WARNING: Yes, the new cover image is what Raziel looks like. I made that image myself on Artbreeder and I manage to create a perfect picture of Raziel, exactly the way I imagined him. (I'm gonna update that picture at the end of every single one of his fosterages.) If you guys didn't like it, I apologized, but that's just how I imagine Raziel looking.
Chapter 11: Peace is an Abyss (1/4)
Jon Arryn:
Dear Lord Arryn,
Once again, I must thank you for your efforts on the search for my two sons and request that you don't measure words if they have indeed encountered their demise in Gulltown.
My only request if that is the case, is that you allow me to carry on with the sentence of the culprit. But I still have hope that my sons were not casualties of whatever is the nature of this conspiracy that you have encountered.
As for the information regarding the so-called second entrance to the Vale. I believe that I might have found a clue to that, and I'll look into it. But I must give you a warning,my son and heir, Andar Royce arrived on the Gates of the Moon four days ago with the soldiers that I have requested.
The problem is that Robyn is actually demanding that Robar brings him along for the journey.
He has denied him, of course but then, for some unknown reason. The Prince actually ordered Robar to take Robyn along on the journey and he actually decided to accompany him as well.
This letter will probably arrive too late for you to be able to do anything about it, so I can only give you my word that I'm going to protect Robyn and the Prince with my life.
Your faithful servant,
The Lord of Runestone,
Yohn Royce.
Jon Arryn literally reread that letter ten times already in an futile attempt to see if his old eyes have finally started to fail him or if this was an exceptionally unfunny joke from Bronze Yohn . WHAT THE HELL WAS RAZIEL THINKING!? Jon thought in complete bafflement. "Ahhh..." He grunted as he held his head, that was the victim of a horrible headache.
It has been a week since Jon has arrived in Gulltown and taken residence in his cousin's home. The reason for that was his investigation on the disappearance of the sons of Bronze Yohn. An investigation that ended up leading him to uncover a strange conspiracy involving Gerold Grafton. The nature of this conspiracy seems to be embezzling the funds of the trade that occurs at Gulltown. Jon received this information from Petyr Baelish, the Lord and head of House Baelish of the Fingers. Who apparently is suffering financially due to Lord Grafton's embezzlements.
Of course, Jon couldn't simply accuse Lord Grafton of such crime. He had acquired some proof beforehand. So Jon decided to remain hidden inside his cousin's home for the time being while sending his guards and the Knights on his service to investigate every single ship that arrives at the harbor. The possibility of them actually being smugglers selling illegal trade was pointed out to him by Lord Baelish. Lord Baelish has been very useful in this investigation, as he provided Jon with a list of ships that are under the suspicion of illegal trade.
But now, he just had another problem to deal with. I'm gonna have to trust Yohn with their protection. Sadly, although Jon was worried about his heir and the Prince, he simply couldn't do anything about it at the moment. I'm going to have a long conversation with Raziel after this is all over. A conversation that the Hand of the King was not looking forward to.
After a small sigh, he leaned on the wooden chair and rubbed his temples. Until suddenly, a knock on the door was heard by him. "Come on in." Jon said.
"Excuse, Lord Arryn." Entering the room where Jon was staying, was Ser Symond Templeton, a Knight of Ninestars that offered his services to Jon Arryn during a stop that he made at the Gates of the Moon. He was a stocky man with cold blue eyes, a large beak nose, and a black and pointed beard.
"Ser Symond, is there something you wish to report?" Jon decided to trust him with the task of identifying the ships from the list that Lord Baelish has provided them.
"One of the ships that was on the list was harbored this morning, I went to check it under the disguise of a buyer and he was selling goods from Norvos." He revealed it to Jon.
Under normal circumstances, there wouldn't be anything wrong with that. But items that come from the east are very sought after by the nobility of Westeros which is why they input some rigid taxation on any trade that comes from Essos. Meaning that, if what Lord Baelish told Lord Arryn is true, not only Lord Grafton is embezzling the funds of Gulltown that belong to the Crown, but he's also allowing Smugglers to freely transport illegal goods in and out of Gulltown. Two things that are exceptional violations of the King's Law and deserving of severe punishment.
"Thank you for informing me, now I need you to list all of the objects that were being sold by the merchant that the ship belongs to and the price of each item." Jon asked him.
With that, The Knight of Ninestars gave the Hand of the King a detailed description of the items alongside their respective price. Jon immediately noted the irregularities as he actually knows the actual price of some of the items that were mentioned and these are being sold at a much cheaper price. At first, Jon was confused, but now that he thinks of it. If you take out the taxation, it's actually much more than what they would make under proper conditions.
"If that' s all my Lord..." Ser Symond bowed to him. "I shall continue with the investigation."
"Please do, and if you hear anything about Bronze Yohn's sons, inform me immediately." Jon replied as he watched the Knight leave the room that his cousin had landed him. The old man could only pour himself some Myrish Wine in an attempt to calm himself as another thought came on his mind. I hope Raziel doesn't do anything foolish...
