King of Diamonds

Very impressive!

Wow

The king threw his sceptre on the ground and pleaded like a pathetic child, but in the witch's eyes, his crimes were too many to pardon. She transformed him into a lovely silver tiara, all set with different jewels that formed a rainbow, and at once he disappeared beneath his massive hat-and-crown.

Emredaín confessed that it was she who had caused the allergy to jewels in all the Diamond women, with the intention of combatting their greed. She saw now that she had made a grave mistake, and lifted the spell.

The new Queen of Diamonds—Auraldo's aunt, Nera II—would often wear her nephew on her head, and the tiara is called a "family treasure" to this very day.

It was his last edict that would prove to be his undoing. After an especially snide comment came his way, Auraldo made it law that any creature who spoke ill of the king in any way should have its tongue replaced with a ruby, so that it might never speak again. When this was announced, and as the dreadful surgery was being performed on its first victim, a great wind threw everyone in the room to the floor, and a great voice cried, "No more of this!"

The speaker was Emredaín, a witch of great power and, some say, the very same witch who cursed the arrogant prince in the tale known as "Beauty And The Beast." She lifted her wand and raised all the people who had fallen to their feet.

Every living soldier who had marched for Queen Zaphiri and her mothers before her was dismissed at once, replaced by an army of Auraldo's own making: golden men, with steel in their cores for strength, commanded by a diamond general. Though some of these gold soldiers were melted by particularly clever adversaries, for the most part they served their king well. Indeed, the number of adversaries swiftly dwindled, further inflating Auraldo's pride. "For what fool," he proclaimed, "would dare to fight gold with flesh?"

"No card shall be allowed to possess more items of value than the number written on that card," he said. "All treasures violating this law are to be delivered to me, the King, no earlier than yesterday."

And, because of the way he had phrased it, the Diamondlands were immediately thrust into poverty, as though by the wave of a wand.

To his credit, Auraldo did not let any gem go to waste; his famous hat-and-crown was fashioned for him from confiscated items, as was a new sceptre (since his mother had destroyed the old one), countless regal garments, and many new rooms built onto the palace, with jewel walls and jewel ceilings.

His reign began as poorly as it would turn out—while walking down from the throne after his coronation, Auraldo tripped over one of the diamonds jutting out of the floor and fell forwards, breaking his arm. The creatures of the court laughed mercilessly, and one even went so far as to remark, "Better to have a queen who sneezes than a king who cracks like an egg." (Perhaps unsurprisingly, hardness is a trait greatly valued in the Diamondlands.)

Auraldo ordered the offender taken to the dungeons immediately, which was done. However, it seems that the words stuck with him as his arm was healing, for the next few months were filled with new orders and decrees.

While the story of Simeon Spades continues to inspire—and rouse conspiracy theories—thousands of years after his death, the same glory cannot be granted to King Auraldo Diamonds, whose bowler-hat-and-crown I believe are pictured here. Auraldo came to his throne at the age of nineteen, after all the women in his family developed a sudden and inexplicable allergy to precious stones, and his mother, Queen Zaphiri, thrust the end of her ruby scepter through her heart in grief. He was the eldest of seven brothers, and had only one sister, who melted into a pile of centipedes after it was suggested to her that the name and symbol of their suit be changed. Not wanting to risk another such extreme reaction, the council quickly decided to crown a person not affected by the allergy, and debated for twelve days between Auraldo and Zaphiri's pet peacock before the former was chosen.

Very cool

Very good idea