章 39: Chapter 39
Three days after Artemis's departure from House Horriss to House of Sea Stone ruled by Lord Hofun. Lucian Mithandir arrived in Maldonia through the gates of House Horriss. Lord Aethelind properly welcomed him as if he was the King. As usual, he threw a feast on his name and whores danced naked on the hall. During that time, it was House Horriss who had wealth stacked up to the full. When the realm beggared for money, Lord Akirbus made sure to reach out to House Horriss first before the main bank in overseas. One of the many reasons why King Luca Arteides was inclined to wed Artemis's mother was because he needed money, so the wedding was purely an act of service to the crown.
All the wealth, connections with high lords and power were now bestowed to Lord Aethelind. A man larger than life. He had no respect for the King nor the crown. Lord Aethelind housed Lucian with his host of five thousand men on his lands. He promised Lucian an army of ten thousand men if he would give him land in Raven, one of the major cities in Raven once he wins the war.
Lucian Mithandir assured him. "Forget about land, my lord. You will have more than that. I will grant you a part ownership of the harbor in Raven. The lands above North are in great need of grains, fur, spices and wine. The ships from West take forever to reach these uncharted lands. With the harbor at Raven, it'll only take a day for the goods to reach them. Your wealth will increase ten times more." Lucian being an explorer and sailor at heart, he knew every harbor and its benefits. Aethelind looked at him as if he was the brightest man he's ever seen.
"I want your women too. I hear Prophisian whores have frozen cunts." Lord Aethelind laughed out loud. His men joined him on the laughter, and so did Lucian.
"You'll see it for yourself, my lord."
"You've never fucked a Prophisian woman, have you?"
Lucian hesitated first. Then he slowly bent over and whispered to Lord Aethelind. "I did try once, my manhood got stuck inside her. When I took it out, I could've sworn I saw small platelets of ice on it."
Just like what everyone expected, Lord Aethelind busted out laughing from the joke. One can never be sure if he was indeed happy or was it the wine which was doing all the talking. "To bonds that may never die." He raised a glass of wine and cheered it with Lucian and his men.
"To bonds that may never die." Lucian toasted with Lord Aethelind and they continued to drink and celebrate with no care in the world.
The way they celebrated it was as if they had already won the war against king Castellan. The news of the arrival of Lucian Mithandir's army at House Horriss were all over Maldonia. They reached out to Artemis who had just arrived in House Cooperstone led by Lord Maureen. The tour at house Iron Falcon wasn't fruitful. Artemis received hostility and he was denied the vote to wed Aurora the moment he arrived. Lord Finnian of House Iron Falcon was the most ruthless person Artemis has ever encountered. He was a know it all kind of person, very old probably in his early eighties and a puppet of Lord Aethelind. He worshiped Lord Aethelind's wealth and power more than his own king.
He told Artemis, "A king is just a man with a crown. The ten houses are what gives the king his power. Without us, you are powerless. You are welcome to stay in my house and meet your people, but you will not have my vote to wed a servant with no name nor titles." Lord Finnian finished and left Artemis all alone inside the council chamber.
Artemis stayed only for a day in Iron Falcon and on the morrow, he continued his journey at the hour of Nightingale. When they reached House Cooperstone, Lord Maureen was a very kind man and he hosted a feast on Artemis's name and invited all the Highborn of his land. The news of the king's arrival made the good folks of Cooperstone eager to see Artemis, many of them missed the coronation ceremony and they didn't know how their king looked like. And the main reason for such tour of the houses was for Artemis to reconnect with his people from all corners of the kingdom.
However, his mood was interrupted with the news of his uncle's alliance with Lucian Mithandir even when he made it specifically clear to him that he shouldn't associate with Prophis business. Lord Balon also received the letter that was written to him by Lord Balrus through a washerwoman. The letter explained in details matters regarding his wife's adultery. His mood suddenly changed and he was wroth with Princess Sansa, the only thing he wanted to do was go back home and deal with the matter. But how can he abandon the tour with three months left?
"Something troubling you, my lord?" King Vaith was looking at Lord Balon from a distance. They were both outside in the garden during the evening taking the breeze of Cooperstone. Just last night they had a feast and lots of honeyed wine. It would take more than a week for them to recover fully after such extravaganza.
It didn't require any further explanation as to why Artemis was still asleep during that time of the day. He had too much to drink for a man who barely drunk much. Lord Akirbus and Lord Angun spent their day at the gathering preparing for a stage where Artemis will be delivering his speech to his people in Cooperstone the next day.