Raziel Baratheon:
"And that's the story of Durran Godsgrief."
"I never heard that one before..."
Four days ago, Robyn's uncle arrived on the Gates of the Moon with a handful of soldiers to aid Bronze Yohn on his search for the so-called second entrance to the Vale that Vale mountain clans are using to create chaos. But when they arrived, Robyn kept pestering his uncle to allow him to accompany him to his grandfather's location. As expected, his whining was mostly disregarded by Andar Royce. Until Raziel actually had enough of his whining and simply ordered Andar to take him along, he tried to argue with the Prince, but Raziel simply told him to direct his complaints to Sandor. Which did the job of shutting him up fairly quickly.
But then he found out that Mya was actually going to be accompanying them as well. The reason behind it is that Andar Royce wanted to utilize the Mules to bring some supplies for the journey. And the one in charge of the tending of the mules has sent Mya alongside an older boy for the task. Hearing that, caused Raziel to actually inform Andar Royce that he would be going along as well, mainly because he wanted to be next to Mya. He tried to argue, but Raziel simply said "I wasn't asking." to him.
At that moment, Raziel was on top of a Mule that Mya was riding. Raziel actually told Mya to choose a Mule for her to ride and she picked her favorite one, and Raziel decided to join her on it to the surprise of everyone else. He was hugging Mya tightly from behind and telling her a story to pass the time. The story of the mythic first Storm King and the founder of House Durrandon, who allegedly was the builder of Storm's End according to legend.
"Which one did you hear?" He asked her.
"Just a few..." Mya told him. "I can't really read, I can only hear from other people."
"You want me to teach you?" Raziel asked her.
"No, I'm a really slow learner." Mya admitted to him.
"So?" He didn't understand why that matters.
"So, I'm probably going to annoy you while you're trying to teach me." It was her explanation. "Besides, I would get bored and stop reading fairly quickly."
"If you say so," Raziel decided to just let it be. "But if you change your mind, my offer will still be standing." It really was. "Though, I could read some of the stories for you if you like."
"Really?" She asked him as Raziel held her tighter.
"Yes," He confirmed. "Let's make a deal, when we arrive, I'll read all of the Age of Heroes stories for you."
"Promise?" The Natural daughter asked hopefully.
Raziel smiled and grabbed Mya's right hand, which was holding the bridle reins, moved slightly over her shoulder and placed her thumb on his mouth once again. Mya chuckled and rolled her eyes in response to the gesture as the Prince sucked on her finger once again. But her immediate response afterwards was to grab Raziel's left hand, which was wrapped around her stomach and bring it towards her lips before she returned the gesture and started to suck on his thumb as well. Luckily, no one actually paid attention to what they were doing as they kept on with the gesture for more than a minute. Until they took their thumbs off each other's mouth.
"Your hands were clean this time?" It was Raziel's only question as he once again, wrapped his arms around her stomach.
"No..." The Prince could tell that she was lying but he decided to stay quiet about it. "Are we gonna keep doing this?"
"If you want, it could be our personal gesture." Raziel suggested after she asked that.
"Hmmm... Okay..." She accepted.
The Prince then moved his head to look at everyone else, currently, they were in the middle of a large group of armored soldiers mounted on fine horses. They were all being led by the heir of Runestone, who was leading the party with Robyn riding beside him. If Raziel is correct, according to the map that he saw, they were on their way to the Redfort, the ancient seat of House Redfort in the Vale of Arryn. It is located in the south of the valley. It is southeast of the Eyrie, south of Ironoaks, and north of Wickenden. Bronze Yohn was staying there and being aided by Lord Horton Redfort, Lord of Redfort.
"Ummm... How far are we from the castle again?" Mya asked him, probably because she wanted to feed her mule but didn't want to stop and slow everyone down.
"Not much, but I can order everyone to stop if you want." Raziel offered her.
"No, he can handle it." Mya refused while patting the Mule's head.
Luckily, Mya was right and the Mule had no problem through the rest of their trip. The dusk was already approaching, and they were glad that they reached their destination before being forced to camp again. From afar, the Prince was able to see the castle and he did not find it impressive at all. Six narrow, square towers are scattered in a seemingly random pattern that seemed to have been built for an defense purpose but the pattern made absolutely no sense since they were too close to one another and are connected by big, vast walls made of stone. Tall, wide windows are scattered generously around the walls in fairly symmetrical patterns, along with crenelations that were supposed to be symmetrical for archers but weren't.
"This castle is ugly." He heard Robyn commenting while riding on a Palfreys besides Raziel and Mya.
"Whoever built this, clearly had little knowledge of Architecture." Raziel couldn't help but point out, he may not know much but he saw enough castles to know that this one was poorly built.
"What does Architecture mean?" Mya asked the boy that was hugging her from behind.
"It's the name of the art of constructing buildings." Raziel explained to her.
"Oh..." Mya heard him loud and clear.
