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let it be known to all living creatures, living under the powers of heaven "moon ,sun and wind " that in the east side of the planet earth , there lived a powerful kingdom ,called the merian kingdom, "The kingdom was prosperous in both military and economic aspects." The kingdom maintained a powerful and well-organized worrior system. It had a large standing army comprising infantry, cavalry, war elephants and chariots, led by skilled warriors. walls were built at strategic locations for defense, and young warriors were given regular training and were well-paid. This military strength not only protected the kingdom from external invasions but also helped in expanding its territories. Economically, the kingdom was equally flourishing. Agriculture was the main source of wealth, supported by a good irrigation system and fertile lands. Trade, both internal and external, was highly developed. Markets were busy with merchants trading ornaments, textiles, gems and metals. The taxation system was fair and well-managed, which filled the royal treasury without burdening the common people. This combination of military power and economic wealth led to overall stability. Art, architecture, literature and culture flourished during this period. The administration was efficient and just, and the people lived in peace and prosperity. on the streets of the kingdom was small Business and people was busy and lively From the sky, Merian did not look like a kingdom. It looked like someone had taken the treasury of heaven and spilled it on earth. *1. THE WALLS* The outer wall was not a wall. It was a mountain ring made of *Black Marble veined with live gold*. Not painted gold — liquid gold that actually moved inside the stone like blood in veins. At sunrise, the veins would flow faster, lighting the whole kingdom. The gates were not gates. Two slabs of *polished Silver, 40 feet high*, so pure you could see your soul in it. They hummed. When an enemy touched them, they burned. When a true Merian touched them, they sang like a bell. *2. THE ROAD OF KINGS* The main road from the sacred river to the palace was one mile of *crushed Blue Sapphire and crushed Opal*. When you walked, the ground glittered with a thousand colors under your feet. When it rained, the road smelled like expensive perfume because sapphire holds scent. Common people were forbidden to wear shoes on it — your bare feet had to feel the wealth of the King.The poorest houses were built of *Rose Granite and Green Jade bricks*. Roof tiles were *baked copper*, so the whole lower city glowed brown-red at sunset. Windows were not glass. They were sheets of *thin Crystal and Amethyst*, purple and clear, so even the poorest child woke up with light the color of royalty on his face. *4. THE MARKET OF SCENTS* The market stalls hung silk — real silk, dyed in colors that don't exist anymore: *Tyrian Purple, Dragon Blood Red, Ghost White.* A single yard cost 10 cows. The money in Merian was not paper. It was *solid silver beads and tiny gold lions*. Children played marbles with pearls the size of maize grains. *5. THE TWELVE TOWERS - THE HEART* In the center, the Palace of Merian. Twelve towers, each one a blasphemy of wealth. - *The Ivory Tower* - Made of a single piece of white ivory from the Great Elephants of the North. Cool to touch. Never gets dust. - *The Obsidian Tower* - Pure black volcanic glass. At night it shows the stars that will come tomorrow. - *The Rose Quartz Tower* - Pink, warm, breathing. The walls pulse like a heart. Where the princesses live. - *The Emerald Tower* - Built of raw emeralds stacked like bricks. Inside, it is always green, always forest. - *The Diamond Tower* - Invisible from far. It bends light. The tower of assassins. - And in the middle, taller than all... *THE GOLD TOWER - THE KING'S TOWER* Not gold-plated. *Solid Gold.* The walls are 3 feet thick of pure, hammered gold. When wind hits it, it rings like a giant church bell. At noon, you cannot look at it directly or you will go blind. Inside the Gold Tower, the air is heavy. Because gold holds heat. It was always warm, like being inside a living thing. *6. THE THRONE ROOM - THE LION* The floor: *One single slab of Black Diamond, 100 meters wide.