Sweet Waters Throne

195 Chapter 19The final feast which concluded the celebrations of Princess Haisa Arteides, was held inside the throne room and included only the invited Lords and Nobles of Maldonia. There were two tables full of roasted meat ─ beef, sheep, goats, beacon and even rabbits. Artemis knew each of his guest has different taste, that’s why the meat varied. There were those who preferred beef to goat, and some beacon from rabbits.

Tow other tables were full of pastries, breads of all sort, cakes, boiled fishes, mashed potatoes, vegetables both boiled and fried. Mrs Gibillis was very busy today trying to deliver the best feast in histories, pleasing His Grace was one of her great accomplishments. Aurora planned to visit her later, to thank her for the food.

Neither Princess Haisa nor Prince Jahery were present at the feast, the hours were late and they were exhausted. Aurora’s most loyal servants and wet nurses remained with the prince and princess inside Aurora’s Hill guarded as usual by five thousand men. Prince Jeremiah was also with his wet nurses and Lord Leoric arrived at the feast all alone.

Music was played, and everyone danced. The hall was turned into a dancefloor, first it was Artemis and Aurora who started the dance, they moved so beautifully step by step, Artemis leading while Aurora followed. Then when the drums shifted, it was Aurora who was leading while Artemis followed.

Artemis wore all black, from his black trouser to black shirt and black sandals. Only his hairs were the exception as the silver shone so bright amongst the crowd. Aurora was in a dazzling blue long silk dress adorned with a blue sapphire necklace, her sharp brown eyes twinkled underneath the candle light and made her very beautiful as she moved from side to side, then her silver hairs would splatter on her face and heightened her beauty even more.

Ever since the day Leoric met Aurora, he was taken by her beauty. Oh how he wished she belonged to him, that she could touch and look at him the way she looked at Artemis. It turned out this whole charade and hate towards Artemis was all because he was jealous of him, that he gets to have Aurora, her dragons and not to mention the silver hairs.

“Are you the Lord of the Mines” a voice came from Leoric’s back while he was pouring himself some honeyed wine.

Lord Leoric turned back to see who it was, “That would be” he said to a strange woman of nobility. She was a beauty no doubt, her purple frock was made of silk and satin, a rare combination seen at court. The last time Leoric saw a woman wearing a frock made from a mixture of two expensive fabrics, was in Magior, the magical city of warriors.

“I’m Lady Marsela, from House Rusvil in Magior” The Lady introduced herself with a curtsey, she was very shy and for someone who was so full of himself like Leoric, he sure did make this woman feel incompetent.

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Leoric bowed, “Pleasure meeting you Lady Marsela, dare I say I like your frock?”

“Oh, I have been receiving compliments the whole night, it turns out mixing fabrics isn’t so common in Maldonia” said Marsela and started chuckling softly, Leoric joined in but he wasn’t really in the mood to laugh. “Your skin… I have never seen one like that before. You are neither pale nor an ebony”

“My mother was a slave and black” Leoric took a sip of his wine from the glass he was holding. “And my father… let’s just say he wasn’t so nice and white”

“Oh, that must have been terrible”

“He is rotting in the dirt now and I am glittering in gold, believe me there has never been a greater revenge” said Leoric and then he finished the wine from his glass. “Might I pour you some wine?”

“No, thank you. I don’t… drink” Marsela lowered her eyes down, she was ashamed of admitting she has never tasted wine or any sort of alcohol before. Leoric wanted to say something, but he was suddenly stopped by the royal announcer who demanded silence in the throne room.

He went on to say, “The King would like to say a few words” and everyone paid attention to Artemis and Aurora who were at the higher table, they stood close to each other holding hands and kissing after every second as if they were still teenagers.

“My beloved Lords and Ladies, I would like to express my gratitude to all of you for attending my daughter’s feast” said Artemis and the whole place clapped for him. When they stopped, he continued, “These weren’t just celebrations but also to publicly declare, my beloved daughter, Princess Haisa as second in line to my throne after her brother. If anything shall happen to my first son, then his sister will rule Maldonia as its Queen”

What a shocking news this was for Lord Leoric, is this what Lord Balrus meant when he told him that Artemis was smarter than him?

Aurora quipped in with a smile, “And we are also happy to announce that my female dragons may clutch few eggs in no time. A new age of dragons is set to continue for the next century…” and this was met with cheering from the lords and ladies in attendance.

“Let the music continue!” Artemis shouted then he reached out for Aurora and pulled her to the dance floor, now everyone was dancing recklessly, without proper steps and the drums didn’t go with the flow either, they were just beaten aimlessly and this is what made the party fun.

Leoric’s face turned red, Marsela looked at him and she saw how he completely changed from the charming man he was just a few seconds ago, to an enraged beast.

“Are you alright my lord?” she asked him.

But Leoric didn’t reply to her, he went straight to where Artemis and Aurora were dancing, then without thinking ─ Leoric punched Artemis’s nose and pushed him on the floor. The hate between each other which has been going for long now was finally brought to light in front of everyone. The dance stopped abruptly, Artemis was down and he was bleeding.

Everyone was so shocked by Leoric’s behavior and his temper which he couldn’t control it in front of the King, but this favored Artemis and hence his Lords were smiling while watching Leoric ruining himself.

“How dare you rob my son’s inheritance? He is the true second in line to the throne!” screamed Leoric but this time he was already detained by Artemis’s Kingsguards and he knew he would spend that night in a dungeon for what he did, but he couldn’t care less. “This isn’t over Artemis, do you hear me… it isn’t over!” he kept on saying threatening words but his words didn’t last long when the guards took him away.

Marsela was stunned by Lord Leoric’s abrupt rage, she was so taken by him but because of his irresponsibility, she found herself less interested even in knowing him. Aurora took Artemis by her hand and ordered a palanquin to take them to their castle, and the feast ended right there. Leoric spent a night inside the dungeon and by the next day, Artemis banished him from the capital. He was not to return to Blackmount ever again, “If I see you in my city again, I shall have your head” and this was clear in front of all ten Lords of Maldonia who stood witness.

Now let’s go from Lord Leoric being exiled to the War of Kins in Snowspell and that night Prince Amabel practiced with his men and showed how good he was with his sword. Come dawn, Prince Amabel’s men retreated back to their camp without the Lead General, half of them died ambushing the camp. That meant only twenty five thousand made it out alive, the archers only lost three thousand men and that’s because they weren’t easily seen in the dark. They warned Amabel that his uncle was coming and he was ready to fight.

“How many of his men did you kill?” asked Aprophil.

“A lot, we don’t know the exact number but we sure did kill many of them in their sleep before they were alarmed”

This made Prince Amabel smile, “That’s good, thank you soldiers. Now go get fed, all of you and prepare ourselves for battle. I will have my uncle’s head by dusk…” he finished and all the men went on to eat and sharpening their swords and knives.

Aprophil seemed quiet today, that’s so unlike him. “You are quiet my Lord Hand” Prince Amabel said to him. “Is there something troubling you?”

“Nothing Your Grace, I… I am just worried”

“About what?”

“What happens after we defeat your uncle?” asked Aprophil even though he knew exactly what will happen after that, but still he wanted to be sure.

“I know exactly what frightens you my Lord, but I have a plan” said Amabel and he smiled at Aprophil. Then Amabel took his hand and they walked away from prying eyes and eavesrdroppiing ears because he didn’t want anyone to hear what he had to say to Aprophil.