Kings of Paradise

Kings of Paradise
Richard Nell
Ash and Sand #1

Kings of Paradise Summary

Ruka, son of Beyla, was born disfigured in Ascom, called the Land of Ash. Disfigured children are considered “children of Noss”, and most are killed at birth. It is also common to have twins so “single-born” children are also unlucky. Ruka has a perfect memory, and is far more intelligent than everyone else, so he advances quickly as a child. He memorizes the Book of Galdra, the primary text for the ruling religion in the land. He and his mother live in the frigid south, far from the comfortable cities further north. Chiefs rule over groups of men, but women are considered sacred and are able to choose mates and are untouchable by warriors. They are also the only ones allowed to become priestesses who control the law in the area.

When Ruka is about 10 he interacts with other people for the first time and learns how they judge and hate him purely for his looks. His mother protects him with her beauty and strength as much as she can, but eventually they learn his wanderer father dies and his mother gets very sick. Ruka goes into town to seek help and is forced to hold Priestess Kunla hostage to avoid being killed. Kunla now hates him and his mother and seeks their destruction by going to the courts of law in Alverel. Beyla is dying on the journey, seemingly due to poison, and Ruka kills her to end her suffering. He continues on alone and eventually reaches the court to accuse Kunla, but warriors under her command block his path and since he can not reach the circle, is declared an outlaw. He vows vengeance and kills a stable boy in his escape. He creates a “grove” in his mind where life is good and he brings back the stable boy he killed and trains mentally with him.

Kale, fourth son of Farahi, the sorcerer-king of Sri-Kon, was recently made to join the marines since he was not making anything out of his life. His older brothers, especially the eldest Tane, are paragons of excellence, and Kale is just mediocre. He becomes friends with a farmer named Thetma and endures the abuse of their sergeant throughout training. He becomes strong and likeable and begins to have ambitions to serve his country well through the navy.

Amit, the uncle of the emperor of Naran, the most powerful empire in the world, is bringing the king of Sri-Kon a gift when the men he hired to sail him over betray him and dump him in the water. Kale finds him and helps him to the palace, ordering the guards at the gate to let them in when they try to refuse. His father then formally introduces Kale at court and Kale realizes he has a crush on his childhood friend Lani, a princess of a neighboring kingdom in the islands of Pyu. Amit stays to serve as royal tutor and servant. Kale’s father Farahi berates him for ordering the guards, since he does not have that power, and when Kale gets angry he sends him back to the marines saying he should not come back until he can apologize.

Ruka has spent a couple years getting used to life as an outlaw. He flees from men but has learned how to hunt, forage, and survive. He is at his camp when he gets jumped by a group of starving boys. He runs and evades them, but then realizes he is stronger and deadlier than them and circles back.

Dala lives with a family of boys who have adopted her. She had a harsh childhood and was abandoned by her father since she is touched by Noss with a big growth on her face. She is excited to come of age so she can claim the eldest boy and start a family together. The boys bring back a deer and tell her they took it from someone else. Shortly after they sit down to eat, Ruka arrives and kills all the boys. He lets Dala live and leaves her. Dala cuts off her growth and heads north to become a priestess.

Kale has become a well-liked figure in the marine training squads. He has gotten strong and made his team strong as well, although they intentionally do poorly in tests because if the sergeant knows they are better than other teams he will find ways to stop them. Kale has been working with Amit to find ways to circumvent the bad leaders and help the underprivileged kids do well. Shortly before the tests however the sergeant strips Kale of his leadership and puts in another kid, who most people know will sabotage Kale’s old team, making them lose the final canoe race and be kicked out of the marines.

During a celebration night Kale threatens the kid taking his spot and thinks it works. Later that night he meets Lani and kisses her but she tells him he needs to ask his father for permission to marry her if they want to do anything together. During the final test the kid does sabotage Kale’s team but he had talked to all the other squad leaders and they all waited and then finish in a tie, so no one gets kicked out of the navy. The King congratulates them and Kale returns to the palace for a celebration. Kale and Lani do more than kiss and he says that he will ask his father to marry her the following day. He does and his father says no, it is too risky since she is the princess of another kingdom and some other nonsense reasons. Kale rebels but his father has his spymaster Eka subdue Kale and take him as hostage to Lacona, the monk island to learn self-control.

Ruka meets a wandering skard (bard) named Egil. Egil learns that Ruka knows all of the runes in the Book of Galdra and comes up with a ruse to have Ruka pretend to be a rune-shaman and sell swords and stuff to local chiefs. Ruka agrees and disguised as Bukayag the rune-shaman they enter the first village. Egil is a drunkard and womanizer so many people hate him and Ruka is forced to step in and help him. He gives the chief Aiden a masterful sword and tells him soon he will be called on by the gods. He warns the end of the world is near. Aiden gives him a horse in thanks and Ruka and Egil go on their way. They need to watch out for priestesses since they hold much power and won’t like his talk.

After they leave Ruka decides to change how the plan works, and tortures and hurts Egil into submission. Now Bukayag is the last rune-shaman and he basically recruits chiefs and other outlaws to his way of thinking and plans to call on them someday when he seeks revenge for his mother’s death.

