Instead of Briars, the Myrtle Will Grow

The Tanu are a mighty empire. They conquer and civilize, and are not afraid to display their accomplishments. They alter their environment to suite their tastes. Their laws are sacred, their king revered to the point of worship.
When the boy Iskander arises as a prophet, he does little and says less. And the might of the Tanu crumbles before him.
Set in a fictional world not too different from our own, this thought-provoking short story by A. Bleness offers up a complex range of social and environmental themes.