Kingdom's Vice Series: Journey to Alleria ( #1 2014) #Wattys2015

Prologue

PROLOGUE

It’s not like I haven’t done it before. The Sardille Mines are easy pickings, depending on the light of day or whether or not the moonlight shines in its favour. It’s simple: you cross the border of Bardhelm and low and behold, Kennah stands ready for a good night’s harvest. Sapphires are a precious gem, especially in these parts, and even more valuable when used as payment for means of travel across the sea.

            Long ago, as the old tales say, my home kingdom of Bardhelm and the city of Alleria from across the sea were once sister kingdoms, sharing everything from food, wealth and even leadership. But, the Bardhelmian leaders soon grew hungry for more power than Alleria was willing to bestow, and so broke the allegiance that governs the study topics in our universities. All you ever hear in the marketplace is how Allerians value vanity over all things, more than loving someone more than oneself. I’m sure Allerians say similar things about Bardhelm, The City of Ivory, with its halls carved in the whitest bone and homes radiating the decadence of our lifestyle. Of all the three Kingdoms: Alleria, Bardhelm and Kennah, Alleria is viewed as the purest, for our vice of luxury and covetousness reveal our flaw of greed, while Kennah falls into the hands of cowardice and pride. They live in poverty, surviving on the Sapphire Trade Agreements with other faraway lands, weeks’ journey from the Mines. They live in poverty and refuse to seek help from the wealthy, because their pride traps them in a cocoon.

            Sometimes I wish I could feel sympathy for them, or even empathy, but it’s nearly impossible. Their undoing is their doing. Pride stops great men from accomplishing great things, so they say. They sometimes mistake us for Allerians, travelling abroad (an extremely rare event, since Allerians never set foot on the soil of Meyn, or mortals), because our hair is the same shade of white, and our robes the same cream palate. But, people from Kennah stick out in a crowd like a sore thumb. You can’t miss the blue hair and cut hands.

            And so I do it, I take what they have (which is all they have) and stuff the sapphires in my satchel and swing the strap across my chest, tight and secure. Safe. I hurry off, tucking a stray strand of hair from my cheek behind my ear as I scout my surroundings. No-one’s watching. No-one ever is. It’s as if they don’t even care anymore, they don’t even bother to lock the Mines. I’ll take advantage of their lack of hope, or will to go on I suppose. Alleria is about an hours’ walk from here, with high hills and mountain tops to conquer, an exhaustive task for my lungs, who are not accustomed to the high ranges and colder air.

            Think about the water I tell myself as I fight to suck in another icy breath. I blink the wind out of my eyes, but fighting it is like fighting a storm.

            Think about how beautiful the city will be, the city you’ve always dreamed of.

Alleria had always fascinated me, ever since I was a child. My nose would be buried in the books, especially in The Book of Old Days and The Trail of the Pure Allegiance. I could recite pages and pages, essay upon essay by age nine. My parents drilled it into my brain for so long it became natural to me: knowledge became natural. My hunger for knowledge led to curiosity; though I hear a curious nature doesn’t work out so well for some. The stealing? Well, I guess that’s just the Ivorian thing to do, isn’t it? I suppose you could say it’s in my blood.

            I’ll take it that you know where I’m going now, where I plan to go. Though, why I’m doing this is a mystery even to me. I suppose we both shall see, won’t we?