Kingdom of Mercerus
Gracias City
Gracias City, the city of riches, the city of prosperity, the city of justice was the heart and the capital of Mercerus. From its whitewashed buildings to the jewel-adorned palace, the city looked nothing less than a paradise to anyone visiting it from outside. Inside the city, beautiful marble structures added to the beauty of the city.
The temples present in the city were visited by tourists from far above. Beautiful statues carved out of marble and gold adorned the temples and the walls of the temples were carved with intricate designs, adding to the aesthetic look of the temples. But the main attraction of the city was the palace situated at the center of the city. With its magnificent structure reaching towards the heavens, it gave off a regal aura it. It was made of red bricks and limestone. The inside of the palace was filled with gardens and patios, with many rooms for the royalty surrounding them. The royal court gave off an imposing feeling with gold and silver works lining the walls of the court. Many exquisite paintings were hung across the wall, showing the royalty's love for art and culture. The seats of the ministers were arranged on the left and right of the king's throne. The king's throne was placed above a raised platform, signifying its importance. Various rare jewels and emeralds adorned the throne of the king. It was the royal court where the kings and the ministers gathered to discuss topics of emergency or something which is of importance.
In another place inside the palace was the public court where the public gathered to share their grievances. The public court had a balcony on which the king stood and an open area below the balcony where the public gathered.
The ministers had slowly started coming into the royal court. The King had sent a message for them to gather as they had to discuss something which required their immediate attention. A few minutes before the beginning of the royal court, all the ministers were already seated at their respective places and were having minor discussions with each other on random topics. Suddenly the royal guard announced the arrival of the king and everyone stood up.
As Alexander entered the court, everyone could feel the royal aura and the power emanating from their king. Everyone bowed their heads as he walked past them. His walk itself gave off a feeling of authority as if he was made for this role. His brown eyes shone with the years of experience and traits of leadership could be seen in him.
As he sat on his throne, he ran his fingers through his silky brown hair and pushed back the bangs which were blocking his vision. As he opened his mouth there was complete silence in the court.
" My fellow ministers, I hope that you all are in good health and are doing well. As long as the people of this kingdom live in prosperity and happiness the kingdom will also prosper and vice-versa. The citizens of the kingdom share a very intimate bond with their motherland. And it has come to my attention that someone has ill intentions towards our motherland."
The ministers gained an angry look on their faces after hearing this. "Who dares to challenge us, my lord? Who is foolish enough to provoke our wrath?" one of the ministers asked with anger shining in his eyes.
"Calm down, everyone. Even I am feeling as much anger as you all are feeling right now. But we must keep a cool head and take our decisions wisely. Let me tell you the identity of those who dared to do something like this to us. The identity of the culprit is none other than the King of Elpis."
Many ministers were shocked on hearing the name of the culprit. The Kingdom of Elpis was the most peaceful one out of the Three Kingdoms. They were trying to think as to what they had done to anger the King so much.
"What did they do, my lord? Surely it must be something big for you to lose your composure like this. We know you for being very calm even in the tensest situations. So what happened, my lord?" asked one of the old ministers.
" I would not have been so angry had the situation been not so grave, my friend. Do you remember the holy stone which was getting shipped from the Eastern part of our kingdom to the port on the capital?"
" Yes, my lord. It was called the Elixir of God, wasn't it?"
"Yes, my friend. You have spoken correctly. The Elixir of God, which was found in the Eastern part of our kingdom and was a gift by God as told by the priests, predicting the prosperity and well-being of our kingdom, was coming to the capital by ship which was going to reach the port today. But instead of the Elixir of Life, what reached the port were the dead bodies of our soldiers and the broken fragments of the holy stone. We got to know that the Kingdom of Elpis was involved when we found some of the bodies of their soldiers among ours. So now, here I am asking for the opinion of the council, what is the next step which we should take?"
The royal court was in a state of uproar, with many ministers shouting for war and the head of the King of Elpis.
The King raised his hand and the ministers went silent. He said " I know that even your blood is boiling like mine after hearing this. But we should not make rash decisions in our anger. The prosperity of the kingdom should always be foremost. I want to give you a day to cool down your heads and give me an ideal solution tomorrow. Until then, the court is dismissed." The King said as he rose from his throne and went towards his royal quarters. The ministers also started departing from the royal court one by one.
Some of the ministers found something fishy in the incident and started to plan their own methods to delve into this incident more deeply to get more information.
Somewhere else...
"So the first piece has moved. Let's see how this game proceeds. Hehehe ....."