The theme of the book, The Eyes of the Dragon, by Stephen King, is to stick toone’s beliefs no matter what happens and always do what one knows is right. Don’t give up on oneself; anything is possible. King Roland was the noble kingof Delain.
He was known as Roland the Good. He was, by far, not a bad king,though he was really not a great king. He meant no harm and was successful, butwhenever he meant to do great things, he seemed to be unsuccessful. Roland, kingof Delain, had two sons and had done his best to raise them without a wife.
Peter, the oldest, was much like his father. He was successful at avoiding harmof the kingdom. In addition, he seemed to be more successful at the great thingshe attempted. Even as a little boy, Peter was loved by the kingdom, and manywere looking forward to his reign as king. When Peter was merely a boy, he stoodup against grown men for what he believed in. This was why the kingdom loved andappreciated him.
In one instance, Peter was passing through the stableyard whenhe saw a lame horse about to be killed. Peter commanded Yosef, the palacefixture, to stop. After arguing, Peter managed to convince Yosef to give Peterone hour to find a veterinarian. Peter was to prove to Yosef that this horsewould not die if taken care of. Just short of an hour later, Peter and theveterinarian returned. The veterinarian listened closely and agreed with Peter.
The horse would never be a working horse again, but it would certainly make agreat pet for Peter. This was only the beginning of Peter’s wisdom and only ahint of the respect he would soon earn. Thomas was a little different. He wasvery quiet, so no one was really sure of him. He did mysterious things. Thecitizens of Delain were glad Thomas was the younger son, for no one wantedThomas as king.
Anyone who attempted to, could befriend Thomas and earn hiscomplete reliance. This great weakness caused the downfall of Delain. Roland hadbecome dependent on his magician, Flagg. Roland was a good man, but he wasn’tclever.
It was not known, but Flagg had come and gone many times through out theyears. He had come and gone with one uncompleted goal. It was fortunate forDelain that Flagg tended to be unsuccessful with his plans. Roland the Good wasgetting old, and it was widely known that he would soon be leaving the crown toPeter.
Disappointing news as it was, many strongly believed Peter was going todo great things throughout his reign. Peter soon grew up, and though he knewwhat was coming to him upon his father’s death, Peter still wished his fathermany years to come. It had become tradition for Peter to take two glasses ofwince to his father’s room before retiring. Each man, glass in hand, sattogether simply enjoying the company. This, among other things, made Thomasunhappy and extremely jealous. Thomas believed that he had no family to love.
Hehad taken the blame for his mother’s death and believed his father and brotherhad also placed the blame on him. It was probably because of this that Thomashad no friends, no confidence, and barely a will to live. Flagg, the brilliantmagician that he was, used Thomas’ weakness to his advantage. Flagg hadattempted many times to destroy Delain.
He waited year after year and finallyhis chance arose. He hadn’t completely worked out the details, but he knewthings would work out for him. Thomas and Flagg became quite close. Flagg knewhe would finally complete his life’s work, and Thomas would put his entire soulinto getting what he had always wanted, a friend. Thomas confided his everythough with Flagg, and Flagg showed great sincerity.
Flagg knew all the secretsof the castle because of his coming and going throughout the centuries. Throughthe eyes of Niner, a dragon Roland had killed, there were peeping holes. Througha back hallway, one could find the hidden passage way that led to the peepholes. Flagg told Thomas of this, and it had meant a lot to Thomas.
This was tobecome Flagg’s big mistake. One day, an ingenious plan came to Flagg. Themagician used a special poison he had saved for centuries just for the occasion. This poison was no ordinary poison. It would burn a person from the inside outafter simply inhaling it. While working with the poison, Flagg wore gloves andused tweezers.
After going to the window to take a breath, Flagg would work fora few minutes, and take careful measures not to breathe in the fumes. In aglass, he took a small amount of poison and mixed it with Roland’s favoritewine. Taking a bit more, Flagg opened up a cage and fed it to a mouse to observethe suffering. The remaining poison was placed in a little wooden box stolenfrom Peter years ago.
The box had been a present from Peter’s mother with hisname engraved in the top. Flagg, knowing of Peter’s nightly tradition, went toRoland’s bed chamber with the glass of wine to do away with his king. Flaggwaited until he was sure Peter had left and no one would see him enter. Sincevisitors were becoming few and far between in his old age, Roland was glad tosee him. After drinking their wine, both men agreed to retire for the night. Though he knew it was for the better, Flagg wished he hadn’t had to leave whatwas to become a night remember.
Flagg left that night thinking he would be thelast to see Roland alive. He was wrong because someone else would see thesuffering Flagg had inflicted. Someone else would be the last person to seeRoland alive. Flagg’s big mistake had caught up with him; Thomas had witnessedeverything. Thomas had seen it all through the eyes of Niner.
The next day,servants reported Roland’s death. It was also a servant who found Peter’s longwooden box. If circumstances had been different, Peter would’ve been overjoyedto see the memorable gift. Unfortunately, Peter was devastated to hear that thepoison used to kill his father had been found in that box.
