The King

The weight of the crown is heavy in the palace of Bolbando.

“And this is how I come to see the new king’s coronation. Be a part of it. A hundred feet above marble and mosaic. With the view of a bird.

“Or the view of an angel.

“The king sits in his malachite robes, high on his malachite throne, his back stiff, perhaps knowing the weight of the gold and the emeralds around his head.  From this angle high above, swaying at the level of the dome and of the temple’s highest windows, all I see of his face is the sharp bright tip of his nose.”