The Comet, 'the pride of Maidenpool' they called it, was a clipper or a swan ship according to Mooton. it was speedy, with four pillars of sailcloth. Creepy Daenar chose this ship specifically because of its speed and swiftness when it comes to passing a dangerous peninsula called Crackclaw Point. in two days time, they passed that peninsula, unhurt; something that Valter was most proud of. they were now passing in Island that was the seat of another supposedly Valyrian house, Even after so many times, still without a clue on that word. However as a result of 'breeding' Ugh, from all the words out there, this is their choice. with non-Valyrians, their silver look was lost. Actually it was at that discussion that Aenyx learnt the secret of his pure blood, inbreeding. That led to some outburst and few pukes. He even reconsidered the possibility of insanity of the death again. To think that my half-brother is a product of incest, actually not really suprising why he's inviting me to his landig, he's mad as an incest abomination could be.
As Aenyx though through the horrors that incest brings, the door knocked and voice softly said: "My prince?" Still not used to that title. "Lord Mooton has requested your presence." the voice was from one of the servants of the ship, Maena, her name was. Aenyx had few exchanges of words with her, here and there, and Valter, the impulsive impatient cocky that he is, misread the situation and appointed her to attend to Aenyx for everything, in hope that Aenyx would be seduced by her charms thus bringing Valter to his good side. I sweer, everyone in this place is a creep of some sort. "I'll be there in a minute, my thanks Maena." he answered as he began to change into his satin shirt.
The deck was busy with sailors. they were some soldiers there too, as Valter has described his technique to deal with Ironborn reavers. the soldiers wore light armours that allow them to move fastly and swords shorter than Sir Selvy's to strike the oft poor armoured pirates, efficacious. after the main hall of the deck, Aenyx went towards the captain's solar. the door to the solar was brownish and was decorated by house Mooton's sigil, a red salmon. Not the most attractive one to adore and adorn, but at least they are proud of what they are, i guess.
He knocked the door and opened simultaneously. he faced Sir Selvy leaning against the wall while Valter like always smiling, was sitting on his chair behind a desk full of maps. "You called for me?" he asked Mooton.
"It was me my prince." corrected Donatyon. "Lord Valter and I were discusting a dire situation which could put the fate of this ship and all of its personel at risk. it was only fair to have your oponion on the matter as you rank us higher."
"But-but before that, Ser," Valter said as he turned to Aenyx. "Do tell my prince, did you enjoyed your time with Maena?" he said with an urge to laugh.
Aenyx pointed a finger to Valter "I will never hang out with you." unnoticing the confused looks he got, he turned to Ser Selvy. "What is the situation?"
Donatyon pointed to the largest map and said: "The sailors has detected a storm coming in following day that will affect our way. it will probably be a harsh one. to facing it, will be costly especially when we have a swan ship that according to numerous times, was proven to be not just weak, but helpless against a storm. i and a few of the crew are on board on taking a seat in the harbour of Claw Isle until the storm becalmed." his words shocked Aenyx. he never had been a witness to storms but were terrified of them greatly.
"I think we have a straightforward answer good men, we go to this Claw Isle and take shelter there until the storm has laid rest. i'm sure my brother wouldn't mind a few days delay to our arrival." he said hoping that storm would last more than few days so that he could be far away from his incestous brother.
"Well then you should convince Lord Valter to move our ship to safety." Selvy said sarcastically. it was clear that he was irritated since he would never say something in a sarcastic manner. though Aenyx couldn't blame him That sociopath with his smile is truly irritating.
As Aenyx was about to comment, Mooton talked: "Well you see Ser Selvy, i have a very fair reason to not dwell into the cursed harbour of Claw Isle. by curse i do not mean a spirit to hunt our souls or a kraken waiting there to entwisted its arms around and eat us. i am of course talking about Spears of the merling king..."
"The storm..." Selvy interfered.