Peter was arrested,tried, and sent to the Needle for life. Since Peter was royalty, he wouldn’t besentenced to death but instead sentenced to live the rest of his life atop thetower through cold, heat, and loneliness. If Peter had been Thomas or any otherman, he would’ve given up and died soon enough. Peter always had hope, andsearched constantly for a way to escape. It didn’t take Peter long to earn therespect of the disgusting gentlemen in charge of him. Eventually, they wouldbring him almost anything he desired, for a price.
Peter had no money;therefore, he tried his luck with an old friend. He had a letter delivered toPenya, and he agreed to help in any way possible. Penya, after receiving Peter’sletter, chose to believe in Peter’s innocence. He vowed to do everything in hispower to free Peter. To keep Peter’s newly earned privilege, he used itsparingly.
He asked for his mother’s dollhouse and a napkin with each meal. Asno one would’ve guess, Peter had a plan already in effect. From each napkin,Peter pulled five strands of fabric. This may seem like very little, but itbegan to add up. Using the working loom in his mother’s dollhouse, he beganmaking a rope. Things in Delain had become awful for the villagers.
With Flaggruling through Thomas, taxes had been raised, bankers had to become more strictwith mortgages, and a great fear fell over the land. Because of this, manypeople began to leave their homes, farms, and life’s work to hide in the forest. Penya was included in the move. The forest provided a safe place of refuge andthe grounds to plan for a revolt.
In this newly formed community, the majorityhad decided that Peter was to be somehow rescued. This would be their next move. Upon his escape, they were to make their own decision concerning his guilt. (Though many already believed firmly in his innocence, there would still be avote. ) The trip was already a difficult one, but to make matters worse, it wasmidwinter.
Means of travel were simply by foot, unless one was fortunate enoughto have a team of dogs and a sled. Penya had sent two people, Ben and Naomi, togo to try to rescue Peter. The two travelers were fortunate enough to haveNaomi’s sled team. This cut the long trip down to a day and a half. Once insidethe village, there was no plan, but the two were determined. It was difficult tosneak into the kingdom and even trickier to get into the village square wherethe Needle was located.
Peter must have had the same type of feeling flowingthat night as the rescue team did because he was preparing for his escape justas Naomi and Ben arrived. It would’ve worked out perfectly if Flagg hadn’t beenwatching from his crystal ball. Flagg had gone to the Needle to stop Peter’sescape. Peter began preparing his rope as Flagg began climbing the three hundredstairs to the top. Peter was half way down the rope when Flagg reached the top,but Flagg watched the rope break. When Peter was about one hundred feet abovethe ground, his hands froze and he couldn’t move.
He had lost feeling in hishands and moving would risk a fall. The rope was only made of napkin cotton andbroke, just as Flagg had imagined. Peter fell and thought he had less of asecond to live, but his friends were truly great. Not only did they risk theirlives through the cold to get there, risk their heads for helping a criminalescape, and wait for Peter at the bottom of the needle, but they had also madehim a huge bed of napkins in case of his fall. Each gave a different estimate atthe size of the pile, but it was said to be twenty feet high. Peter landedsquarely in the middle of the napkin and wasn’t quite sure if he was alive.
Hisfriends ecstatically rushed to him, knowing they had little time to make anescape. There were tired guards just now arriving. This would be a big problemto most, but not Peter. With almost all the courage he had left, he simply toldthe guards that he was king, and he didn’t kill his father. The let him pass. After spending all that time in the Needle, Peter had uncovered the truth aboutFlagg.
On the way to the castle, Peter explained to his friends how Flagg hadbeen trying to destroy Delain for centuries and he explained his plan. Peter hadto reach his father’s bow and arrow used to kill Niner, because it was the onlyidea he had to destroy Flagg. The heroic trio reached Roland’s chambers and thebow and arrow were gone. Flagg, who had been fresh on their trail the entireway, reached the chamber almost immediately after them and was pounding on thedoor. Ben and Naomi had their weapons drawn and ready, though Peter knew thesewouldn’t stand a chance against the wizard. Flagg was never one to rush intothings and make hasty decisions, so once inside the door, they all talked.
Flaggexpressed his guilt for the murder of Roland, vowing to kill all he had justconfessed to. Peter told Flagg he would never get away with it, and Flagg’sreply was simply a smile. After a few moments of silence, Flagg told them thatno one had seen him enter Roland’s room that night, only Peter was seen enteringthe room. At this, Thomas, who had been hiding in the shadows, spoke up.
Thomastold everyone that he had been watching that night through the eyes of Niner andwith his father’ bow, show Flagg in the left eye. After being hit, Flaggdisappeared. This was quite an ending to quite a book. Most of the villagers hadbelieved strongly in Peter, but gave up on him too quickly when accused. Threecharacters persuade the truth and did what they knew was right.
It was becauseof them, this book had a happy ending.