Eventually, they arrived at the entrance. A great gate with wide wooden doors that were open before they actually reached them, passing through the gate's they all found themselves inside a small yard where dozens of individuals were standing there, awaiting for their entrance. The yard was relatively bland, and was basically a wide and empty space. However, Raziel already sees the benefits of it.
Once everyone was inside, the dozens of people that were standing there, all bent the knee.
"Is that because of you?" Mya asked Raziel.
"Yes." He confirmed, he can't say that he doesn't enjoy it though. "Come on, I think the poor Mule can use some rest." The Prince spoke as he descended from the Mule with Mya doing the same. Raziel then notices Bronze Yohn approaching both his son and grandson with a man walking besides, who he assumes to be Horton Redfort . "I'm going to greet Lord Royce and Lord Redfort." He informed Mya.
"Okay, I'll go help with the rest of the Mules." Mya replied with a nod.
The Prince then moved towards the front of the party in order to greet the Lord of the Castle. Once he got there, he came face to face with Lord Redfort. Horton Redfort was a short, old man with a well-kept beard, grey hair, and mild eyes, he was wearing a fancy and somewhat flamboyant red outfit that Raziel thought looked ridiculous, but he wasn't someone that judges other people's tastes.
"It's an honor to receive you as a guest in my humble castle, my Prince." Lord Redfort bowed as soon as Raziel approached him.
"The honor is mine, Lord Redfort." The Prince also bowed respectfully in response.
"It's good to see you once more, my Prince." Bronze Yohn spoke next while also bowing to the Prince.
"Likewise, Lord Royce." Raziel also bowed to him in response to his gesture. "And allow me to apologize for pushing for both mine and your grandson's joining in your son's party." He decided to apologize for that, since he only pushed for Robyn's joining because he was tired of his whining and his own was because of Mya.
"I must admit that your sudden arrival has caused me some problems, but nothing that I can't accommodate." Lord Royce admitted before looking at Lord Redfort. "But if you excuse me, I really need to have a private talk with my son." The old man signalled Andar to follow him.
Both father and son entered the castle, leaving both Robyn and Raziel in the company of Lord Redfort, who basically offered himself to show them the castle which the two heirs accepted.
After a painfully boring tour through the unremarkable interior of the castle. Raziel and Robyn were shown the chambers that will be residing during their stay in the castle. Robyn simply went to sleep since he hadn't slept the previous night because of a knight snoring loudly where they were camping.
Raziel on the other hand, went to check Mya to see if her sleeping conditions were appropriate. So he went to the stables where the Mules were being kept to see her. Sandor was following behind him with his heavy steps. As they walked however, he passed through the door and heard someone speaking.
"So, I shall take half of the man while you take the other half." He heard Andar 's voice from the other side of the door. That caused the boy to stop walking to hear it.
"Yes, this cave has several different passages and one of them has to be this second entrance to the Vale that the Mountain Men are utilizing." He hears Bronze Yohn's voice.
A cave? Raziel was surprised by what he heard.
"But father, are you certain?" Andar seemed to have his doubts. "I mean, the torches, leftovers and blood marks were certainly clues that someone was there, but it could have been anyone." He basically listed what was found inside this cave for Lord Royce to suspect that the cave was the entrance.
"Indeed, it could have been anyone, but it's too much of a coincidence that we were attacked specifically when we were near this cave." Yohn explained to his son. "This is the best clue that I was able to find, so I must look into it."
"I understand," Andar told him. "I will aid you in whatever you decide, father."
"Good." Lord Royce told him as well.
A short silence fell inside the room, and Raziel was about to continue walking.
But
"Any news from Lord Arryn?" Andar asked his father.
"Only that there is indeed something going on at Gulltown and that your brothers are involved in some way." Yohn explained with worry in his voice. "But, let us focus on our task... I trust Lord Arryn, and I believe that he will get to the bottom of this." He sounded very confident, and he seemed to have complete trust in Lord Arryn. "Tomorrow morning, we shall join the man that Lord Redfort charged to keep watch on the cave, they are awaiting us for supplies since they are about to run out."
Having no desire to continue with his eavesdropping, Raziel continued to walk down the corridor to encounter Mya. So, a cave is the second entrance to the Vale... A little disappointing, but it actually makes sense. I believe that Bronze Yohn and his son will solve this problem, a bunch of savages should not be in too much trouble unless they have superior numbers. No matter how skilled or how well equipped you are, superior numbers can give anyone advantage over their opponents.
Eventually, Raziel made his way to the yard, where there were a few guards that were wearing simplistic dark red armor and holding spears as their primary weapons. I'm better with a sword but I know that spears are one of the most reliable weapons you can have. He thought as he passed by the guards, who were standing still, performing their duty accordingly.
It took a short walk for him to arrive at the stables, where several horses were being kept. But Raziel didn't really care about them, he did care about the Mules that were being kept at the end of the stables, where Mya was feeding the Mule that they rode together.
"How is he doing?" Raziel asked the girl.
"He had a good rest." Mya informed him as she patted the nice looking Mule.
