Golden Phantoms: Book 1 of The King's Energy Series by Farhana Uddin

Author:Farhana Uddin [Uddin, Farhana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16: The Grey Ambassador

There was only one Norse temple in the entire city of Halkyon, and it wasn’t at all what J.R. had expected. Maybe it was pure ignorance on his part, but he had expected to find an old wooden building with images of ships and ancient Vikings with long hair and longer beards, ready to pillage. Instead, he came across a modern, sophisticated, and spiraling building clad in metal panels that were perforated with braille.

J.R. wondered if the benefactors of the building had used the same architect his sister often employed, but had given them a much tighter budget to work with. The circular edifice was not unlike the Aviary, but far smaller.

Inside, J.R. found the person he was looking for sitting on a bench at the heart of the rotunda.

The former Grey Ambassador, Axel Halfdan, was gazing calmly into a four-sided, gas firepit. The ginger flames were out in the open, no glass holding back its fury. There was a custom circular burner and a suspended hood hanging right above the fire – it was supported entirely by the roof of the building.

On the ride over, J.R. had mulled over the various dramatic entrances he could have made and all the silver-tongued things he could have said. But when the Grey Ambassador peered over at him, wide-eyed and oddly hopeful, all that came out of J.R. was, “Um, hi.”

“Prince J.R.” He shot to his feet, nodded, and gestured to the seat beside him. “I’m glad you’re here. Please sit.”

J.R. approached the man cautiously. The Grey Ambassador looked to be in his late thirties, but J.R. knew he was a valensmen, well past his Father’s age. No longer dressed like the distinguished diplomat in all his official portraits, Halfdan appeared to be unarmed underneath the same ratty hoodie and pants he wore when J.R. last saw him.

As J.R. slowly sat beside Halfdan, he wondered if the man had any other clothes with him. The rips and tears in the Grey Ambassador’s weathered clothing felt like a stark contrast to the Prince’s glittering gilded embroidered coat, which he wore over a relaxed gold-star-buttoned dark suit.

Months ago, Lucien and Lex had made it clear he needed to dress the part of the Golden Prince, and J.R. didn’t mind it much. He even enjoyed the luxury of having a team of designers, tailors, and seamstresses – all of whom worked exclusively for the Golden Family. But it was at times like these, where he was in the presence of people who were clearly struggling, that J.R. felt like maybe his family needed to cut down on all the gold in their wardrobe.

“Are you familiar with the Nordic gods?” He asked J.R.

J.R. observed some of the statues attached to the wall opposite from them. He was able to recognize some of them from an illustrated art book he’d once bought Meryl for her sixteenth birthday. There was Odin and Frigga and Heimdall and … some man who was clearly overcompensating with a massive hammer.

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