Chapter 50

At dawn, Artemis was already awake, it had been rather a confusing day yesterday especially with Aurora going missing. Last night, Artemis searched the whole palace for her, he called out men to go look for her out in the city and come back with news about her whereabouts. However, all of them came back with not so pleasing news to Artemis. "Where in the seven hells is Aurora?" Artemis screamed at them.

"How long does it take to find her? Or do you want me to take your heads?" he added.

Princess Aeryn was at sight, she was sleeping but forced to wake up and witness her brother going crazy over Aurora's sudden departure. She urged him, "I'm sure she's out there in the streets brother, and it's late at night. We will find more about her on the morrow."

That somehow calmed Artemis down and he walked back inside his chambers stroking his hairs. Vaith, Lord Balrus and Lord Balon were there witnessing Artemis losing his mind. They were all concerned about his health, and mentality.

"Is he stable?" King Vaith was the first one to ask.

Princess Aeryn yawned. "I'm going back to sleep. He will be stable once he finds her, she knows how to calm him down," and then she walked inside her chambers.

Vaith turned to Lord Balrus and Lord Balon. "Can we talk, master of the spies?" he asked. These two weren't clearly familiar with each other since Lord Balrus wasn't in the royal tour of the houses. However, just a brief stay in the palace and Vaith was aware of the position Lord Balrus had, as his reputation proceeded him.

"Of course, Your Grace." Lord Balrus smiled.

Lord Balon excused himself and his guards escorted him back to his castle, a few yards from the main palace. King Vaith asked Lord Balrus about his position in the palace, what kind of things he can do and why do they call him, "Master of the spies."

"You seem to be so interested in what I do, Your Grace. I'm flattered." Lord Balrus said this with a grin on his face.

"I'm only asking; why didn't you stop the king?"

"Stop him? He is the king."

"He is a twenty-four-year-old boy," continued King Vaith with a serious look on his face. "If he does this, we will all be in danger."

A look on Lord Balrus's face explained it all. King Vaith was so invested in Maldonia and its state affairs to the point he even thought of himself as a Maldonian. Lord Balrus turned his eyes onto this new guest, there was something more about him. He was still holding out some things which he didn't let them out in the open.

"We?" Lord Balrus inquired with questioning look on his face.

"If I'm to wed the princess, then we can all agree I will be part of the family."

"How old are you, Your Grace? You don't strike me above thirty."

King Vaith scoffed, he shook his head. "How does that even matter? There are more serious things than my age, lord Balrus. Like the fact that House Horriss may issue an open rebellion against the crown."

"You mean your friend may issue an open rebellion?"

"The king's uncle, yes. Aren't you scared that House Horriss may oppose the crown? And sack House Arteides, along with everyone loyal to the house or a family member?"

The accusations King Vaith was making were clear, he had a reason to think that. House Horriss was the second next house after House Arteides and Old City. They had a strong navy, and Old City had mighty lions and two hundred thousand men. The crown sure wouldn't stand a chance if Old City and Horriss decided to join their forces against it. It was such a wonder that Lord Balrus hadn't thought about that yet, and just at that time, is when he was aware of that possibility.

"I'm afraid Lord Aethelind won't be so strong after the war with Prophis. He may have… let me assume, two thousand men left? And for the case of Old City, I'm afraid Lord Gandalf is too young to understand matters of the war. He may have mighty lions but the lions can be hunted and killed, we are safe." Lord Balrus assured King Vaith and patted his back, then he walked away.

Was the kingdom safe? Or that was just a claim Lord Balrus made to avoid further interrogation from an outsider? The king himself, Artemis woke up and summoned the men to go look for Aurora ─ again. He didn't eat anything that whole day, nor did he want to speak to anyone. When General Haul was marching with his army away from the capital, Artemis peeped from his window and he wondered if he made the best decision.

Speaking of decisions, Lord Aubrel had a task of making the greatest decision which included persuading a stupid boy to join his cause. Lord Gandalf was notified of the visit, and he was told it was a lord of the great House Claydall in Prophis.

