Sweet Waters Throne

208 Chapter 20Now that the Battle of Kins was over, all things seemed to be good between Prophis and Maldonia and amongst the good folks too. The two realms were at peace finally and everyone hoped there won’t be a talk of war anytime soon.

In Blackmount, the day Artemis returned to the capital, next day Lord Balrus was informed of what went down between Artemis and Aprophil in details. Who started the fight and for what reasons, the rodents were eavesdropping while hiding on walls even when you think you are alone, Lord Balrus had ten of his rodents inside the main palace in Raven.

The rodents informed Balrus of Aprophil’s leave to the West, his abdication as the Hand of the King and the appointment of the new Hand, Sir Thomas Buken who once served Aryan. Amabel was lost when he exiled Aprophil, but he knew he did the right thing and who to replace Aprophil than the former Hand of the Queen, experienced to the position and selfless. Hence that’s how Sir Thomas Buken came to his position again and handed over the city’s watch to other general.

But the appointment of Sir Thomas Buken wasn’t the thing which troubled Lord Balrus, it was the fight which happened between these two brothers. Artemis spoke nothing of the fight when he returned to the capital, he didn’t even mention it to Lord Balrus during their discreet meetings. He kept in inside himself, maybe he was either ashamed or he was planning something — this troubled Lord Balrus.

“How will I know if he is ashamed for attacking his brother or if he is actually planning on something worse than what he just did?” Lord Balrus asked Aurora, they were out in the streets of Blackmount making their way to the Square Market.

They were accompanied by twenty knights fully armored, it was usual for Aurora to make a visit to her people once a week and see how they are doing, or simply to purchase whatever they were selling.

Aurora wore a long purple silk frock tailored by golden threads, her silver hairs were scented with heavy oils and shone like a moon underneath the afternoon sun of the day. The good folks couldn’t help themselves but look at her, as if she was the most powerful creature they had ever seen.

Children whispered softly while following her. Many were taken by the silver hairs which were never seen in Maldonia. Many people of Maldonia had brown hairs, black hairs, grey hairs for the old folks and slightly few blondes who had yellow hairs like the color of the sun but most of these blondes were outsiders across the Silent Sea or beyond the Grey Mountains.

But never a Maldonian with silver hairs, deep shining silver which grew naturally and not from a dye. They once saw Aurora with thick brown hairs, but now she had silver hairs and it’s not because she dyed them, they grew naturally. This is what made them excited to know more about the origin of the silver hairs, what did she do to make them so shining and beautiful, and that’s why they followed Aurora with each step she took.

.....

“I heard they drew out swords and pointed them at each other. What do your dreams show you these days?” Lord Balrus asked again eager to get an answer right there.

“My dreams show me Vizoro laying eggs soon. They show me my daughter, my son and my husband all happy strolling down the gardens”

“We both know that’s not true, your dreams are not like the rest of us”

“What do you want me to say my lord? That I dream of flames and kingdoms burning?” asked Aurora without looking at Lord Balrus, she was too occupied with looking at a handful of grapes she was holding.

Aurora paid for the grapes and she kept on walking.

“I need to know if there’s going to be war between Aprophil and Artemis anytime soon” said Lord Balrus.

“So you can choose whether you will support your King or your beloved son? Tell me Lord Balrus, if it comes to war for the throne, which side will you take?” This time Aurora looked straight into Lord Balrus’s eyes and for the first time since she knew him, Lord Balrus was lost for words.

Aurora continued to walk and Lord Balrus followed behind silently. They didn’t discuss about wars for the rest of the day, just spices and food.

The next day it was a big day for Aurora and Artemis, Vizoro laid out three eggs. It took the dragon a gruesome two days of labor for her to lay out the eggs, they were huge and heavy, green colored and still warm.

Torgo placed them inside a cradle heated by coal stones, he said the dragon eggs needed heat everyday if they were to hatch into dragons.

Aurora was truly happy this day, she couldn’t stop looking at Vizoro and how tiresome she was. Torgo said Vizoro needed to hibernate for two weeks before she regains her strength, hence Vizoro was chained inside the cave and left to sleep for two weeks. Artemis himself participated in chaining Vizoro, it was a gruesome task but it was one he intended to do.

When Artemis was done helping with the dragons, Aurora invited him to her warm bed and they made love that night as if it was their first time. Few months had passed since they were connected, ever since Aurora was with child and that’s why it was good.

Artemis admitted the sex was different too, he was more energetic and Aurora was fueled with fire. It’s as if they were dragons when they made love, this heightened the love making and made sex feel so good.

Afterwards, Aurora slept on Artemis’s chest. She could hear his heartbeat, she loved him still but she wondered why hasn’t he told her about Aprophil yet. But when she remembered that she was the first one to know about Aprophil’s true nature and still denied him the truth, she chose to remain silent.

“Visera hasn’t returned yet? Are you worried about her?” asked Artemis. His hands all over Aurora’s body, caressing her softly.

“She’s a Dark Crawler, and she has survived all these years without anyone. Now she has a dragon, I think she’s fine”

“Speaking of dragons... we have four now and we shall have seven soon, and if the other dragons lay eggs too, then who knows how many we shall have. Who is going to fly them?” Artemis asked this question and he wanted Aurora to look at him, he was serious about this.

Aurora sat on the bed and looked at Artemis. She was totally naked, but so was he. This wasn’t the first time they were naked in front of each other, years have made them comfortable and vulnerable towards each other. There was no “Do I look good naked?” or “Do you like my curves and scars?” but they both expressed them out in the open and it was for the other person to love and accept as they were.

“Haisa and Jahery will fly the two female dragons. And when the three eggs hatch, the dragons will belong to our other children if we have more...” Aurora paused for a few seconds. Then she added “I want to have more”

“I want to have more too, now more than ever my love. I need many heirs to strengthen my claim” said Artemis while kissing Aurora’s hands.

Artemis’s last sentence amazed Aurora, hence she asked him. “Strengthening your claim? What do you mean?” even though she knew exactly what was going on.

A smile escaped Artemis’s lips, “Come on my love, I have seen you with Lord Balrus yesterday. I know he has told you everything about Aprophil, he could never keep a secret from you”

“Oh Artemis... I wish you could have told me sooner” Aurora held his left cheek. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you would think low of me... Unworthy King, a Usurper”

“You are not a Usurper my love. You are the true King —” Aurora tried to speak some good words to Artemis while holding his face in her arms, but Artemis knew better than to be lied to.

Hence he interrupted her, “Stop! Just stop! I’m not a true King. I never was, and my father knew that. I’ll never forgive him for not telling me about his other son” there was a bitter tone in his voice.

“He wanted to protect him”

“And what about me? Who will protect me once the truth comes out?”

“I will” replied Aurora calmly. Then she reached out for Artemis’s hands and kissed them deeply, “I will protect you with everything I have my moonshine. I will burn your enemies to ashes if that’s what it takes, no one will take the throne from you”

“So you are with me in this then, you will stand beside me when it comes to war?” There was a question look on Artemis’s face. Maybe this was a reason he didn’t want to tell Aurora, because he feared she will be against him. But her words during that time aroused something in him, which was hope.