, a popular sport in some realms.) The volcano I see in your future is a synecdoche of your desire, or maybe I'm looking for that word's opposite: it would take more research to discover that word than is worthy. If you find a volcano, go towards it, for there lies your desire.'

"'Should I attempt to dance upon it?' I asked.

"He laughed and said: 'I hope it doesn't come to that! I hope you find Princess before it comes to that.'

"I took his words away and pondered them. Consider a mountain with smoke coming off its top. What was the cause of the smoke? Fire is always the cause of smoke. What is the fire? It must be from inside the volcano. I imagined this to be a figure for myself and my heart, or for Princess and her heart. Either way would work as a figure. I wrote two sonnets about volcanoes in the next day. And now I see it before me, or so it appears to be, yes, a volcano hither. We absolutely must go to the volcano; to meet Princess, or to dance with desire."

They set off.

Ten or eleven days later, they--eleven by that time--were at the base of the volcano. They were still as alone as ever in the foreign landscape. They made camp in an ashy clearing denuded of ground vegetation, with strange and hardy trees high overhead. Whatever kinds of trees they were, they were serious trees. Survivors, let us say. With deep roots, naturally. The barks were hard as rocks, and the company had to scramble off in a semicircle to find firewood, for the trees overhead weren't afraid of fire, not by any means.

And still, all night long, not a sign of any inhabitants, let alone princesses.

Prince said: "I suppose we have to go past the volcano; maybe what we're after is on the other side."

The chamberlain laughed mockingly. "I thought you were going to dance upon it."

The looked up the slope at the peak of the volcano, or at least the part they could see. Silent smoke drifted lazily upwards. Prince said: "Maybe we can put that bit off until we get to the other side. It's a pretty tall thing, this volcano. It didn't look so big from a distance."

"No, it didn't. It's rather formidable. We'll go around, to the east side. We should split into two parties with one going north- and the other going south-east."

This seemed to be an excellent idea. They drew up some sketches based on their imaginations, figuring they would help. Really, it was simply a circle with arrows around it. I hope you can see what kinds of problems could arise.

Nonetheless, the following morning, they broke up into two parties. Prince and five of the spear-carriers went the northern way, while the chamberlain and four spear-carriers went to the south. They bid adieux and set off for the other side of the volcano.

Prince and his motley pushed through the ashes and the rock-hard trees for an entire day, checking the sun from time to time to understand where they might be. They found themselves heading due east, with the obvious volcano on their right. Still no signs of Princess. The path they were making broke around a flying buttress of lava, and they were going south-east then. Princess! Princess! They guessed they were on the exact opposite side of the volcano, and night was falling, so they lit a large fire with whatever they could scrounge and waited for the chamberlain's party. Surely they wouldn't have to wait that long, they told themselves (though they had no reason to believe themselves). The watch was taken up in shifts, but there were no signs of life. It couldn't be so, though. How could there have arisen a problem? The chamberlain was sure to show up soon, despite their possible miscalculation. Any minute now, a "Hoy!" was expected to be heard. However, no such "Hoy!" arrived. The sun came up. They waited for another whole day, and Prince was getting impatient. Thus, one extra stayed behind to wait for him, while the other five plunged back in, heading due east, or as due east as they could figure.

The loss of the chamberlain brought back a memory, of events about a year before their departure, and the events went something like the following.

Prince was in the garden when his father and king King found him. "Son, Prince, your chamberlain is gone."

"My chamberlain? That's a terrible thing to happen. What happened to him?"

"I had to banish him. He knew too much, so I had to banish him. In any case, I've appointed you a new chamberlain. He comes with good credentials."

Prince pouted. "I don't want a new chamberlain. What was wrong with the old one?"

"I've already told you. You have to take me in all honesty."

Prince looked to the pebbles and the flowers and the trees. It was a walled garden, so he looked at the walls too. They were old walls, older than anyone could remember. A long line of kings had built them in days of yore. Prince said: "Does this new chamberlain know about Princess?"

"You can tell him all about her yourself."

"It sounds like he's waiting on the other side of that wall."

"He is."

"Please, sire, send him in so I can get an eyeful."

King opened a creaky gate and disappeared. In his place came the new chamberlain, who bowed to Prince, saying: "I will serve you faithfully for the rest of my days."

"Out with the old, and in with the new, as Queen says," said Prince. "Have you been filled in on all the details?"

