Sweet Waters Throne

164 Chapter 16By afternoon the whole of Raven learnt what happened in Lawsend’s City and the people flocked to the city to see for themselves the burned dead bodies which had turned black like soot. By dusk it was everywhere, from King’s City to Bellward to Claydall and even across the Green Mountains. The only thing people talked about was the wrath of the dragon and how destructive they can be.

In groups of thousands and hundreds, they marched towards Lawsend’s City from all corner of the realm. Aryan and her few surviving men including the archers who weren’t harmed by the flames made it back home in pieces. Olivia had bad feelings about this war and that’s why she didn’t want Aryan to go to it since the very first day, hence when she saw her lover coming in exhausted and worn out, she knew it didn’t go well.

Aryan’s face was covered with black soot and her golden cloak was half burned, and it was so unusual to see Aryan depending on Tyriol for support because she could barely walk. Sir Thomas’s left leg was burned and one could clearly see the burns which had turned red, but at least he got to keep his body.

Quickly the nurses and maesters of the palace tended to their Queen and her men who were harmed from the war. Olivia took control and she was the one who tended to Aryan, apart from just being a foreigner, Olivia was also a healer and she knew so much about medicines, herbs and even antidotes. Aryan’s arm was hurt and so was her back, she barely escaped the flames.

“Take her to our chambers and bring me a bowl of hot water, a jar of honey and the hearbs” Olivia gave out orders to the servants who quickly went on to fetch the things she needed.

Rush arrived inside the palace and she was met with a very different Aryan who was grunting with pain as she held on to her right hand. When Olivia tore her shirt, everyone gasped at the huge burn that was all over her hand and spread to her back. “I need to tend to it right now. Come on, take her inside” Olivia said and the men rushed to take Aryan inside the walls of the palace.

All this seemed like a bad dream to Rush, just yesterday she saw Aryan preparing her men to march and although they didn’t talk ─ but they sure did exchange silent looks. After the event at Aryan’s ship a moon ago where Aryan said some not so pleasing words to Rush, these two never saw each other again and nor did they talk.

“What happened?” Rush walked to one of the men who came from the war and asked.

The man himself was half burned too, he couldn’t walk and he seemed to be in a really bad situation. But still he managed to reply “A dragon happened out of nowhere. Whoever was riding it burned the whole army, and the city too. We are the only survivors”

.....

Now this shocked Rush to the point her jaw dropped, then she turned to look at men who were carrying Aryan and then she returned her attention to the wounded man. “What about the Queen, was she harmed?”

“I believe she was; the flames were so hot that not even stones survived. I watched a castle crumble before my eyes, it was reduced to marbles and sand in a span of just minutes. If this is the King of Maldonia, then we need to pray he doesn’t come to Raven or we will all be doomed” The man finished and went on to grunt with pain. Rush helped him to the nurses and she went on to help others.

The palace turned to a place of treating wounded and half burned men while the good folks of Raven rode to Lawsend’s City to see for themselves these burned bodies. It is said not even vultures and hawks feasted on the dead bodies because they weren’t corpses but soot and ashes, that’s how bad the situation was in Lawsend’s City.

Aryan was placed on top of a table by the men who carried her, the servants brought all the things Olivia needed and then they were told to leave. “I’ll take it from here” Olivia told them. The servants left and closed the door, Olivia took off the shirt Aryan was wearing and dropped it on the floor. Then she bent down and took off Aryan’s boots, they were muddy and also half burned. Hence Aryan remained with a black trouser only with her small tits out in the open, Olivia turned her in such a way her back faced the ceiling and tits were hidden by the table.

Then she dipped a clean white piece of cloth inside the hot water, squeezed it softly and placed it on Aryan’s arm. Aryan grunted and bit her jaws “That hurts!” she complained in her thick voice.

Olivia didn’t talk nor was she in the mood to listen to Aryan complaining about how hot the water was, or how badly her arm was hurting. There was a mug full of strong red wine, Olivia gave it to Aryan, “Drink” this came out as an order.

“I think this isn’t the time for me to get drunk” replied Aryan while trying to catch her breath.

Olivia dipped the cloth inside the hot water again, then she turned to look at Aryan with a serious look on her face “If you’d rather be sober throughout the process, then who am I to deny you that” then she placed the white cloth on Aryan’s back where the burns were visible. Aryan nearly fell from the table, the agony was too much and it was still she was skinned alive.

“I told you not to go but who am I huh? You would never listen to me, you are full of ego and pride. This is what will get you killed one day” Olivia screamed at Aryan and it was clear she was angry at her lover for refusing to listen to her in the first place. “If you had listened to me, none of this would have happened”

“None of us knew Artemis would have brought his dragon to Raven, this was just a coincidence”

“A coincidence which costed you sixty thousand men. Oh those poor people who joined you in the fight, their families must be devastated right now not to even recognize their bodies since they have all turned to ashes. And it’s all because of you”

Aryan had enough of Olivia’s complaining “Enough! Just give me the fucking wine, I don’t want to be sober anymore”

Olivia reached out for the mug and handed it to Aryan, but she still had that look on her face. Aryan drunk all of it and when she placed the mug down, it was empty. From there no one talked, there was an awkward silence between the two. Olivia placed the honey on the burns and herbs which worked in healing burns too, and by the time she was done, Aryan was already knocked out.

The servants were called in to take the ingredients and then Olivia sat beside Aryan unaware of how to feel or what to do. She still loved Aryan even after everything that had happened, she loved her with all her heart and she wasn’t ready to lose her. The war reminded her that death was random, but also permanent. She became so scared of losing Aryan in such a way she wished Aryan was never a Queen.

Being a sovereign comes with great responsibility and with that an increasing number of foes who could potentially harm her. Today was a dragon who nearly burned her alive, perhaps tomorrow will be cut throats sent to kill her or poison experts who did the same thing to her twin brother. This made Olivia feel powerless against these people who could take her lover from her.

Hence she decided come morrow when Aryan was awake, she would ask her to leave everything behind for her own sake. “She will agree, I hope so. Besides Prophis isn’t her home, she has no ties to this place nor a responsibility or whatsoever. I’ll speak to her as soon as possible” these were words she spoke to herself to sleep.

The next day news of the death of Lord Tommy of King’s City and Lord Criston High Rise of Bellward spread like wildfire fanned by strong winds and fed by dry grasses. The good folks of these places mourned for the loss of their Lords, but they said it was just an accident.

So you see most of the good folks in Prophis believed Artemis and his dragon came to help their Queen and avenge their late King. They took the fact that Lawsend’s City was reduced to nothing but ashes as a sign that Artemis flew to the capital with an aim of helping Aryan.

Since most of the dead men showed no sign of whether they fought for the Queen or Cregan Lawsend, the people failed to count and they believed most of the fallen men belonged to Cregan Lawsend ─ they praised Artemis as the hero who saved the day.