Written in the style of Arm of the Sphinx by Josiah Bancroft:

The Temple was the nation’s crowning jewel, but the Throne Room was the mounting that held it in place.

The hall was long, dark, and packed with petitioners. Oily courtiers clustered around fat pillars holding up the roof. The king’s throne loomed above all, shrouded in a cloud of gray-white incense. King Jedidiah was not visible through the incense-haze, but Benaiah could see the twelve sculpted beasts that lined the marble steps leading up to his throne. As he watched, some of them shivered or groomed themselves, signaling that perhaps these were not statues that stood sentry before their king.