"Does he have a name?" He asked as he also patted the Mule, who seemed to enjoy his touches.
"Well..." Mya seemed reluctant to tell him. "I like to call him... Muddy, when there's no one looking."
"Muddy?" Raziel raised a brow in response. "Because he gets covered in mud or something like that?" That was his question.
"Yes, he's the one that I have to wash the most." Mya explained in visible annoyance.
"Then you deserve the name Muddy, Muddy." The Mule made a noise in response, clearly not liking his name. "Get used to it, I'm calling you, Muddy from now on as well." Muddy made a noise signalling his annoyance towards his name.
Mya giggled in response.
"So, where are your chambers?" Raziel asked as he fed Muddy as well.
"I don't have any, I'll just sleep in the stables like him." Mya informed him while pointing at the older boy that came alongside them, who was sleeping on an empty horse stable on top of a bunch of hay. He was a blond boy with fair skin, a small nose and then lips, but what called the most attention was how thin he was.
Raziel saw that and immediately decided to say something about that. "No way, come on, you can sleep in my chambers." The Prince proposed to his friend.
"Raz..." She visibly wanted to complain, but there was clearly a part of her that was considering his proposition. That part was probably influenced by the fact that the night was quite cold. "Are you sure that will not be a problem?" She asked him, probably worried that she would be in trouble because of it.
Raziel simply smiled and said. "Are you uncomfortable sharing the bed with me?" Truth was, Raziel really misses his mother's embrace as she always insisted on sleeping with him.
"Well..."
"Wow, this bed is really nice." It turns out that she had no discomfort whatsoever in sleeping on the same bed with the Prince. The chambers that Raziel was residing in were one of the biggest ones on the castle and it had a big and comfortable bed on it that fitted the two of them perfectly. It also had a table with a mirror on it, a wardrobe where he placed his clothes and it had a window with a nice view of the front of the castle.
"Is it too tight?" Raziel replied while inspecting her outfit.
"No, it's actually very comfortable." The Prince actually went to get a nightgown for Mya, and he was able to find one that was being made for the daughter of the steward of the Redfort, it was a nice looking and dark red in color. "Thank you very much." She smiled at him as he caressed the nightgown.
"You're welcome," Raziel smiled back. "Now..." The boy with black hair then wrapped his arms around the girl with black hair, embracing her tightly.
Mya returned his embrace, hugging him even tighter.
...
...
...
...
"This is really nice..." Mya said to him.
"I still haven't figured out why I feel so close to you..." Raziel still couldn't understand why Mya felt so familiar to him.
"Me neither," She felt the same way. "I just wanna hold you and never let go..." Their tight embrace somehow got even tighter after she said that.
"Me too..." He felt the same way.
A strong wind could be heard outside, but Raziel Baratheon and Mya Stone were not paying attention. Their embrace was warm and they simply felt too comfortable in each other's arms. Why do I feel so close to her? Her embrace almost feels the same as when mother embraces me... But it's not the same as when Dany does, which is why I'm so confused. He still didn't understand why, but he decided to forget about it for now and simply enjoy Mya's embrace. Though, there was something he wanted to do.
"Mya?" He called her.
"Yes?" She responded.
"Can I kiss you?" He asked.
"Yes."
Raziel smiled and then moved his head up, only to see Mya widen her eyes when Raziel actually kissed her on the lips. It was a long chaste kiss that Raziel used to give Myrcella and Joy before going to sleep back at Casterly Rock. Once he separated from her, Mya simply stared at him with a surprised expression.
"Wha-what?" Mya was surprised.
"You said I could kiss you." He pointed out.
"I thought you meant on the cheek, not on the lips!" Mya immediately explained to him.
"Oh, sorry then." Raziel actually felt bad, since he really didn't specify where he was going to kiss her.
"T-that was my first kiss..." She revealed it to him while touching her lips.
Raziel looks down with a somewhat sad face. "You... didn't like it?" He asked her with a somewhat hurt expression.
"N-no!" The natural daughter clarified. "It's just..." She clearly didn't know what to say in response to that. "Well..." Mya seemed to be trying to think of an answer as she scratched her black hair. "I wasn't expecting this to ever happen."
"Why not?" He asked as he stared into her blue eyes.
"Ummm..." She didn't know how to answer his question. "Can we stop talking about this?" Apparently she didn't want to answer him for some reason.
"No, tell me why?" Raziel insisted, despite knowing that it was rude, he really wanted to know why Mya never expected to be kissed.
The girl sighed before turning her back to Raziel. "Maddy once told me that no one would want someone like me because I looked more like a boy than a girl." That comment clearly bothered her and she seemed to believe what she said.
I mean, Mya does look like a boy. Raziel had to admit that Mya did look more like a boy than a girl, especially since she was tall, strapping looking and her short hair really didn't help either. "You do look more like a boy than a girl, but I still think you're really pretty."
"You're just saying that to be nice." Mya didn't believe him.
