Chapter 69

69 Chapter 6Lord Petrus Octavianus of House Octavianus stuttered the moment he received Princess Aeryn’s letters. He shared it with his mother, Lady Allysa Octavianus and his four sisters who were all shocked but at the same time happy for their brothers. A year had passed ever since the day he visited the capital, Blackmount and met the princess of Maldonia.

Their rather acquintance moment was cut short by Artemis and since then, neither did Petrus seek the princess out nor did the princess look for him during the ball. Petrus was ordered to leave the palace at once by Sir Lancet, the deceased friend of Artemis and he obeyed at once.

Now he was betrothed to a Lady of a nearby house, poor just like him and without any power but the girl was really fond of Petrus. Lord Petrus Octavianus was still by all accounts good looking, tall, his skin white but a little bit toned in such a way he was close to brown, slightly bearded and his thick black hairs were short and soft.

As usual, Petrus was into satins and silk, anything to make himself look rich and presentable after all he was a lord of Octavianus and his tenants were ought to pay rent to him monthly. He owned tens of thousands of acres, all of Octavianus was his to command and exploit. The land in Octavianus was fertile enough to provide the good people with enough food, and it rained all the time. Some even call it Storm Town, because of the heavy rainfall throughout the year.

Storm Town was no more than a fishing village when the first Lord Octavianus took charge seventy years ago, but since then there has been great improvements and the population grew unlike the ancient times. Those fisher folks turned into merchants and traders, the roads were fashionably built to resemble those of great cities, there were square markets, inns, ports, vineyards, pleasure houses, carpentry shops and various centers of trade.

It’s safe to say Princess Aeryn did her research on Storm Town before she decided she was ready to move there. Although most of the places were just windswept moors, grassy plains and dismal swamps, the capital of the town was indeed a growing city.

Although his lordship was no match for the princess of Maldonia in terms of wealth, nor was he even worth of her hand but he did so well for himself compared to Lord Balon who was the lord of peasants and sheep. Storm Town is s a growing city, and Petrus is a good man uncle, he will make me happy – Aeryn admitted to the letters he shared with her uncle Prince Arcadia of Marinus, before she set out to be wed.

The royal wheelhouse alongside other two carriages arrived at Lord Petrus’s castle during the golden hour of a cool but not rainy Saturday. One carriage carried the three servants of the princess, the other one was filled with gifts Princess Aeryn brought to her soon to be husband Lord Petrus Octavianus.

Aeryn carried the finest linens, satins and silks from the most experienced tailors of Blackmount and Misenda who was so experienced with the choosing of fabrics. She also packed fruits such as berries and grapes which she knew wouldn’t rot in week time of her travelling, jewelries made of gold ranging from anklets, necklaces, bracelets and earrings. The princess knew Petrus had sisters and with that she attempted to woo them with the gold.

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To the princess gold was the last thing in her mind, she had her own mine with her slaves which brought in a significant weight of gold ever since the day she was born. She didn’t have need for gold nor did it attract her, but she knew better that gold is what kept things moving and she did bring it with her, a good amount of gold was stashed in her private belongings.

The castle of Lord Petrus Octavianus was one of the beautiful holdings surrounding Storm Town. It was huge, had ten bedroom chambers, one drawing room, two huge halls, three kitchens, one ball room and two dining halls. The larger room was of course the room of Lord Petrus and that of his mother Lady Allysa Octavianus. The girls had medium but beautifully decorated chambers, while the outside quarters belonged to the servants.

While in Blackmount there were many servant quarters, and some other quarters to house guests who stayed overnight in the palace. In Petrus Octavianus’s castle, the quarters were small because they didn’t have many servants – Lord Balrus delivered a report of the castle to house just ten servants with one hundred armed men surrounding the castle.

The moment Princess Aeryn stepped outside of the royal wheelhouse, she was welcomed with her soon to be husband Petrus Octavianus dressed in a red and black robe, perfectly tailored with shiny pearls a symbol of wealth and royalty. This robe was once gifted to him by the prince of Doha, and it has been his favorite ever since. He applied perfume to make him more presentable, shaved his beards and he was a little bit nervous.

The right side of Petrus, stood his mother Lady Allysa Octavianus with her four daughters all dressed up to impress after all it was the princess of Maldonia visiting. A feast awaited them inside, it was after all going to be a marvelous evening by all accounts.

The five knights ahorse carried the King’s sigil, they wore red armors – the King’s color and they rode royal stallions. When they were unhorsed, one of them removed his face armor and proceeded forward while standing close to the princess just beside the royal wheelhouse.

He cleared his throat “My lord, my ladies... you are in the presence of Princess Aeryn Arteides of House Arteides, Princess of Blackmount and the heir apparent to Sweet Waters throne of Maldonia” he finished and took a step back. These five knights were hand picked by Artemis to act as Princess guards throughout Aeryn’s life in Storm Town, only death would release them of their vows.

Lady Allysa was charmed “Oh, princess... welcome to Storm Town. I hope the journey wasn’t so rough on you” she said and kissed Aeryn’s cheeks.

“Not at all... I...” Aeryn found herself overshadowed with shyness, she placed her eyes down and when she had the courage to rose them up, she said “I bought you gifts, all of you”

The four princess were delighted “Thank you princess” they said in unison giggling like toddlers, but only one of them was ten years old and her name was Tayla. The rest three were teenagers, there was Maggie who was twenty, Daella eighteen and Ursula fifteen. Their brother Petrus was twenty four years old, the same age as Artemis.

Petrus intervened “We are honored princess” he said calmly with his hands placed backwards. “You must be weary after such a long journey”

Suddenly Tayla intervened “Are you really a princess? Do you live in a huge palace?” and they all boasted laughing at her childish questions. Petrus carried his younger sister and they all walked inside the castle, Misenda followed while the servants took care of the luggage princess brought to Storm Town.

Princess Aeryn was placed inside her own chamber which had been in the making for a week, perfectly decorated fit for a prince while waiting to be married so she can move into Petrus’s chambers and finally be one soul and one body.

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The arrival of the Princess of Blackmount and the apparent heir to Sweet Waters Throne of Maldonia shook Storm Town’s folks and the gossip spread like fire which was fanned by strong winds and fed by dry grass plains. By Sunday morning, everyone knew of her presence in Petrus Octavianus’s castle and some of the folks gathered on the outside of the castle just to get a glimpse of her.

“They say she shits gold” they gossiped. Some folks even said “She never touches the ground, I travelled to the capital of Blackmount once and she refused to stand on bare land” even more unpleasant rumors kept spreading. However, these same people who spread these rumors were the same ones who stood for hours waiting to catch a glimpse of the princess.

Petrus and Aeryn spent a significant amount of time in the secret gardens of the castle. The servants said they talked for hours, the princess gained her lost smile and she was very happy around Petrus. Apart from being good looking, sharp and a decorated knight also Petrus was a good and funny one too. For hours they conversed and talked about the weather, food and horses.

The ladies of the house also took liking to the princess especially since she showered them with fabrics and gold. The whole town of Storm Town were envy of their new dresses and jewelries, and they couldn’t keep it to themselves as they publicly spoke of the golden wedding about to take place. And with that every folk in Storm Town prepared for the wedding between their lord and the princess of Blackmount, heir apparent to Sweet Waters throne of Maldonia.