The White King's Favorite novel Chapter 1

The Dragon Empire.

A very old Empire that had seen centuries pass by, and never flinched. From the northern barbarians to the Pirates of the white sea, and then, the vain attempt of the Eastern Republic, nothing had been able to scratch an inch of those strong borders. The long line of its rulers, always covered in the gold and Imperial Purple, only ever feared their own progeny, for it seemed each heir was stronger than their fathers. Their only notable conflicts were internal wars, between the fierce brothers, all hoping to claim the golden throne as theirs.

However, for over two decades now, no man had seated on the large, golden throne of the Emperor. This vast Empire was thriving, now more than ever, with an Empress at its head.

The man had tried to study as much as he could to prepare himself.

It was no easy task. His country had been at odds with the Dragon Empire for centuries, and their cultures were too different. He had tried to grab scraps of information, here and there, to get ready for this very special day. A day that would be recorded into history, perhaps. He took a deep breath, his eyes on the Imperial Palace as he stood in the long line of people wishing to be granted entrance.

This Imperial Palace itself was as vast as a small city. For centuries, it had been the house of the Emperor and his large family. The Empress and their children, when there was one, but most importantly, all the concubines. The long line of the Dragon Emperors had mostly continued through the many children those Emperors had fathered. Those large families needed to be housed in the Imperial Palace, thus that place had only grown with time. As an emperor thrived, he had his concubines, and his children often have their own concubines and children... Of course, it was also practically cleared out at each new Emperor taking over. No smart man kept his rivals close, and thus, the said siblings were usually all killed in a matter of days before the new Emperor sat on the throne, had his own children and concubines taken over, and that circle of life and death would start all over again. However, now, there were no concubines residing in the Imperial Palace.

The Empress did have male concubines, but none of them was allowed to live there. She had declared, within the year she had become the new ruler, that she wouldn't have any children to succeed, and instead, her nephew should be the new heir apparent.

Strangely, he couldn't find why this decision had been welcomed. The said nephew was the son of the Empress' brother, the rumored War God. Yet, why would she allow her brother's son to inherit her throne, instead of having her own children? There had been no proof of the Empress being sterile, but according to the locals, she actually had taken medicine to prevent pregnancy since years before she even fought to rise to the position. ...Did she feel like she owed this to her brother, who had helped her rise? Then, why not let the War God himself become Emperor? Surely, this would have been much simpler than establishing a woman on the golden throne... This was a mystery he hadn't solved yet.

"Next!" Yelled the Imperial Guard.

He had to hand out his papers, quickly, and explain the reason for his visit. The Guard raised an eyebrow. Surely, not many foreigners made it all the way there. Eventually, the man in a silver armor scoffed, and gave him his papers back.

"Good luck with that!" He laughed.

His papers shoved back into his hands, he nodded and made his way inside. He knew he had come with no easy request, but it was of utmost importance he succeeded. The future of their Kingdom depended on the outcome of this audience with the Empress...

Following the long line of people walking in, he was a bit lost inside those high walls and long corridors. He had to ask his way twice to the Imperial Servants. Thankfully, he had studied enough to know the servants in this place traditionally wore green clothing. Although the Empress had abolished the centuries-old Imperial Decree behind a lot of the rules on the different casts' clothing, the Imperial Servants most likely wore green out of tradition. Some wore some little accessories or pieces of clothing of different colors, but the green was still prominent. The man internally congratulated himself for having chosen a simple blue attire. This was the color of scholars, officials and educated people in general. Everyone showed him respect, despite his poor appearance.

The journey there had taken a toll on the old man.

He had lived over half a century, and seen many things, but this may have been the journey of his life. He had always dreamt of coming to this amazing country. Where he came from, many saw the Dragon Empire as a ruthless land, with barbarians preying on the weak, and monstrous mankiller beasts allowed to roam free. No foreigner had been allowed in for a long time. The only ones who could walk into these lands were travelers, people of tribes, or merchants who wouldn't be so foolish to get close to the Capital. Yet, things had changed in recent years. The borders weren't as tightly closed as before. A lot of the Cities were now thriving, while before, it seemed everything was solely happening in the Capital. Since the death of the late emperor, his daughter had been making more and more changes every day...

