Chapter 10: Fate is a fickle mistress

Fate is a cruel and sadistic mistress.

Moira immediately lamented her fate the moment she set her sight on her husband to be when she walked into the lord manor.

On the biggest golden throne Moira has ever seen, sat the fattest man she had ever known.

The man he wore a skimpy knee-length black robe and a golden belt tied around his hip as if to emphasize his bloated belly. The man’s eyes were tiny, and his eye lids drooped over, creating an impression that he was closing his eyes until Moira could see from up close. His hair was greasily gray. His face red and bloated just like his wine barrel shaped belly. His skin was sickly white, greased in his own sweat. His large ears were sagged, stretched by the weight of his large golden ear rings. Standing next to the Warden were his women, slaves, all four of them barely wore any clothes, and yet were decorated in golden anklets and bangles, and each had a giant feathered fan in their hands to fan the man of his heat despite everyone else in the room wearing a coat.

That’s whom I’m going to wed? Moira stared at that bloated sorry sight of a man who resembled a monster pig of the Underworld more than a man, trying not to show any sight of weakness. Is that thing is even human? I would rather wed a hairy dwarf than being in the same room as this thing, Moira thought, felt like she throw up just by staring at him.

“Girout, is that my bride who I am seeing right now?” The Warden asked in his rasped and unpleasant voice.

“Yes, sire,” the bald headed Girout kneeled and replied.

“I’m Moira, Moira Farrington, daughter of the late Fergusson Farrington, and the sister of Heiman Farrington the current Marquis of Itos,” Moira held the hem of her long dress into a curtsy whereas her knight leader bowed his head to pay respect to the Warden.

“Girout, I thought lady Rosalia is the most beautiful woman in the Northern Realm who the crown prince of Silver Snow was lucky enough to ask for her hand in marriage,” the Warden nodded his head, turn at the bald headed Girout with his tiny eyes and sighed.

“It is indeed, sire,” Girout confirmed, smiling.

“Then explain to me why her sister is like that? What’s with that skin color? Is she a half-breed dark elf or something? Even a beggar in my city has fairer skin than that,” The Warden pointed his bloated finger at Moira.

“Sire, you can’t talk like that to a lady,” Girout flustered. His smile disappeared. He must have thought that the warden was about to praise the beauty of his bride to be despite how she might look on the outside. He did not expect his lord to openly belittle a noble lady like that.

Moira smiled to the Warden. She just stood there and smiled away her anger, gritting her teeth. In her mind, she was telling the lord of Madukat to find himself a polished mirror and looked at himself. Of couse, she was aware that her figure was undesirable to men, but to be told that by a demon pig, that was the limit.

“And what’s with that? Are the Farrington so poor that they cannot afford a jewel to decorate their woman? Even my slaves look better than that. If she can’t afford something like that, she could at least put up some make up to please me,” The Warden pointed out the utter lack of decoration Moira had with her.

And Moira snapped.

She turned to Iffy, her hand maiden, the person who possessed Moira’s decorated magic scepter according to the knight leader’s order, fearing of mishap like this might happen. He might need to consider becoming a soothsayer when he retired his sword.

Moira did not say anything, just smiled at Iffy with her hand extended, signaling Iffy to give her the scepter. The young girl shook her head vigorously, terrified, tears in her eyes.

Give it to me, Moira silently formed the words with her mouth while showing her hand maiden a threatening smile.

The golden hall suddenly echoed with a loud banging noise. It was Sir Erik, the old knight leader who has followed Moira ever since she was young. He loudly banged his gauntlet against his plate mail to form a knight salute and said, “Lord Bellmore, please take back those words, that kind of language is unbecoming for a man of your stature and my noble lady, lacking as she might be, but she does not have to be put in the same sentence as such unbecoming words,” the old knight leader Sir Erik said in a threateningly low but loud voice, as if he would not back down in the face of the Warden of golden triangle region himself.

It was obvious that the Warden was intimidated by the old knight leader’s voice.

“And you are?” he asked, taken aback. His vocie rattled.

“Lord Bellmore, I’m Sir Erik Griffinclaw, Chief Knight of house Farrington and the protector of my noble lady,” the old knight replied with a booming voice

“I see,” the fat man fretted, he squirmed back on his golden throne, then uncomfortably cleared his throat, “Then, Sir Erik, please escort your lady back to house Farrington. I don’t think I am fit to marry her. Don’t worry, I will return the gifts and pay the remuneration for that, Oh, you don’t have to go back so soon. You are welcome to stay and rest in my city for as long as you need as my guests of honor. You must be wary after such a long trip.”