"Ser Selvy let me talk please." he said and then turned to Aenyx. "You see my prince, i am aware that you have not been close to a maritime city around the Blackwater Bay thus you have not heard of the spears, but you should consider that these treacherous seamounts shaped as columns have been eliminating even the most well made galleys." he explained.
Aenyx frowned at that. "Are you saying that some pillar-shaped rocks raised from the sea are more dengerous than a storm coming at us?" it was of course a trick question to mislead the captain into a corner that he would be forced to accept Ser Selvy's plan and get on with it. truth be told, Aenyx could not found an equivalent to understand what the captain was telling, but even so, he would still insist on fleeing from storm than facing it because some rocks are in the way of the harbour.
"I'm not implying which one is a greater danger my prince, i'm merely saying that you should consider the talk of an experienced sailor." he said sternly and with a little touch of concern. No smiling? now i have some doubts.
"Say Valter" Aenyx thought through his next words "Have you ever been through one of these spears or even witnessed it?"
"I..." Valter looked down. "I have not, but my prince..."
"Then i ask you to for this time ignore the exprience of sailors and lead us into the safety captain." he said valiantly. to let Valter believe himself a veteran who could use the opinion of the novice. Do i feel bad for manipulating him? not really no.
Valter thought on that for some minutes, then he sighed and said: "Alright. we shall ride for Claw Isle. i hope the spears won't hurt us greatly."
"I thank you my lord, for your wise decision." said Ser Selvy.
"No need for that ser, no need for that." Valter said as he sat and went for the door. "I shall inform our crew of our new destination. coming Ser Selvy?"
Donatyon nodded as he made his way to the door. seconds later they both left the room. Aenyx, now lonely, decided to take a look at the map. he soon found out he could not understand the language but still got a strong evidence on a theory he would've loved to be proven fales: that he is indeed in another world, living another life. God damnit.
This Nightfall was not a peaceful one. spears were not what Aenyx expacted, already one had hit the left of the ship and matter how lightly the damage was, it shaken the spirit of the sailors. the fact that the wind was against them was not helping. Aenyx was on the deck, raising the sail as Valter who requested. when the captain suddenly ordered "Men! raise the sails!", the crew were quick to follow his order. as Ser Selvy has predicted, the ship would be helpless against a strong wind. The Comet was weightless as the wind threw it back and forth between the harsh spears and the spears in turn tear the ship apart and bore some of the crew with them every time.
The scene was of the drowing sailors, begging for their life as they drowned in the endless sea. How many crew men we've lost? Aenyx would thought occasionally but then replaced those with the sight of the storm that was forming far away from them. At least i don't need to deal with that. As the ship finally passed the last of spears, Aenyx sighed for relief as he sat down and looked at his companions. Ser Selvy was putting himself out of some chests that fell on him earlier, and Mooton was along side his first mate, checking the damages done.
Few houres later, close to the dawn, the ship finally made it to the harbour of Claw Isle. the sight was underwhelming for him. a barren isle with a tall tower built around a palisade. interior to the palisade was something of a town which was separated from the tower with another round of walls but this time these were of stone. the harbour itself was more of a tavern for sailors than a mercantile center. We landed on a worthless island.
"Shouldn't a party come and greet us." Aenyx asked of Ser Selvy. based on what he saw in Maidenpool, people would like to meet a new face.
"We did not announce our arrival my prince." Selvy answered. that made Aenyx wonder, how these people contact each other. he has heard of a 'Raven' thing but other than that, it seemed these lands were poor on that matter.
"So where should we rest Ser?" he wondered. he did not desired a night in a tavern with drunk sailors who were sad because of the fallen.
"We should head to the town and inform Lord Celtigar of the presence of a prince of the realm in his keep. i'm sure Lord Celtigar would not hesitate to allows us in." he answered as he went to pack his things. Aenyx remained there and gazed at the harbour as the tired ship got closer and closer to it.
An hour later, the crew landed on the harbour as Aenyx made his way through to Valter. "Did you computed the damage?" he asked.