"Fat Maddy should really shut up, because I think most would pick you over her any day." Maddy's nickname at the Eyrie was Fat Maddy, sadly, it was appropriate because she was indeed fat. "I know, I would..." He looks down embarrassed. Before he approached Mya to ask. "Can I kiss you again?"
"No." Mya refused.
"Ahhh, why not?" He asked in disappointment.
"Because I'm the one that is going to kiss you." That was her reply.
"Wha-" Suddenly, Mya grabbed Raziel and pinned him down to the bed, before she pressed her lips into his in another chaste kiss. This one was longer than the last one that he gave her, which he had no complaints about. Once they separated, the two of them simply smiled at each other before speaking, and Raziel saw that familiar smile once again. "You're beautiful..." Raziel told her that.
"Oh please, you're the beautiful one." Mya replied. "Especially with those cheeks of yours." She pinched his cheeks.
"Stop..." He told her since he hated when someone pinched his cheeks.
"Can't..." She kept pinching his cheeks. "You're way too adorable..."
"I said stop..."
After a night spent with Raziel and Mya teasing each other and later falling asleep embracing one another. A new day started, with Raziel actually waking up alone on the bed. But he paid no mind to it and simply went to get himself something to eat. Poached eggs and Almond milk, that was what he had. As soon as he finished his food, he simply went to the yard to see if he could find Mya or Robyn.
Luckily, he saw Robyn there, sparring with a training sword and a shield against another boy. The boy with black hair simply stood there and observed the match.
Robyn was doing a great job in defending against the other boy's attacks. Robyn's defensive skills were pretty advanced but his offense was really below-average. That was Raziel's opinion on Robyn's combat skills. His defense was great but his attack was weak and that is something that he needs to work on if he wants to be a competent Knight. Although he did a great job blocking his attacks with the shield, the moment he finally decided to attack, he delivered a painfully easy to evade move that the other boy capitalized on it and was able to hit Robyn on the arm, which caused him to drop his blade.
"Mychel Redfort is the winner!" A tall and robust man with dark hair in a strange hairstyle, wearing more protective armor than the guards announced. The man was clearly the e master-at-arms of the castle.
Once the match was over, Raziel approached the two.
"Good match." Mychel Redfort spoke to Robyn. Mychel Redfort was the spitting image of his father, though it seems that he will be taller though.
"Likewise." Robyn politely responded to Mychel while rubbing his arm in pain.
They noticed Raziel approaching and they greeted him. "Mychel, this is Raziel Baratheon, the heir of the Iron Throne." Robyn introduced Mychel to him. "Raziel, this is the youngest son of Lord Horton Redfort, Mychel Redfort." Then he introduced him to Mychel.
"It's an honor to meet you, my Prince." He politely bowed to the Prince.
"The honor is mine, and you can call me Raziel." He replied to the boy that was slightly older than him. "Where is everyone?" Raziel asked Robyn, since he didn't see his grandfather, uncle or any of the soldiers and Knights that accompanied them to the Redfort.
"Oh, they all left early in the morning to go solve what they came here to solve." Robyn informed him. Oh, they went to check the cave." Raziel immediately realized. "I wanted to go too but my grandfather prohibited me." He definitely did the right thing because you would just get in the way.
"Don't worry, they'll be back before you know it." Raziel assured him.
"Yes..." Robyn still seemed a little annoyed over being left behind but Raziel doesn't really care about that. "You wanna have a match?" He asked.
Raziel really wanted to find Mya, but he decided that a single match wouldn't take too much time. Besides, he really needed some practice. "Sure."
"Since Mychel beat me, it will be you against him." Robyn handed him his training sword and shield, which Raziel took.
"Ser, the Prince and I would like to have a match against one another." Mychel called out the master-at-arms.
The master-at-arms signalled the two to approach him, before positioning the two of them in a spot at the middle of the yard. "This is an honorable match, no dirty tricks from either of you." The man instructed the two boys. "Ready..." He lifted his hand in the air as the two boys assumed their fighting stances. "Go!"
Mychel started the match aggressively by delivering a vertical swing on Raziel, but he easily dodged by moving back and followed by a stab attack, which Mychel defended with his shield. But Raziel followed with a horizontal swing to the right, that turned out to be a feint and he immediately turned to attack Mychel's right calf, which landed perfectly. "Mmm!" He grunted as he felt the blow from the training sword on his calf. Mychel decided to retaliate by attacking Raziel with a combination, which he initiated by using his shield to push Raziel back, and deliver a powerful vertical swing towards left side of his ribs once the shield was out of the way, but it backfired since Raziel simply let go of the shield and gripped the central part of the sword blade with his left hand and used it to block the attack, before he redirect Mychel's sword to the right and used the position to thrust the tip of the training sword into his forehead.
"Prince Raziel Baratheon is the winner!" The master-at-arms announced. "I gotta say, that was a fantastic display of skill, my Prince." The robust man was visibly impressed by Raziel's swordsmanship skills.
"That was amazing!" Robyn was also impressed. "I couldn't land a single attack on him!" Which was preceded by his whining.
