Sweet Waters Throne

145 Chapter 14Princess Thelma wiped her tears and went on to take the letter on top of the table, she didn’t want anyone to find it. Hence she moved slowly towards the fireplace and knelt down, she then burned it to ashes and stayed right there for a moment while her eyes illuminated the flames. From there memories of her childhood days with Castellan started playing inside her head.

“Was her big brother really that bad?”Princes Thelma asked herself. Maybe he sent her to Loni because he knew Lord Lothar was kind and he would treat her right, he would protect her as he did all this time. But Princess Thelma argued against her guilty consciousness and picked herself up. She had wetted her soft pale silk dress with her tears.

Her daughter Allysa Taelin, the only child she shared with Lord Lothar Taelin was set to be the new Lady of Loni once the news breaks tomorrow. She was only five and clearly Princess Thelma needed to remain in Loni for sometime to guide the Manor and take over the trades since Ambrose wasn’t available, this again delayed her departure to Blackmount. The next morning just before her door was knocked by the Faith Crones and servants, Princess Thelma wrote a letter to Artemis so as to inform him of her delay.

Within the letter Princess Thelma expressed her sincerely gratitude to Artemis for agreeing to fight for her house and defend her home from invaders. She acknowledged the sudden and unexpected demise of Gandalf, to which she said she was so relieved. “I felt like my brother can finally rest, whoever did it then he gave my brother justice” and then continued to express how much Queen Aryan is more of a trouble just like her twin brother.

However Princess Thelma assured Artemis that if he were to take his dragon to Raven, he can claim back Prophis for them without murdering innocent people or sending men to their graves. If Aryan resists then she must be burned, alongside her men. “Once the city is sacked and one true King, King Ambrose Taelin takes his seat. I shall bow to you and offer you anything of your choosing Your Grace, our lands will be yours for the taking, our whores will belong to you if you ever need one, our houses will forever be joined by blood. I have a daughter, and you have a son. We will betroth them and once again House Arteides and House Taelin will rule the world as they were meant to be. I know our wedding wasn’t meant to be, but maybe our children was” that’s how Princess Thelma finished her letter.

Then she reached out to her raven, a small bird she’s been keeping ever since she was young. Princess Thelma was well taught on how to train a raven by her father and a group of maesters, she usually uses these birds on occasions which doesn’t involve them flying over a long distance. She could have sent a raven to where her brother was but she wasn’t sure which city he was, and that’s why she didn’t use a raven.

This time a letter was meant for the King in Blackmount. Her ravens have been in Blackmount for weeks and they knew the capital very well, and the palace too. Hence she attached the letter in one of her loyal raven, then she whispered to it “Take it to King Artemis in Blackmount, inside his palace. Travel East and don’t make a turn, by first light tomorrow you will be in the palace” and from there she allowed the bird to fly freely East, a smile escaped her lips.

Just as she expected the door to her chambers was knocked. Princess Thelma pretended to be asleep, two Faith Crones walked inside wearing their black attires — black symbolized death.

She act like she was shocked “What happened?” asked Princess Thelma.

.....

“It’s His Lordship, he was crushed by mad men in the dark. We found his body in the woods” said one of the Crones.

Princess Thelma started crying right there, then she put on a light dress and rushed to the outside. The whole Manor was quite, and her servants were all crying. This was an act she intended to put so as to convince everyone that she wasn’t guilty, and they believed her.

Prince Ambrose’s wife who was with child comforted her good sister, she cried with her and made sure she was in a good state. The Faith Crones held Lord Lothar’s dead body inside their dark chambers, they had already cleaned it and readied it for burial. Princess Thelma stayed inside the dark chambers for a while, she just sat there crying — the tears were real and she was truly hurting to see it all had come to this.

The Faith Crones warned her that she wasn’t supposed to be in there, yet Princess Thelma refused to leave her husband’s side. The good folks of Loni mourned the loss of their Lord and Landlord, they sent encouraging notes to the Princess and left flowers at the gates.

After two days Lord Lothar Taelin was buried and placed in tombs, the Taelins don’t burn their dead. They decorate them with K’ohl, gold, expensive gold tunics and a sword to which they believe the dead will need it to slay monsters in order to make his way to the afterlife where he will live forever.

Even King Taelin’s body was still available in the temple of King’s City, and his wife’s body Queen Allysa. Castellan was meant to join them there but Gandalf beheaded him and threw his body to the hounds, Lord Lothar was given the proper burial perfectly orchestrated by his wife and cousin, and of course his murderer. He was adorned with golden necklaces, rings, and a golden crown. His hairs were scented with heavy oils and he looked very much alive as if he was just sleeping.

His eyes and eyebrows were full of K’ohl, and his toes were painted black. His white tunic was knee – length and made of silk with golden threads — the people said it was the tunic for Kings. The mummy which held Lord Lothar’s dead body was made of pure silver and black gold, never meant to catch a rust under any circumstance. The sword he held was pure Loni steel which cuts like no other, no monster will survive for a skilled warrior such as Lothar Taelin.

The chronicles written later by those who attended the funeral that day praised this ceremony, they said not even Kings received such honor and this made them respect Princess Thelma even more without realising she was a kin-slayer.

Lady Allysa Taelin, the new Lady of Loni kissed her father farewell and threw few flowers on his head. She was five but smart and strong — she didn’t weep not even a single tear, perhaps she got that part from her mother. Princess Thelma held her daughter close as the mummy was taken down to the vaults inside the Sept build right there in the Manor. Sooner or later they will join Lothar in those vaults, although Princess Thelma wouldn’t prefer that since she had her own plans of taking back her home.

The winds were kind to Queen Aryan and she made it to Whitebridge after long fifteen nights on Silent Sea, a fortnight and a day more. Although it wasn’t a walk in the park, they survived a storm, an ambush from pirates and another storm which threatened to take Stormbreaker with it. But Aryan and her men were stronger, they saved the ship and their belongings.

Once the Stormbreaker docked at the harbor of Whitebridge, the most magnificent liberty city of all three — Aryan let her men first take charge of clearing taxes and fees as she waited inside the ship so as to avoid being seen. From inside she saw Aprophil holding papers and having a conversation with her men, she never met him before but his face shocked her.

The similarities between Aprophil and the late King Luca Arteides were uncanny, not even Artemis resembled his father like that. With only an exception that Aprophil was black but still those genes were screaming so loud. For anyone who knew the late King would be shocked upon seeing Aprophil.

When the transactions were done, Aprophil gave her men clearance tickets and walked away. That’s when Aryan quickly got out of the deck and asked her men “Who is he?”

“Lord of Free Hall and Master of the Sea, Aprophil” replied the lead man. “He takes control of this side of the harbor, the man is richer than the gods”

“What’s his last name?”

“I don’t know Your Grace”

“Mmmh, interesting...” Aryan jumped from the ship and landed on the white beach sand.

She exhaled softly and turned to her men “Go get yourselves some nice rooms in the inns, some food and maybe a few whores to fuck. I’ll get back here in three days, ready the ship to sail home by then. But in the meantime...” she reached out to one of her bags and threw it to them “Take whatever is inside there and have some fun” she said to her men, they were twenty of them.

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