"Yes my prince. it seems the spears had striked the sensetive parts of the ship. the ship is unable to travel far because its already breaking into parts." he said sadly He really loves that ship doesn't he?
Aenyx did not had an answer to Valter's saying. he just nodded and went to Ser Selvy and asked. "When should we be on move ser?"
Selvy looked at his back and saw Aenyx. "When Lord Mooton is ready to ride my prince."
"Why wait for him?"
"Because my prince, he is one of the two high ranking figures on the ship. the other one is you of course."
"Alright then. do we have enough horses ready?" he asked wanting to change the subject.
"I was heading to the stables actually. if you excuse me my lord." he said as he made his way into the stables. with nothing to do, Aenyx invited himself to a one-man tour to the harbour.
"Who goes there?" asked the soldier to the ride which included Ser Selvy, Valter and Aenyx. the three of them headed towards the town shortly after Selvy brought the horses. the ride was half an hour long because of the rain that was rained earlier which made the road muddy. the three wore capes to not get wet.
"My name is Lord Valter Mooton, our party has a prince of the realm in it. we are here to request Lord Celtigar a shelter for the night." said Valter
"Well i'll ask him but i don't think he'll be very keen. he has one already." the soldier bluntly
That took the three of them aback. "Are you jesting good soldier? this is the prince of the realm we're talking about." said Valter.
"Oh no i'm serious, ehm, it's actually very nice." the soldier answered.
"Well um... can we go in and have a look?" Selvy asked.
"Of course not! this is not some king's cloth for peasants to touch." he answered angrily.
"Can't help but notice you're repeating 'this' and 'it' instead of 'he'." Aenyx muttered.
"Mind your own buisness." the soldier said to Aenyx
"If you don't let us in. then we shall take the castle by force." Selvy threatened.
"You don't frighten us you muddy peasants. go and put your noses into the honey of the the bees so then they could bite you, you sons of the mountain goats." the soldier said. Aenyx was almost sure he was mocking them.
"What a strange person." Aenyx said to Selvy.
"Now let us talk my good friend..." Valter tried to talk.
"I'm not your friend you witless dog. i am done talking to you. now go and die in your misery you hungry bears." as soldier ended his sentence, he began to have an arguement with Selvy and Valter. Aenyx, tired of the situation, pulled off his cape and coughed. the three looked at him and the soldier's eye went wide. "I am Prince Aenyx. now would you get out of the way and let us in?" Aenyx asked.
"O-of course your grace. open up!" he said as the wooden door opened. the three rode into the town. the town was a poor one in Aenyx's eyes. it was muddy, the peasants wore old clothes and their houses had little strength against the rain. they also were more eager to get to the silver looking noble that just entered. the three made their way to the tower that was hiding behind a wall. they handed their horses a boy and went to the little castle.
The first sight they saw was a lord sitting on a chair hearing some peasants as they made their way into the main hall. he raised an eyebrow at the sight of Aenyx. he ordered the peasant to be out of the way than parted from his chair and came to greeting. "My prince, i welcome you to our humble castle here in Claw Isle. my name is Cedryc Celtigar, lord of this keep." he said as he bowed. his voice was both unimpressed and eager. he wore rich silver silk which from what Aenyx gathered, was to manifest his Valyrian heritage. his face was beardless and his black hair, long. he also had leather gloves.
"Well hello there, I'm Prince Aenyx and my two companions are Ser Donatyon Selvy and Lord Valter Mooton."
Celtigar greeted them and then turned to Aenyx "What has brought a prince of the realm to our little isle?" he asked.
"We were on our way from Maidenpool to King's Landing but we faced a storm and had to retreat to Claw Isle where the spears damaged our ship." Valter explained.
"Yes, this time of the year the storms aren't kind to the trade of the isle, not that we have any." Cedryc said with a smirk while his voice was bitter.
"What do you mean?" asked Aenyx.
"Claw Isle is not a favourite place of merchants your grace." he explained. that got a ghost of a smile for Aenyx who hoped they would be in this dull isle for a time.