"I must say, this is definitely my most humiliating defeat." Mychel admitted with a bit of shame in his voice. Not that Raziel can blame him, the idea of someone letting go of their shield and managing to pull such an attack like this is indeed humiliating for whoever is on the receiving end of it.
"Don't feel ashamed, just use this defeat as motivation to train harder." Raziel reassured the older boy.
"I will." Mychel replied with a determined look.
"So, it's my turn now." Robyn immediately signalled Mychel to hand him the training sword and the shield.
"Wait," Raziel had to do something first. "I have to see someone first." He really wanted to see Mya.
"If it's that girl that looks like a boy, she's not around." Robyn informed him, clearly in a hurry to start his match against Raziel. "She and that other boy who was in charge of the Mules went with my grandfather and uncle in order to transport some supplies for Lord Redfort's men that were camping on the location that they were going."
"What?!" Raziel was surprised by what he just heard. Wait, I rememeber now... Lord Yohn mentioned that the man that Lord Redfort had placed to keep watch on this cave was about to run out of supplies. But was it necessary for Mya to go along with them? Raziel really didn't understand that part, until he remembered that some of those Mules were hard to control and Mya was simply better at tending for them than the other boy that was with them. It's not like she will be in danger, she'll simply drop the supplies and then head back. He reassured himself. "Alright." Honestly, he was slightly annoyed by Mya's absence. I really wanted another kiss...
"Dammit!" Robyn whined.
The two of them have three consecutive matches against one another and all of them basically took the exact same turn. Robyn would put up great defense but terrible offense and eventually Raziel would capitalize on him getting tired. Though, it baffled him how well he was able to defend his attacks, if he could only improve his offense to become average, he could be a force to be wreckin with. As soon as they finished their training, Raziel decided to search for something to eat with Robyn and Mychel basically just followed him.
Currently, he was on top of a dining table, eating some salmon and watered down wine. While listening to some stories that Mychel was telling them about his older brothers, who were all serving as squires somewhere. The stories were funny and Raziel was having a good time.
"They made my brother put his cock inside a scorpion's nest, after losing the game." Mychel was telling them a story about Jon Redfort.
"Why would your brother accept such a thing!?" Robyn asked with a shocked expression, which was understandable since only a complete fool would do such a thing.
"My brother has an absurd amount of pride and he simply refuses to turn down any type of challenge." Mychel explained to him.
"This pride will get your brother killed someday." Raziel couldn't help but comment.
"That's what my father always tells him." Mychel drank a cup of water after saying that.
Raziel simply sliced his salmon with a knife and ate it. Appreciating the taste.
"I forgot to ask, why didn't you bring your Golden Eagle with us?" Robyn asked him.
"What are you talking about?" He didn't understand what it meant.
"Your Golden Eagle, why didn't you bring it with you?" Robyn asked the exact same question.
Raziel finished cutting his salmon, before he brought his fingers to his mouth and released a loud whistle. Both boys looked at him in confusion, until Artys actually entered the room through the window and immediately found its way to Raziel's shoulder.
"Woah!" Mychel was surprised by that. "It's actually a Golden Eagle!" He stood up from his seat to look at the majestic eagle closely.
"Wait?" Robyn seemed confused. "Where was he?"
Raziel was busy cutting up his salmon, but he said. "He has been with us since we left the Gates of the Moon." Artys didn't like to be in a cage, so he just lets him fly around freely.
"Raziel..." Robyn seemed dumbfounded, and Raziel did find his expression amusing. "How did you manage to make a Golden Eagle so obedient?"
The boy with black hair eats a slice of his salmon before answering. "I don't know," He drank a bit of wine. "I just did."
"He's amazing..." Mychel was admiring his pet.
"You should see his other pet." Robyn mentioned Symeon.
I hope Symeon is behaving himself, I wanted to bring him along but I didn't have time to head back to the Eyrie to get him. Raziel thought in deep annoyance, because he really missed his other pet.
"He actually has a white Lion." Robyn revealed to him.
"His name is Symeon and he's a Hrakkar." Raziel corrected him.
"Wait, are you two being serious right now?" Mychel was surprised by what he heard. "Do you really have a-" But before he could finish what he was about to ask the two of them.
An absurd amount of noise was heard by the three of them, coming from behind the door that they all came through. The three boys stared at one another in deep confusion before they all made their way to the door to check. Mychel opened the door right away and noticed a group of guards moving towards the yard.
"What is going on?!" Robyn asked in confusion before he ran towards the yard.
Mychel also ran.
But Raziel simply finished his cup of wine before he placed the empty cup on top of one of the tables in the dining hall, before he walked towards the yard. It was already evening and the night will arrive soon. This day passed by really quickly, but that's on me, I woke up late and spent most of the day training. He thought as he slowly made his way towards the yard. Only to be caught by surprise when he got there.
