“Thank you, Dad,” Chase said to Ash, admiring his Black Gancus.
“Go ahead and show it to your mom. She probably has something for you too.” Ash turned Chase’s body toward the door.
“Okay,” Chase said. It felt like a dream. It hadn’t really occurred to him that he would leave his home and go on a journey of his own, but once he conceived the idea, it was like a fire that couldn’t be extinguished.
“Hi, Mom. Can I come in?” Chase asked at the door of Hazel’s workshop. She had a little arched window on the door and through it he could see her design sheets hanging on the wall.
“Come in,” Hazel replied in a cheerful voice. Contrary to Ash’s workshop, Hazel’s was a bit smaller and a lot more organized. Most of her tools were put away in drawers and if there was clutter in the space, maybe it was the design sheets hung on the wall. They depicted designs of swords, bows, suits of armor, gloves, spears, and other weapons for customization. As she was an avid reader and collector of books, she had bookshelves from floor to ceiling, filled with books.
When Chase entered the room, Hazel was busy finishing up her design for the recent order of gloves. She was an excellent artist; it didn’t take her long to sketch a design that looked so real. However, she was seldom satisfied with her work so she would have to redraw until she got the right thing. Her trashcan was already full of crumpled pieces of paper.
“Look at this, Mom. Dad gave this to me.” Chase presented his Black Gancus to Hazel who was sitting at her chair with a pencil in her hand.
“He gave that to you?” Hazel said, “so, what did you two talk about? Have you decided on leaving then?”
“Yes, pretty much. I think seeing a different world will be the right thing to do at this moment. I’ve outgrown Salozara,” Chase said as he gingerly touched the handle of his Black Gancus.
“Well, I guess it’s about time.” Hazel opened the bottommost drawer of her work table and fished out a book. “Your dad and I made a little promise when you were born that when you come of age, we will give you one of our most precious treasures…” She gazed at Chase’s emerald-green eyes that sparkled just like her own.
Hazel pushed a book toward Chase. Its worn leather cover didn’t have a title but her name was written on it in tiny letters. Chase opened the book. Hazel had jotted down descriptions and rough sketches of all the animals, herbs, and insects that she had encountered in her life. She had told him about some of them, but there were also many that he had never heard of before.
“This is the best thing I can give to you. This is a piece of my knowledge and history. I started writing in this when I was about at your age. I’d like you to refer to this when your dad and I aren’t there to answer your questions.“
The book was heavy, each page of it bearing her fingerprints and her efforts. Looking between Hazel and her book, Chase realized that it wasn’t just excitement that made her eyes glassy. She was seeing the little baby he used to be, the child who used to sneak in her workshop to play, and the man who now stood much taller with his unchanging smile, ready to leave home.
“Mom, don’t be sad,” Chase said.
“I’m not, Chase. I’m very excited for you,” replied Hazel. She brushed back her unkempt hair from her face.
Chase had lived his whole life in Salozara, a small town off the Mima forest. He had known every single person in it, and had mastered every hiding place. He had grown too accustomed to it, but upon leaving it, he felt a strange lurch in his stomach. He wasn’t sure what the future would hold, but he sensed that he probably wasn’t going to return home anytime soon.
“Thank you for your support. I will make you proud,” Chase said, courage filling his heart.
CHAPTER FOUR
Klaiser’s tense shoulders started bothering him again. His nightmare from the other night seemed to have worsened it. On top of that, there was going to be a council meeting. Sadie, his queen, suggested that he postpone it but he didn’t want to let his bad condition affect the entire kingdom. A day of his being anything other than a good king, whether it resulted from his whim or poor health, could put his people between life and death, his father had always told him. A good king would not cancel a council meeting just because he was feeling unwell. Klaiser would never know what kind of a king he would be remembered as after his death, but just like his father, he hoped to be revered and loved by Sarum. Whenever this burning desire surfaced in his mind, his shoulders seemed to feel heavier, but it wasn’t a mere burden. It was his pride and ambition as well.
The council meetings were held in the Council Hall in the palace. The Sarumese palace had been built on a natural hill which was fortified with an artificial mound. The slope was quite steep around the palace walls, which gave advantage to its defense line. The palace was composed of many different buildings, most of which didn’t have any connection with one another. The free standing buildings all served different purposes and followed the shell structure of Sarum’s tradition.
The shell structure referred to a strategic positioning of buildings according to their importance and intended purposes. The buildings in the palace were called Houses and the periphery of the shell structure had Houses dedicated to its defense line. There were armories, storage for weapons and armor, stables, and a place for the guards. With a garden to separate its space from the defense shell, the inner shell consisted of Servant Houses and Trade Houses. Each shell’s separation was clear with a spacious garden to surround inner shells, which had exquisite real-life-size statues here and there.
