Sweet Waters Throne

Legends say it’s easier fighting your enemies at war than fighting your own people, Artemis was turned on by his citizens, it was hard to gain their love and respect again.

“What will we do?” Artemis asked Aurora, he seemed to not know what to do.

Aurora pulled him in for a hug, she didn’t reply to that question because she also didn’t know what to say. Would they burn all Maldonians to ashes, all the ten cities? And then what? This was a destruction of a kingdom they meant to rule together, not to destroy.

The opposition was getting stiff in such a way Artemis and Aurora never left Aurora’s Hill, they attended matters of ruling inside the castle. They had three dragons, but they knew using them wasn’t a wise choice, they should wait.

What should they wait for? Well no one knew.

Lord Balrus was summoned by Artemis and Aurora to answer for his crimes, Artemis accused him of knowing about the ambush that he would meet in Old City, that’s why he told him to be a dragon and not a sheep. This trial was discreet, only Lord Angun and Lord Akirbus attended, and they were shocked to see their friend accused of betraying the king.

Lord Balrus denied at first, he said he didn’t know Aryan’s men had spears huge enough to kill dragons and that Old City was in an open rebellion. But as the questioning continued, Aurora decided to read his mind, to which Lord Balrus strongly denied.

.....

“No! No!” Lord Balrus took a few steps back, “I will not let you read my mind, it’s invasion of privacy.” he blurted out.

“Why is that my lord, aren’t you innocent?” asked Artemis with a frown look on his face. “If you are innocent, the queen will know, and if you are not… our dragons will devour you for sending me to die”

Still Lord Balrus denied, and this clearly showed that he was guilty of what he was accused of. “Let her read your mind and get it over with” Lord Angun quipped in. “Are you really that stupid Balrus? We both know what will happen if you don’t accept” he tried to talk some sense into his friend.

Then Lord Akibrus intervened, “Or you can confess your crimes, did you know that Old City was under the rebels?” he asked with a straight face, it seemed none of them was happy with what Lord Balrus did.

The “three” who were once “four” always had each other’s backs. They have one goal and that is to serve the realm, and serving the realm comes with loyalty and hard work. The hard work part most of them completed, and even the loyalty part, how come Lord Balrus becomes the first one to fail the king.

When Lord Balrus remained silent, Aurora intervened and asked him, “Did you know Old City was under the rebels, my lord?” she asked with a bitter tone in her voice, she couldn’t believe Lord Balrus would do something like that to them. They were friends since the very beginning, but now she didn’t what they were anymore.

With his head low, Balrus replied, “Yes, I did” he said and everyone was stunned.

“You knew that Old City was taken by Aryan’s men, is that what you are saying my lord?” Artemis quipped in.

Again Lord Balrus replied, “Yes, Your Grace”

Aurora and Artemis locked eyes, both of them stunned and disappointed. Lord Angun shook his head with shame and disappointment on his friend, but he didn’t say anything.

“Did you know Aryan’s men had spears and scorpions which could kill my dragons?” Aurora had that somber tone in her voice, she just couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Why did you tell Artemis to go then if you knew the danger awaiting, did you want Artodo to die?” she kept on blaming Lord Balrus while preventing herself from crying.

“I did not Your Grace, I never wanted any of this to happen” Lord Balrus tried to speak.

“Then why did you tell me to be a dragon and not a sheep, you knew this sentence will have effect on me. You played on my ego Lord Balrus, and now my dragon is dead” Artemis stood from his chair abruptly and hit the table. “You wanted Artodo dead, and you must have already spread the rumors of my dragon dying, haven’t you?”

“I haven’t Your Grace, I swear to our gods”

“Nothing that comes out of your mouth is trustable anymore, you are a traitor” screamed Artemis.

Well, there it was, the treasonous word. Being a traitor to the king was punishable by death, Lord Balrus knew it better and when Artemis mentioned this word, he started to fear for his life.

Aurora wanted to know more, “What else did they have? These men with spears and scorpions, Artodo’s skin was hard like a rock, not easy for a spear to penetrate. The eye would have been damaged but he had the other one, my dragon shouldn’t have died from a spear. So tell me my lord, what did they have?”

It was this time Lord Balrus either had to say the truth about his knowledge of “tears of the fire” portion which has a potential of killing a dragon. So you see Lord Balrus had a spy inside Sir Arryn’s army, and he was the one who sent him notes of everything that was going on in Old City.

Lord Balrus knew about “tears of the fire” a month ago but he chose not to share it with Aprophil. He wanted the portion to work first, to be precise and sure that it can kill a dragon. That’s why he played on Artemis’s ego and sent him to Old City with Artodo because he knew Artemis would fight the rebels and if Sir Arryn were to use the portion, then Artodo would die.

His suspicion proved him right when Artemis returned back to the capital on a horse, he knew right there the dragon died even before Artemis opened his mouth to say it. The next day Lord Balrus asked his men to track Aprophil and he gave them a note, inside the note he wrote to tell Aprophil that Artodo was dead ─ his half-brother’s mount.

And he also advised him to seek the “tears of the fire” from the people across the Freezing Sea. Lord Balrus actually committed treason by helping Artemis’s foes in defeating him, all because he knew he wouldn’t be caught. That lasted for a while, but now he was in the presence of a seer who could easily read his mind and know it for herself.

So what did he do? Lord Balrus denied the question, “I don’t know what you are asking Your Grace, I only knew about the spears and scorpions, I sent His Grace to Old City so he can put an end to these men” he said trying to speak for himself.

Artemis however wasn’t easily convinced, “No, you sent me there to die” he blurted out to Lord Balrus’s face. “Did you do this because of him, your favorite son? My wife tells me you raised him all these years, and you’ve never abandoned him ever since. So tell me my lord, the war in on our gates and the people are chanting his name in my cities. If he comes, which side will you fight for?” he asked him.

Artemis was so close on Lord Balrus’s face in such a way it made the lord uncomfortable and scared for a bit, he has never seen Artemis that angry before.

When Lord Balrus took minutes to reply, Artemis shouted, “Answer me damn you! You fucking eunuch, if you had balls I would have cut them again and feed them to my dragons”

“My love” interrupted Aurora, “Enough for today, let the lord go home and rest” she said softly and walked to Artemis.

“Let him go? He betrayed us and because of him, my dragon is dead”

“And shouting at him won’t bring Artodo back, let him go, he knows exactly who he is fighting for, he has already made his choice” Aurora turned to look at Lord balrus with sour eyes, she was disappointed in him it was clear to see.

Aurora grabbed Artemis’s hand and they walked out of the council chamber, leaving Lord Balrus unaware of what to do, but he knew that was exile in a whole different way.