Sweet Waters Throne

68 Chapter 6Lord Gandalf cared for no traditions nor made effort to ally himself with Maldonian’s ways, he was always a man full of himself and ego. He believed in creating a world of his own, a path he can only forge and cross and while a new one was ahead of him, Castellan had no clue when he made an effort to befriend him.

“After the war is over, I shall prepare a feast in your honor my lord” Castellan said with a smile. “You have honored me, Lord Gandalf”

“Have I, Your Grace?”

“Yes my lord, first your beautiful sister and then your army, golds and...” Castellan paused for a moment when his lord commander of the kingsguard approached them.

The lord commander’s name was Sir Alaric Tully, he shared a last name with Katarina but these two weren’t related to each other. He was a tall man, sharp and witty, a decorated knight and he earned his position as lord commander of the kingsguard and wore a black cloak representing his position as kingsguard. There were ten knights who wore black cloaks and made up the kingsguards circle.

King Castellan paid attention to Sir Alaric Tully “Is everything alright Lord Commander?” he asked suspiciously.

“A letter arrived Your Grace, from the Queen” Alaric handed Castellan a well folded later.

Castellan took the letter, Lord Gandalf felt anxious and he was nervous perhaps his sister have told Katarina of his plans. One thing about Aryan is she was never scared of anyone and very open minded and she could never be tamed into one place.

“What is she saying?” Gandalf asked straight away “I hope my sister hasn’t caused much trouble” he continued as if he wasn’t aware of Aryan’s departure to the Liberty Cities as per their agreement. The siege after the war wouldn’t be so easy, Gandalf was sure of that and he didn’t want to put his sister in a dangerous position nor did he desire seeing Olivia hurt.

.....

When the time is right and he is anointed and crowned as King of Prophis, that’s when he will ask her to come back and rule by his side. But for now, she were to stay away as far as possible. Castellan opened the letter softly and with care, then he read it silently.

After he was done, Castellan handed over the letter to Lord Gandalf. At first Gandalf refused saying he wouldn’t want to invade their privacy, but Castellan insisted.

“I will not hide anything from you my lord, we are friends now” insisted Castellan “Take it, she only wishes us good luck and she is grateful for your help in aiding the realm” and this is what made Gandalf take a long deep breath.

The relief showed on his face, just when he thought the worst had happened well it was actually safe. The letter was romantic as it was sweet, a typical wife to her husband letter with all the sweet words and nicknames. A smile escaped Gandalf’s lips, then he gave it back to Castellan.

Both of these men said their goodbyes and retired to their grand tents which were guarded outside, they were ought to have a good rest after all the next day wouldn’t be as grand nor as peaceful. What will be known as the Battle of the Stonedance was just a few hours away.

So, how were the men on the other side of Stonedance? Two hundred thousand strong army with just seventy tents lit inside by lanterns were scattered all over the place. Lord Aethelind was inside his tent praying to his gods, none of them knew if they were the old gods or the new.

General Haul was training his men while at the same time giving out motivation speeches, it turned out other generals depended heavily on his wisdom as an old man and his experience in order to win the war. Prince Ambrose went on to be a decorated knight under general Haul’s instructions, he learned the ways of the wars, swinging a sword the right way and how to attack to kill.

So, here the witnesses classified the parties into two which were “The Reds” and “The Ice” where by the red represented Lucian Mithandir’s army but taking the traditional Maldonian color red since Lord Aethelind was the one leading the rebellion. The Ice represented the huge Prophisian army accompanied with ten mighty lions, some said they must have been Jaguars for they were huge and fierce.

The grumbling and roaring of the lions were heard in Lucian Mithandir’s camp, it was only to bring terror to the opponent. Lord Aethelind made sure to tell his men that he’s seen the lions once and “They are not as scary as you might think, just big cats who can be put down with a spear. My grandsire survived the Old City rebellion and he wrote a tale about it, no more than just big cats. You are knights, and fierce men of the realm... do not be terrified by cats”

But were they really cats as Lord Aethelind put it? Lord Hubelet and Duke Rayness, the loyal lords of Lucian Mithandir chose not to believe it. Every time the lions roared they grew unrest and not forgetting they had their doubts about the rebellion long before they left Horriss. Let’s just say they didn’t stay for long to witness The battle of Stonedance, both of them fled the battlefield and never to be seen again.

Lucian Mithandir grew wroth after he heard of his friend fleeing the war and leaving him alone. These were the people he started the rebellion with, and he trusted them since the very first day. Cardinal Topher was the only one remaining, Lucian Mithandir asked him “What now? Will you leave me too?” but Topher swore an oath to stand beside Lucian Mithandir no matter the outcomes of the war. He was ready to die beside him, if needed be.

Hence they stayed awoke that night, both parties couldn’t sleep. Nor “The Red” nor “The Ice” found a passion of sleeping, they knew the so called Angel of death will have his fill tomorrow. Some people believed the angel was a she, because only a woman would take a man’s soul without remorse. However, the people of the west claimed a woman was remorseful and the so called angel of death wasn’t an angel but a devil.

Visenya and Aurora bonded unlike before when Visenya attempted to kidnap her granddaughter. It was Artemis who brought them close, and he clearly specified it that he only wanted his wife to get better. Because the palace was full of rodents and people who may whisper of the Queen’s doings, Aurora made Aurora’s Hills, her castle a permanent residence for her grandmother.

They spent a significant amount of time together reading books full of spells in foreign languages. When Aurora asked what sort of language was that, Visenya told her “My grandmother was a spaewife and a powerful witch, the gift usually pass onto granddaughters. I was a granddaughter of a witch and hence I became one... and now you are my granddaughter and that means -”

“I’m also a witch?” asked Aurora gaped with shock.

“Your mother knew about your destiny and she forbade me from teaching you our ways, she said I will only corrupt your mind with unnecessary things. I knew the day will come when you will need me for unlike us, you are the last of our kind”

“Last of our kind? What do you mean Babushka?”

“It means you are more powerful than all of us combined. The last of House Morrow before its doom, these spells are written in Low Moor, our language of ancient roots”

Aurora sighed softly still unaware of all that Visenya was telling her, it all sounded too good to be true but also very confusing. Visenya told her House Morrow existed three hundred years ago and they ruled the Maldonia, Prophis, the Liberty Cities, Doha and Santagar before they were casted out and forced to flee, with their dragons slaughtered.

“They rode dragons?” asked Aurora then she added “That’s why I had a dream that I was riding a dragon. What does that mean Babushka?”

There was a lot for Aurora to learn and practice, Visenya told her that it will take time and she was ought to be patient. The whole story of House Morrow, who were also known as the witches of Maldonia and their doom. How they ruled with fire and peace, their ways of life and how come Aurora was said to be a Morrow too.

Wagonloads of books were brought to Aurora’s Hill by servants who were ordered by Queen Aurora, they came from Visenya’s shop and some from Dark Town in Aylesbury. Finally Aurora found her purpose and she spent a significant amount of time reading the spells, memorizing them and Visenya taught her Low Moor. She joined Artemis during the night in the palace but the days were for her and Visenya.

Visenya assured her that after she’s done reading the spells and learning Low Moor, she will be ready to translate her own dreams. “Everything takes time, but you are one step closer” said Visenya and indeed Aurora felt so good getting to experience her nature.