The Luckiest Night, Part 1

The scroll was sealed with crimson wax and given a place of honor in the throne room. And there it stayed, holding its secret prophecy from the growing boy’s ever-curious eyes.

Prince Kalle was born on the luckiest night of the year, when both moons shone full and bright over the land.

His mother, the Empress of the Twin Moons, called for the royal fortune teller, who plucked a blossom from a plum tree. He cast the petals into a tranquil pool and watched their ripples shimmer in the moonlight. He then inscribed the portents onto the new prince’s Scroll of Destiny.

The scroll was sealed with crimson wax and given a place of honor in the throne room. And there it stayed, holding its secret prophecy from the growing boy’s ever-curious eyes.

The years passed like fireworks in the sky, and at long last, the eighteenth anniversary of the prince’s birth came to pass. Empress and Emperor held hands as the prince removed the scroll from its niche.

His heart hammered as he cracked the brittle wax. What grand future would be revealed? He scanned the words as he pulled the scroll taut:

“Journey to the place

where Potential meets Wisdom.

You must wear the False Face

and uncomfortable shoes.”

“What?” Kalle’s brow creased as he read the words a second time. “I do not understand.”

His parents exchanged a worried glance. The Empress took the scroll, frowning. “This is an odd fortune.”

The Emperor shook his head. “The scroll is supposed to contain a prophecy.”

“Why should he wear the False Face?” the Empress demanded. “The Prince of the Twin Moons should never hide his royal identity.”

“And where does Potential meet Wisdom?” the Emperor wondered, scratching his chin. “This is a poorly formed riddle.”

As the sovereign couple pondered the mystery of their beloved son’s scroll, Kalle considered his soft silk slippers. “I don’t want to wear uncomfortable shoes,” he muttered.

***

The riddle confounded every member of the imperial household for a time. Then, unexpectedly, a plumwine vendor untangled the puzzle and offered to guide the young prince. Though wary of allowing the heir out of their royal sight, Kalle’s parents understood the import of the Destiny Scroll. They reluctantly gave their blessing.

And so, Prince Kalle found himself in a village far from the palace, where the Path of Potential crossed the Street of Wisdom.

It was a busy intersection.

Dressed in plain woven breeches and a drab brown robe, Kalle felt almost naked. Rather than his customary royal topknot, his hair was shorn short. He touched his head, absentmindedly seeking the reassurance of his missing crown.

Amidst the swirling crowd of villagers, with their unfamiliar noises and rank smells, Kalle became disoriented. He staggered toward a small shop on the edge of the busy street. Pausing to catch his breath, he was brought up short by a wiry grey-haired woman.

“Why are you just standing there?” The woman jabbed a bony finger at a basket of weeds. “Bring that inside.”

Kalle froze, unsure how to respond. No one had ever spoken to him in such a tone. He touched his crownless head and blinked at the old woman, before his eyes were drawn to the ramshackle shop.

Its roof was crooked.

The woman’s wagging finger intruded on Kalle’s view of the shoddy craftsmanship. “Close your mouth. Or are you trying to catch dragonflies with your honeyed breath?”

Kalle snapped his jaws shut. The gnarled woman pointed again at the basket.

“This must be a mistake,” Kalle declared. He scanned the crowd, but his guide was gone. Seeing no familiar faces, he realized he’d have to find his own way back to the palace, though he feared he’d get lost—if not in the confusing maze of the village streets, then certainly in the vast orchards and fields of the countryside.

“You are one of the new apprentices, are you not?” the woman demanded.

Kalle’s forehead crinkled. Surely this was not the location his Destiny Scroll had foretold.

A sharp elbow knocked him from his stupor. “I’m here for the apprenticeship,” a roughly dressed girl proclaimed. She stepped in front of him and scooped up the basket, squinting at his stiff leather shoes, then marched into the shop.

“How dare you?” Kalle sputtered. “Those are my weeds.”

“They’re herbs,” the woman said. “I grow ancient while you dawdle. Make haste!”

She ducked into the lopsided building. Words scrawled on the placard above the door read: Master Tuenne, Healer.

Was it Kalle’s destiny to serve as apprentice to a common healer? An ox-drawn cart jangled by, splashing muddy water. He wrinkled his nose and hurried inside.

****

Myna Chang is the author of The Potential of Radio and Rain, an award-winning collection of flash and micro stories set in the shortgrass prairie. Her fiction has been selected for the 2023 Locus Recommended Reading List, W.W. Norton’s Flash Fiction America, Best Small Fictions, and Best Microfiction; her poetry has received an Honorable Mention in the 2024 Rhysling Awards.

She is the winner of the Lascaux Prize in Creative Nonfiction, as well as the New Millennium Award for Flash Fiction. Her work has received nominations for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best Horror of the Year, and has made multiple appearances on the Wigleaf Top 50 longlist.

Myna serves on the editorial staff of several magazines and anthologies. She hosts the Electric Sheep speculative fiction discussion group, as well as the Drop the Mic(ro) reading series, and she publishes MicroVerse Recommended Reading. She is a member of SFWA, HWA, and SFPA.