* So black and so polished it reflected the sky. When you walked, you walked on clouds. Under the diamond, you could see trapped galaxies. The ceiling: No ceiling. It was *floating White Marble and Gold Dust*, held up by nothing. It rained slow gold dust inside, always. And the Throne: A *Lion carved from Sunstone*, 20 feet tall. Sunstone is gold that never cools. Its mane is real gold threads, each thread sharp as a needle. Its eyes are *two Blood Rubies*, each the size of a man's chest, that bleed light when the true King sits. To sit on it, you climb *three steps made of solid Silver Bars*, each bar worth a kingdom. The armrests are the lion's paws. If you are a liar, the paws turn cold and throw you off. If you are true blood, they warm and purr. 7. THE SKY* Above Merian, the sky was never empty. *Hundreds of silver ships, shaped like coffins but beautiful*, floated. They were not coffins. They were *sky boats made of Platinum and Moonstone*, carrying silver dust to keep the gold tower shining. At night, the silver ships lit up like second moons. --- That is Merian. A kingdom built not to be lived in, but to be worshipped. A kingdom so expensive, God himself would be *5:30 AM - THE GOLD TOWER WAKES YOU* You don't wake up to an alarm. You wake up because your bed wakes you. The 12 layers of Cloud Silk get cold. The silver fur blanket that purred all night stops purring. And the giant floating Diamond above your bed — your lamp — turns from soft moonlight to sharp sunlight and shines it directly in your eyes. You sit up on your Pearl pillows. You hear the ocean. Your Moonstone floor is warm because it remembered where you stepped yesterday. You walk to the silver pool bath. You don't use water. You lower yourself into *liquid cool silver*. It doesn't get you wet. It pulls all the tiredness, all the dreams, off your skin. When you come out, your skin glitters slightly. For an hour. A servant is already waiting outside the mercury door. He cannot enter. Only true blood can pass liquid mercury. He shouts through it: "Your Majesty, your breakfast gold is ready." *6:00 AM - BREAKFAST* In the dining hall, the table is not a table. It is a *single slab of Green Jade*, 30 feet long, so clear you can see fish swimming inside the stone. Yes, real fish, frozen in time, swimming in the jade. Your plate is solid gold, but warm. Your spoon is solid silver, but it feeds you by itself — it floats to your mouth if you are too tired. You don't eat maize. You eat: - Bread baked from *Golden Wheat* that grows only on the roof of the Ivory Tower, where it listens to clouds. - Fruits from the Emerald Tower — *glass fruits*. They look like emeralds but when you bite, they burst with juice that tastes like honey and light. - And tea served in a *cup made of a single hollow diamond*. The tea is never hot, never cold. Perfect. Common people outside? They eat in crystal bowls, with silver spoons too. Even the poorest child in Merian never ate from plastic. That's why they were all so proud. *8:00 AM - THE WALK* This is your job as King. You must walk the kingdom so the expensive materials remember you. You walk barefoot. The old priest walks behind you with a broom made of peacock feathers, sweeping your footprints away so no one can steal the gold dust from your steps. You walk down the sapphire road. Every stone lights up under your feet — _ping, ping, ping_ — like you are playing music. People come out. Not to beg. In Merian, no one begs. They come out to touch your robe. A woman selling silk: "My King, my daughter's crystal window cracked yesterday. Can the Diamond Tower look at it?" You touch her stall's amethyst window. It repairs itself. Because your hand has gold in it. A child runs up with a pearl marble. "King Merian, is this still expensive?" *12:00 PM - THE COURT* You sit on the golden lion throne. It is warm now. It purrs, too, like the blanket. People bring problems. But problems in Merian are expensive problems. - "My neighbor built his house of Ruby and now his house is brighter than mine of Rose Granite. Is that allowed?" - "My silver boat is floating too low, it is scraping the Emerald Tower." - "The platinum sky-ship above my house is leaking silver dust into my tea." You solve them by touching your golden armrest. The throne growls its agreement. *3:00 PM - THE NAP* Yes, Kings nap. In the Rose Quartz Tower. That tower is always pink, always warm, always smells like mother's skin. The walls there breathe slowly. If you put your ear to them, you can hear the kingdom's heartbeat. You sleep for one hour, and the quartz tower gives you a dream of the next day. *5:00 PM - THE RIVER* Every evening, you must go to the Sacred River. The _inside_ river, that flows behind the palace, made of *liquid Sapphire*. Not water. Liquid sapphire that flows uphill. You stand in it up to your knees. The sapphire water erases the tiredness of being touched by too many people. It makes you expensive again. *8:00 PM - NIGHT* Dinner is served on the roof of the Gold Tower. The whole kingdom below