Chapter 126 -Moat Cailin (VI)

"What have I done?" Leaf asked himself years later, looking at the land suffering from the excavation of natural resources and the forests disappearing because of human greed.

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Leaf looked at Aenar and couldn't help but be speechless. The conditions he imposed may have seemed simple, but they were anything but. What he was asking was for the Children of the forest to stop following the Old Gods. Thirty thousand years of culture and reverence being denied with one simple sentence.

"Your Grace is asking too much. Even if I accept, my people will not. We have followed the Old Gods for tens of thousands of years and we will continue to do so." Leaf shook her head and replied with a determined tone.

"Then we have nothing more to discuss, Queen of the Forest." Aenar said with an indifferent tone to her refusal. It wasn't him who was asking for something, but Leaf who wanted something from him.

From the start, it was Aenar who was leading the conversation, and no one else. Leaf had placed herself in an inferior position in the negotiations ever since she had come to him to surrender.

She bit her lip at Aenar's indifferent tone. Leaf could see that he didn't care about her power or that of the Children of the forest. This frustrated her enormously. In her eyes, Aenar was being stubborn, someone who sought absolute power.

After ten long minutes of silence, Leaf spoke:

"Your Grace."

Aenar looked at her and smiled mischievously, as if anticipating the words he had wanted to hear all along.

Leaf held her gaze and continued: "I and my successors will agree to follow your orders and customs, but the others can continue with their faith and customs."

Hearing those words, Aenar finally gave a satisfied smile. He didn't care about the faith of a few ants. As long as the Queen or King of the Children of the Forest was loyal to him, Aenar was willing to show a little mercy to a race of extraordinary talents like the Children of the Forest.

At the same time, he knew he could influence the Children of the forest's society, gradually merging human civilization with the other. Leaf didn't know it, but in time, the Children of the forest would go from worshipping the Old Gods to worshipping him, the God-Emperor of Humanity.

Aenar pretended to think for a moment and, to Leaf's relief, nodded, looking directly into the golden-green eyes of the mystical being before him.

"I can accept those terms, Queen of the Forest."

Leaf finally flashed a happy smile and got up from her chair. She approached Aenar and knelt before him, removing the crown from his head and placing it on his lap.

"I, Leaf, Sixteenth of My Name, Queen of the Forest Court, swear in my name that I will follow the laws and orders of King Aenar I Targaryen until the end of my days. Nature and the Old Gods bear witness that my oath will pass through time and follow my line until we are no more."

Leaf pronounced each word with a serious and sweet tone. Her hair fell down her back as her eyes stared into the purple eyes in front of her.

"I accept your oath, Lady Leaf, Mistress of the God's Eye." Aenar named her directly as Lady of the God's Eye and all its surroundings.

He assumed that the Children of the forest wouldn't want to live in a place without a Weirwood, so he simply granted Leaf one of the only places south of the Wall that still had these sacred trees intact. In addition, the God's Eye had little interaction with the human race, making it a suitable location for the Children of the forest's fiefdom.

Leaf certainly knew the Eye of God and couldn't help but show a happy expression. As Aenar had assumed, her people really didn't want to live in a place without Weirwood. The choice of their fiefdom was more than appropriate, for, as well as being untouched by the human race, the site was home to countless sacred trees and held deep significance for their race.

"Tomorrow, I'll introduce you to the lords, and you'll need to get acquainted with the nobles of Westeros." Taking a sip of wine, Aenar spoke in a calm tone. There would be no discrimination from everyone, especially the Lords of the North, who would see the alliance as something sacred.

"Yes, Your Grace."

Leaf knew exactly why Aenar wanted her to get close to the humans, nothing more than a way of showing off her own power and influence over the Lords and Ladies of the Court.

Seeing that Leaf accepted his orders without hesitation, Aenar nodded in satisfaction and began to ask about the history of the Children of the forest, a subject that Leaf related with pleasure and enthusiasm.

