Whilom, as the story came to me, there was a prince who sat upon a brilliant brass throne on his birthday. The early morning shadow of the city in the sky had nearly passed over the open courtyard of Prince Yuop. He did not glance at the floating city some leagues hence nor at the wide stairway his father had built to it many years ago.
Instead he watched flames falling forever in unison to the rhythmic handling of a man. He called it juggling, but the prince had never seen his jester perform such an act. The flames changed hues as they floated between his hands. They reminded the prince of the northern lights he had seen once from a great mountain in the north. The man who had not given his name chanted an old nursery song to the beat he chose for no noticeable reason.
"This is quite a show, nameless one," the prince said to the man with a jovial chuckle. "Magic definitely worthy of my birthday celebration."
"Sir," said the nameless man from behind his crimson veil, "I know no magic, just tricks of the eyes. These flames are only elaborate lamps. All the 'magic' I have done is only wrought by skilled and practiced hands."
"But, how do you see through the veil that covers your eyes?"
"Ah, now that is magic. This veil lets me see anything I want to see."
The prince glanced at the Sergeant of Arms, Rachel. She instinctively felt his gaze and waited. She and several of her men stood on either side of the throne, watching the unnamed one's performance.
"Whatever I want to see," the prince whispered under his breath.
"I would offer it to you as a gift, except that I am blind and devoid of even the orbs that give sight."
"That is understandable. You are a credit. I would not have any beggars in need if all those crippled in my province had such gifts. May I try it on? Just for a moment to see what it will show me?"
"I have been invited to your brother's palace to perform this evening. The veil takes time to learn how to use in its most elemental functions, but I am pressed. If I do not leave immediately I am afraid that I will not be on time."
"Don't worry. I'll lend you use of my carpet. Not having to climb the stairway will save you an hour or more of your time."
"I can see that you are honest in your intentions. I will show its secrets to Your Highness."
The nameless man slowly unwrapped the veil. Rachel sighed audibly in pity at the sight of the stranger's face. He was most definitely blind. She recognized it as a war injury, he was not the first she had seen with the scar that traced its path from temple to temple. She only did not know how they survived such a wound. She wondered what great good this man must have done for the gods to have given him such a gift.
The prince motioned for Rachel to escort the blind one to the foot of the throne. She in turn gave the assignment to one of her men. With a little explaining, the veil was obscuring the prince's sight in only minutes.
The man whispered something under his breath. The prince assumed it was the word of power that activated this relic, and it must have been, for the prince could see light in an instant.
"I can see light but no form," the Prince spoke.
"You must focus your thoughts on what you wish to see."
"What would you suggest?"
"I have usually focused on what is directly in front of me."
"With such magic and so little time, I want to see something more elaborate." The prince paused then seemed to be concentrating under the veil. Eventually he chuckled. "Yes this is what I want to see. This is truly incredible."
The prince lost himself in the vision of the veil for several minutes. At last with some coaxing from his guest he relinquished the veil. The guard of the treasury brought an oriental rug and unrolled it on the plaza. The king whispered the word of power that activated the rug and his guest was on his way to his brother's province, the city in the sky.
Prince Yuop sat through the rest of his birthday celebration in silence. It bothered Rachel that he did not seem pleased by anything given to him or displayed. Even the feast that night and the performances did not break the spell he seemed to have fallen under. Even the recitals of the poets, all from memory for few knew how to read, did not bring him out of his gloom.
When all the celebrants had left and Rachel had dismissed the guard, she found herself alone with her sovereign. She risked his ire, and asked what troubled him.
"I will tell you. It is what I saw in the veil this morning. I looked to see where I could find the greatest treasure imaginable. It was honest curiosity."
"Where did you see it? If I may inquire."
"I saw that I could find the world's greatest treasure in my brother's court. I could find it behind his throne. It was behind a beautiful tapestry portraying that great King Oedipus, but before I could look behind the tapestry and see the treasure that was there, the nameless one required the veil."
"I thought that your father split his inheritance evenly among his children. How is it that your brother could have the world's greatest treasure? Did he cheat the other sons out of some inheritance?"