The chamberlain rubbed his face, which was such a bearded face he rubbed his beard, and replied: "About many matters of State, for certain, but I am sure there are other matters--pressing matters, if you get my drift--I'm sure you want to let me in on."

Prince baldfacedly replied: "I do not get your drift. Please elaborate."

"Sire, you are twenty years now, and you've shown no interest in marriage. You must have some trick up your sleeve."

Prince turned away. "You are very perceptive, are you not? Have you been that way since birth?"

The chamberlain, unseen by all saving you and me, smiled and said: "Since before my birth, or so I've been told."

"Very well!" Prince said, turning back. "I'm certain there's a princess who goes by the name Princess in a far-off land, across the sea, and that I am destined to seek out her hand in marriage. I have little hope for success, but there we have it. I have ignored all else, meaning other potential wives, since the day I became certain of this matter, and thus that's what I insist be done. The old chamberlain knew of the plan, and aided and abetted me in my project. Will you take his place willingly? I have no option available."

The chamberlain said: "Of course I'll aid you in this matter. When do we set sail?"

Prince replied: "In about a year."

We can now go forward two years or so, when Prince found himself as an adopted son of a king in a kingdom on the other side of the volcano, some hundred miles or so. He was in his chamber, staring out the window. The vizier came in.

"Your Princeliness, why the stare? Are you not satisfied with all the objects we provide you with?"

Prince looked at the vizier and sighed. "No, this place is good enough as any, almost. A better place would be where Princess is."

For it was true: Princess was not there. In fact, no-one in that kingdom could tell him anything about any princess at all, let alone a princess named Princess. "Do you have your facts straight?" he was asked on many occasions. Inquiries had gone out for hundreds of miles in every direction, but there hadn't been any solid intelligence.

"My vizier," he continued: "I have to move along. I have to get further away from here; I have to search more. It's been a good four months, and I sincerely thank you for all your hospitality. However, I have to keep searching. I know I'll find her. What's the good of not trying? She is out there, somewhere."

"You're getting a little repetitious, Prince."

Prince laughed. "You could call it an obsession of mine."

The vizier joined Prince at the window to look out. "I can't stop you, now can I?"

"Will you come with me, and be my guide?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't know the way. I don't know your way. You should travel completely alone."

Prince thought and rationalized the statement. "Perhaps that's it. Perhaps you're right. I should go without anyone along with me. That could be my entire problem! How could someone else, some non-believer, help me find what in my heart and nowhere else I seek? It was a ridiculous and cowardly idea! I'll go where my heart takes me, under noöne else's guidance. The guidance of others has been holding me back all this time. I finally understand that. Oh, vizier, you've helped me see the light. I know the error of my ways. I'm going to have to travel alone, and quickly, and lightly."

The vizier, who was kind of sick of Prince, said: "So, when will you be going?"

Some illumination can be added here, by going back in time some twelve years or so, to the time when Prince had reached his titchy adolescent phase. I imagine every who is reading this has gone through that stage; if you haven't, what's wrong with you? Anyway, Prince felt a lack, and he attributed this lack to the state of the kingdom. Why did he feel so out of sorts all the time, and so lonely, and alienated? Surely it had to do with the quality of his family's subjects. There must be other places to be, he thought. I should go on an adventure some day. I should take with me the wisest and the finest people I can find. A great team of adventurers, ready to go to lands unknown, in the spirit of adventure, real adventure, with some great goal in mind. But what is to be the goal?

The answer to that question was just out of reach, and it would be some time before he found the answer to his question.

He hinted at his idea lightly, sometimes in simple anger. "I'm going to go off somewhere, somewhere far away, and you won't have Prince to kick around anymore!"

He looked through his dresser drawers (and there were many of them) to come up with a reasonable-enough number of coins to help him along his way. He was sure he could hire some able-bodied helpers in the marketplace.

In the marketplace, he asked around at the stalls to see if anyone knew anyone who would be willing to go on an adventure, whom he could pay a small pittance to too. He got deeper and deeper into the marketplace, to places few knew of, a place of taverns and bright red lights. In a smoky place he found a table of three who looked like they were just the right kinds of lads. He sat down with them and explained his proposition. He pulled out his coins and slapped them on the table. The three lads looked in amazement at the coins, for some looked old (though of no special value). The lads said Yes, they would come on the adventure. "Let's get these coins to a safe place," said one, who scooped them up and went into a back room. Minutes later, another said: "I should see what's keeping Charlie." And five minutes later, the last one said: "I'm worried. I'll be right back."