"Are you saying you don't have any ships coming here to have us on board?" Valter asked.
"I may have." he answered. his voice was so quiet that Aenyx and his companions hardly heard heard him at all.
"Well please arrange them to have a place for us three too." Valter politely said.
"Wine?" he asked as he gestured to one of the servants.
Valter pursed his lips "Thanks but no My lord. we just need your assurance that we will have a place in that ship." he said slightly irritated.
Celtigar poured himself a cup and slowly drank it. "We could have that discussion later my lord. for now, we must celebrate."
"What for?" said Aenyx. he wasn't in the mood of any celebration or feasts.
"Your arrival of course, my prince." the last of his sentence brought Aenyx chills. he realised he doesn't like this Celtigar lord at all. he talked too slowly and his deep voice with every second he talked, sent authority. he was not creepy like Valter or serious like Selvy, he was cold and distant.
"Is this necessary though?" he asked.
"It's only customary your grace." Celtigar cut him off with a smile. a smile that was lifeless. it was not kind or even cunning for that, it was without any emotion. Just give me an oar and i paddle to hell if it means to be away from that man. he looked at Ser Selvy for help but the knight shook his head in agreement with Celtigar's words. Damn you courtsy.
"Well then, we shall have a feast in honour of me!" Aenyx declared.
"Indeed. i shall arrange our best seat for you my prince." Cedryc said as he made his way to his chair. "Until then please enjoy our hospitality." he then gestured to some servants "Show them their rooms." Aenyx quickly went with a servant just to be away from Celtigar. I don't want to be around this guy at all.
The feast was not pleasant for Aenyx at all. part of it was due to the fact that he was sitting exactly next to the direful lord himself and part of it due to the uncomfortable silence of the feast. there was no bards to play music or no hot-headed drunk to make everyone laugh. heck there wasn't even many guests. in a long table pretty full of food, there sat only six: Celtigar and Aenyx at the edge exactly along side each other, Selvy and Valter each on one side, the lord's wife, Myra Darklyn who looked bored and the maester of the tower, Ermand. occasionally, Valter would start a small talk with Celtigar which ended as quickly as possible. over all, Aenyx felt unhappy and Celtigar looked indifferent to everything happening. You just love to hunt your guests, don't you?
"... And that's how i met Prince Aenyx." Valter was retelling the Ironborn sacrifice competition incident to Celtigar who looked... apathetic towards the story.
"The most interesting tale my lord." Celtigar said. You for sure enjoyed the warring parts. he then turned to Aenyx: "Are you enjoying the feast my prince?" he asked
"It does resemble a feast just fine." Aenyx answered.
"Did you my prince, met Tom the Nasty Tongue when you came to the town?" he jumped to another subject.
"Uh... well we met a soldier who taunt us very well and made Ser Selvy threaten him to attack the castle." Aenyx answered, waiting for a chuckle from him but got none.
"Do you found him disciplined my prince?" Cedryc asked with his ever cold voice.
"He for sure seemed like one."
"What would you do with such guard your grace?" he asked while looked at Aenyx at his eyes. Aenyx saw that his eyes were icy blue. Even his eyes are cold. is there no warmth or kindness to this man?
Aenyx gave that question some thought. he did not want to appear impatient. This is Creepy Mooton all over again. "I think i would have him whipped to the death when he would learn to not taunt the royal guests ever again." Aenyx thought that a person like Celtigar would be ruthless with his soldiers.
Celtigar moved his gaze from Aenyx to his hands. he pulled out one of the gloves and Aenyx' eyes went wide. of his fingers, four were gone. "Do you know the history of Claw Isle my prince?" Aenyx shook his head "Well let me tell you a little bit of it. behind the hills, in the west of the isle, there lives a tribe of wild cracklaws who lived here from the time of the Conqueror. they, along side with the people of Cracklaw point, never recognised the Celtigars as their lord and claim to have fealty to only the Iron Throne." by now everyone was listening to him.
