Children of Fire and Sun: The Rebellion (Updates Resume From July 2024)

Chapter Thirteen: Ryan (Nostras)

"A storm sends signals prior to its arrival."
— Miguel Rendon, a courtier.

~•~

Ryan found himself unable to keep still.

He fidgeted with the lapels on his doublet. Sweat, like dewdrops,  adorned his forehead. The summer heat was yet to hit them in all its glory. Yet he was flushed. He could not quite place what it was, save for a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that something would go wrong today.

You are just too dependent on your brother. He chastised himself. It had to be this and nothing else. It was not just true for him, but for their entire family, but it was about time he took some responsibility alongside Remus. Else how many more burdens will he have to bear? It was not fair. Just because Remus was the crown prince, it did not mean it was his duty to bear the weight of the realm on his shoulders.

It was the day when the council would be held. The week had flown by too soon. One moment Ryan and his mother were wondering how to handle it in Remus's absence, and the next moment the day was already there. Ryan stood in the royal court, deserted save for him and a few servants.

The royal court of Nostras was a vast chamber made of grey sandstone. Shadows played a continuous game of hide and seek, for no amount of braziers ever seemed to be enough to light it up. A dome-shaped roof was one of its most noticeable features. Painted to depict enormous wyrms in flight, it caught the eyes the moment someone would enter the hall.

In the middle of the hall stood the throne of Namiona’s ruler. Made of unpolished obsidian, it was darker than the walls of the court and stood upon an ovular dais. Jagged spires marked the headboard of the throne. The three spires in the middle bore rubies, the colour of House Desher’s banner. Beneath it were a set of sixteen seats divided into eight on either side, each assigned to the heads of seven vassal houses of Namiona and one for the heir.

Ryan was to occupy his brother's seat for this session. Yet he was in no state of mind to sit down. He found it impossible to be still. The second prince roamed around the court, moving back and forth between the seats of the noble lords yet to arrive. His throat was parched, not unlike the seasonal river Oma that ran through the capital during the summer.

"Good day to you, Prince Ryan."

Startled, Ryan almost stumbled upon his own foot. He cursed himself under his breath and turned to face the newcomer. Any remaining sign of mirth vanished from his demeanour as his eyes landed upon the source of the greeting — Lord Gregor Hedj, chief advisor to his father.

"Good day to you as well, Lord Gregor," Ryan mustered a smile. "I see you are here early today."

Gregor Hedj was a man of moderate height with a stout figure and strong forearms. His broad forehead was covered with dark brown hair with streaks of silver, a silent evidence of him being over sixty summers old. His eyes were small and black, like a moonless midnight.

It was well known that the sole reason Ayan Desher still sat on the throne was because of Lord Hedj. That he had tried for years trying to marry off his daughter Cressida Hedj to Remus was also common knowledge.

Ryan, for his part, did not harbour any love for his father's chief advisor. Those eyes sent shivers down his spine.

The newcomer took silent steps till he was standing beside the young prince. "It is an important day, is it not? I find it only fair if we could be here before time, given the condition the realm is in." Gregor’s eyes betrayed the true meaning behind his apparently innocuous words.

Not this again. Not today. Ryan took a deep breath. He understood pretty well where this conversation was headed. The disappearance of Lysa Trellis. That is all that this court had spoken about in the last few weeks. With that, there were the nefarious whispers what really happened to Lysa. The rumours spread by Edmund Eni had spread in Nostras as well.