Sweet Waters Throne

223 Chapter 22Henceforth, that same day Lord Balrus prepared himself for exit. He gave up his manse, his title as Master of Spies but he kept his rodents, after all they were loyal to him and no one else knew them except him. He packed three bags full of his clothes, all his silks and satins. The forth bag contained his wealth, all that he was worth in one bag, a combination of gold coins and treasures.

He made sure the treasures were enough for him to start up a life somewhere, away from Maldonia and away from everything he ever knew.

Came sundown and Lord Balrus was already on a ship, his first attempt was to travel to Penrith, after all he was from there. His brown – red skin resembled his people in Penrith, his face and ethnicity too. Although Penrith never felt like home to him, he intended on surviving there for a while.

Although he tried to be civil and calm, Lord Balrus was having personal conflict about how everything ended with Artemis and Aurora. He loved Artemis, the king trusted him and they shared some good memories over the years, and they were friends. That’s something he could never deny, Artemis went to him when he was sad, happy or excited.

But no matter how much he loved Artemis, he could never deny that he loved Aprophil more. King Luca gave Aprophil to Lord Balrus from the day he was born, he made him swear to protect him against all odds. There were days when the king couldn’t see his son, hence he sent Lord Balrus on his stead and during these days, he and Aprophil would play for the better part of the afternoon.

And then there was Aurora, now this was complicated to Lord Balrus. “Why did she let me go so easily? Did she read my mind without touching me? Does she know about the tears of the fire?” these were series of questions going on inside Lord Balrus’s head and sadly there was no one to answer them.

So let’s go back to Sea Tone where Samwell Marshall was preparing to march his army of fishermen and sailors to Horiss, the magnificent big city known for it’s fine knights and steel. Perhaps this was unwise of him, to invade the big city just because he felt like doing it.

When Aryan arrived in Sea Tone using the Stormbreaker, she found it chaotic and unrest, but it was expected since the realm was at war. The sailors had taken the city and poisoned the good folks of Sea Tone against their king. But if Samwell Marshall thought he would succeed in invading Horiss and turning Hawk against his cousin, then perhaps he was stupid than Aryan thought.

Aryan told the men, “Take me to see this Samwell Marshall”

.....

“It’s Lord Marshall now” The men replied.

Aryan managed a smile, “Alright, to Lord Marshall then” she said because she didn’t want to disrespect the man before she met him. Although she thought Samwell went a little bit far with the titles, the war was far from being won and he was already claiming titles for himself.

Samwell Marshall was living inside a castle, the same one which Lord Hoful lived with his sons and he was calling himself a “lord” surrounded by guards who once served Lord Hofun. These men were given a choice, to serve or die and many of them chose the former and bent a knee in front of Samwell Marshall and declaring him, the lord of Sea Tone.

Aryan was escorted inside the castle; she knew the castle way better than anyone. When she was young, she and Gandalf used to come to Sea Tone and that’s where she learned all she knew about ships. Even her first sail with her ship, her father brought her to Sea Tone and paired her with the best sailors who taught her about waves and fishing and surviving in the sea.

“It still looks the same, the castle” she said to herself. The guards who escorted her remained quiet, she turned to look at them. Most of these men had a Hofun sigil embroidered on their armors, too much for a revolution if the men still belonged to House Hofun.

Aryan herself was in an armor uniform, with a black trouser and black boots. She still had her two swords attached to her waist, ever since she started to fight with two swords, she never went back to just one. Aryan admitted with two swords she can kill faster than with just one sword, it slowed her down.

The door to the council chamber was open and Aryan walked inside, as she expected, Samwell Marshall was sitting with his allies and friends. She counted to a total of six men including Samwell himself, they seemed to be in deep conversation about something before she interrupted.

“Lady Aryan Squire of Old City, the former queen of Prophis” one of the guards introduced Aryan as she was making her way towards the men.

With her short hairs, a yellow armor with lion sigils all over her, and the two swords, the legend has never been wrong and this was the true Aryan Squire, the Lady of Stonedance. The most decorated and feared knight in Maldonia and Prophis and across the Silent Sea. All these places had singers singing for her. They sang praises when she emerged as a hero during the battle of Stonedance and they went on to sing more for her when she smoothly gave power to Amabel without bloodshed.

Let’s keep it like Samwell Marshall wasn’t rather very pleased by the later, why would Aryan just give up Prophis? She sounded like a coward to him, and even though Samwell held Aryan to such level of respect because of her incredible skills with the sword, he lost the respect he had for her because of the smooth transfer of power.

In his own opinion, Samwell Marshall thought Aryan should have fought harder to keep Prophis and her title as queen. He didn’t seem to hide how he felt the moment Aryan arrived at the table, “Former queen they call you” he said with arrogance. “I have never met a former queen or former king before. Do you know why?” he asked Aryan who was still standing.

Aryan thought this was a stupid question, but she played along with as smile without saying anything. Samwell Marshall stood up, he held his hand on his waistline where his long sword was attached and made a step towards Aryan.

So in terms of height, Samwell was actually taller than Aryan. He towered all his men and guards alike, perhaps his height is what glorified him but he was not smart enough to know many men who die first in a battlefield are the ones who are bigger in size. “The bigger the body, the smaller the brain” many people would agree with that statement.

“Because many of them are dead, so how come you are a former queen and yet you are still alive?” asked Samwell Marshall standing tall against Aryan, who by the way wasn’t short to him, just a few inches taller.

“Would you prefer me dead, my lord?”

“Do you know that you look exactly like your dead brother, I almost thought it was him”

“Is that a compliment, or an insult?” Aryan locked eyes with Samwell Marshall, as if she was challenging him to speak something which she wouldn’t like, and maybe cut his heart out or take out his head. One thing about Aryan is she will do whatever she wants without minding audience, besides she could take all of the sailors inside there without blinking.

Samwell Marshall smiled, he admired Aryan’s cockiness.

“Come sit, Lady of Stonedance” he said as he resumed back to his seat.

A chair was pulled for Aryan and she sat down while looking around at the men who gathered in what she thought it might be a small council.

None of these men were real soldiers, they weren’t knights and possibly they have never been to a war. All of them were sailors turning into soldiers, just yesterday they were pirates or fishermen and now they were in armors thinking they can win a rebellion.

Just as they were talking about raiding Horiss, Aryan couldn’t take it and she intervened, “Is this a joke to you, Samwell Marshall?” she asked with a straight face. “Fighting a Dragon King, is it a joke?” she added.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me Marshall, Aprophil, the true king is on his way here to join you and your…” she turned to look at the men who were at the table. “Sailors and pirates” she finished and this didn’t amuse the ones at the table.

One of the pirates warned her, “Watch your tongue, or I’ll have it removed”

“I would like to see you try pirate, you’ll be dead before you take a first step. You want to bet with me?” Aryan asked him, but it was more of an intimidation than a question, she was actually challenging him to make a move.