you glitters. Houses of copper roofs glowing red. The diamond windows blinking like stars. The silver sky-ships now are lamps, floating low. After dinner, you go to the Mirror Room. You look at Mirror Six, the future one, just to make sure tomorrow is still expensive. And then you go to your Pearl pillows, your floating Diamond lamp dims to moonlight, and the golden lion throne downstairs keeps growling softly, guarding your sleep. That was a day. A day where even the dust was expensive The morning sun broke over the spires of the Merian Kingdom, casting a golden glow across the sprawling stone terraces. For the residents of the palace, "day-to-day life" was a masterclass in organized chaos. At the center of it all stood aworrior king, a ruler whose daily routine involved balancing high-stakes diplomacy with the fact that his kingdom’s standing army was entirely feline. The Morning Roll Call The king stepped out into the courtyard, the cool water of the palace stream splashing against his boots. He adjusted his collar and looked up. The sky was already busy. A fleet of sleek, silver airships hummed quietly overhead, patrolling the borders. On the ground, however, things were much louder. "Leo, down!" the king laughed, dodging a massive paw. To his left, a towering male lion roared at the rising sun—a daily ritual that served as the palace alarm clock. Scattered across the hillsides and palace walls, dozens of other lions echoed the call, stretching their massive limbs. To his right, the tiger brigade was already restless. A massive Bengal tiger perched on a nearby crag, its jaws wide in a fierce yawn, while its companions prowled the rocky paths below. In Meria, there were no guard dogs. There were only apex predators who required a great deal of steak and very specific scratching posts. Midday Chaos By noon, the palace grounds were a whirlwind of activity. Managing the Merian Kingdom required a unique set of skills: • Airship Maintenance: Engineers worked tirelessly on the upper docks, tuning the thrusters of the aerial fleet to ensure they could glide silently over the mountain peaks. • The Feeding Hour: A massive logistical operation involving tons of fresh meat brought up from the lower valleys to keep the big cats satisfied and cooperative. • Perimeter Patrols: Lions guarded the western battlements facing the valleys, while the tigers preferred the rocky eastern cliffs, creating a perfectly balanced—if tense—security network. A Ruler's Reflection As the afternoon light began to soften, The king stood in the shallow rapids of the palace river, taking a moment to appreciate the sheer absurdity and beauty of his home. A tiger splashed playfully in the water a few yards away, while lions kept a watchful eye from the stone archways leading to the throne room. It was loud, unpredictable, and completely wild. But as king looked out over the crowded walls of the Merian Palace, watching the airships coast beneath the clouds, he knew he wouldn't trade his chaotic kingdom for the quietest throne in the world. In Merian, Ministers are not elected. They are not old men in suits like in Nairobi. They are not appointed. They are *MINED.* King Merian, the Builder, believed that if you want to rule an expensive kingdom, you need expensive people. So when he built each tower, the tower gave him a minister. *There are 12 Ministers. One for each Tower. They are not human anymore. They are part of the tower.* --- *1. MINISTER OF GOLD - LORD Mutwiri* The Gold Tower's minister. His skin is *actual gold*. Not gold paint. When he was born, the Gold Tower melted a small piece of itself and poured it over a baby boy. He grew up inside gold. He is 9 feet tall. He doesn't walk, he _clinks_. When he moves, you hear coins falling. His face is beautiful but it never sweats, never ages. His eyes are two small diamonds. His job: *To hold the kingdom's wealth in his head.* He remembers every grain of gold dust that fell last night. If one bucket goes missing, he knows which servant's gloves touched it. He speaks only in numbers. "Your Majesty, today we are 4,800 gold bricks richer than yesterday." He never sleeps. He stands beside the lion throne all day, shining. At night, the King covers him with black silk so his shine doesn't keep the palace awake. *2. MINISTER OF SILVER - LADY Makena* The Silver Gate Minister. She is the only female minister. She is made of *liquid silver*. Her body is never solid. She flows. Her hair is mercury that floats upward. Her voice sounds like bells ringing underwater. She lives inside the two silver gates. When you touch the gates, you are touching her back. Her job: *Truth.