Prince never saw any of them ever again.

And when we go ahead, further ahead than we've been yet, more than twenty years later (though time means little to Prince now), we find him on a snowy slope, at the foothill of a mountain, looking up the steep slope.

He wanted to go up the mountain. It was the only place left. He'd looked everywhere else, except for up this particular mountain. He'd been warned that few survived the climb; Prince had seen many grave markers in the last week during this his initial climb. He'd said: "I have to go up the mountain. Someone is up there, and I've been searching for her for a very long time." The locals would shrug as if to say: "It's your grave marker."

Prince climbed and climbed. He had all the proper equipment, including plenty of dried food: he'd spent the last of his money on it all. He climbed from one outcropping to the next, stopping just long enough to gain his breath. He entered a layer of clouds in which he couldn't make out how high or low he was: gravity was his only guide. The clouds cleared, and he could see above. How far up did he have to go? Outcrop to outcrop he continued, waiting for the summit. Then, high above, he could see something like a wall, a masoned wall or the remains of one. Did it mean he would be finding someone up here? The air was thin, so Prince figured people couldn't live too much higher than where the wall was. He figured: it must be so. I must be near the top. I must be near where Princess is.

Prince learned how dogs 'diddit' when he was five years old. He was told about it. "It's like they're dancing," said his wise peer. "They put their paws together, front paws up in the air high, and get closer and closer and dance around in circles, and nine months later they have a puppy."

He didn't understand who his parents were. They looked pretty normal compared to the other parents in the kingdom. Yet somehow they had done this weird dance, something like the dog-dance, twice, and so they had him and his sister. Where would Prince be if his parents hadn't done the dog-dance? He found himself asking that on occasion, like during the boring speechy parts of a banquet or when they were all dressing for some ambassadors. He'd grow up to be like his father, he was certain of that, because he was Prince and would one day be King.

In the meantime, he read histories and legends, rarely discriminating between the two genres. It was all one to him, in different forms of accuracy. He had just as much reason to believe in the old knights as it was to believe in the dead kings.

Something was going to happen to him; of that, he was sure. He recognized even then that he had a destiny, and fulfilling that destiny would take a little time to fully be recognizable. However, he knew it would have something to do with those dogs dancing. Otherwise, why has it struck him as so profound and mysterious? The dogs did their dances, and he wasn't must better than a dog, though perhaps a little smarter.

And the years passed, and he found out what he wanted, and he went in search of it, and he searched for years and years: til the end of his life, actually. There he is, an old man now, in a castle far from the place of his birth, virtually at the antipodes, and still thinking about Princess. She is still out there, perhaps 10,000 miles away, with barely an idea of his existence. He crosses to the window and looks out; his dinner is brought in to him, and it's soft food, and he eats the soft food slowly since he has a very touchy digestion. He's wished a thousand times for Princess to become aware of his longing and perhaps meet him halfway--but he doesn't know where the halfway point is. It could be on another planet for all he knows. He looks up to the sky and speaks a word: "Princess." He waits for a response, but there's no response. He imagines he's seeing the other side of the world, as if it had been turned inside out, and seeing the land of his birth.

Something is happening there in the land of his birth. Prince sees a birth taking place, and he understands (unless he's totally deluded) he is witnessing the birth of himself. He sees Prince crying, wrapped in cotton cloth, looking for all the world like a hunk of meat. "Cry away," Prince (Senior) says to Prince (Junior): "You're going to have to give my task a try, since, sadly, I have failed." And the little one hears the voice of his future self, and magically understands what the old man is saying to him. Prince (Senior) rest himself on the ledge of the window, if windows have ledges, and closes his eye to let death come in whenever. Prince (Junior) is hungry, ravenously hungry, little more than a mouth and belly, hungering for sustenance. Fortunately, a breast is provided him, though it doesn't taste quite right. Who is it? It's not Queen's breast. Prince (Senior) considers the scenario and dismisses it--for it can't be as simple as that. Ridiculous if his whole life was simply a return to simply. He sees himself suckling deeply, all-consumed with consumption. His hand falls limply as he leans back, against the window. He's run out of time. To his younger self he says: "You must take up my task, and fulfill it. I failed only by not going far enough away. Surpass me!" Old Prince opens and closes his eyes for the last time.