Sweet Waters Throne

136 Chapter 13The morbid silence engulfed the chambers inside Aurora’s Hill, Aurora was lighting candles inside the corridors and empty chambers which were yet to be occupied since no one was allowed to stay at the castle except for Visenya. One in particular was prepared for Prince Jahery when he comes of age, but that will be years from then.

Servants roamed around lighting torches since the night was already upon them, the dragon keepers left the cave and let the dragons take their rest. It was a usual normal day in the palace, always calm and windy on the outside and warm in the inside. The sounds of horses hooves and thumping on the ground alerted Aurora that Artemis had arrived ─ she smiled softly.

Jahery was sleeping inside his grandmother’s chamber, Visenya was with him as she always sung lullabies in Low Moor for him. Surprisingly, Jahery always fell asleep to the melodies and the rhythm of the music. Visenya thought it was the language from which he descended upon that brought him calmness.

The dress Aurora wore was sparkling, pale white silk with black stripes at the back. She wore golden anklets which brought tintinnabulation with each step she made, a golden necklace, earrings and waistband. This night was special for her, the moon was at its peak and she missed her husband. Her menstrual days had returned and it meant she could get pregnant again, Jahery was already six moons and mayhaps it was time he gets a younger brother or sister.

The moment Artemis graced the corridors of Aurora’s Hill, he was met with a sweet scent of sweet lemons and lavender. The air was filled with pleasing smoke from the burning spices which he couldn’t properly tell if they were cinnamon or just sweet piece of spices from far isles. Aurora’s special piece of scent was from Doha and she loved to burn it during special nights.

The smell would always alert Artemis that the Queen was ready for intimacy that day, and when he swallowed the aroma of the spice, he smiled. However, there was still a lot going on behind his smile, a secret he was hiding from his wife which he must tell it.

The doors of Aurora’s chambers were opened and five guards stood outside guarding her, they were fully armed with steel armories and helmets in such a way no one could tell how they looked like nor identify them. They bowed before Artemis without saying a word, Artemis entered inside the chamber and barred the door.

Aurora was sitting on the bed still in her pale silk dress, she made a gesture and raised her hand for Artemis to reach out. “You kept your Queen waiting my King” she said seductively.

Artemis took the hand and kissed it softly, but something was off ─ Artemis wasn’t as cheerful as he always is. Hence Aurora asked straight away “What is it?”

.....

“Gandalf was poisoned” Gandalf paused for a moment and waited to see Aurora’s reaction. Unlike what he expected, Aurora was so shocked in such a way her eyes widened with amazement.

“He is dead?” she asked.

“Didn’t you see it, in your visions?”

“I don’t see much nowadays, just fire and more fire… who poisoned him?”

Artemis sighed “I’m guessing if we knew who they were Lady Aryan would have had their heads on Raven’s gates as we speak. It’s still a mystery” replied Artemis.

Then out of nowhere Aurora asked “Did you do it?” with her eyes looking at Artemis with curiosity.

“Why does everyone think I did it?” Artemis climbed down from the bed and walked to towards the window. He lifted off the curtains, Aurora complained it was too cold but he didn’t seem to listen to her ─ he was rather pissed off.

This attitude and vanity, Aurora thought it wasn’t the Artemis she knew anymore. He had been so busy lately, discreet meetings with Lord Cregan Lawsend which she found out three days after the Lord’s departure. At first they were doing things in unison and together, now it’s like Artemis had created a wall of political issues to himself without considering Aurora.

Hence she was scared “What did you do my King?” she asked politely still sitting on the bed while Artemis was looking outside the window. Aurora’s heartbeat raced, she didn’t know what was going on but she felt it inside her heart that something wasn’t right.

“I received a letter days ago, it was from Princess Thelma Taelin” Artemis finally decided to speak, he was still standing next to the window. His face lightened up because of the candles inside the room making him look like a silhouette struggling to speak. “She said she needed my help, our help… in defeating Gandalf Squire and taking back her home”

“It wasn’t her home to begin with” interrupted Aurora.

Artemis took it personally, his face suddenly turned red and he looked at Aurora “But that’s where she was born and raised, I know his father was no good. He was a tyrant and a ruthless King, but Gandalf was of no exception”

“Gandalf was loved by his people, you personally told me this. The songs they sing for him; the praises we’ve seen… he was a beloved King”

“He still betrayed me!” This time Artemis shouted “He took an army of Maldonian men and marched them to Prophis. Then he had the audacity to send his uncle to my city which his sister gladly gave it up as a token of peace. One thousand men were murdered, Lord Affrey barely made it out alive. They butchered his first born son, and for that I had to do something” he finished and made his mark.

Instead of being less confused, this confession made Aurora even more confused and she plucked her eyes trying to understand. “So I sent a letter back to the princess and promised her my help, my army and…” there Artemis hesitated.

“And?” Aurora asked, she already knew what Artemis was going to say but she wanted to hear him say it. She walked to him and stood so close, Artemis failed to look at her and he lowered his eyes with shame. Aurora raised his chin and she asked again “What else did you promise her?”

With a low voice and softly speaking as if he was speaking in tongues, Artemis said “Our dragons” and from there Aurora closed her eyes and sighed. She left Artemis standing there all alone in that window and went on to sit on top of the bed again.

“I know I made a mistake, I should have consulted you” said Artemis stuttering and unable to perfectly place himself as he leaned on that window.

“A mistake? You bragged about our dragons to outsiders, are you really that greedy for power that you are willing to risk everything we’ve built just to prove it?”

“I am not risking anything for choosing to fight for justice”

“Our dragons have never been to war. They are still six moons old, not yet grown and can barely breathe a hot flame. They are vulnerable now and you were willing to take them to war, and for what?” Aurora stood up “Did you have romantic relationship with this princess?” she asked with a straight face.

Artemis was caught off-guard “No, I have never…”

“Are you sure?”

“I would know if I fucked someone Aurora” he screamed at her. Then he suddenly realized what he was doing was stupid and beneath him, he tried to reach out for Aurora’s hand but Aurora pulled away and barged out of the chamber.

Artemis didn’t try to follow her nor did he call out her name, he knew he made a mistake and he must let Aurora sleep on it till morning. However instead of sleeping on it, Aurora raced towards the dragons’ cave and woke up Torgo. “I need to ride Vizoro, right now” she ordered.

Torgo reluctantly agreed, he asked if Aurora was alright but Aurora wasn’t in the mood to be questioned, she just wanted to ride. The dragon keepers unchained Vizoro and brought her out of the cave ─ the dragon yelled in such high voice that it alerted Artemis, he knew what Aurora was up to and he sprinted towards the dragon cave to stop her.

But Aurora had already climbed her green she-dragon and said the word Valar, from there she was up high in the sky of Blackmount. The stars were glittering and the air was thick, the dragon flew so high above the clouds that he became invincible. Artemis just looked on helpless, he knew taking his own dragon and going after Aurora would not be useful since she was still mad at him.

While looking at the dragon disappearing into the dark clouds, Artemis asked Torgo “Did she say where she was flying to?”

Torgo shook his head “No” and Artemis sighed. He stood there in the open looking at the black skies as if hoping that soon Aurora will return and they will talk about it. However, five days passed and she was still missing, not even Lord Balrus knew where the Queen was.

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