"I'm sure that he did not. I do not see him much but I remember that he was the most honest and kind of my brothers. I will go to see him and this treasure, so that I might know what this great thing is."
"It is a long journey without your rug, prince. Did you wish to await its return or go by land to the stairway?"
"I had forgotten that the rug is not here. I do not wish to climb that stairway, yet I do not wish to wait, either. I will write a letter to my brother and send it requesting he tell me what the great treasure is that he has and I do not have. I will ask him for my portion. I'm sure that is not too much to ask."
The prince sat on his throne two days later judging a case of theft. How these cases bored him. Why did anyone take that which was obviously not his?
The messenger he had sent was announced and told to enter the open air court. The prince leaned forward in anticipation. The prince asked what his brother had said.
"I do not know, he wrote it on this scroll."
"Do you know how to read?"
"No, sire."
"Bring it here."
The prince took the rolled piece of leather and read to himself. "I have nothing to give you," were the only words there.
The prince gnashed his teeth, but tried to appear calm. This is not what he had expected of his brother. What right did he have to deny him his share of the inheritance? He must see this treasure. He ordered his guards to bring the blind man to him when he returned, and that is what they did
"I need to use the veil again," he said to the blind man.
"If I give it to you, you will never return it."
"Take it from him." The prince said without hesitation. He had the man thrown out of the city without the veil. Rachel obeyed, hesitantly. She felt sorrow for the blind one. How awful, she thought, that he would no longer see beauty directly in front of him.
When Prince Yuop put on the veil it would not work. The prince could not get the veil to work for him, but he refused to take it off. He decided to keep uttering words that might make it work, until it did. He sat upon his throne day after day in blind darkness under the brilliant sun, muttering to himself, like a deranged hermit upon a rock.
At last he ordered another message to be sent to his brother in the city floating far off in the country side. "Send me my part of the treasure or I'll take it all from you." And the message returned, "You have all I have to give."
Unseeing rage swept through the veiled prince. Rachel was ordered to lead an attack up that wide stairway to the city in the sky. She refused at first, but accepted when threatened with the charge of treason. It was a short, bloody battle. At sunset not one denizen of the heavenly ciy was left alive. The prince of the city in the sky was killed upon his throne and fell to the floor in front of it. Black smoke rose from that once magnificent city in the sky.
The soldiers brought word that nothing but a wall was behind the throne, no treasure could be found, and that Rachel upon seeing the wall left the city cursing the Prince's name in a loud voice. She did not return. Prince Yuop refused to believe there was no treasure behind the tapestry and took off the veil for the first time since taking it from the blind man.
He went to his brother's palace. The sight was awful and the smell was worse. He walked through the halls until he found himself in the throne room. His brother lay in front of the throne in his gore. A tapestry hung behind the throne. Its gold lace fringes seemed to mock the king it celebrated; that blindest of all kings. The prince had it pulled down.
Sure enough, it was only a wall, but it had an inscription. The soldiers looked on in their illiteracy, not knowing what the wall said. The wall read, "Peace, harmony, love." Prince Yuop looked at his brother and wept.
It took many years of searching and a large portion of his resources, but the prince finally had the blind man in his court again.
"Sir, you must give me the secret of the veil. I beg you."
"Why?"
Yuop was beyond anger; numb. He had not slept in months, or so it seemed.
"Have you heard of my great folly?"
"I have."
"I have not worn the veil since then. In the past eight years I have not slept or been awake without every moment seeing my brother lying in his own blood before his throne. I wish I could blind myself and take away the sight.
"But that would not do it. I would still see that most awful scene. I intentionally blinded myself with the veil and caused this evil and now I need your help to blind myself again. You told me once that this veil could let one see whatever they wanted to see."
"I did."
"I want to see what is in front of me, and no other thing; no more horrors."
The blind man sighed. He remembered that day that he had been blinded, and how he had still seen those last nightmares until he had been given the veil. It had been such a relief to see only his surroundings. He sighed again and in pity taught the prince the secrets of the veil.