Six of Ruin (Heirs of Irenwell #1) ✔

Chapter 48: Kingdom of Orathia

The fallen Kingdom of Orathia stood on the peninsula, the higher parts of the city etched upon the mountain, seemingly part of the stone. Narrow streets circled the steep cliffs, climbing up to the heart of the city. Towers loomed above the tree-line, touching the clear, blue skies. The city was twice as large as Irenwell. Not a single soul lived here.

What used to be a magnificent city was now a ruin. Older, weaker houses collapsed, wooden, hay-covered rooftops fell through, fallen leaves covered the cracked pavements. Moss and plants and trees grew through the cracks, climbing up the stone, slowly but surely devouring the entire Kingdom. Nature took back what it belonged to her.

Sunshine fell on the stone, far more scorching than the forests underneath the Kingdom would have us believe. The heat came through the soles of our shoes, heating up what almost froze mere days ago in the ice-covered planes of the North.

The six of us walked through the ruins, staring at the vast city without a word. A sense of awe and loss lingered in air, almost as if one could understand time and its consequences by merely glancing at the empty streets and the ruined houses.

The peninsula overlooked the vastness of the Northern Ocean; calm, sunlit body of water, gently moving with the currents. I could almost imagine sipping tea on the balcony, enjoying the mild summer air, bustling crowds passing underneath.

There was nothing now, no one.

"What happened here?" I looked over the houses gradually turning bigger, richer, the closer we came to the palace. The columns became more intricate, with more detail, depictions of stony birds, plants, flowers.

"Unknown western cultures brought disease." Rixen said. "The plague swept through the lands, killing almost everyone, aside from the fleets managing to escape across the Northern Ocean to Balr."

"Oh, you people love blaming other cultures for your internal problems." Ace shouted. "The last Orathian King was an incompetent, over-protected, entitled child. He lost the trust of his people, and when disease came, panic ensued, and war followed. Orathians destroyed themselves."

I tilted my head, "How come?"

Ace's green eye gleamed, "They thought they were indestructible."

As we moved through the city, the houses became larger and more preserved. We could now see the grand palace perched upon the cliff, rows and rows of houses lined up underneath.

"Why hasn't anyone settled here after the Orathians?" Nickeltinker asked, hopping along the moss-covered pathways.

"People said the Kingdom is cursed." Rixen shrugged. "They said the disease still lingered, etched into the stone. No one dares to build on top of Orathia, but there are creatures crawling through the night, under the light of the Orathian Sun, lurking and looting."

"Some fifty years ago, the civil war broke in the heart of Orathia." Ace looked around, his naked feet gliding over the moss in a gentle, caressing manner. "People stood against the King and all the lords and ladies of the land. People eventually won, banishing the King of Orathia to the woods, but their victory was in vain. The fight for the throne continued amongst the rebels; it weakened them, ruined their resources, their sense of unity. That's when the western cultures came, sweeping through the lands, and a thousand-year-old Kingdom fell not with a roar, but with a whisper."

"What was left of Orathian people fled to Bastia." Rixen continued. "And King Bernard's father enslaved them. King Bernard continued the tradition when he came of age."

My glance jumped to Danilo, whose head dropped to the ground. This had to be hard for him, facing the terrible deeds his family did.

"What happened to the last Orathian King?" I asked, looking up at the grand palace slowly rising above the rooftops and trees.