Jay Effemm
Chapter 1
The Books of the Kings I. Determination
Jay Effemm
0
Copyright © 2015 Jay Effemm All rights reserved.
1
You are the Light.
2
0
Map
1
The Books of the Kings I. Determination
2
I. Hhalon
Honour and loyalty, law and order, wealth and prosperity. Hhalon repeated
these pairs in his head over and over again while proudly staring at himself in
the long mirror. His second servant helped him to put on his grey cloak, which
was sewn with yellow gold threads and inlaid with emeralds. He had black,
shiny trousers made of the softest and finest velvet of the city of Iden. His
shoes were of thin, polished leather with white gold embroideries. His white,
silky shirt was close fitting and sewn with the same golden thread as his cloak.
These garments had all been especially made for this day by the most
specialised and skilful designers and craftsmen of the kingdom.
He wore the white gold crown encrusted with emeralds: the royal crown.
Coruscating green and white gold were the colours of the king of Genan and
his family. The crown was composed of twelve emeralds of the same size and
a larger one in the middle. It was heavy on the king’s head, but he feigned to
find it as light as a feather so as not to show the weight of his new
responsibilities. It was a unique honour to wear it, which was why King
Hhalon was proud to have this finely crafted symbol of absolute power on his
head.
Hhalon was in a large room, just a small part of the king’s vast personal
apartments in the Royal Palace of Adolja, the capital city of the Kingdom of
Genan. The twelve large windows in front of him looked out onto a seemingly
endless and luxuriant garden enriched with fountains, pools, orchards, and
straight alleys shaping the horizon. The walls and ceiling of the room were
covered in white gold round shapes reminiscent of nature and harmony. The
0
twelve crystal chandeliers all holding white candles revealed the beauty of the
room at night when they were lit, one by one, by the twelve second servants.
During daytime, they reflected the sun to make the room a paradise of light.
The style of the ivonen furniture with white gold decorations fitted the
room beautifully; ivonen wood came from a rare tree grown in southern
regions. Its ivory colour was perfect for objects of luxury. All the best
craftsmen of the kingdom had been working for decades to create the best
pieces of furniture for the former kings of Genan. The typical style was the
twisted S-shape for legs and marquetry for decorations.
For a moment, Hhalon thought that yellow gold was more appropriate for
a king than white gold was. However, there was a tradition and a law, and
even kings should abide by the laws. Yellow gold was used for coins and
objects of worship possessed by priests; fashion and furniture for the king
were only made with white gold. That was the law, and it had been decided
by his ancestors to ensure priests’ loyalty. By ordering a green cloak and a
shirt sewn with yellow gold threads, Hhalon wanted to show off his luxury in
a certain way; he wanted to provoke the priests, who would certainly show
their objection to such ostentation with suspicious looks, though they would
not dare to speak out. Indeed, he knew that as the king, nobody, not even
priests, would object to what he ordered or wore.
It was the day of the first council of Hhalon’s reign, as he was the newly
appointed king. He was not even nervous because his grandfather, Sonan, and
his father, Daven, had already prepared him for his great appearance to lead
the council. Besides, as an ex-councillor of his forebears, he knew how he had
to sound: serious, straightforward, inflexible, and domineering. He was
determined to make a long-lasting impression during his first council, an
impression that would set the tone of his reign. His dominance had to be
1
absolute. Yellow gold had to become a royal metal, just as white gold was.
He would try to change the laws because he wanted to live in more luxury and
extravagance. He had already spoken to some earls about his plan but wanted
them to keep it secret, knowing that priests would be hard to convince. They
did not have a lot of rights, but they had great rhetorical power, and the people
admired as well as followed them for that reason.
“The priests,” Hhalon thought. “They will have to remember their social
status in our society. Honour and loyalty, law and order, wealth and
prosperity. Yes, loyalty.”
Hhalon was ready and his second servant bowed. He headed for the Great
Hall, also called the council house, where councils were held and which was
located outside the palace. He walked through rows of rooms and passed by
many a personal guard. The palace was luxuriously decorated, but Hhalon
thought that it was not enough. He was determined to have more: more power,
more luxury, more prestige, more of everything. He went down the main large
circular flight of stairs, which were covered in the finest fabric and decorated
with white gold like most parts of the palace. While he was walking, his
personal guards stood to attention. He never acknowledged them. He was the
king. He simply hurried on, ignoring them, until he went out of the palace.
The Great Hall was a large building with high, round-arched windows—
twelve on each side for the twelve councillors sitting in it. The building was a
polygon with thirteen sides; twelve had a similar dimension, while the
thirteenth, where there was the great entrance and where the king always
entered with majesty, was larger. The white marble used to build the hall
shone in the sun to show to the world the importance and splendour of this
place, although the palace near the Great Hall had been deliberately built to
appear far more imposing. Many statues had been installed near the round-
2
arched windows of the council house. The monument was decorated with
foliage and harmonic shapes to give it a luxuriant appearance.
Hhalon turned around to admire the main entrance of his palace and
rejoiced when he noticed how magnificent it looked. The palace was covered
in white and green marble; statues and delicate decorations reminiscent of
nature covered some parts of the outside walls harmoniously. The six storeys
of the main façade soared to show the grandeur of the king of Genan and his
forebears. Hhalon only saw the front and central parts of the U-shaped palace.
He was already considering making it larger and more beautiful.
In front of the Royal Palace, King Hhalon could also admire the city of
Adolja, the capital of Genan, his kingdom. The splendour of the architecture,
the division of the space, the aura that every building displayed made Adolja
an absolute jewel. The layout of the city had been planned with exceptional
care: the style used for each building within each specific area, the height of
the palace and the High Temple in front of it, the stones used, the carvings
and the statues, the large gardens and green areas patching the inhabited
spaces with nature, the bridges crossing the main river and the constructions
around it, the large streets allowing circulation, and the large wall skirting the
city for protection. Of the twelve cities of Genan, Adolja was considered the
most elegant and grandiose. The former kings of Genan had wanted it to be
like that, since the city was the mirror of their sophistication and indisputable
power.
All the cities of the kingdom controlled the areas around them and were
controlled by the mother city, Adolja. An earl presided over each of the other
eleven cities, and most of them specialised in profitable products. The city of
How Balja produced gold, the precious metal that the king used to make coins,
thus enriching his personal treasure. Gold was the most important resource for
3