The third shell consisted of Houses related to food and medicine. It had a particularly large garden cultivating herbs and vegetables served to the royals. The fourth shell consisted of the palace library, training field just for the royals, a House where doctors resided, the Council Hall, and a House which was provided for very special emissaries.
The fifth shell came with rows of tall, dense trees that grew vertically, which had some openings, functioning like gateways. The reason was that the fifth shell, the center of the palace, was where the royals lived, with the King’s House being in the very center amongst them. The walls of trees touting over the innermost shell gave the royals privacy at the same time serving as a clear sign of power. There were young royals’ Houses, then the Ladies’ Houses where the king’s concubines lived, then a large pond, and then the Queen’s and the King’s Houses. Every royal member had his or her own House even though it didn’t mean one had to stay there. Often the king would visit his queen or his Ladies and stay at their Houses.
The king customarily wore a robe with red and white plumes jutting out from the back. His crown boasted its exquisite beauty of the Sarumese art. The crown jewel was the world famous Eternal Glory, the largest rhophinia and the rarest form of photocalyx.
Photocaylx referred to all stones that emitted light. They contained elements like Macenium, which emitted light only when the ambient light was lower than its own light would be, and Rancenium, which emitted light regardless of any condition. Depending on how much of these elements a photocalyx contained, the intensity and duration of light varied. Some photocalyx lasted for centuries, emitting consistent light, some lasted as short as couple days, and some gave out intermittent light.
A rhophinia was the priciest stone because of its rarity, hardness and stunning color, all of which exceeded those of diamond. In the rarest case, a rhophinia was also a photocalyx, emitting light; that rarest case was the Eternal Glory. It was the largest rhophinia that had shined since the early stage of Sarum, when it had once been a leading power in the Ippa continent. Bejeweled with the Eternal Glory, the crown sat upon Klasier’s head, shining his pallid face.
As Klaiser entered the Council Hall, all the nobles got up. There were two seats which were raised a bit higher than the rest of the seats, also being the closest to Klaiser. They were for the two Sages; one dealt with the military forces and the other dealt with the administration of Sarum. Both branches of the kingdom were of equal i
mportance and the Sages were to work together and check each other on balance. The military branch officials wore red robes, including their Sage, hence the Red Sage, and the administration branch officials wore white robes, hence giving its Sage a title, the White Sage.
After Klaiser seated himself on the throne, the two Sages sat down, and the rest of the nobles followed the Sages.
“I hereby commence the council meeting,” Klaiser proclaimed. Derek Reynhart, the Red Sage, immediately spoke after the king.
“Your Majesty, I believe it’s about time to choose the heir. The princes have grown up and shown enough of their dispositions and capacities. Now is the right time for Your Majesty to make a decision,” Reynhart said with a gruff voice. His voice combined with a long white scar on his neck, as thick as a tree trunk, carried certain unspeakable power in it. The white bumpy scar looked like a centipede crawling over his neck into his red robe. It was rumored that the wound took away the mobility of his neck, disabling him from turning his head at all. Nobody had seen him turn his head before.
At Reynhart’s remark, Klaiser burrowed his eyebrows in displeasure. “As I said couple council meetings ago, it’s too early to pick the heir now. The youngest prince is barely old enough to be able to read. The entire weight of the kingdom will be on the heir’s shoulders not too far from now. It is paramount that the most qualified prince becomes the heir, you all must agree. At this stage, I cannot make a judgment as to which prince would make the best king,” Klaiser said dismissively. He had dealt with the nobles rushing the appointment of the heir ever since the third prince had been born. The nobles wanted to rule out the third prince from the competition.
The Red Sage paused a little bit before speaking again. His cold gray eyes didn’t falter a bit when they met Klaiser’s irritated eyes.
“When you were chosen as the heir, you were a toddler, Your Majesty. Having the position of the heir empty threatens our national security and could potentially result in chaos if, all six gods forbid, a calamity should come upon Your Majesty. When the time came, regardless of the princes’ ages, all the former kings made their decisions. The time has come again. I beseech that Your Majesty will bring Sarum closer to complete stability by appointing the heir,” Reynhart’s gruff voice filled the hall.
“We beseech Your Majesty,” all the nobles who agreed with Reynhart spoke in unison.
Klaiser interlocked his fingers with the claws that protruded from the armrests of the throne and squeezed them tightly.
“I believe the real calamity is for me to choose my heir uncertainly, unwillingly. I was chosen as the heir then because it was apparent to the world that all my older brothers weren’t going to make a good king. This will not be brought up to the council meeting ever again until I believe it’s the right time,” Klaiser said firmly.
“This is the best time to select the heir,” Reynhart still pressed on, “Prince Ian has grown up to be one of the fastest swordsmen in the kingdom. He’s calm and strategic. He will bring glory to Sarum, and most of all, he is your first-born son. In the long, rich history of our kingdom, most of our former kings were the first-born sons, Your Majesty.” The long centipede-like scar wiggled as he spoke. At this remark, Dean Culbert, the White Sage, sitting on the opposite side of the Oval from Reynhart sneered.
