Sweet Waters Throne

157 Chapter 15Dressed in brown leather plain robe made of wool, Artemis made his way towards the Great Hall and he was barefoot too. This was his usual custom whenever he strolls around the castle, he preferred to feel the coldness of the floor on his feet when he walks instead of wearing sandals.

The moment he opened the door of the Great Hall, there he saw Prince Ambrose and Princess Thelma sitting very close to each other. It was Thelma first who suddenly stood up when she saw Artemis, and then Prince Ambrose followed. Lord Balrus remained right there against the pillar and he didn’t say a word.

It may have come as a surprise to both Prince Ambrose and Princess Thelma in seeing Artemis’s shining silver hairs. None of them recalls seeing him with silver hairs before, it was either he dyed them silver or accidentally his hairs grew white. Anyways none of them was ready to ask what happened to Artemis’s hairs, in fact that’s not what brought them to the capital.

“Your Grace” Princess Thelma curtysed before Artemis respectfully.

Artemis smiled “Princess Thelma Taelin, it has been so long”

“Indeed it has Your Grace” Thelma wore her beautiful smile, and it’s safe to say she shied away too.

Then Prince Ambrose quipped the conversation between his sister and Artemis. He curtysed too “Your Grace”

“Prince Ambrose, I wasn’t expecting you” said Artemis.

“I know Your Grace, but I... As a brother I had to escort my sister. After all this is a family matter”

.....

“Indeed, it is a family matter” replied Artemis still with a grin on his lips.

Then Artemis looked around the Great Hall, it was so big and the windows were still shut. He didn’t like the quietness inside there nor was he comfortable to talk about matters of the war inside the hall. Hence he ordered Princess Thelma “Follow me to the dragon cave, it’s suffocating in here” and then he led the way outside of the Great Hall.

Lord Balrus was the first one to follow Artemis behind and then the Taelins tried to keep up. From the Great Hall to the Dragon Cave, it was just a short distance but it was all inside the castle. Artemis entertained Princess Thelma with jokes along the way, these two were never foes and the fact that Artemis was supposed to wed Thelma somehow created a very awkward bond which none of them understood — but it was as if they had known each other for decades.

“You have a daughter now! I have always wanted a daughter” Artemis exclaimed when Princess Thelma said that she had a daughter. “Haven’t I Lord Balrus?”

“Yes you have Your Grace. But somehow the gods blessed you with a son”

“Indeed, who is awesome by the way and my true heir. However, I always feel daughters have stronger bonds with their fathers. Wouldn’t you agree princess?”

If there was anyone who knew how strong a bond can be between a father and a daughter, then it was Princess Thelma. She loved her father with all her heart, and her being the only girl in the family of six boys meant King Taelin loved her more than his sons.

This somehow brought the sad memories and with a somber tone Princess Thelma replied “Indeed Your Grace, daughters have strong bond with their fathers, I had one with mine” and when she finished there was another silent moment again before they arrived outside the Dragons’ Cave.

The dragons were inside their caves where probably they were sleeping, that will exclude the dragon Aurora took to the skies. Torgo came to speak to the King and the new guests who he had no idea who they were.

Artemis spoke to him first “Which dragon did my wife take?” he asked.

“She took all three of them”

Artemis was stunned “All three of them? The young ones?”

“Yes, Your Grace”

“Good heaves! How can she —” Artemis was about to say something but then he was forced to pause when he heard a moving wind from a distance.

The sun was rising high above the sky as if to tell everyone that morning has officially arrived. And it was hot which was usual for a summer in the South hence there wasn’t supposed to be a moving wind unless...

Prince Ambrose fell down to the ground when he saw one dragon making his way towards him, and he also screamed. Then two other dragons revealed themselves and one of them carried Aurora on her back. Princess Thelma tried to remain steady although everything inside her bones screamed for her to run, the dragons were twice her size if not thrice.

These three dragons were the young ones and they were very colorful in such a way once they were high above the clouds, one may think it’s a rainbow bridge. Yesterday Aurora and Artemis flew two of them, only the red one and the purple. The blue one was left inside the cave and this morning Aurora decided to ride the blue one alongside her sisters as a show of freedom and love to all her dragons.

She didn’t go far but she attempted to cross the Silent Sea and fly as far as Andreia and maybe on her way back she could stop at Arkala. However, she knew it was dangerous for her dragons who weren’t accustomed to flying yet and she had no idea what she’ll meet along the way.

When Aurora landed in front of Artemis and the Taelins and Lord Balrus, she seemed so stunned in seeing Prince Ambrose and Princess Thelma there although she expected them way before they had arrived. She dismounted her beautiful blue – green dragon and then asked Torgo to take all three of the dragons inside the caves.

“Is that the one who burned the stone wall of the arena. It’s all over the streets...” Ambrose found himself being so excited and taken by the dragons.

“No, that will be Vizoro, my mount” Aurora replied while walking towards them. “And she didn’t burn the arena, she was just overwhelmed”

“I thought that was your mount”

“No she isn’t. My mount is Vizoro and my husband’s is Artodo, these three beautiful dragons are for our children”

It was at this moment Princess Thelma rose up steady. “What if you have more than three children? Will you offer the dragons to some and deny the others?” she asked Aurora.

“Every child that comes out of my womb will have a dragon. We are mating the huge ones currently however...”

Artemis quipped this conversation when she thought Aurora was getting uncomfortable with all the questions. He told the two siblings that it was time for them to talk about getting their kingdom back, and somehow this seemed to capture the attention of both Prince Ambrose and Princess Thelma — and they quickly shifted from wanting to know more about the dragons to how they will take back the Silver throne.

It seemed Princess Thelma was very well much informed. “Aryan sits on my brother’s throne while knowing very well it isn’t hers to claim. If we were to ambush them using your... dragons then I dare say it’ll only last an hour before Raven falls, or less” she said praising the dragons.

The claim was strong and Princess Thelma said it beautifully but still lacked the most important information, Amabel was still living and Artemis wanted to know if she knew this or not.

Aurora intervened “Our dragons have never been to war. We will have to train them three moons before we fly them to fight. Do know it that Aryan will fight back, she will not surrender to the flames unless you want the whole city to burn” she said while trying to express her concerns.

“No, the last thing we need is Raven to burn. Without Raven there’s no Prophis, it’s the centre of the trade” Prince Ambrose explained.

Then Artemis looked on as Aurora and Prince Ambrose went deep into their conversation about how to properly protect the dragons from harm. “The dragons won’t burn anything, in that instance then we are going to need an army. Do you have an army?” asked Artemis trying to look at both Prince Ambrose and Princess Thelma.

There was a short stuttering moment between the siblings. Did they have an army? Well the answer was plain and simple, No.

Princess Thelma didn’t hide this from Artemis “No, we don’t” she replied calmly. “The men I have in Loni are but fishermen and sailors, they weren’t born for the steel”

“I understand Princess, I am ready to offer my men to fight for your home, but I shall only do that to the true heir” Artemis said with a serious face looking straight at the siblings withouts blinking.

He continued “It is within my knowledge that Prince Ambrose isn’t the true heir to the silver throne”

Princess Thelma was stunned “What grounds can you justify that?”

“I received a letter yesterday from Amabel Taelin, the first son of Castellan Taelin. Was any of you aware that he was alive?”

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