There was a high number of servants, knights, guards and basically everyone that lived around the castle gathered around a group of people that were injured. Having a really bad feeling about this, Raziel decided to approach the group of injured in order to try to discover what was going on. But once he got there, he was surprised by the fact that he knew most of the people that were injured. As they were the soldiers from House Royce that Robyn and Raziel travelled with not long ago. What the hell happened? He asked himself in deep concern.
Looking around to see if he could find someone to ask about what was going on, he couldn't see anyone. Robyn and Mychel were nowhere to be found, which was strange since he saw them running that way. Everyone else was busy tending the wounded, and the Prince didn't want to get on the way. However, his blue eyes came across a familiar face. Right at the entrance of the stables, Raziel saw that blond boy that was in charge of the Mules alongside Mya. Which reminded him that he still hasn't seen her anywhere yet. Causing him to approach the older boy to ask him what happened.
The moment he got close to him, he saw that he was wounded. There was a cut on his arm that seemed to be from an axe. He had a piece of cloth wrapped around to stop the bleeding and was probably waiting for someone to tend to his wound.
"Hey." Raziel called the older boy.
"Fuck off!" The older boy yelled. "Ahhh..."
"I suggest you move your head to see exactly who you are speaking with." That was Raziel's response to his disrespect.
The idiot heard what he said and immediately moved his head, only to widen his brown eyes when he saw who he was speaking to. "M-my Prince!" And fear came into his face. "Fo-forgive me, I wa-" He tried to apologize but Raziel simply shut him up.
"Shut up, answer my questions and I'll order someone to check your wound once I get my answers, am I being clear?" The Prince asked the older boy, who nodded in response. "Good, what exactly happened and how did you get injured?" That was his main question.
"W-we were supposed to travel to a spot where a group of men that served Lord Redfort was camping." The camp that was set to keep watch on the cave. "But we found no one when we got there, and Lord Royce wanted to investigate the area and told his son and some of his men to stay put while he and the other half investigated the area." This group that was supposed to keep watch was probably wiped out. "But then, a large group of Mountain Man came out of nowhere and attacked everyone, leading them to get scattered around the area." They were waiting for you all and took the opportunity when you all separated. "Lord Royce's son managed to gather some of the men and order a retreat." That caused Raziel to widen his eyes in response, mainly because he heard the word "some"
Then came the question that he was afraid to ask. "Where is Mya?!" That was the question that he wanted to know the most.
"I don't know." Sadly, he got an answer that he didn't want to hear.
"When did you last see her?!" He asked in deep worry.
"My Prince, it really hurts. Can you please call someone-AAA!" The older boy tried to plead with Raziel to call someone to take a look at his wound. Only for Raziel to actually grab his wound and squeeze hard. "AAAAAHHHHH!"
"WHEN DID YOU LAST SAW MYA STONE!?" Raziel yelled that question to his face while squeezing his wound.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" He screamed in pain as the Prince mercilessly squeezed the cut on his arm. "I SAW HER ENTERING A CAVE!" The guy screamed to the top of his lungs in order for the Prince to hear.
"The cave..." Raziel let go of his wound with a shocked expression on his face.
"WHERE IS MY GRANDFATHER!?" He heard Robyn yelling. "WHY ISN'T HE HERE!?"
Thanks everyone for reading this chapter. Sorry for the delay, many personal problems are keeping me from writing.
As always.
Questions and Answers:
Seria interesante que actualice esta historias más que las demás (me parece la mejor) peo sin tantas vistas futuras, son como spoilers, gastar tiempo escribiéndolas debe de ser un coñazo.
Lo entiendo y me disculpo profundamente, pero tengo muchas historias que pueden no ser tan populares pero que la gente disfruta tanto como esta.
No need for a response just know I've had a good time reading this
I'm glad.
.
...
I may be blind and missed them but I'm fairly certain there were no warnings for sexual and emotional abuse of a child. I want to keep reading but I can't, the accurate detail and romanticizing of the molestation is gut wrenching and I just can't. Your writing doesn't suck, your topic choice does.
Oh, no, no, no.
I'm certainly not trying to romanticize anything. I'm writing that to be as uncomfortable and disturbing as possible. Cersei and Raziel's relationship isn't supposed to be romantic or anything like that, it's a woman molesting her own son in an exercise of pure narcissism. Raziel it's just so used to it that he just acts normal despite the fact that it makes him uncomfortable and frightened from time to time.
Anyway, thanks for the compliment about my writing , sorry for the lack of warning and I suggest you don't read it further because it will only get worse as the story progresses. {But believe me, this is as difficult to write as it is to read it.}
i tho the walla shit with cersei trying to fuck her son was sick enough...now you have your Mc lick a hand full of mule shits?
oh...we have a sick bastard author here !
What the fuck are you talking about? She said her hand smelled like a Mule, not that it had mule shit on it.
You're the one that actually sounds like a sick bastard for imagining that type of thing.
Obrigado pelo capítulo incrível Autor-San!
De nada, amigo.