"Your Grace?" Lord Balon turned to look at King Vaith. "I thought you joined Lord Akirbus and Angun for the... preparation."
King Vaith smiled while making his small steps towards Lord Balon. "I figured you would be there too my lord, but I guess we are here now, aren't we?"
"Indeed."
"Are you going to tell me what's troubling you?"
Lord Balon sighed since he didn't even know where to start, nor was he planning on telling King Vaith the truth about his marriage. It was none of his business and he didn't want everyone to know his wife was committing one of the most grievous sins at the moment.
But then Lord Balon came to a conclusion that there was no benefit in keeping it a secret. "It's my wife. She's having an affair with a male servant." He said sadly.
King Vaith gasped. "Good Lord! Really?"
"Argh, it's alright. I knew I married a whore."
"You married a whore?" King Vaith was stunned.
"No, I mean she's a princess... but — with a character of a whore." Lord Balon raised his glass and took a sip of the wine. He was half drunk already but he wanted to be more drunk so he can forget that about his wife's infidelity.
"You aren't saddened by your wife's infedility, my Lord Hand. My guess is, it's not the first time, is it?" asked King Vaith.
Indeed, this wasn't the first time Princess Sansa cheated on Lord Balon. At first their marriage was hard because the princess was exiled from her home and in return she lost her family and relatives. But, they found comfort between themselves and their two daughters. However, as years went by, Princess Sansa seemed to seek pleasure elsewhere and it became a habit.
In Nemphis, the princess was known as "Lady of the night!" and that's because her own people couldn't distinguish her with the whores who sold their bodies in pleasure houses. Princess Sansa was well known for her taste in younger men. Even though Lord Balon was just a thirty-two years old young man who was able to give her all the pleasures in the bedroom, yet she still preferred a company of way younger men.
At first, Lord Balon protected her from the gossip, he defended her until one day he couldn't anymore. That's why the letter didn't come to him as a shock. King Vaith advised him to forget his wife and explore the pleasures House Cooperstone has to offer. Hence they went out that night without Artemis's permission. Cooperstone was well known for having the best courtesans Maldonia had to offer. The flesh markets were plenty and the business was booming.
King Vaith asked several men on the streets about where he may find a pleasure house in Cooperstone. The only name every local uttered was Stew Street. "I have only heard the name, but it's ought to be the best. Let's visit this Stew Street and have a blast." King Vaith urged Lord Balon to follow him. Dressed in brown satin trouser and a white billowing shirt, Vaith showed out his wealth and status. His aroma was that of spice perfume from Doha, very unique to the streets of Cooperstone. That's why whenever he passed, women turned their necks to look at him.
Lord Balon hesitated along the way. "I've never been to a pleasure house. I fear my reputation as the Hand of the King will be compromised."
"No one knows you here, Balon. It's like a new world. And in this world, you can be whoever you want to be, except the Hand of the King." King Vaith laughed and busted inside the very first pleasure house they encountered, leaving Lord Balon to think for himself.
After a few seconds, Lord Balon decided to go inside. He pulled his cloak over his head to avoid being recognized, but King Vaith was right — no one knew him there. Everyone was naked inside the pleasure house, that's the purpose of it being named a house for pleasure. Lord Balon's eyes widened with amazement every time he stumbled upon a bare couple making love. He saw men fucking men, women onto each other's breasts and tongues and a lot of things he's never seen nor heard of it before.
However, King Vaith was used to it because he took off his trouser and shirt the moment he got inside the brothel and remained completely naked. He pinned one of the courtesans against the wall and grabbed a handful of the whore's red hair on his right hand and raised his already hard phallus and immersed himself inside the woman. The woman moaned softly and smiled at him. Vaith turned sideways looking at Lord Balon with an evil smile while he went in and out of the woman's cunt.
"Did you get what you are looking for?" he asked. Lord Balon was confused. "I meant a whore; did you get your type?" Vaith raised his voice.
"I-I…"
The courtesan that was in contact with Vaith started to moan loudly and arched her back against Vaith's manhood. Vaith lost it and he paid his attention to stroking the whore to his satisfaction. Lord Balon was confused while looking at Vaith satisfying his needs. A famous courtesan named Malisa saw Balon and she went after him. There were no words which were exchanged between the two, they just made eye contact. Malisa led Lord Balon inside and took off his clothes. "Don't be shy, no one will know. We are all sinners here." She whispered to Lord Balon and bit his right earlobe.
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