Chapter 6: The Imperial City

The current Amayan Imperial City was built under the decree of the Emperor Emeritus around three hundred years ago, when a devastating war with the Ahankar Realm brought about the destruction of the old capital city. With aquine stones as its walls, it was both impervious to fire attacks and difficult to invade during a siege.

Covering about a million square meters wide with fifty meters tall outer walls and increment of ten meters for every successive city inwards, the Imperial City was a sprawling behemoth with four public gates, each in the four directions of north, south, east, and west, and an additional solemn gate at the southwest meant solely for official use.

The north gate was used by the royal guards, soldiers, warriors, and military officials of the empire, while the south was used by the sailors, fishers, and adventurers. The west was the place of the merchants while the east belonged to the farmers of the empire.

This allocation of direction not only facilitated the daily lives of the citizens by giving them less hassle during security search while entering and exiting the imperial city. It also improved the security of the capital through the register of each individual's occupation and corresponded to the geographical location of the citizens.

The division of an individual's occupation and place of residence was determined by their passion and area of expertise.

At the moment, it was a sea of buzz and commotion at the southwest gate as government officials went in and out. Although the gate was used exclusively for the purpose of state affairs, the bustling crowd within the city walls could still be perceived outside the gate, displaying the flourishing lives of its citizens.

The entourage from the Jinn Kingdom followed behind the ministers and black armored guards with awestruck gazes as they fascinatedly took in the prosperity of the Empire. The sprawling blue-green shimmering walls, golden gates, and cool refreshing air were a complete contrast to the decaying crimson walls and dust-filled air of their desert kingdom.

"Pass, take out your pass! No one can enter the city without a pass!" The guards at city gate hollered.

There were many wanted posters of criminals displayed on the city walls. Some were yellowed with time, covered by other posters, with only their corners showing, and some completely new but carelessly posted.

The ministers approached the guards, taking out crystal-clear blue plaques from their sleeves and handing it over for inspection.

The guards confirmed the authenticity of the passes, and immediately let them pass.

A wide street greeted the eyes of the Jinn delegates after they passed through the golden gates.

The Princesses in the carriage were taken aback with the thriving sight as they gazed through the golden window dumbfoundedly.

There were people moving back and forth on the street. Large tall emerald trees were planted on both sides of the street where a stream channeled through them leisurely, and under their shade were all kinds of stalls; some sold food like samosas, sesame breads, soft bean curd, meat, and vegetable dishes, herbs and medicinal pouches, while others sold jewelry and other stuff.

The group proceeded silently past the stalls behind the ministers, then saw buildings; tall bamboo buildings, mud buildings and white-blue tiled houses, brick houses, shacks, treehouses, and even mushroom houses, caves, towers, and castles all in different shades of blue, creating a beautiful garb of watery-blue rippling hues.

Shops, hotels, inns, smithies and so on appeared one after another.

In the sky, a giant blue dolphin slowly emerged, as its shadow engulfed everyone beneath.

Flying blue dolphin was a huge beast similar to the size of a small mountain, and was capable of moving freely in the air, as an entire army hid within its body. They lived above the five heavens of the Amaya southern seas, having a mild and peaceful temperament.

It landed on the shore near the southern gate, opened its huge mouth and several black dots emerged one after the other. The black dots were members of the sea farers committee, returning from a recent sea scouting mission.

However, this was only the outer city, the teal city, of the imperial capital. The inner city housed the important and prominent figures of the empire. Its smaller size preventing any irrelevant people from entering, maintaining social order.

To enter, one needed to be in possession of a special privilege pass from the royal family or possess a special identity.

The ministers led them to a huge teal gate.

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"Would you be entering First inner city, aqua city, or Second, turquoise city?" Questioned the guard dutifully.

"We will be entering the First inner city." Moure Ren responded as he passed a purple plaque to the guard.

"You may pass through, Minister of Rites." The guard stepped aside, respectfully passing back the plaque.

Moure Ren entered the inner city with the rest of the ministers, armored guards, and Jinn ambassadors on his heels.

As the crowds became much smaller, almost less than half of the outer city, all kinds of paths extended out from the main street and the group walked on paths that could accommodate the Myifs drawn golden globe and cavalry.

The buildings here were all of one structure, and looked the same, made through a heat-resistant turquoise stone. At the same time, every five hundred feet, a tall round pillar, extending into the depths of the swirling clouds, would appear, emitting delicate streams of aqua light.

"This is so beautiful!" Princess Nari exclaimed excitedly from the golden carriage as she looked at the splendorous display of wealth and beauty with round eyes.

Princess Qamari lightly nodded her head, her purple orbs glowing faintly with a silver light.

All she heard and read about the Amayan Empire could not even come close to portraying the sight before her very eyes. Every building, stone structures, and pillars seemed to blend into one entity, creating a unique melody of life and light untainted by the passage of time.

Moving deeper into the heart of the city, they came before a squad of black armored guards stationed before an aqua gate. Following the same procedure from earlier, the guard let them through after verifying their token.

The First inner city had a type of vine growing on the walls of both sides of the street, spreading out aggressively to cover the entirety of the walls.

The roots were deep blue, the leaves wide and large emitting a soft blue moonlight. Just one segment of the path had thousands of leaves, as the gentle blue light merged into one.

Because of the large numbers of leaves, the air was more humid and water vapor filled the air. Near the ground, mist formed from the condensed vapor. The moonlight refracted in the mist, turning into an aurora.

The buildings here were mostly full of carvings and decorations, their infrastructure made using aquine and moon stones to emit starlight even in the darkest of night. Not only buildings but even the walking paths were made of either aquine or moon stones.

At one glance, starlight filled the air, clearing any mist obstructing the vision from the water vapor produced by the blue vines.

The air was fresh and clear as residents created grass fields and placed flower vats, while others made artificial mountains and pavilions. Looking around, there were light and pale turquoise walls, aqua brick buildings, and even transplanted green bamboo forests, famous trees, a variety of plants, and artificial mountains with spring water flowing.

There were even fewer people here, the streets quiet and serene, like a star palace. As one walked on the streets, they had a feeling of walking in the Janah Realm.

"We are here, Your Highnesses. You may settle yourselves in and get some rest before the start of the evening banquet." Moure Ren advised before departing with the rest of the ministers and armored guards.

This was a spacious and luxurious aquamarine mansion, with a peach blossom tree in the center of the courtyard. The rooms were few with sculptures and paintings of aquatic biomes hanging on their light blue-white wall.

Through the glass windows, the garden could be seen; green trees and red flowers blooming in the splendor of the clean, moist air with the melodious chirping of birds resounding in the building.

"Truly extravagant…" Princess Nari slightly assessed as she took in her surrounding.

Just the construction of the inner-city walls alone could match ten times the Jinn Kingdom's wealth. With such an enormous disparity in status, she could not help but feel anxious and unconfident.

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