Lord Gandalf's first expression was asking, "Claydall? I've never heard of that house before." He said. He was on his bed with two naked whores, he was also naked, sipping ale and honeyed wine.

"He's from Prophis, my lord." Replied his servant.

Lord Gandalf was awestruck. He pushed the whores to the side and sat on the bed. "Prophis? Are you certain? Is he wearing all black, like a crow?"

"Yes, my lord."

One of his whores giggled softly while touching Lord Gandalf's bare chest. "I hear Prophisians shit ice, is it true?" she asked and they all laughed.

Knowing the importance of the visit, Lord Gandalf prepared himself to meet the estranged guest. Lord Aubrel was welcomed way better than Artemis. This clearly showed that Old City can welcome their guests but one had to be important to his lordship. There was a feast and Lord Gandalf raised a glass to king Castellan of House Taelin. That was before he even knew what was Lord Aubrel's reason for visiting his house. The so called mighty lions roared from a mile away just to showcase the strength Lord Gandalf had.

When they were out in the gardens at night taking a stroll, Lord Gandalf made sure Aubrel heard the lions. "I have ten of them," he said proudly to Aubrel with a smile on his lips.

"Ten lions?"

"Yes, I have named them of course. They are all so dear to me, passed from generation to generation ever since the first Lord of Old City."

"I've always wondered, why isn't house Old City ruling the kingdom? With ten mighty lions and two hundred thousand men, if I were you, I would be warming my ass on that Sweet Waters throne right now." Aubrel made a joke and they all laughed. Gandalf laughed even more, he seemed to be so entertained by every word that came out of Lord Aubrel's mouth.

"Before my father died, he spoke to me. He told me for hundreds of years our ancestors tried to fight off House Arteides, trying to knock them off the crown but ─ five rebellions and none of them succeeded."

"Did they have the mighty lions?"

"They had plenty, the first rebellion was lead by Lord Otto Squire, the tales narrate that he had twenty lions. The second rebellion, twenty-five lions. The third one, ten lions. The fourth one, now this was the biggest war ─ two hundred years ago."

"Hmm. I'm fascinated to hear about this fourth rebellion."

Lord Gandalf was way more excited to tell this tale. "My predecessor, Lord Gandalf Squire, the first, fought with thirty black mighty lions mixed with jaguars. The Jaguars are said to be the most dangerous animals alive, and they did tear off limbs of our enemies and shook the crown." He said with joy on his tone.

But then, the excitement tone faded. "Until the king of Maldonia of that that time found Lord Gandalf alone pissing in the woods and struck him down. A coward! How do you strike a man when his guard is down?"

Lord Aubrel seemed to agree with Lord Gandalf, he called whoever was king during that time a coward too. "What about the fifth rebellion?" he asked.

Gandalf seemed to be lost in his own tale. "What?" he shrugged himself off his thoughts.

"You said there were five rebellions."

"Oh yes, so the fifth was a century ago. Unfortunately, this one was stopped before it even began, and since then, my father always told me, 'A rebellion against the crown will lead you to an early grave' and I've been living off his words ever since."

Gandalf no matter how broken he seemed to be, or arrogant. He was actually mourning his family's loss over the years. And what a perfect time to get into a man's soul than when he's hurt.

"I know why you are here, my lord." Lord Gandalf looked at Lord Aubrel. "You want my men and my lions to fight off Lucian Mithandir, and declare me an enemy to the crown."

"Well, my lord, I'm also here to tell you that your sacrifice won't be for nothing. His Grace, king Castellan asks for your sister's hand in marriage, Lady Aryan to his son, Amabel Taelin. The heir to the throne and the future king of Prophis." Lord Aubrel stated that with excitement and he was proud.

If there isn't any better proposal, trading off his sister from one king to the next. Gandalf smiled hard and he knew he was one step closer into getting himself a kingdom. Nevertheless, he agreed to the proposition without any resistance.