Ah always great getting a new chapter
But first got to say sorry to see that you got some flack for the A/Ns and previews but I still maintain a view that the previews are very fun glimpses into the future but yeah sorry to see you got flak for them
With Jon's thought process I'm glad that he didn't admonish Raziel for killing that boy the only thing that got to him was the fact Raziel killed him so easily like it was nothing despite his age
Enjoyed the scene with Mya and I'm sure Raziel will have her sitting comfortably up where the lords sit soon haha I also got a laugh from how he divided up the sheep Artys got for him and I'm sure now he's actively looking into it Raziel finding out who Miya's father is shouldn't take long given her appearance and age and when he thinks about how long ago it was that his father was last in the Vale
Now Raziel reading up about the Valyrian blades in Westros was nice liked the little additions you made to where some of the swords are like Orphan maker and liked the little back story you came up with for the dagger oh as for Blackfyre and Dark Sister like Raziel mussing about how he'd change Blackfyre but to be honest I'd like it more if he kept Dark Sister as it is
From Jon's chat with his distant cousin seems like it wasn't really a merchant Waymar spoke to but a smuggler likely and seems like with Petyr's "help" the Royce situation should be resolved soon
Liked the letters Raziel sent out to and as for Cersei being mad about the deal with Raziel having to kill that peasant boy I don't see her being mad with him in the slightest just as Jon thought being mad that Raziel had to kill the peasant in the first place but she'd just approve of him killing the boy who insulted him so
Also good getting Raziel bringing Robyn back under his control… I mean mending their friendship haha
Future small council wise
Probably best to go with Tyrion as hand if it's between him and Tywin, master of ships go Asha I mean either her of Davos would likely stir things but Asha would not really surprisingly be the first Ironborn master of ships and actually the first iron born on the small council come to think of it and id argue she's a better admiral than Davos would be
I do find it kinda odd that there's a chance Alayne wouldn't be the mistress of whispers I figured due to her reputation as the best to hold that post she'd become the most feared of Raziel's lovers and of course if she doesn't hold the post openly beggers the question on who would fill that seat
Oh as for the future daughter of Raziel and Alayne yeah I personally still can't help but see her thinking Raziel is the centre of the universe like Alayne does and being a tad bit of a cuckqueen like she is as for her siblings she views her brothers as being fine really liking her sisters but yeah just being exactly like how Alayne is with her papa Raziel
Alayne of course raising her to encourage this mindset of utter love for Raziel and as for how Raziel thinks about how their daughter feels for him he's not surprised knowing she very much takes after Alayne haha
Speaking of Alayne while she hides herself away sometimes to watch Raziel fuck other woman and of course joins in a lot to is it safe to say when Raziel first takes Sansa and Arya to bed Alayne is going to be right there joining in
Agreed.
It's alright, I always accept constructive criticism.
It's quite obvious that Ned's "The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword" was something that he learned from Jon. It was only the fact that Raziel did it with such a facility that disturbed him.
Something like that...
Since we might never get an explanation in the main series about the fate of some of the blades, I decided to come up with one myself. I always hated the lack of information regarding the dagger (Especially since Valyrian steel is supposed to be rare.), so I just invented a story for it myself. He might get his hands on Dark Sister, but Dany convinces him to not change it.
Maybe...
Cersei would be mad that her perfect little son had to waste his energy and dirty his hands killing a filthy peasant.
Raziel has the ability to charm and manipulate people. (He will develop them better when he stays with Renly for a while and receives lessons on how to charm people from him. His manipulation skills will be developed and improved by Tyrells.)
I told you, he would only consider Tywin if he was desperate, since he knows that Tywin would basically control everything. He would certainly consider Asha, if she accepts or not, is a different story.
He would probably fill it with a random lord who would only serve it in name.
Honestly, their daughter would be kind of psychotic, not the controlled type like Alayne.
Raziel would actually be discouraged as it would cause a lot of problems later.
Nah, she only joins in when the girl doesn't mind (She even brings girls for Raziel to fuck, like Myranda) the rest of the time she just hides and watches (Especially when it's a noble lady.) . Her relationship with her cousins will be kind of odd to be honest. Alayne and Sansa have a somewhat reversed version of their mother's relationship (Sansa kind of looks down on Alayne because of her bastard status and the fact that he doesn't behave like a Lady but is incredibly jealous of how close she and Raziel are, while Alayne kind teases and plays with Sansa like shoving into her face how intimate she and Raziel are and sabotaging their betrothal since Raziel doesn't really want it {Doing things like, bringing Sansa to a brothel and locking her in a place and forcing her to watch Raziel having a threesome Chataya and Alayaya.) (Alayne and Arya on the other hand are super close since Alayne encourages Arya's more tomboyish behavior and helps her prank Sansa from time to time.)
{Also, the new cover image is a portrait that I made of Raziel on Artbreeder, I made several of those {Maxwell, Roger, Alan, even Fox Boy.} and I'll change it on each of the kingdoms he stays on to show him growing up. I also made one for Alayne, so when she's introduced I'll put it on to show her face.}
Asking if you can put some priority for when you update your stories as this is your most popular and in my opinion amazing
I'm glad to hear that.