Dala is an initiate to become a priestess of Galdra, but most of the other initiates hate her for being poor and having a scar. She works really hard and befriends a shy girl Juchi, but still faces bullying and torment. She befriends the guards then goes out into town and talks to the night-men, the poop cleaners and such who only work at night. They are considered the bottom of society and normally priestesses look down on them but she connects with their leader Berman. She tells them of a better, more equal future and brings them knives so they can start killing rich men in the night.

Dala and Berman become lovers and the night-men continue killing people in town. It is announced to the initiates that their test to become priestesses will be ranking each other and only the top 5 become apprentices to priestesses, but if anyone complains they all fail. The top girl in class knows Dala will speak out so they plan to meet at a tower and discuss it. Dala sends Berman to kidnap the girl's brothers, but he runs into trouble and is forced to kill women (taboo) and children but brings the heads of her brothers. Dala gets attacked by another initiate at the tower but hallucinates and thinks the other girls are demons, allowing her to fight through pain and kill the girl. She makes them agree to make Dala and Juchi priestesses. When the test happens both are named priestesses and Dala heads south to serve as apprentice to Priestess Kunla.

Kale meets Master Lo, a monk who deprives him of food and makes him do ridiculous tasks. He tells him his father and Tane did these tests in just a few weeks and he is a failure. Kale receives a letter from Lani saying she is having her womanhood party in 19 days and then after that will be sent home. Kale is desperate to say goodbye so works incredibly hard at his tests. He meets a young monk, Adro, who teaches him to meditate. Eventually, Kale unlocks the ability to float free of his body and observe the world around him. He finally makes it to the final test the day before Lani will leave. The test is to copy by memory a bunch of symbols on a wall. He uses his new ability to float in front of the symbols and make his body copy them, passing the test which was not supposed to be passed. Master Lo lets him return to the palace and he goes to meet with Lani. They meet in a servants room and have sex, but are shortly after discovered by Kale’s aunt Kikay and he is brought before his father. Farahi is upset and says he will be made a eunuch in the morning and sent to be a monk. He learns his father planned to wed Lani to his brother Tane but this has been kept a secret.

Kale goes into a rage but is taken to a cell to spend the night. Shortly after, the two guards he got in trouble years ago when Amit arrived show up and try to rape him, but Tane arrives and kills them. He takes Kale with him and says he will protect him from their father. The next morning however Eka manages to overpower Tane and Kale is about to be castrated when Amit shows up and says Kale should instead be sent as a student to the imperial academy of Naran. Farahi reluctantly agrees and Kale leaves.

There is a two year time jump and Ruka (known as Bukayag) is the leader of a group of men and a notorious figure in the south. He has grown tall and strong and plans to lead his people against Kunla. He accuses her in the court and they return to Alverel and he uses his warriors and all the chieftains loyal to him to keep Kunla from reaching the circle to defend herself. Dala is also there since she has been serving as Kunla’s apprentice, as well as Juchi who has become a warrior and brings the chief Aiden. When the lawspeaker will not declare Kunla an outlaw Ruka kills her and orders his warriors to massacre everyone. Dala flees in the chaos, but witnesses Ruka brutally tear apart Kunla. Ruka has a breakdown where his body and mind seem disconnected and he can not stop himself despite wanting to.

After killing Kunla, Ruka flees on his stallion north, trying to regain control of himself. He reaches the northern coast of Ascom and steals a boat and continues sailing north, searching for paradise.

Dala arrives back in the north and warns the priestesses of the chaos Bukayag has spread. Berman has become a chief and he supports her, saying he will bring men south to quell the chaos. We see that the head priestesses are very corrupt and plan to punish Dala for this.

Kale has made friends in the academy, Osco, son of a rebel warlord, and Asna, a skilled mercenary. He also teaches meditation classes to his fellow students. Amit and him have become good friends, but the emperor tells him he will become a priest. During the initiation there is a test to see if the god Ru will perform a miracle and light candles in a dark room. Kale uses his meditation float state to suck heat from the bodies in the room and light the candles, making him an anointed. This causes problems since only those the corrupt priests select are supposed to have this role.

After another time jump, Ruka returns to the south and finds Egil, who has been happily living with Juchi for two years. He says he has found a land of paradise in the far north where the people are soft, and he needs to gather his men to take it. Egil is hesitant but remembers his torture and agrees.

Kale receives a note from Lani saying she has his son, and that his brother Tane is gay and they have not slept together. Kale wants to return home but can’t. He gets attacked at a party by some students paid by the priesthood, and manages to summon ice this time to fend off his attacks. Osco and Asna help save his life and hide him from further danger. Kale performs demonstrations of his new powers for fellow students so the emperor orders him killed. Amit tries to help Kale but they get attacked and Amit is killed. Kale goes into a rage and flies and summons lightning to kill many people. Osco warns him he received a note saying that Sri-Kon is under attack from white skinned barbarian giants. Kale and his friends run to Osco’s home to get his warriors to help retake Sri-Kon. The emperor orders his spy-master to kill himself in shame.

Lani is at the palace with her son when they hear an attack. She hides with the other servants but is eventually brought back to the throne room where a seven foot tall giant (Ruka) sits. He says she can marry him or be killed, so she agrees but says she needs a 3 month mourning period, and prays Kale can help her in time. THE END.