Sweet Waters Throne

238 Chapter 23Lord Leoric sneaked on Aryan on the balcony, he saw how stressed she was and seemed so lost in thoughts. One thing he knew was Aprophil would never stress Aryan out, nor would the war. After all, she was the Lady of Stonedance and the best fighter in the realm. Leoric had done his research on Aryan since the first time they met in Prophis, during the time he asked Aryan for help to attack Blackmount and kill the dragons before they grow up.

He knew about a certain lady in Aryan’s life, the cute and polite woman from across the Silent Sea. Leoric knew of their connection, even though Aryan never admitted it on public. So if she was down and all alone up in the balcony, it could only mean things weren’t going so well between them.

He spoke up, “You miss her, don’t you?” while making his way towards Aryan.

Aryan turned back quickly, she didn’t expect to have company.

“This is my hiding spot, apologies if I have invaded your privacy” said Leoric moving closer to Aryan, he hated how Aryan was taller than him even though it was just a few inches, he felt as if his ego was put on challenge. “Do you miss her?” he asked again.

“Who are you referring to, my lord?”

Leoric smiled, then he patted Aryan’s shoulder and went on to sit on a couch. The balcony was decorated to please Leoric’s needs whenever he needed fresh air or a place to escape. The couch was made of red and yellow fabrics, and it was huge ─ enough for five people or more. In front of the couch, sat a small table made of wood and on top of the table, there was a mug full of wine.

The mug was never without wine, Leoric made sure to tell that to his slaves, that’s why there were ten male slaves stationed just close to the stairs of the balcony every single day. Just one order from him and they would race to fetch wine for their master.

This day Leoric was in a blue tunic made of silk which left most of his thighs and legs open, he ditched all the golds and for the first time he felt light without all the adornments. His braids weren’t sworn either, he let his long black hairs fall freely and effortlessly behind his back. Aryan had never seen him without his signature braids before and he sure looked different.

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“You have long hairs for a black man” said Aryan looking at Leoric. As usual Leoric managed a small chuckle, “My father… oh, my ungrateful father was white” he replied while pouring wine on a glass.

“So I’ve heard, Lord Walsen was his name, wasn’t it?”

Aryan walked to the couch and sat close to Lord Leoric, she poured her own glass of wine and it turned out she enjoyed this one to one conversation with Leoric more than she had hoped for. “That would make you Leoric Walsen, wouldn’t it not?” she asked him.

“I hate that name, my uncles and aunts never fully accepted me… being the wrong color. They disrespected my mother and mistreated her. My father, being an asshole, he married another woman. A white woman to be exact and gave birth to several white children, and they were all boys” Leoric said this while looking at the sky which was right there in front of them, the talk about his family seemed to make him sad.

“My mother died of plague, and left me at such early age. I grew around hostility my whole life and I hated them…” He pinched his jaws hard.

“Your aunts and uncles?” Aryan asked him.

“All of them, and my grandfather and my grandmother too. I was never blessed to see my mother’s side because she was a slave brought from far away land, she was five when she was sold to the Mines. But my father freed her and married her, and a year later they had me, his first born son. Somehow my aunts and uncles thought I wasn’t a legitimate son to my father, but my mother wasn’t a slave when she wed my father. She was a free woman, yet they treated her worse than a dog”

Aryan could have sworn she saw tears forming inside Leoric’s eyes as he got to the part where he had to talk about his mother and how she was mistreated and for a second, she sympathized with her.

“So, what happened to them, your uncles and aunts? Didn’t they protest you from becoming the Lord of the Mines?”

Leoric turned to Aryan, “I burned all of them, and I stood there and watched as they screamed to death” his face hard and cruel. “I waited for their annual family gathering where I was never invited because I was black, but my father’s sons were, all four of them. And I lit the manse and closed the doors, no one escaped” he finished and took a sip of his wine. Now the mystery was finally solved, it was Leoric who burned his own family to the ground.

Would Aryan think less of Leoric for burning his own relatives and brother? Believe us when we tell you she couldn’t care less, beside she even praised him for taking what’s his because if he wouldn’t have, then someone else would have taken it for him.

“Do you miss your wife, the princess?” Aryan changed the topic especially after seeing how hurtful the topic was for Leoric when they started to talk about his cruel family.

“What about you, do you miss Olivia?” Leoric replied with a question of his own. “My spies tell me she is in Sweetfish Retreat as we speak…”

Aryan was stunned, she let out a small chuckle. “You my lord, perhaps you should contend for a position as the Master of Spies since Lord Balrus has been exiled, so I hear”

And this remark somehow made Leoric smile and it enlightened his mood again.

“What’s the plan, if we are going to win this rebellions against Artemis, we need a solid plan” Aryan was serious about this, she locked eyes with Leoric.

“We control Sea Tone for now, and soon I will announce my support for Aprophil. That means two cities will be on our cause, we can’t take Dark Town ─ it’s filled with ghosts but it can be a valuable space if we ever need to meet and assemble an army, so we will take it. Does Aprophil have a sigil?”

“I don’t think so, he is a merchant and his sigil is white”

“Well, make it for him, or we will wait for him. I don’t think we should rush this war…” Leoric fixed his tunic to cover his thighs and then he stood up and looked at the sky. “There is something I must tell you, my lady” he said without looking at Aryan.

“I think we have passed the era of discretions between us. If we are to win this rebellion, we must trust each other” she said.

Then Leoric turned and locked eyes with Aryan. “I received a note this morning, it was sent by a raven. My spies have captured two dragon eggs in Arboil where my wife and her brother were on holiday break. The dragon laid her eggs during the hour of the wolf, the king was asleep and the dragon fainted afterwards. They are sailing here as we speak… and if somehow they get here safe, I shall have my hands on the eggs” he said with excitement.

Now this news made Aryan stand up and face Leoric.

“Tow dragon eggs?” she asked, her eyes widened with amazement.

“Yes”

“I heard dragons take commands from their mother, have you heard what happened to Toro, my lord?”

“Of course I heard what happened. Toro made a mistake, the dragons already hatched and they belonged to Aurora. If I get the eggs, I shall nurture them, put them on enormous coal heat for moons until they hatch. When they grew, it’ll be my touch to which they will be accustomed to. I will be their father, and they will listen to only my commands”

“Lord Leoric, you are one clever bastard” said Aryan with a smile looking at Leoric as if he was smartest man she’d ever seen. He was smarter than her, and she didn’t mind.

Suddenly Leoric grabbed Aryan’s shoulders, “I want you to be my partner in this, we both shall ride the dragons and bring doom to Artemis. He murdered your brother, and I need you to unleash that anger inside you. Do you understand what I’m saying Aryan, we can win this war”

“I don’t need to unleash anything, my desire to see him die won’t fade away. I want to stare down at him as I take his life” Aryan bit her jaws, it’s as if she could taste the vengeance in her very own lips.

It was a good session between these two, and they spoke big plans on how to overthrow Artemis. However, they were shocked when they heard a dragon roaring from a distance. And then when they turned to look, the green beast floated in the skies of the Mines for the very first time and she was angry, just by the sound of her voice.