The conversation lasted all night, but the three people in the room didn't feel the slightest bit tired, despite the long hours of conversation.

With the Warp's energy, Aenar didn't even need to eat or sleep. He just did it out of habit. Essentially, he could live without food and drink, but obviously he didn't. If he deprived himself of these things, what would he do? If he deprived himself of these things, what would be the difference between him and a machine?

Then, the next morning, in the Great Hall of Moat Cailin, there was a being next to Aenar who made everyone look at Leaf with astonishment.

Especially House Martell, whose members had always heard of the Hammer to the Waters, a cataclysm caused by the dark magic of the Green Seers of the Children of the forest, who, according to legend, created the Stepstones and the Broken Arm of Dorne with a powerful spell.

"By the beard of the Earth Giant, are my eyes really seeing a Children of the forest?" Smalljon asked incredulously, his eyes fixed on Leaf with intensity.

Seeing his son acting like that, Greatjon patted him on the head and then greeted Leaf with respect.

"Welcome to these halls, Nature Spirit."

It wasn't just him, all the Northern Lords and Ladies greeted Leaf with respect. In the eyes of the northerners, the Children of the forest were representatives of the Old Gods and children of Nature. How could they not respect the envoys of the gods they believed in?

Seeing that everyone was present, Aenar stood up and spoke in a calm tone:

"Leaf, Sixteenth of Her Name and Queen of the Forest Court, came to me last night and bent her knees. I granted her the Eye of God and its surroundings as her fiefdom."

"The Children of the forest will fight alongside us in the war against the Others." Aenar finished, looking at everyone with a smile.

As if realizing Aenar's intentions, Arianne began to clap her hands while watching him with a kind and warm gaze.

Aenar looked at the Desert Princess, nodded and smiled gently at her before joining in the applause.

A lively atmosphere spread through the Great Hall, and the Lords and Ladies of the North didn't miss the opportunity to feast and drink as much wine as they deemed necessary. Even though it was early in the morning, these men and women seemed exceptionally lively.

Aenar understood this well. A war was looming, and only a fool wouldn't take the opportunity to eat and drink, as it could be the last feast of their lives. In this respect, the Lords of the North were wise in the face of death.

"My Master of Laws, what has happened to the Army of Dorne?" Aenar brought the goblet to his lips and took a sip of wine while looking at Oberyn, who was still watching Leaf with an extremely curious look.

Oberyn reluctantly looked away from Leaf and replied in a respectful tone:

"From my brother's news, he will be attacking Storm's End with the Army of Dorne."

Aenar couldn't help but give Leaf an unpleasant look. Attack Storm's End? Who did Doran think he was to dare try to take one of the most powerful castles in the Seven Kingdoms?

House Tyrell had laid siege to Storm's End for a year without success. Although part of this was due to Mace Tyrell's incompetence, the castle itself was extremely difficult to conquer.

How, in the name of the gods, could the Army of Dorne, with a mere twenty-five thousand men, bring down a fortress that had only surrendered to Aegon, Visenya and Rhaenys?

Noticing Aenar's expression, Oberyn smiled bitterly. Even he couldn't understand how his prudent and cautious brother could make such a risky decision.

"Pray that the Army of Dorne survives the attack until I arrive." Aenar commented with a dissatisfied tone. He felt like a father having to solve his son's problems after a stupid decision.

What could Oberyn say? He just smiled bitterly and chose not to criticize his brother.

While Aenar and Oberyn argued in whispers, Visenya approached Leaf and greeted her with a kind smile and a curious look.

"Hello, I'm Visenya, Aenar's wife."

"Leaf, Lady of the God's Eye." Leaf replied with a respectful tone, looking at Visenya with equal curiosity.

"You smell like a volcano." Leaf commented with a smile.

Visenya laughed on hearing this and replied: "Blood and fire run through my veins."

They both engaged in an interesting conversation, exchanging information.

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