Sweet Waters Throne - Chapter 200

200 Chapter 20The sun rose the next day but still the lands remained frozen and it was still snowing. Prince Ambrose and Princess Thelma were heavily guarded inside the dungeon as they awaited their fate, to be decided by the new King. They were manacled at wrist and ankles with no place to escape, the same place which was once their homeland, imprisoned them and turned them to strangers.

Prince Ambrose’s surviving men were less than thirty five thousand, the short siege they suffered took a toll on them and Aryan was responsible for the large number of men who died, in that short amount of time, she slaughtered nearly five thousand Killers all by herself . Only twenty thousand Killers remained from the thirty thousand, and the rest fifteen thousand were the sell swords, knights, free riders and soldiers sold by the Lords from Arkala and Whitebridge who were seeking favors from the prince once he ascends the Silver throne.

The fifteen thousand men were given an option by Aprophil, to swear their loyalty to King Amabel Taelin or be sold as slaves. They all pledge loyalty to Amabel and they were given a chance to join the new King’s army.

The Killers refused to join Amabel’s army. They recognized no authority than that of their master, and at that time their master was Prince Ambrose. Henceforth, they were to be sold at the highest bidder.

Aprophil assured Amabel that he may get over six million golden coins if he sells all the twenty thousand Killers. They were trained slaves, not just normal slaves but that was a whole army. When Amabel asked if he can still keep them, even his mother was against it. The Killers weren’t like normal men, they would never acknowledge him as their master let alone the King.

Hence the best option was to sell them in order to fill the royal treasury and the coffers which were empty. Sir Thomas Buken said so, Aryan left with all her gold and coins, she took everything with her and the royal treasure was empty.

“I can lend you some few hundred thousands golden coins Your Grace, for the coronation and just to start things up. But they need to be sold as soon as possible” said Aprophil.

There were six people inside the council chambers of the main palace in Raven. Amabel’s first secret meeting with his small council, and it consisted of Sir Thomas Buken, Lord Howsley — the Lord of King’s City, Katarina — the Queen mother, Aprophil — the Hand of the King and Father Stewart, the High Septon.

The main topic they discussed was the smooth transfer of power which took place last night, and with that they needed to inform the good folks of Prophis about it. Some heard the rumors around the streets but they needed their ruler to confirm it.

…..

“When will you be able to sell these slaves?” asked Amabel while looking at Aprophil.

“I need time Your Grace to properly draw up a proposal to men I have encountered. Many Lords have wars to win and they are in need of men, to start with I shall write to my friends in the West”

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“That’s good, Lord Hand. So it appears we have no master of coin” Amabel paused and looked at the five people who were in front of him.

Sir Thomas was a knight, a decorated war hero and he had no head for savings and finance. When Amabel proposed this to him, he respectfully declined. “I have no head for accounts Your Grace, I’ll beggar the realm” he said.

Hence he was assigned to be Commander of the City’s watch, all of Raven was on his hands to guide and make sure everything was going well. Sir Tyriol, the man who once guarded Aryan was to be Amabel’s new Lord Commander of his Kingsguards since Aryan left him at the capital without saying goodbye. The seven foot black giant had no words to say when he was assigned this role, he just bent down on one leg and placed his sword in front of Amabel without saying a word.

Sir Thomas warned Amabel, “Sir Tyriol barely talks Your Grace, but you’ll get used to him” he said.

Amabel knew if he needed a bodyguard then Sir Tyriol was perfect. He needed his protecting skills, not his words.

The meeting came to a conclusion that tomorrow early in the morning all the good folks of the kingdom will be summoned to the Holy Sept to witness the new King being annointed. This made Amabel nervous, and hence when everyone left the council chamber, he told Father Stewart to remain behind. He claimed to be needing some words of wisdom from the gods.

There was a bad history between Prophisians and the Taelins, it dated back to the day King Taelin usurped the throne by slitting the throat of his King, a Mithandir King who was loved by his people from every corner of the realm. From then, the good folks suffered the worst experience under the rule of a tyrant for thirty years.

King Taelin took pleasure in murdering the rebels and sometimes even the innocent people. He didn’t care about the good folks, and neither did he listen to what they need or want. All he cared was his whores and golds, and his huge army which he flaunted from time to time daring any King to try him.

The realm was at war five times during King Taelin’s reign. And the wars devastated the poor ones, men were killed, women raped and starved in small villages which he never dared to visit nor reached out to help them.

Then after King Taelin, came Castellan Taelin and he led the realm to war again. The wars demanded men and these men had families to look for, but they were forced to abandon their homes just to fight for the King. The Battle of Stonedance claimed more Prophisian men than any battle in the history of battles, many women were widowed and children orphaned because of this battle, and they blamed Castellan Taelin for this.

Father Stewart told Amabel, “The good folks are wounded, the name Taelin is sour to them. Many of the people still mourn Gandalf Squire, and they are still raising lions sigils on top of their houses. Do you know why Gandalf was the most loved King?” he asked.

Amabel had no idea what to reply. He didn’t know Gandalf, the last time he met him was when he was a young boy. He didn’t have clear memories of him apart from the fact that he beheaded his father and took the throne, then when he was King, he whored himself all over Raven.

Raven was a strong city, even King Taelin himself couldn’t seize it but Gandalf somehow managed to take the city and made it his. Hence he was a revolutionary King, but many people said the one behind Gandalf’s success was his twin sister. Aryan did all the work while Gandalf took the credit.

That’s why Amabel replied, “Because he whored himself all over the city? Rented wine sinks for the people to drink all night? Is that why they love him?”

“No Your Grace, because he showed the people that he wasn’t a Taelin. He did things completely different from what your father did, or your grandfather. If you want your people to love you, you must show them you are not your father”

“I abandoned my family’s sigil, shouldn’t that show them that I am not my father?” he said with a questioning look on his face.

“That’s not enough Your Grace. If you need to win hearts of Prophisians and prevent rebellions and uprisings, then you must cut ties with your family completely. Take your uncle’s head in front of masses, make him pay for what he did to those small villages. That’s the only way the people will know you are not a Taelin” finished Father Stewart and then he asked for Amabel’s permission to leave.

When Amabel allowed Father Stewart to leave, he remained all alone inside the council chamber. But he was alone physically and not mentally because he had a lot of thoughts colliding inside his brain. He felt as if everything was happening so fast and at the same time, he could barely catch a breath.

What sort of a King did he want to be? It was either he rules like his grandfather, ruthless without a care in the world and also refusing to be advised on anything. To rule like a tyrant in such a way the only thing which will matter to him would be how many gold he has in his coffers, and what sort of a party he would like to throw next.

Or he can rule as his heart wants, and that is to be an honest King and a loved one too. He wanted nothing to do with his grandfather’s legacy, or his father’s.