Chapter 41: 'Sick'

Arthur knows what is going on, he is losing lifespan the more he uses magic. This world's magic works in a weird manner, especially the higher level of spells. He has overused his magic repeatedly during the rebellion, just so he can give himself a strategic advantage. But that has cost him now.

At this rate, he can see that his body will give up before canon time even comes around. 

'This sucks.' Ponders Arthur, he had built quite the reputation with this body of his so he planned to use it. But that is also where a lot of his problems come, none of his children are even relatively famous. They have been in no battle and no tourneys.

'I will need to keep this body of mine up to shape and stop using magic all together for some time. Hopefully, this way I can at least leave a Legendary legacy for when I start new, I will have all of the resources.'

He wasn't willing to change bodies yet, but he will do so in the future. Preferably after the ice zombies are dead.

Arthur then gets up, looks around his office, and then picks up one of the swords that he had on him. 

Fwish! Fwish!...

He swings the sword a couple of times, his form being perfect. Though he might be no Barristan Selmy, he is an accomplished sword user in his own right. But not even ten seconds later he drops the sword on the ground.

Clang!

Sweat drips down Arthur's face and he can feel his muscles painfully rip themselves apart. 

*cough* He kneels down and spits out a mouthful of blood. 

'Damn… it's even worse than I thought.' Contemplates Arthur. 'It seems like my fighting days are over now.'

Though he is saddened by the condition of his body, he doesn't dwell on it too long. There is no use crying over spilled milk.

Still, the impairment of his body did sadden him a little. But at the same time, he is a little annoyed, as he will have to keep up appearances.

...

Davos was unsure why he was called by Lord Arthur as he stepped into his office. But as he did so, he immediately noticed something that stuck out.

Arthur, who should be in the prime of his life, has sunken cheeks, black patches around his eyes that seem to have sunken in his skull. His skin was pale and his breathing heavy.

Davos could clearly see that his lord… no, his friend wasn't well. His sickness had finally caught up to him. 

'The gods truly aren't fair.' Thinks Davos as he looks at the man who used to have such ambition in his eyes as if they were on fire. But now, the eyes were hollow, as if a mist was over them. 

He can see Arthur squint his eyes as he looks at him.

"Ah, Davos, welcome." Greets Arthur, having a smile on his thin face that almost seemed like a grimace.

'His vision seems to be getting worse too.' Thinks Davos with a heavy heart. 'I can tell by the way that he squinted as he looked at me.'

But to him, that isn't important at all, as he greets Arthur all the same. "M'lord, it seems like… you don't seem good."

"Hahahaha!..." Arthur laughs as he hears Davos say that, surprising the man. "Heh, no one else except you could say it to my face. I know how I look, I am not blind. I am dying."

"So… how long do you have?" Asks Davos with a heavy sigh. He can guess why Arthur called him. 

"Not long…" Says Arthur, the smile on his face diminishing slightly as he says that. "My healer says that I will be dead within the year. But I will try to push that as much as I can, after all, I will have healers and Maisters looking after me all the time. Though I won't be able to fight in battles any longer."

Davos looks down at this. Trying to hide the sad look on his face from Arthur. He couldn't bring himself to say anything, being too afraid of saying something that he would regret.

"I want you to lead my armies in any future battle." Says Arthur suddenly.

"M'lord, I don't think the other lords would like someone like me leading them." Says Davos worriedly, he has seen how the people act around him. They don't want someone like him who used to be an illiterate gutter trash leading them.

Arthur has a nonchalant look on his face as he hears that. "Who cares what they think, if they have a problem with it, then they could try and talk with me about it."

"I don't think they would walk out of the meeting m'lord." Says Davos jokingly, implying that Arthur would kill them if they dared to defy his orders… and he knows that every joke does have some truth to it. 

"Anyway… Davos…" Says Arthur seriously, the smile on his face now nowhere to be seen. "Take care of my children when I die okay? Especially Oliver, I know that he might seem just like a muscle head and thinks that training his body will help him become a Lord. But I know that he is smarter than he loker other people to see."

'Oliver, smart?' Ponders Davos. Having met Oliver countless times already, the silver-haired kid having the same appearance as his father, except for the hair. But in the end, he still trusts Arthur to make the right decision on who his successor will be.

...

...

...

So like this, five years pass, many things change. Well, the realm kept mostly quiet, but Arthur did not. Almost as if by a miracle, he was able to outlive his doctor's predictions, it even seemed like the Lord of Carclaw Point was getting healthier. Sadly, he was still sick, only getting worse. 

But for his lands, it was a whole different story. People were getting richer and richer, of course as they did so, their quality of living was raised. Arthur of course kept things in balance, he doesn't want the citizens to get too rich or get any strange ideas.

Also, the money was flowing around and he was getting almost everyone's money. As Arthur was the leader (behind the scenes) of a theater group.

Many people had moved to Carclaw Point, from King's Landing of course most of the refugees came. 

So he just used them as cheaper labor. He used every resource that he had available to him, to finally make his lands something to revere at.

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