Sweet Waters Throne

211 Chapter 21Lord Hofun or as other Lords liked to call him, “A Don’t Care Lord” and that’s because of his ability to avoid dramas and he barely had time for gossips or whatever his second son was doing now. He was stunned when he heard of the role Matthew took to insult the crown, and the King too.

“How could you be so stupid? To go against the King?” he blurted out to Matthew. “There are rodents everywhere belonging to Lord Balrus, they’ll soon spread these rumors to His Grace”

“These are not rumors father, it’s the truth. Aprophil is the rightful heir to the throne”

“Is he? How sure are you? His mother was a slave, weddings between masters and their slaves are illegal. He cannot be true born son of King Luca Arteides, enough with this childish acts of yours”

“I won’t sit still while a rightful heir is out there. I will fight for him” said Matthew.

Suddenly his father, who if you remember correctly he was five foot two, shorter than his son who was six foot tall. But even with his lack of height, Lord Hofun showed his strength by slapping his son from where he stood.

Matthew attempted to speak, but he was slapped again and this time on the same cheek.

“You will not fight for anyone, do you understand me Matthew? If you continue with this childish act of yours, I will not be responsible for what happens to you. You are a man grown and I don’t want to be telling you what to do” added Lord Hofun and then walked away.

As they always say, childrens don’t obey their parents most of the time. And neither did Matthew, he didn’t listen to his father’s warnings and continued with his gatherings and speeches. His wife Maggie was scared for him and the future of their family.

.....

These cold rebellions which took place in from of small gatherings and speeches in taverns, wine sinks, market squares and even in brothels seemed to widened up and now it wasn’t only Old City and Sea Tone, the virus as Artemis called it, spread to Iron Falcon, House Horris, Green Town, Copperstone, the Mines, Gravestone, the city of Ash and even to Dark Town where it was quiet and abandoned. Yet still Lord Spider received these news about Aprophil and the cold rebellion taking place in the kingdom.

In each city, even if the Lords weren’t going to turn on their king, there was always this one person who spread the rumor and organized discreet meetings with the local people. Except in Dark Town, only Lord Spider was made aware of this issue and the town wasn’t crowded. It had less than five hundred people and most of them were considered weird or freaks for living in a cursed land full of ghosts roaming around.

When Lord Spider received this news about discreet rebellions, he was naked underneath the sheets with Visera — Aurora’s grandmother. These two have been on and off couple for a long time, “it’s never that serious” Lord Spider would always describe his relationship with Visera.

Both of them being House Morrow descendants brought that spark which led to frequent sexual pleasures. Lord Spider never said it out loud that he was a Morrow descendant, because he felt ashamed of it.

One day he told Visera, “How can I be a dragon while I’m a dwarf? My ancestors will be pissed off if they were to see me right now, especially Alienor Morrow. I think he would burn me with his dragon and blame me for being a dwarf” and he finished with a smirk. He was a man who found comfort in jokes and story telling.

However, the rumors about Artemis’s legitimacy to the throne were neither jokes nor story telling. This was a war in the making and whoever started the rumor simply wanted a war to happen.

“Do you believe in these rumors?” Lord Spider asked Visera, who was at that time laying naked with her ass on top. Her blue dragon, Huyana was inside Lord Spider’s cave situated just a few steps from the main house. The she-dragon has been in there for three days, it was cozy and warm. Not to mention Dark Town was an ancient town of dragons, the dragon eggs were hidden in this Town for centuries and that’s why Huyana felt a strong connection with the town.

Visera remained in her exact position, “What rumors?” she asked.

“Maybe you can turn back and we can talk”

“Why, is my naked body distracting you my Lord?” she said with a flirtorous tone.

Lord Spider slapped Visera’s ass and they both laughed. Although they were all in their mid sixties and old, the way they played and made love it was as if they were in their twenties. Maybe because they have done this several times when they were in their twenties, Lord Spider was Visera’s paramour even when she was married to Aurora’s grandfather. He seemed to be a man who never leaves, always present and eager for more.

Visera grabbed a piece of cloth and covered her bareness, then she sat on the bed and looked at Lord Spider.

“Aprophil is the true born son of King Luca Arteides, Aurora saw the wedding between Luca and Jordy in her visions. Then she saw the day Aprophil was born, not so many people know about this tale, but it exists and it’s true”

“Does this mean Artemis isn’t the true King?”

Visera nodded,”And he knows about it now. I don’t know how did the rumor spread out, but I’m sure it must have wounded his pride as the Dragon King”

Lord Spider sighed, he was stunned by all this information which he wasn’t aware of early on.

“Do you think dragons will twirl sooner rather than later? Should we expect a war in the coming days?” asked Lord Spider.

“I don’t know my lord, but all I know is a bigger war is coming. I’ve seen the flames, kingdoms burning, ships set afire and children... burning. The flames are hot and they keep getting hotter everyday, I doubt it’s this war. The war in my dreams is bigger, if Aprophil would somehow fight for the throne... Artemis will burn him alive”

“No one can fight against dragons, it’s insane to even attempt to. During our ancestors ruling, the rebellions were crashed in a short period of time. Aprophil shouldn’t dare fight against the Dragon King” advised Lord Spider.

But he wasn’t talking to Aprophil at the moment. Aprophil was far from Dark Town and Maldonia during that time, even the rumors that his claim was spoken amongst good folks and Lords, was something he wasn’t aware about.

Matthew and his group of friends who were given names “Traitors to the Crown” were brought in the present of Artemis inside the court hall in Blackmount. Lord Hofun showed up to his son’s trial, Maggie refused to go to her husband’s trial because she already knew the worst will happen. Aegon, Matthew’s brother advised his father against going to Matthew’s trial. He told his father that act will only enrage the king, and he must lay low and act as if he wasn’t aware of what was going on.

However, blood is always thicker than water. Lord Hofun still traveled to Blackmount and he even pleaded for his son’s life a night before the trial. Artemis refused to see him hence he had to meet up with Lord Angun, the Hand of the King who told him that Artemis was so angry at Matthew to the point he refused in seeing Lord Hofun.

“How could he say such things about His Grace. It’s all a lie Lord Hofun you know that, Artemis is the true King” said Lord Angun to Lord Hofun, a night before the trial.

“I told him the same thing my lord. But children... they never listen. You have your boys Angun you know how hard it is with them. Help me save my son...”

Lord Angun sighed, then he reaches out to Lord Hofun’s shoulder. “He won’t survive this, there are multiple witnesses who are ready to testify against him. And what if he refuses to apologise to His Grace? You know your boy’s arrogance Hofun, he is gone” said Lord Angun and then walked away.

Lord Hofun was shattered by what Lord Angun told him. He knew his son will never apologize to Artemis, he was arrogant and stupid. But what can he do now instead of waiting for the trial.

The day which was eagerly waited by so many people arrived. The court house was full of Lords, ladies and nobles of the realm. They were all dressed in their silks and satins, with perfumes of different scents and slaves on their backs to protect them. They couldn’t care less about Matthew’s friends, for all they know it must have been them who have spread this virus to Matthew and corrupt him with it.

They did care about Matthew, many of them had seen Matthew growing from a young lad to a grown man. He was always charming, witty and full of energy comparing to her older brother.