In Stephen King’s novel The Eyes of the Dragon, King Roland rules the kingdom of Delain.
Delain is the principal setting for the novel’s royal intrigue. After Roland’s death, his sons Peter and Thomas become central to a succession crisis manipulated by the sorcerer Flagg. The plot follows Peter’s imprisonment and his eventual struggle to reclaim his rightful position.
The book is a fantasy novel rather than a conventional contemporary horror story, and its fairy-tale style makes the kingdom’s political structure especially important. Delain also connects to King’s wider fictional mythology, since Flagg is a recurring antagonist associated with several works.
The Eyes of the Dragon was published in 1987. Delain should not be confused with Gilead, the city associated with Roland Deschain in The Dark Tower series. Although King’s books share names and mythic elements, those settings belong to different fictional worlds and political histories.