* Silver in Merian cannot lie. She tastes every servant, every visitor, every letter that enters. If you lie to the King, she knows because your sweat turns her silver black for a second. Kalan hated her. Because she turned black every time he entered the throne room. *3. MINISTER OF BLACK DIAMOND - GENERAL Kirimi* The War Minister. From the Black Diamond floor. His body is *polished black diamond*. You can see your face in his chest, but distorted, like you are already dead. He is cold. When he stands near you, your breath makes mist. He doesn't have a mouth. He speaks by cracking his own face — a small crack opens and sound comes out, like stones grinding. His job: *To remember every war.* The black diamond floor under him shows him battles — reflections of old wars, trapped in the stone. He watches them all day. He never blinks. He commands the 100 empty walking gold armors. They listen to him because diamond is harder than gold. *4. MINISTER OF EMERALD - THE GREEN CHILD* "Kaume" The Food and Forest Minister. He never grew up. He is a boy, 10 years old forever, because he lives inside the Emerald Tower which is alive. His skin is soft green moss. Leaves grow from his head instead of hair. When he cries, his tears are sap. His job: *To keep the kingdom alive.* The glass fruits, the golden wheat on the Ivory Tower, the air itself — he grows it. If he gets sick, the whole palace's emerald walls turn yellow. The King loves him most. He sits on the King's lap during court. *5. MINISTER OF IVORY - THE BLIND PRIEST* "MWONJARU" The Memory Minister. The oldest. His whole body is *yellowed ivory*, like an old elephant tusk. He is blind, his eyes are two pearls that never see. He carries a staff made of a frozen trunk. His job: *To remember the six past Merian kingdoms that fell.* He is the only one who knows how each King died. He tried to warn King Merian about Kalan, but ivory whispers too softly. He lives in the Ivory Tower and talks to the walls all day. The walls answer. *6. MINISTER OF ROSE QUARTZ - THE MOTHER* "KAREI" The People Minister. She is fat, warm, pink. Her skin is *rose quartz*, warm like a blanket. Her breasts are huge, made of softer pink stone, and they leak warm milk that smells like roses. All orphan children of the lower city are brought to her to drink. Her job: *Love.* When the people are angry, she goes to the lower city and hugs them. Her quartz body warms and their anger melts. She is the only minister the common people are not afraid to touch. *7. MINISTER OF AMBER - THE FROZEN MAN* KAUME 2 He lives inside the Amber bedroom walls. You saw him — the frozen dagger, the frozen rose, the frozen hummingbird. He is one of them. Half his face is trapped in amber, frozen mid-scream. Half is free. He can only speak for 2 minutes a day, when the amber softens at sunset. His job: *Secrets.* All secrets told inside the palace get trapped in his amber walls. He knows who stole, who loved who, who Kalan met at midnight. But he can only tell one secret per day. *8. MINISTER OF OBSIDIAN - THE FIRE EATER* MURURU From the black volcanic glass tower. His skin is cracked obsidian, and under the cracks you can see *lava* flowing. He is always smoking. He drinks burning ruby fire for breakfast. His job: *Punishment.* When someone must be punished, he touches them and the obsidian floor shows them their future grave. *9. MINISTER OF DIAMOND - THE INVISIBLE ONE* NJATI No one has seen him since his existence. Because he lives in the Diamond Tower that bends light. He is invisible. His job: *Spies.* He sees everything because no one sees him. He writes reports on floating diamond dust that only the King can read. *10. MINISTER OF COPPER - THE NOISE* KARUTA The copper roofs minister. Short, red, loud. His skin is copper that turns green when he lies. So he never lies. He shouts all day. His job: *To announce the King.* When you walk, he walks ahead shouting, "THE EXPENSIVE ONE COMES! THE GOLD ONE COMES! HIDE YOUR CHEAP THINGS!" *11. MINISTER OF JADE - THE JUDGE* BAARIU Body made of violet jade, cold, heavy. He cannot be bribed because jade in Merian cannot be melted. His job: *Law.