STAR V:

A servant called Inz welcomed them when they entered the palace. A group of men took the camels, washed them, and fed them. 

Inz provided water to the Three and ordered another servant to let everyone know that the king had visitors at the palace. Once Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar recovered and cleared their sand wounds, they were guided to the grand saloon, where a banquet was starting to get ready.

‘You will meet the king tonight. Dinner will be ready in two hours. You can rest now. Follow me, I will show you your room’, Inz said. 

They all remained silent when Inz closed the door and left. There was something that made them feel uncomfortable, despite all the comfort of the palace, but they didn’t make any comment.

They rested before dinner and walked to the grand saloon in silence.

They sat down at a long rectangular table. When the king arrived, the firelights turned on, and the carvings on the wall became visible and called Balthazar’s attention.

The Three made a reverence, and the king seemed delighted to have three wise visitors at his palace.

They introduced themselves while the king observed them in silence, making no interruptions. But when Melchior finished his presentation, the king finally spoke:

‘Thank you for your thoughtful introductions and especially for your presence. As you may know, in this palace lives the most extensive library that humankind has ever seen. Every story, no matter if it’s good or bad, is recorded here. The king pointed left, and a man with a long parchment stepped forward and nodded.

‘As we speak, our scribe is registering every word we say, and this, the story of yours, is an interesting one…you have well-described where you come from but yet not been clear on where you are headed to…’, the king said.

‘We are on our way to meet the Son of God,’ Melchior said right away.

‘The Son of God?!’ asked the king and laughed aloud. His laughter echoed in the entire palace. But none of the Three responded. 

‘I have heard this story so many times before that all I can do is laugh,’ the king continued. ‘Let me tell you a story that happened many rounds ago. Not so far away from here, a pharaoh reigned. His name was Akhenaten. He rebelled against the religious beliefs and practices of his time, characterized by the worship of multiple gods. They were, what some call, polytheists. Instead, Akhenaten worshiped the Sun as the only God. He conceived its light as a flow of love, creation, truth, and law. And by experiencing the light of the Sun God within his heart, he proclaimed himself the Son of God. When he ended with the worship of other gods, he won enemies. He was so concerned with proving himself the Son of God that he neglected the fortune of his empire. It soon went into decline. He lost land. His people suffered plagues. His wife passed away. And he, some say, died at the hands of his own enemies. How is such a possible outcome for the Son of God?’.

The king paused and laughed again. 

But the Three remained silent and serious, true to themselves.

‘So what makes this story different? What makes you think this time the Son of God is here? Who guides you?’ the king asked with a tone of desperation.

‘A star guides us’, Gaspar answered.

‘A star?’ And this time, the king laughed even louder. ‘Where are your maps? Can I see them?’ he asked.

‘We don’t need a map to follow a star,” Balthazar interrupted. And the air in the table became tense and unfriendly.

Three military men came out of nowhere and placed a knife on the Three wise men’s throats.

‘Speak! Now!’, the king ordered. ‘Where are you going? Where is the Son of God going to be born?’

‘We don’t know, your majesty’, said Balthazar with a calm tone. ‘We are following a star.’ He was determined not to say anything about Bethlehem.

‘Alright,’ the king continued, and while he made a gesture, the military men put the knives away. ‘This is what I propose…if you really get to know the Son of God, then come back here. Come back to this palace, hand me that story and write it down in the archives of this infinite library. If you meet the Son of God and you don’t come back, I will send my men and kill every son of every land. Now, if you excuse me,’ said the king and stood up. ‘Your camels will be ready tomorrow morning. You can stay and rest at ease.’ And he left.