Sweet Waters Throne

221 Chapter 22The men who were drinking with Aryan didn’t know she was a woman, maybe it was the black hoodie which hid her tits, or her husky thick voice which resembled men. This was a comfortable place to Aryan, she liked these sort of gatherings with drunk men because that’s where one learns a lot of things. For example right there she learned the island was called Collin island, named after the man who found it a century ago and turned it into a small town.

But all those things didn’t trouble Aryan, it was Aprophil’s presence on the island. She asked herself countless questions, such as, “Is he going to Sea Tone to declare a rebellion?”, “Did he finally find the Dragon Hunters?” and a lot of things which she could have asked him, but she chose not to.

Aprophil paid for his room but he didn’t seem to be in such a hurry, hence he decided to join the men who were drink ale right there where Aryan was. At first he didn’t recognize Aryan because of the black hoodie, “Can I join you all?” he asked the men.

“You damn sure can black lord” replied one of the sailors and then he busted out laughing.

Aprophil took no offense, he fixed his silk cloak and sat down. There were two mugs filled with wine on the table, Aprophil poured himself some wine on a small glass and then turned to look at the sailors one by one.

“Who are you?” The other sailor asked.

“I am Aprophil Arteides, first true born son of King Luca Arteides of Maldonia, the true heir to the Sweet Waters throne” Aprophil said this with pride, this was the first time he ever introduced himself for who he truly was and it felt so good.

For a moment those sailors remained quiet, they looked at each other with disbelief, most of them were shocked.

“You are the one who is causing the rebellion in Maldonia?”

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“My people are yearning for me, they are tired of being ruled by a tyrant, a man who burns women and children like he burns his meat. No more, I am taking back what truly belongs to me”

The sailors hit the table and they shouted, “Aye, aye…” while raising their glasses in support of Apophil’s claim.

Then one of them looked at Aprophil, “Your half brother is the cruelest king I have ever seen, I hope you do better when you come to the throne. I heard what they said about you in Whitebridge, they say you were skin black but who cares… you have the king’s blood running in your veins” he paused and suddenly stood up. “I shall fight for you, King Aprophil, the black king” he raised his glass.

The whole tavern embraced Aprophil with a standing ovation, they raised their glasses for Aprophil and chanted “Black King” as in opposition to the “Dragon King” and that’s where the slogan was first created. From then, it was either you were fighting for the black king, or the dragon king.

Aryan was the only one who didn’t stand nor raise a glass for Aprophil, she was quiet and no one dared to bother her. It was Aprophil who was eager to know, hence when the sailors went to their rooms to sleep, he walked to her. “Are you all alone my lord?” he asked trying to see who was behind the hoodie.

“Why, do you want an army Your Grace?”

The voice sounded familiar, yet strange. Aprophil met Aryan only once and it wasn’t possible that he could have mastered her voice at the time. But then Aryan made it easy for him when she took off the hoodie and showed her face.

Aprophil chuckled softly and shook his head, “I had a feeling it could be you” he said calmly. Then he sat down close to Aryan, the tavern had only ten people including them who somehow didn’t feel like they needed to sleep although it was an hour of the wolf and past midnight.

“What are you doing here, in Collin’s island?” asked Aprophil.

“I could ask you the same thing, my spies told me you were back in your wife’s tits. Imagine my surprise seeing you all the way down south, you are going to Sea Tone aren’t you? To join Samwell Marshall in raiding the cities”

“Not raiding, I prefer the word liberating”

This made Aryan chuckle, “Liberating you say, have you met this man?” she asked Aprophil with a straight face.

Aprophil stuttered, “No, I… I haven’t…yet. But he mentions my name and he calls out for me” he replied but he wasn’t sure of himself, he was scared to look stupid in front of Aryan’s high intellect. Then he added, “What about you, what are you doing down south? Are you seeking revenge for what happened to your home?”

“That and another thing”

“What thing?”

Aryan took a breather, “Your brother poisoned my twin brother. He ordered Cregan Lawsend to do it. He confessed it before I slit his throat”

“You killed Cregan Lawsend?” asked Aprophil with his eyes wide.

“Was he your friend?”

“No, but I did trade with him often. I didn’t know he poisoned your brother or if he had a friendship with Artemis. The last I heard he was the Lord of Lydia” Aprophil raised his glass and drank his wine. “I guess he’s no longer a Lord now”

“Now he is a fresh cadaver” replied Aryan with a smile. “You still haven’t answered my question, do you know Samwell Marshall?”

“I don’t, do you?”

Aryan sighed, “I don’t either, I guess we’ll find out”

Then Aprophil turned his attention to Aryan, this time with a straight face and curious eyes. “What did you mean when you said what I wanted was across the Freezing Sea?” he asked.

“Did you cross the Freezing Sea?”

“No”

“Well, you will have to cross it in order to find out”

“Or since we are both going to Sea Tone, how about we form a temporary alliance because we both despise the Dragon King and that’s where you tell me all of your secrets and I promise to keep them safe” said Aprophil, he was now using his charms to try and get to the soft parts of Aryan.

Aryan knew exactly what he was doing, first of all his tone changed and he was speaking softly and kindly, as he would speak to a woman.

“You do know men’s charms don’t work on me, right?” she said to him. “You might want to save your smooth voice on the next whore you’ll fuck, as for me, I am going to bed” then she stood up and walked away without looking back.

Aprophil smiled as he looked at Aryan making her way upstairs where the rooms were, maybe he shouldn’t have tried to talk nicely to her, indeed men’s charms don’t work on Aryan Squire, the former Queen of Prophis.

The next day, Aprophil tried to talk to Aryan again, this time he got what he wanted. Aryan told him about her guard, Sir Arryn who once crossed the Freezing Sea and met with these Dragon Hunters who were living a primitive life. Sir Arryn learned about killing dragons, the kind of spears to use, how to craft them and the most important thing;

“Dragons don’t just die from a spear, even if you aim on their eyes or belly. The spear must have a drop of what they call tears of the fire there is a foreign name for it, I believe the language they spoke was Low Moor. Sir Arryn was given a small bottle of the portion as a gift by these hunters but during that time, the dragons didn’t exists hence he just kept it on his drawers. He showed it to me once, and I believe he used it when Artemis attacked my home”

Aprophil’s eyes widened with amazement, “Tears of the fire?” he asked, but with hope this time. “If he used it, why didn’t Artemis’s dragon die?”

Now this was the good part, Aryan even smiled before replying to this. “They say the king returned to the capital on a horse. One of my very discreet ladies told me she saw him crossing the gates. If that’s true…”

Aprophil intervened, “It’ll mean his dragon died in Old City” he said with a smile on his face. “I may need to confirm this, I shall write to my trusted friend and ask him about this”

“Is this trusted friend of yours called Lord Balrus, the master of spies?” asked Aryan.

“Yes, why?”

“I figured so, they say he raised you. Is this true?”

“Yes, he is like a father to me”

“Then I think it’s better you save him from where he is now. The war is coming and he won’t be the master of spies anymore, he must choose a side right now, or Artemis will chose his grave” said Aryan and then she went on to board her ship, the Stormbreaker while leaving Aprophil with questions.

Aryan was always good with puzzles, and she usually uses them on Aprophil, when she was gone Aprophil wrote a note quickly to Lord Balrus and sent it through a raven.