Sweet Waters Throne

219 Chapter 21The riots and unrest went on for three days, Lord Balrus was scared of what will come next after that. Aurora wondered if this was the war she dreamt about for years, has it finally arrived? Should she prepare herself and her children for it. The good folks rose up to the main palace, they made camp outside the gates demanding freedom while they held spears, arrows, knives and literally anything they could carry.

No one dared to go to Aurora’s Hill, because they knew that’s where dragons were kept and clearly no one wanted to die screaming. They wanted freedom from who they called a tyrant, but they were not ready to die. A once wise man said, “Freedom is not given, it’s taken” and Maldonians wanted freedom from Artemis’s reign but they were not ready to take it. Because if they were, then they would have sacrificed themselves for it.

But where was Artemis all this time, three days ride from Old City and he finally arrived in Blackmount to find it in chaos. At the gates, the guards allowed him to pass through the moment they realized it was him. Even the guards were shocked to see him, and it’s not because he was wearing rugs and looking like a beggar, but because he barely used the gates.

Ever since the day Artemis flew Artodo, he never travelled in a royal wheelhouse again. Even when he went to meet his Lords, he would send his men first and join them later through a dragon’s back. Hence seeing him coming from Old City in a horse, well the guards were stunned. “Take me to Aurora’s Hill” he gave an order.

The men did as Artemis instructed and they managed to secure him from angry folks and delivered him safely to Aurora’s Hill. Along the way Artemis was stunned at how much chaos his kingdom was in, one of the men said the same situation in Blackmount was also in all the other eight remaining cities, with an exception of Dark Town since it had no people living in it.

Chants were clear for Artemis to hear, they were calling out for Artemis, his half-brother. It seemed the work of the High Septon and his Crones in educating the good folks failed, they wanted the bastard on the throne. Artemis didn’t the impact of what he did until he saw the chaos in his city.

Women were raped in the streets, men slaughtered like livestock and left to rot, the streets reeked of sweat and blood and urine. Just three days ago the city was calm and collected, now it was in a riot and the people going mad. The guards of the city’s watch roamed around trying to calm the people down, only to find themselves thrown off their horses and butchered.

The records that we have say that almost two thousand soldiers lost their lives in Blackmount in a span of a week, and they were murdered by the good folks.

When Artemis arrived in Aurora’s Hill, he found the place calm. This was the only place in the whole city that was quiet, and he thanked the gods for that, his children were safe and so was his wife.

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Artemis’s small council members moved into Aurora’s Hill for their own safety. Lord Angun’s manse was torched by angry folks just because he was the Hand of the King, and Lord Angun specified it that if he was there, then it would have been his final day.

Lord Akirbus was stabbed two times on his ribs by the angry good folks, Lord Balrus’s men saved him and he was now inside Aurora’s Hill surrounded by maesters who were taking care of his wound and Lord Balrus and Lord Angun. Sir Dante Lucan was given a task to protect the main palace by Aurora, and so far he was doing a good job. None of the angry folks succeeded to get inside, they were allowed to give out speeches and riot but not to get inside.

Dante’s men followed his orders to kill if a civilian resist, and many men and women died trying to get inside the main palace.

Aurora’s eyes widened with amazement when she saw Artemis making his way towards the council chamber. She stood up quickly and raced to him, she kissed him three times on his lips and hugged him tight. His silver hairs were covered by dark particles from the flames and his face wasn’t so delightful, he reeked of sweat and heat, his face somber and down.

“What happened?” asked Aurora while cupping Artemis’s face in her arms. Lord Angun and Lord Balrus were also eager to know what happened, hence they walked to where Artemis and Aurora were standing.

Artemis exhaled softly, then a tears dropped down. Aurora feared the worst, maybe this is why she was having this weird feeling since the first day.

“Artodo, where is he?” asked Lord Balrus.

“He is…” Artemis turned to Aurora, “They shot a spear right through his left eye, and it damaged his head completely. He fell down and I almost died with him…” This was so hard for Artemis to say, he was struggling not to cry. “They had the weapons for it and they knew how to aim so that to kill a dragon. Matthew lead me to them knowing they were well equipped and many in number, it was a trap, set by Aryan” finished Artemis.

Artemis went on to sit down while trying to fight the tears, Aurora was speechless for once, she had no words to say. Her first dragon’s death and she didn’t know to act; this was strange to her.

“What really happened Your Grace, why did you burn the whole city?” asked Lord Balrus.

“I didn’t want to, they were throwing spears at Artodo and we had to flee the scene and hid in the clouds. I went down to intimidate them but they kept throwing their spears and more spears, Artodo grew angry and took it upon himself to punish them. I tried to stop him…” Artemis turned to look at Aurora as if he was seeking pity from her. “I said to him, ‘stop Artodo’ but he never did. He was burning up and I… I only had to hang on and watch”

“Who killed him?” asked Aurora.

“I don’t know him, but he did sure die screaming. I saw it” replied Artemis and then it was silent for a moment.

The death of Aurora’s first dragon created fear inside her, it was as if she saw the fall of House Morrow all over again. The reason why her ancestors failed was because of the men who took it upon themselves to hunt their dragons, and a rider without a dragon is nothing. What makes a rider unique is his dragon, without that there is no any special bond.

“I buried him the moment he died, no one saw it” said Artemis.

Lord Balrus intervened, “You buried the dragon?” he asked.

“I didn’t want anyone to see him dead. If they did, the rumors wouldn’t stop, these people who are out rioting in my city would have hope. If one died, then others can be killed too and that’s why I buried it”

Aurora felt a sense of hope again when Artemis said this. She asked him, “No one saw him dying?”

“All those who saw it, died screaming. Before he went down Artodo burned all of them, there are no witnesses left. When I buried him, I was the only one present in an already burning city. We are the only ones who know” Artemis said this and turned to look at his Lords, he knew he could trust them but he was still having doubts about Lord Balrus.

“Then let it stay like that, no one will know where Artodo went. I shall ride Vizoro and you will claim the purple one since the maroon dragon already belongs to Jahery. When the eggs hatch, our daughter will have her dragon then and let’s hope the rest of the dragons lay eggs too, we have just lost a male dragon”

Aurora spoke like a true queen in crisis, she knew the drill, what to say and how to plan. Outside it was chaotic but she insisted they must remain calm in the inside in order to make good decisions.

As you know, the only thing separating Whitebridge and Blackmount is the Silent Sea. And sailors always travel, and hence they carried the news of the chaos with them. Aprophil heard of this riot in all the cities of Maldonia simply because Artemis burned Old City to the ground.

Those ebony Lords got to Aprophil and they advised him, “He burned infants! Those poor souls died screaming and for what ─ those people did nothing wrong to him. You need to save your people, they are calling your name in the streets, Crones are praying for your safe return. They know only you can save them from a cruel king, the time is now” they said to him.

Aprophil was lost and he didn’t know what to do, his friends pumped him to get his throne but he had no idea where to begin, but he had faith and means to do it.