Les Rois

In the ornate palace of Alfanie, an ancient king, his skin the pallor of wax and his beard a white banner, summons the court for an unexpected proclamation. With a trembling command he entrusts the reins of the realm to his eldest son, Prince Hermann, for a year, hoping that age and illness will not diminish the kingdom’s stability. The scene is a tableau of gilded pomp, solemn oaths, and the quiet anxiety that shadows every regal gesture.

Hermann, a thirty‑six‑year‑old general whose thin frame and scholarly air belie his warrior lineage, receives the crown with a melancholy smile, aware of the heavy expectations that now rest on his shoulders. The palace buzzes with polite congratulations, yet beneath the formalities the fraternal banter of his red‑bearded brother Otto and the uneasy sympathy of cousin Renaud hint at deeper currents of rivalry and doubt. As the ceremony unfolds, listeners are invited to follow a court where duty, ambition, and fragile health converge, setting the stage for a delicate power play.