LYANNA

  WINTER WAS COMING TO AN END, AND LYANNA could see as much on the ride to Belois Harbour. Two hundred men rode with them, and a few free lances had joined their column with them; they swore to Aeryan that they would follow him to Vallaros and follow him to death.

  She had already warned him not to, “They’ll kill you, my dear. The first moment that someone gives them a bag of gold heavy enough,” she told him the night before, yet he seldom listened.

  He named them as Knights of the Volamir, and paid them each ten Golden Crowns. She did have to wonder how in the hell a forty year old man was still as green as a ten year old. Even then, Cassius was certainly not so green at the age of ten, and he certainly learnt from Aeryan. Or was it Lord Varserys?

  Lord Varserys is an…interesting man. The only decent man in the entire senate. The only one who isn’t a boy loving little pervert who would rather fuck on a sex island than deligate. Varserys cares, at the least. She did look forward to having a decent discussion or two with him once she takes over as Pro- Consuless.

  They crested the final hill they had to summit, and they could see the Aegon. Its great masts held its sail, which was emblazen with the Empire’s sigil-A crowned golden phoenix surrounded by a golden wreath, on a crimson field.

  She took in the sight of the beautiful port city, the high stone walls, the clear activity inside the great walls. She counted ten Great-Ships anchored at harbour. Most bore the merchant banner, intercrossed with the Imperial banner.

  They began their descent and as they got closer and closer to the shore, the snow was beginning to lessen. A few here and there, a few piles after those, then small puddles with piles over them, and then just puddles where snow had once laid. Was it a good omen or a bad?

  The harbour welcomed them with fireworks and cheers. Men, women, and children all gathered in the streets to see their Emperor and Empress. I could only wish for something like this in Vallaros.

  They rode through the main parts of the city, then turned east towards the main harbour.

  The Aegon loomed over them as they approached, they could see the great black iron anchor sticking out of its side, and it was tied to the docks with forty or so mooring lines. It put a sense of awe in her, the massive size of it, and how its bow loomed over them as they rode through the sides of the dock.

  Twenty cannons on each deck, and three lower decks and the boat deck. The prow was carved of yronwood, and it was carved into the shape of a Walass head, its great open jaws roaring ahead into the open seas it would sail on.

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  Lord Allisser greeted them, dressed in a nice suit that was made of great silk from the west, that was coloured a variety of red, green, purple, and white.

  “Your Majesties,” Lord Allisser said, taking a bow, removing his dapper hat, which had a feather in it. “I will take the grand honor of escorting you on board the great ship Aegon. And I will also give you a tour of it as well.” He walked up to the steps, “Follow me, Your Majesties.”

  Aeryan climbed the steps first, the wood creaked beneath his footsteps. Lyanna followed close behind, quickening her pace a bit because she was frightened that the steps would snap under their feet.

  Onboard the Aegon, she could feel the slight rocking of the boat, she remembered the ship. This was the same exact ship that she took to travel from Vallaros to Velmyria-for her and Aeryan’s wedding. The luxuries are not great, but this is the safest and most unsinkable ship on the waves, Your Highness, she was told the day that she boarded. She did remember the captain and officers very well.

  And there he appeared, the captain she remembered from all those long years ago, she blanked on the name though.

  The captain and Aeryan greeted each other as if they had been friends their whole lives. The two embraced each other in what seemed like a tight hug, and when they pulled away from each other, she saw his wound.

  His right leg was basically torn to shreds, cuts and bruises marked it like a child’s drawing, and he had his trouser leg rolled up. His left leg though was in much-much-worse condition, in fact, it was completely gone. A white false-foot remained. It looked like marble.

  “Your Majesty, how the hell have you been?” the captain asked Aeryan, placing his hand on Aeryan’s shoulder. When he smiled, Lyanna could see the shine of a cold tooth, or teeth. When she looked, she was slightly disgusted to find all four of his most front teeth were replaced with fake gold ones.

  What war has this man seen? she thought to herself.

  “I’ve been funding your meanderings you drunken fool,” Aeryan responded, laughing that low laugh that Lyanna liked. She smiled with them. “I do presume that you have already met my wife, Princess Lyanna of Vallaros.”

  She smiled courteously, and she kept her hands in front of her, clasped together, and her eyes were drawn to the ground. Princess of Vallaros? She hadn’t been called a princess, nonetheless Princess of Vallaros, ever since she birthed Cassius.

  It's insulting to be known as the princess of a backwater such as Vallaros. Vallaros was poor, under-equipped and corrupt. She gave up her name as Princess the day she and Aeryan consummated their marriage, she was Empress.

  “Your Majesty,” the captain knelt, and Lyanna held out her hand with her ringed finger extended slightly more, and the captain kissed it. He stood back up, and did a slight bow, “Would you like to join on the tour of the ship, Your Majesty?” he asked her.

  Lyanna smiled, and said, “No, captain. I would rather not.” She tried to be courteous, and made sure to keep a smile on her face. “I would rather begin making way to the capital. Could I please have a moment alone with His Majesty?”

  The captain smiled and backed off.