A Song of Silence

Chapter 77: Counsel in the Dark

Thank You to @chinwendu211 for your support of A Song of Silence! Your support means the world to me.

Thank y'all for 14k reads! I couldn't continue to write without all the support!

We stayed at the Cave of Wonders for days fucking, talking, and doing god knows what else. The mountain was peaceful and every night Azazel and I would go to watch the sun sink in the horizon and we would rise every morning to see it emerge every morning. On the last day we stayed, Azazel and I soaked in the morning suns rays and I said to him, "Now I know why your ancestors truly claimed this mountain. The view is stunning."

Azazel only smiles back at me and says, "My father taught me that it bright him perspective. We may rule over the land as far as the eye can see, but we must rule it well or one day there might not be another sunrise that greets us."

"He sounds like he was superstitious," I comment, Turing back to the rising sun in front of me. In truth, I know superstitious was the last thing the former high king was.

Azazel shakes his head and replies, "He wasn't. He was practical and clearheaded, but he never knew when enough was enough. He always had to do more. Prove his worth to his people."

I scoot closer to Azazel and nudge his shoulder, "That sounds like somebody else that I know."

He hangs his head in embarrassment, "My worth to the people doesn't need to be proven. My youth gave the people all the impression they needed and after my fathers death, I became cruel and ruled with an iron fist. Even if I tired to change how I rule now, the people would most likely ridicule and scorn me for my change of heart."

"And yet you secretly tour the cities and towns around the Capital and care for them. They adore you for all you do for them. If that generosity was extended to villages outside the capital lands, I've no doubt you wouldn't need to prove yourself to your people. You already have." I reply.

"It's not so simple, Aerilynn, though I wish it were. Corruption pervades every corner of the continent and I cannot remove it all. I can replace one lord with another and the result would be the same. They would be replaced or killed by those under them."

"Then why don't you start from the bottom. Lower than you expected. Start with one province and work from the bottom up for them. They will keep the corrupt within and below in check and then you can use them to move to other provinces."

"You speak as if it were simple."

"It is that simple. Start small, then grow. You won't succeed any other way."

Azazel smiles and wraps his arm around my shoulders, "How is it I found such a smart female to be among my court."

I jab my elbow into his side, "More like I found you and told you to go fuck yourself. Your mother did the rest."

He chuckles, "That she did. I was totally against you joining the court at first, but my mother said to me 'That there is a woman who won't mince words. She'll take care of you if you don't act like an idiot and ostracize her.' True to my mothers words, you don't hesitate to tell me when I overreach or am being an ass. It's refreshing to say the least."

I bump his shoulder with my own, "Glad to please, Your Highness." He only chuckles again and we settle to watch the sun rise into the sky and illuminate the sprawling world below. Once it had gotten sufficiently hot on the mountain and I couldn't stand it a moment longer, Azazel and I packed up camp and went to the clearing that we had left our horses. We arrived at the clearing to see Millie and Azazel's stallion jumping like ponies and playing with each other. It was a riveting sight to be sure for Millie hadn't played with another horse in years. We quickly saddled up the horses and headed on our way. I winced as we rode because my privates were still sore from Azazel and I's endless fucking. From the wink Azazel gave me, he knew what the cause of my winces were. In response I only gave him the bird over my shoulder and spurred Millie to ride faster and leave Azazel and his stallion in the dust.

They caught up to us when we stopped for the night. I had already put Millie up in the nearby stables and she was probably sleeping off her exhaustion while I nursed a mug of beer in the corner of a crowded bar. Azazel spotted me immediately as he had entered the bar, how he had seen me with all those bodies in the way I hadn't a clue. The hood of his cloak hid his features as slid into the booth next to me and motioned for a mug of beer from a nearby barmaid. He didn't speak until she had left, but when he did, he spoke with amusement in his tone. "Still sore?"

I glare at him from under my cloak, "The saddle rubs me the wrong way sometimes, Your Highness. It's nothing a cold mug of beer won't fix, hence the reason we are here."

He only smirks and sips at his beer, "Yes, I am sure that is the reason you are so sore." I shake my head at him and continue my perusal of the people in the room around us. People we happy to gossip about the royal family on a good day, drunks especially when they had drank too much. With any luck we would hear about he truth of the public's true opinion of the royal family and politics. They were really he most popular topics after all.

After several hours and several mugs of ale, nothing of use was to be heard from this crowd. They were more interested in sex and the years crop than the way they were being ruled. Typical. Sighing, I slammed my mug on the table and motioned the barmaid away that went to get us more mugs. We wouldn't be hearing anything else of interest from this crowd tonight, so it was a waste of perfectly good sleep to stay in the wretched tavern any longer. Azazel followed my lead as we walked out of the tavern and towards the inn I had rented a room in earlier that day. "You can sleep in my room tonight if you'd like. But no funny business.

I attempt to look serious and threatening, but Azazel only smiles and says, "The ride to the town rubbed you raw, did it."

My only reply is, "I mean it. You may be virile and unencumbered by a vagina, but I am fucking sore. I'll break your duck if you try anything tonight and it will take weeks for a healer to heal your appendage from such damage." Azazel salutes me as we enter the inn and I giggle unintentionally at his antics. Foolish man. Grabbing the room key from my pocket, I lead him upstairs and open it he door to the sparse room I had rented. It looked somewhat clean and we would only be staying here for a night, so the smallness of the room would have to do for now. I throw my luggage onto the floor and slump onto the somewhat clean mattress. Azazel nudges me to get up and change into my nightclothes, but I shrug him off and snuggle back into the softness of the pillow in front of me. It's strange how much I missed the simple comforts of a comfortable bed when spending time with Azazel in the mountains. Or maybe it was because I had spent every night on a soft feather mattress for the past few months. Either way, racing Millie for several hours for the sake of petty revenge had tired me out.

Azazel tugged my limp and stubborn body upright and tugged my shirt off, then my riding boots and pants. I stood before him in only my underwear with not a care in the world because I was too exhausted to care. Azazel only smiles at me before slipping one of his worn shirts over my head and tucking me into the warm bed. Unknowing, I apparently sniffed the t-shirt and told Azazel, "Mmmmm, smells nice." Before I passed out from exhaustion. Oh the humiliation.