“Might I add that it was with an exception of three kings, two of who are the greatest kings of all time, Red Sage,” Culbert said condescendingly. “And one of them is Your Majesty. The reason Sarum isn’t the leading power of the continent right now is because of the old ideas like that. Being a Sage who is supposed to give Your Majesty uninfluenced and objective advice, you should be ashamed to have mentioned that Your Majesty should pick the first-born son because that’s how it has been. I expected you to come up with a better reason to appoint Prince Ian as the heir than that,” Culbert spoke tartly.
In contrast to Reynhart who had fought countless battles and earned himself many injuries, Culbert appeared more cultured and dignified. One of the most respected scholars in Sarum, he was eloquent, his tone stable and trustworthy. Customarily, the White and the Red Sages seldom got along, but Reynhart really hated Culbert. How a man who hadn’t been in a single battle could claim to know anything, anything at all, irked him: Culbert’s small, pretty hands, his useless body that sat inside all day, and his sly tongue, the only asset he had, which called for change, while Reynhart and his men did the real job with their lives at stake. Whether to make that change Culbert talked about was essentially all up to Reynhart, but Culbert belittled the Red Half Council, the military branch, his contemptuous eyes always looking down on Reynhart. He hated those eyes.
All the nobles seemed to hold their breath in a tense silence in the Council Hall, which seemed infinitely big today. The appointment of the heir was a very sensitive matter among the nobles particularly as it determined whose faction was going to gain power. Reynhart’s faction was with the first prince, Prince Ian, while Culbert’s faction was with the second prince, Prince Dorian. Culbert had always loathed the corruption that sprang from factions, even though in the current system it was impossible to stay out of it. Once the heir was determined, his followers would dominate the kingdom and make it so that they could stay in power for generations to come. This weakened Sarum and exploited its people.
“Hearing that from you is very ironic, White Sage. I just suggested whom I believed to be the most fitting for the throne. You suggest that our tradition of having the first-born prince as the heir hindered our kingdom’s growth but it’s the very tradition that defines Sarum. In addition, I was merely making sure that the voice of our people was heard, that we need the heir, White Sage,” Reynhart added with smug sarcasm. He bore his teeth, which were almost too large for his face and too perfectly aligned, giving him the look of an untamed animal.
“Stop,” Klaiser said impatiently before Culbert could respond to Reynhart. “I gave you my answer and it will not be brought up to the council meetings.” Klaiser dismissed it. He knew it better than anyone that this was going to resurface very soon.
Klaiser’s first two sons were from Queen Sadie, and the third, the youngest, son was from Yulia who had once been a commoner before being promoted to a King’s Lady. The Sarumese kings usually had concubines whose status was ranked the second to the queen and they were given Ladyship. The king could have as many Ladies as he pleased. Producing many babies, especially sons, often equated to their political influence, attracting more followers, even though the power of the queen still remained much greater than that of a Lady as long as the queen produced at least one son. Thus, Sadie held a lot more power than Yulia because she had produced more sons than Yulia and they were the first two sons.
Yulia didn’t mind being in such a situation. She was much younger than Sadie and also much less ambitious. She was sweet and loving and didn’t care about politics. All she did was to love Klaiser and her son. She didn’t try so hard to compete with Sadie, because she knew Klaiser adored her more. When the heir was chosen, all the other princes would have to leave the palace. If Prince Ian or Dorian was chosen now, Prince Alex, Yulia’s son, would be forced out of the palace away from Yulia. It would tear her heart to have her little son separated from her.
‘I will hold it off until he’s older,’ Klaiser thought.
Sometimes he caught himself feeling partial to Prince Alex. Taking after Yulia, Alex was a sweet little boy. His smile was just like hers. He then wondered if he was doing the right thing as a king, but soon he pushed that thought aside. ‘If Alex has the caring heart of Yulia, he will be able to embrace his people.’
The two Sages were going at each other again and other nobles spoke up too. Trades, tariffs, laws, the Rogathian empress, it went on and on. They were all speaking their opinions, not feasible solutions. He felt weak and sick to his stomach. Suddenly, the pale face of the woman in his dream came back to him. He jolted his head up, which surprised the nobles.
“Are you okay, Your Majesty?”
Culbert asked.
“Yes, I’m fine. Go on,” Klaiser replied weakly. He looked outside the windows.
His father was a good king, and it proved to be a challenge to Klaiser. Under the former king, the nobles weren’t as powerful; they wouldn’t dare pressure him to do things and they were not allowed to have a sizeable private army. The former king was wise and never lost his tempo in effectively controlling the nobles, which established a better nation for the commoners, hence earning Sarum’s love. People called him King Royce, the Benevolent. Klaiser was not the same as his father. It was not that he was less intelligent. In fact, he was better at many fields of study than his father.
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