25 Chapter Twenty-Five: Flies always get to the sweet stuff.
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~~~Viewpoint: Azrael Sanchez; second moon 276 AC~~~
"Your Majesty, it is a pleasure to greet you." I was greeted by the castle's castellans and some housekeepers.
One thing I had learned, was that to manage a colossus like this castle was, it took an almost infinite number of people, and to keep it warm in the right places was even worse. Maybe that's why Harrenhal needed thirty-five hearts just to heat the great hall.
For that reason, I distributed control of the castle to a group of fifty-five villager librarians, great people filled with immense knowledge of letters, arts, sciences, botany, and even the arcane arts, though in the latter they did not have the power to perform it.
So it was that I chose the five best, giving them the important job of being the castellans of the castle, with each one running a part of the castle and being assisted by ten others, who held the position of housekeeper.
Nodding, I entered the castle, and at every corridor, crossroads, or hall I passed, I was met with people greeting me and bowing to me.
This was a new practice, for since I had finished building the first part of the city, many former slaves, villagers, and even the unsullied called me by names such as his majesty, Khal, or Priya, which in old Ghiscari meant father.
Gallio, the chief castellan of the castle, would tell me of new things that had happened in the castle and even in the city when he was busy: "Your majesty, Eliseo is waiting for you in the throne room, apparently several envoys have arrived from the free cities.
That made my good looks deteriorate a bit, partly because those damned good masters, archons, and leaders of the free cities who had a more ingrained bond with the ancient Astapor had been sending messenger after messenger to get me to return the slaves I had stolen.
"Well, let's go there; I want to end this matter once and for all," I said to Gallio, who nodded silently and continued to follow me.
I knew this castle like the back of my hand, largely because I was the one who built it, as well as being the only person who knew all the secret and hidden passages within the walls, which were opened by knowing the points of the mechanisms.
Taking a private lift, I went up to the alternate room to the throne room, a spacious and comfortable room where I sat to organize the schedule of meetings and sessions I would have to conduct that day.
As for the lifts, if the wall, a godforsaken place, had one, how could I, who had Redstone mechanisms, not have several? Besides, if it wasn't for them, going up to the upper floors of the fortress would be torture.
When I reached the room, my blood riders were already waiting for me, all wearing their netherite armor, which was accompanied by a one-shouldered black half-cloak that reached to the waist.
That was a style I had adopted to make my guard stand out since that was the job my blood riders did.
"The weak men are still in the way; can we kill them now?" Qrano asked once he saw me; apparently, he had had enough of the wise masters.
Letting out a small laugh, I denied his request, "Not for now; hopefully, this time will be enough to make them understand that their worthless claims will not be accepted."
Seeing that everything was ready, I decided to head for the throne room.
Passing through the large doors of the hall, I was greeted by the sight of a gigantic room.
To build the throne room, I was inspired by a video game, resulting in the throne room having silver, black, and gray colors. The throne room was made up of three parts: the cabinets for the nobles and court to stand and attend, and the large hallway in the middle that was suspended like a bridge.
And finally, to reach the elevated area where the throne was, to reach it from the central corridor you had to go up a large black-tiled staircase, which was then divided in two and reached the area where the throne was.
(image)
As for the throne, it was a large chair made of pure gold with red cushions, which was in front of a large pillar resembling a tree trunk, made of gold and reached up to the ceiling in the form of a dome.
The lathe room looked beautiful and grand, and the colossal windows on either side of the elevated throne area provided enough natural light that there was no need to turn on lights in the daytime.
Sitting on the throne, I ordered the envoys from the free cities to enter.
~~~Point of view: Third person~~~
With that, Eliseo, the man who was in charge of organizing all the meetings that Azrael would hold, pressed a switch on the golden pillar, which caused a mechanism to activate, causing a green light to come on at the doors that connected the throne room to the great antechamber, where the people would wait their turn.
The moment the light came on, the Dothraki at the doors proceeded to open them, while another group of unsullied men in plate armor escorted three men into the lathe room.
The three men were envoys from Meereen, Yunkai, and Volantis. Three cities that had very close ties to ancient Astapor, and who for several weeks now had been sending emissaries to proclaim their claim on the slaves, unsullied, and the city.
The three men reached the point allowed by the unsullied, who took up their positions without hesitation and were ready if the situation got out of hand.
"You are in the presence of His Majesty Azrael Jaesyrian, Khal of the undying horde, King of Xandar and its surrounding lands, yoke breaker, father of the arrivals, and stallion who rides the world!" All those titles had been created by the people under Azrael's command.
The name of the house that Azrael had chosen was one with a meaning close to the power he had: Jaesyrian, which in the common tongue meant House Hand of God, made Azrael fit, as he had the power to create things, heal diseases and even fly like the ancient dragons of old.
The second was attributed to how he led the world's deadliest Dothraki horde, a title he earned when he defeated five Khalasars over two weeks, who believed they had a chance to wipe out the disgraced city, only to result in Azrael gaining more warriors to his ever-growing army while earning himself more bells and a title.
The title of yoke breaker was given to him by the slaves he had freed and treated, like Daenerys' title of chain breaker, only with different words, but meaning the same thing in the end.
And finally, the title of father of the arrivals got when many people started appearing out of nowhere, being villagers spurred on by Azrael, though for those who didn't know, they thought it was Azrael creating them.
"Prostrate before him today are Liberto of Volantis, Zoro Na Mor of Meereen, and Afkhor Le Garin of Yunkai!" Eliseo finished giving the introductions, then fell silent and took his place in a corner.
"Great are free cities, and all the more so when they are bound together in a united and final purpose," Liberto began to say, in a proud and self-centered voice, as he watched Azrael sit on his throne. "And this time will be the last call of Volantis. Give up the unsullied, give up the slaves you stole from the good masters of Astapor, and leave this city and give it to the masters of Volantis, Yunkai, and Meereen as payment for your actions that caused thousands of losses to our glorious cities."
As Liberto finished his long and tedious speech, only the sound of seagulls in the harbor could be heard, along with the sound of plates being moved as Azrael took several fruits from a nearby dish on a table beside him.
"I..." Yunkai's emissary, who was about to begin speaking, swallowed his words as six white wolves the size of horses entered the throne room and passed down the hallway, right next to the three men.
The wolves didn't even glance at the three men, though if one looked closely, their ears were stiff and their posture a little stiff.
It was when the wolves reached the throne that Azrael addressed the three envoys. "I don't care what you want, or who sent you." With that, Azrael rose from his throne and drew his sword, then leaned on the pommel, as his blood riders positioned themselves beside him, four on each side, along with the wolves, who stood erect.
"But let this be clear to them! I will give up nothing; nothing I own belongs to them, and it is time for their masters and leaders to understand that Astapor is gone; in its place now exists Xandar, and it will not bow to obsolete and dying cities."
The emissary from Volantis was perhaps the most indignant, as he was the first to drop his calm façade and lash out, "Don't think that because you stole from the unsullied you are invincible! You have yet to face the wrath of Volantis, which will not relent until you are destroyed."
Azrael only laughed rather loudly, his laughter echoing off the hall: "I possess the undying horde, forty thousand war-loving consecrated warriors, along with the unsullied legion, so return to your city and relay my words; tell them that I command the wind and command the earth itself and that there is a hurricane in me that will bring death and destruction to your cities if they dare to test me!"
Accompanied by his fiery speech, the wolves went howling, as the three men were escorted, dragged out of the throne room, and forcibly removed from the city.
