Chapter 125 -Moat Cailin (V)

"I wanted to see you one more time, my beloved Shiera Seastar..." Aenar murmured, reading the letter in his hand.

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Leaf looked like an adult, but she was slightly taller than a child, but not childish. Her skin was brown, with lighter patches that resembled the fur of a deer. She had three fingers and a thumb on each hand, sharp black claws instead of nails, and large ears.

What was most striking about Leaf was her hair: a tangle of brown, red and gold strands, the colors of autumn, with vines, twigs and wilted flowers entwined in her locks.

Under her hair, a crown of flowers and vines could be seen, evidencing her high status among the Children of the forest.

"Thank you, Your Grace." Seeing that Aenar seemed receptive and kind, Leaf breathed a sigh of relief. Even though she knew she wouldn't be hurt by Brynden, she still felt a little stressed in front of such a powerful being.

Sitting down in the chair opposite Aenar, Leaf knew it was polite to drink her host's drink and took a sip without hesitation. However, as soon as she did, she started coughing after a small sip of wine.

"Haha!!!" Aenar couldn't help but laugh at seeing the queen in such an embarrassing situation. He couldn't believe that a little wine and alcohol could make such a mystical being look so embarrassed.

Leaf wanted the ground to open up and swallow her when she heard the laughter of the king sitting in front of her. She couldn't believe that grapes could taste so bad. How humans could drink something so unpleasant was a mystery she longed to understand.

Putting aside the idea of drinking wine, Leaf put the cup back on the table and looked at Aenar seriously, as if nothing had happened.

"As I said before, I am Leaf, Sixteenth of My Name and Queen of the Forest Court."

She continued: "I have come at the request of Brynden, the Green Seer, to negotiate with the Dragon King."

Aenar, however, did not immediately begin the negotiations. Instead, he asked a completely different question than Leaf had expected:

"How is my great-uncle?"

Despite his surprise, Leaf answered sincerely: "His time is near. Soon, he will return to nature."

"The Green Seer is only not dead because the Weirwood is maintaining his vitality, but if he leaves the Tree of Life, he will undoubtedly die." Leaf sighed as he remembered Brynden's condition. One hundred and twenty years might seem like a lot, but for her, who had lived for thousands of years, it was just an insignificant number.

But for humans to live so long was a real miracle.

Aenar let out a sigh when he heard Leaf's description. Brynden really was very old by human standards. In the end, human life would always come to an end; not even the gods were truly eternal.

"I thank you for looking after him all this time. I know how stubborn and annoying a Targaryen can be." Aenar looked at Leaf and expressed his gratitude sincerely.

"It's our responsibility to look after the Green Seer. Without him, we would have been dead a long time ago." Leaf shook his head and replied with a serious tone.

Brynden's arrival couldn't have been more timely for his race. The Children of the forest were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief and fight the Night King more safely thanks to the presence of the Green Seer. How could they not help the one who had looked after them for so many years?

Remembering something, Leaf put on a surprised expression and took a letter out of the coat made of leaves she was wearing.

"This is something Brynden wrote and asked me to deliver into your hands, Your Grace."

Aenar raised an eyebrow, puzzled. He didn't remember such an event happening in the future. How had Brynden managed to hide from his Prescience?

Opening the letter, the first sentence made his countenance turn serious.

"If you are reading this letter, Leaf has successfully delivered my last words."

"Don't come to the Far North after reading this letter. Let me be a hero for the last time in my miserable, meaningless life."

"The Night King is too close to my location, and I will die at his hands. But before I leave, I'll leave him a kind gift."

"Fire and Blood."

Aenar couldn't help but smile at Brynden's heroic words and continued reading.

"Before I go, I want to thank you for making my life useful again. You don't know how happy I am that you exist."

"Thank you, Aenar."

"To prevent any deity from predicting the future, or even the Great Other, I used my life as fuel to obscure some events of the future. In this way, I was able to escape your Prescience."

"This spell won't last long, but it will be enough to catch the Night King off guard. I really want to see the look on that blue freak's face when he realizes he was almost killed by a mere human."

Aenar finally understood how Brynden had escaped his Prescience. However, the price for such a spell was too great, even for the gods.

The gods may have seemed eternal, but they were not. They grew old and eventually fell into a deep sleep after many years.

The only thing that could keep them young was human faith. That's why the Evil Gods allowed humanity to flourish before trying to exterminate it, accumulating as much faith as possible before the Long Night. For the gods, humans were like cattle, to be sacrificed as soon as they were no longer useful.

"In the end, I'll be dead soon..."

"Thank you, Aenar. Take care of House Targaryen..."

"I wanted to see you one more time, my beloved Shiera Seastar..."

Looking at the final sentence, Aenar couldn't help but let out a sigh. Brynden would die the way he wanted to, that much was clear from the words written in the letter. The man wanted to leave as a hero until the last moment, the complete opposite of his father, Aegon the Unworthy.

With a simple thought from Aenar, crimson flames consumed the letter, reducing it to ashes in an instant.

"Thank you for bringing Brynden's letter." Aenar expressed his gratitude sincerely.

As for Brynden's death, he had no regrets or feelings of regret. He had no right to feel such things in the face of Brynden's sacrifice. To have that kind of feeling would be a complete dishonor.

"Let's get to the negotiations." Aenar looked at Leaf and declared: "State your terms, Queen of the Forest."

Leaf took a deep breath and replied with a serious tone:

"We want a forest where my people can live in peace, without interference from the human race. No man should enter it without our permission."

"We will answer to no one but the King on the Iron Throne."

"We will follow our own laws. The Court of House Targaryen must not interfere with the laws of the Forest Court."

Leaf pronounced each term with the dignity of a queen, despite the softness of her voice, which was sweet and slightly childish.

Aenar adopted a thoughtful expression. The first two terms were more than acceptable to him, but the last one made his expression turn grim.

Leaf's proposal, in practice, would create a kingdom within the empire he wanted to build-something completely unacceptable. Aenar sought absolute power, and allowing a non-human race to have such autonomy went against everything he wanted.

"The first two terms are acceptable, but the last one is not. You must kneel and accept my laws above your traditions and gods." Aenar declared with a non-negotiable tone. He would not allow an independent kingdom to exist within his empire.

What if the Children of the forest refused to bend the knee because of this? Aenar didn't care. He could win the war with or without their support. In the end, it wasn't him who was asking for something, but Leaf.

Leaf couldn't hide her stunned expression when she heard Aenar's implacable tone. In her eyes, the deal he was proposing was excellent. Aenar would gain the support and magic of the Children of the forest in the war against the Great Other.

But how could Leaf understand the Dragon King's true goals? If he had studied all the monarchs who had ever ruled Westeros, he would have realized that Aenar was the most tyrannical and controlling of them all. How could such a man accept something as unrealistic as allowing an independent kingdom within his empire?

"Your Grace is asking too much. How could we follow your laws above the laws of the gods?" Leaf asked, his voice carrying a helpless tone.

"I have no respect for the laws of men or gods. Everyone must bend the knee." Aenar replied coolly.

"Absolute submission."

He knew very well that if Leaf ever had to choose between the Imperium and the Old Gods, the woman in front of him would choose the gods.

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Note: Sorry for the delay in updating you, I've been busy these past two days, spending hours at the registry office sorting out some issues. I just hate bureaucracy.

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