"What is going on?" Aenyx muttered, confused by where this was going.
"Occasionally, we would sent tax collectors to both the point and to the tribe which would ended in no result but death of those collectors. when i was young, my lord father sent me to collect tax. my attempt failed and instead we began to fight each other. i lost my fingers when one of those savages struck them with his axe. the only survivors from my group were Tom and i. and i get to live because he dragged my bleeding body from there to the castle. i appointed him as the guard of the gate for he has seen the death itself and has no fear to use his wrath on people. sometimes, boldness is a discipline irself, for he could would fight all of you if you made your threat real." he poured a cup for himself while his tale ended.
"I wanted to hear 'I would drown him in water' but instead, i heard 'There's a tribe that wants to kill us all'" Aenyx said as he was surprised by the tale.
That got a sinister and grim chuckle from him. Aenyx expected him to say something but he just looked back to an unknown direction. silence fell over the room as Aenyx played with his food. all of the sudden, the long doors of the tower opened and a group of people came in. three men who had in their hands each a woman. the women looked absolutely miserable and close to tears while men were laughing and joking. the most distinguished of the men was the black haired one who seemed like the leader of the group. he wore a black cloak over a shirt that was red from the blood. his hair was parted from right to left and his eyes were darker than Cedryc's. Aenyx could tell that this was a son of Cedryc.
He put the girl down. turned to the other two men. "Go and enjoy your night fellows." then gestured to one of the servants. "Bring this lovely girl to my room." when the servant went with the girl, he turned his look to the table. he sat on the edge of the table in front of Aenyx and Celtigar. "Greetings father. i see you have guests." he said.
Cedryc stood up from his chair and gazed to the others at the table. "Prince Aenyx, Lord Mooton, i introduce to you my son, Aradrin Celtigar. he was on a mission to the same tribe i talked about." he turned to his son "I gather it went well." in his voice, Aenyx could sense amusment.
"Better than well, father." he smiled. "We destroyed the resources sent from Cracklaw and as you saw brought hostages. though several of my men died which is a shame."
Cedryc nodded and then sat. he turned to Aenyx. "My prince, you asked for a ship, i will grant you one if you do me a favour."
Oh no. "And what would that favour be?" Aenyx asked.
"You shall go to the tribesmen and demand their pledges to the house Celtigar." he answered.
Ser Selvy was first to respond "What is the meaning of this request of yours Lord Cedryc?"
Valter backed him up "Indeed. you shall explain it to us my lord. do you intend to send the prince to his death?"
"It seems that you did not listen well my lord and ser. those tribesmen only answer to the house Targaryen which one is at my presence right now. they will accept his saying now with the damages done to their home by my son." Cedryc explained.
"Yes. those cockies only answer to the silver lord. undying stupidity of the first man." Aradrin confirmed.
"I will not to such thing." Aenyx declared.
"Then you shall found yourself swimming to King's Landing my prince." Cedryc stated.
Fear came to Aenyx. "You dare threaten a prince of the realm?" said Ser Selvy.
"I dare to speak only by my rights." Cedryc said softly.
"You have no right to talk like that to the higher than you." stated Valter.
Cedryc looked at him for a second. "I'm sure as the master of whispers of the king, i have more rights than a bastard of the previous one."
silence fell over the room with only Aradrin laughing quietly. the fact that Cedryc just revealed seemed to be important enough to shut both Valter and Ser Selvy down. if only he could know. Aenyx yielded his attempt to deny and said: "I... I'll do it onlt if i'm guarded by Ser Selvy."
"I see no reason to refuse." Cedryc agreed.
"I will come too." Valter said.
"Then its settled. tomorrow, you will set off to the tribe and demand their pledge. in return, you will have a place in the ship that will deliver me to King's Landing." he said as he stood. "Now if you excuse me, i shall retire to my chambers. tomorrow is a busy day for all of us after all." he then left the room.
Aenyx was astonished by the scene he just witnessed. he slowly made his way into his room and quickly went to asleep.