Now, the man was trying to brush some sand off of his hair and beard, and wipe off the dust from his clothes. Compared to the other people waiting to see the Empress, with the perfect attires and gold jewelry, he looked like a beggar...

Strangely though, the line was getting shorter, fast.

People who walked inside the throne room didn't seem to spend more than a few minutes before leaving. Strangely though, the people who came back were often in a curious state. He saw people coming out furious, in tears, or with a lot of joy on their faces. Some... didn't come out at all. He couldn't come up with any reason as to why, though, as the main room seemed totally soundproof. They only heard something when the door would open, either to welcome the next guests or for the Imperial Servants going in and out.

As he was finally the next one in line, the man took a deep breath, preparing himself mentally. He couldn't be more prepared, but he was still very unsure about all this. His only piece of luggage was in his bag, and he was preciously carrying a little chest he had been protecting with his life through this journey.

When the doors opened, the man stepped inside, as nervous as an old man like him could be.

An imperial servant came to greet him.

"Please follow me. Do not speak a word until the Empress has authorized you to. You shall not look at their Highnesses until they spoke to you, either. No weapon is allowed inside the Throne Room, and you shall be killed immediately if you brought one without informing us."

The man nodded, but he couldn't remember having been searched, which had indeed surprised him. The Imperial Guard had mentioned weapons were forbidden inside the Imperial Palace, but... that was it. The security seemed a little lax, in his opinion. He could have gotten this far with a sword, and no one would have stopped him. Still, that wasn't something he'd do. His query was way too important to risk any mistake like this...

He walked slowly, hoping not to make any mistakes that would offend the Empress. He kept his eyes on the impressive white marble floor, but he could tell how impressive this hall was. Each sound resonated throughout, and there had to be large windows for it to be so sunny and warm, too. He could almost smell the sunshine coming from left, right, and above. There was a light scent of incense being burned, and fruits.

The one thing that struck him, though, was the strange noises coming regularly. He had already heard some of it before, while he was waiting outside, but now, the man was getting more curious about those strange sounds. It was loud, like drums, something resonating inside a huge cave. It was... terrifying. He didn't dare look up, but the man could tell, he was walking right to whatever was making that scary noise.

He was precedented and guided by an Imperial Servant, but even without that, he could have simply followed the simple path, in a straight line that took him right to the throne.

More precisely, he was asked to stand a few steps away from the first stair of a row of stairs that most likely led to the rumored golden throne.

"Empress, this man claims to have come from the faraway Eastern Kingdom to request an audience with you."

He heard a chuckle.

"The Eastern Kingdom?" Said a feminine, imperious voice. "Does that mean those brats next door are finally done fighting?"

The man nodded, but, was he allowed answering? He heard that arrogant chuckle again.

"Interesting... You learn something new every day. How long has it been, already?"

"Their new King rose to power five years ago, Empress," answered a male voice.

"So it took him five years to get them all to sit down and stop shouting? Hmpf, the kid didn't lose his time... I don't really care for their stupid Republic, though. They were all pretending to be so smart and thought of us as some barbarians. A Kingdom suits them better. I guess some fresh blood will do them some good... The one that boy didn't spill."

The man took a deep breath. Did he have to endure while the Empress insulted his King? Nothing in her words was wrong, though...

The former Eastern Republic had endured a cruel defeat against the Dragon Empire, twenty years ago. What was more aggravating was that they had started this war. Some of their leaders had been convinced by the Empire's second Prince, a cunning man with large ambitions, to agree to this nonsense attack. He had only failed to mention the third Prince and War God would stand in their army's way so fast...

In the end, the Eastern Army had been sent home, its pride wrecked to pieces, and with a lot to deal in the aftermath; those who had agreed to this attack had to come with some explanations, and those conflicts, added to their people's anger after some many deaths, poverty, and famine, had thrown the Eastern Republic into a long Civil War. The rise of a new King, finally, after several attempts at reconstructing themselves, was a hope he was willing to do anything to protect.