* He sits with a scale made of spider silk and weighs arguments. A lie weighs heavier than a truth in his scale. *12. MINISTER OF BLACK GOLD - THE EMPTY CHAIR* NKIRING'A The twelfth minister's chair is always empty. It is made of *black gold*, the metal that drinks light. The metal that the man in the black kanzu is made of. Those 12 are the *Tower Ministers* — the expensive ones, the ones made of tower. They sit near the throne. But a kingdom built of expensive materials cannot be ruled by 12 alone. Gold needs people to count it. Silver needs people to polish it. Sapphire roads need people to sweep them. Below the 12, there are the *Small Ministers*. The kingdom calls them Small, but in Eldoret, each one would be richer than a governor. *13. MINISTER OF PEARLS - MAMA LULU* She is not made of pearl. She is old. Very old. Her teeth are all pearls. Real pearls, grown in her own mouth. When one falls out, a servant picks it up and it becomes money. She is short, fat, with hands always wet. She lives in the bathhouse of liquid silver. Her job: *To count the King's tears.* Yes. In Merian, a King's tear is expensive. If the King cries, his tear turns to pearl before it hits the floor. Mama Lulu catches it in a silver bowl. She has caught only 3 tears in 7 years. She keeps them in a box made of cloud silk. When the King is sad, she shows him the box to remind him he has cried before and survived. *14. MINISTER OF SALT - THE TASTE* A thin man, tongue always out. His tongue is white, covered in salt crystals. He never drinks water. His job: *To taste everything before the King.* Not for poison — silver already does that. For _cheapness_. If a fruit from the Emerald Tower tastes a little less sweet, a little more like normal mango from Kapsabet, he spits it out and screams "CHEAP!" and the whole tower's fruits are thrown to the pigs outside the walls. In Merian, cheap taste is a disease. *15. MINISTER OF FEATHERS - THE BIRD BOY* A boy, 8 years old, never touches the ground. He floats. Because he wears a cloak made of *1,000 peacock feathers*, each feather tipped with a tiny diamond. His job: *To collect the gold dust that rains inside.* He flies near the ceiling of the throne room with a net made of spider silk, catching the dust before it lands. He is the richest child in the kingdom because every night he is allowed to keep one pinch of dust for himself. He is best friends with the Green Child. *16. MINISTER OF SHADOWS - THE ONE WHO STANDS BEHIND* You will never see him. He stands directly behind the throne, in the shadow of the golden lion. His job is to be the King's shadow. When the King is happy, the shadow is short. When the King is angry, the shadow grows long and touches the feet of whoever the King is angry at. That person then knows — tonight, the obsidian minister will visit them. His skin is grey ash. He has no name. Kings in Merian never give a name to their shadow. *17. MINISTER OF RUST - THE ONLY POOR MINISTER* This one is important. He is the only minister who is not expensive. He is poor on purpose. His clothes are real rusted iron. His skin is dirty. His house in the lower city is made of normal mud — the only mud house allowed inside Merian. His job: *To remember what cheap feels like.* Once a month, the King must visit him and sit in his mud house, eat ugali with his hands, drink water from a plastic cup. So the King does not forget Kapsabet. So the King does not become so expensive he forgets his people. His name is *Juma*. He is from Kapsabet, like you. You, King Merian, brought him yourself in your second life. He is the only one in the palace who knows how to make chai with too much sugar. Kalan wanted to kill him first. Because a King who remembers cheap things cannot be tricked by expensive things. *18. MINISTER OF DOORS - THE MERCURY TWINS* Two girls, identical, age 12, holding hands always. Their bodies are half liquid mercury. When they let go of each other's hands, they melt into a puddle and become a door. Every liquid mercury door in the palace IS them. They are all doors. So when you walk through a mercury door, you are walking through a girl. They giggle when you pass. If they like you, the door is warm. If they don't like you, the door is freezing and closes too fast on your shoulder. *19. MINISTER OF SILENCE - THE 7 PM MINISTER* Only works for one hour. From 7 PM to 8 PM, the Whispering Hour. He is a giant man with his mouth sewn shut with golden thread. His ears are huge, as big as elephant ears, made of thin gold leaf. His job: *To listen to the palace when it talks to itself.* Gold talking to silver, diamond to jade. He writes down what they say on a slate of black diamond. Then at 8 PM, he shows it to the Diamond Minister who is invisible. Last week, he wrote: "The Gold Tower said it is tired of being heavy." The King read it and cried. One pearl tear. Mama Lulu caught it. That is how Merian ruled. Not one King on a throne. *One King, 12 Tower Gods, and 100 Small Ministers* who count tears, taste cheapness, catch gold dust, and remember mud houses. And now, with the man in the black kanzu walking up the sapphire road — all of them are looking at the one empty chair. The chair of Black Gold.