Departure

The sun barely shows himself in the far horizon and you are already on a horse heading to the city gates. You are wearing a black coat with your initials printed in the corner of the collar. You have weaponed yourself with a sword hanging against your hips.

You greet Tupac and Cassius. Cassius has been your mentor for as long as you could remember. He taught you all the basics swordmanship and cavalry. You still train with him regularly to stay disciplined and not get rusty.

"Mornin' Christopher. Ready for the big trip kid?" this small man said. He had rough body and a rusty face marked with years of hard labor.

"Yes I am." You greet Tupac and head off to Caiseros.

After four uneventful days you finally enter the gates of the royal capital.

"I leave you do yer business then" said Cassius.

"You're not coming with us to the palace ?"

"It ain't a place for people like me to go. Even bringing yer friend with you will cause whispers Christopher. And I don't like the place anyway. Come to me when yer done. Ask for Mo's bar. I'll be there. See ya kids. And you better behave Tupac."

"I don't need your sermons old man" he barked back.

Guards lead you to a gigantic hall, overwhelming everyone who enters it. The huge pillars of red wood carved with ramping dragons sit on the marble floor and supported a ceiling covered with a glowing fresco that represented the birth of the state of Caiser. It depicted titanic roots swarming over the world to connect to a luxuriant tree who touched clouds high in the sky. This strong tree produced only a single fruit which was falling into the hands of a child wearing a white immaculate robe.

In old legends the World Tree or the Only True Tree known as Shù died after giving its only true to the child who then became the founder of the state of Caiser. The fruit is the divine prominence that made Caiser, the little child, a king and gave him a kingdom.

Under this ceiling, dozens of notables of the court and dignified bureaucrats dressed in splendid robes decorated with refined coutures are sitting in the sunlight radiating in the whole hall and illuminating the Throne of Jade. The hall was designed to bath the throne in sunlight in the afternoon. The court sit in both sides of the hall, the right and the left the throne.

Close to the throne, two men dressed in clothes even more imposing and decorated than the rest of the court sit only a few meters from the king. They were the Chancellor of the Right and the Chancellor of the Left, the two highest position in the bureaucracy.

No one in Caiser held more power than these two men except for the king himself, Rick III. He was dressed in simpler clothes than the men beside him, more immaculate like the child on the ceiling, which made him stand out even more. He is only a few years older than you. He inherited of his father's throne last year after his father died of old age.

In front of him, six men are kneeling. You recognise some of them. Just like you, they are young lords in the lands of Caiseros. You are announced by a speaker before you make the formal salutations to His Majesty and then kneel beside the young lords.