“This is an outrage,” said the knight leader growled with his gruff voice, “The house…”

“Excellent,” Moira however cut her knight leader off. Her voice was strangely loud and alive, “How wonderful! Lord Bellmore, I’m grateful for your generosity. Your kindness truly has no bound. I will return to my house as soon as my knights and servants regain their strength. And the gift I bring with me, please kindly receive them, think of them as my gratitude for your kindness and hospitality. As soon as I return to my house, I will inform my brother of your generosity and kindness for hosting us so that he could prepare an adequate gift in return,” and she pulled the hem of her long dress into a curtsy again, this time with all the joy in her heart.

“My lady, you can’t just…” the old knight was bewildered, he turned and looked at her, then admonished Moira in a quiet voice.

“Shut up Erik,” and Moira ended the discussion within three words and her kngiht leader could only stare.

“I can see that you are at least a sensible woman, lady Farrington, please be my guest and enjoy your stay here. Girout, provide whatever lady Farrington and her company need and entertain them in my stead,” the warden cackled, his golden throne shook with him.

“Yes, my lord,” Girout bowed, received the order while shaking his head.

Fate is a cruel and sadistic mistress, but she can be surprisingly generous, Moira thought, brimming with happiness.

Sir Erik complained and admonished Moira for what she has done during the day. However, lalala, she could not stop herself from singing, lalalala, Moira blocke her ears which infuriated the old knight even further. He cried of how he failed the previous lord and even the house Farrington then returned to his room.

I'm not gonig to marry that pig, lalalala

That night, Moira dreamt of the Broken Shore of Neirra and her many spiritual sisters whom she loved dearly. Soon, she would return to them. But first, she would see her brother in Itos first. She would enjoy that reunion so much more than she has ever expected. That bastard would pay the price for marrying Moira to that creature that resembled a monster pig more than a man. She would not stop, not even her mother interfere, not until her anger subsided.

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The golden city of Madukat was built by the Bellmore on the Madukat hill, hence the name. It was served as a fortress to protect the kingdom of Zard from any potential invasion from the kingdom of White Winter and the kingdom of Silver Snow. Also, it was a city that was one of the centers of trade in the northern continent.

While Moira could not see the part about the center of trade in the destitute main streets that were full of poor people and beggars, she realized that Madukat really earned its reputation as an impenetrable fortress. There were only two main gates at the outermost wall, the North gate and the South Gate. Behind the outermost wall, there was the Inner wall with four great gates that lead to the civilian and business area. It was built higher than the outermost wall with a sophisticated layout, so that it could serve as another line of defense in the case the first wall was lost despite how unlikely it would be. Finally, the Great wall that separated the Lord residence from the peasants and businessmen area. The Great wall again, was built to be higher than the Inner wall with the intention to serve as the last line of defense against the invasion or against the potential rebellions of the peasants.

When the dawn came, Moira noticed Girout that she wanted to see the city of Madukat from up close and her guards would walk with her down the street. Girout insisted that he would arrange a carriage for her instead but Moira declined, saying that she wanted to discover this city on her own feet.

Sir Erik has become used to her antic, dispatched eight of his men to guard with Moira along his side. He did not dare to leave her alone with the guards, "They have no ball to talk back to you," he said, giving himself a reason to walk with Moira.

What sort of insanity has he imagined Moira to pull? No, Moira was not stupid to suddenly ditch her guards and ran off. That's insane.

“My lady, you should wear more cloth. It’s cold here. Please wait, I will get Iffy to bring you your black swan coat,” Sir Erik advised.

“Are you kidding me Erik? You have seen me swimming under the frozen water of the Broken Shore and you are worried about me catching a cold under this weather? This strange landscape and this strangely warmth snow are the only thing that prevent me from mistaking that it is the summer time in the Broken Shore,” Moira laughed, barely remembered to cover her mouth to present herself as ladylike before skipping down the street of Madukat.

Moira could see the Sandanphon River from within the Great Wall that separate the Lord residence and the peasants’ area. The river Sandanphon looked like a great snake that slithered from the great mountain range the Spine to the Bison Prairie, hugging the contour of Eastern side of Madukat’s outermost wall before heading northwest to the kingdom of White Winter. Moira could see dozens of boats of different size unloading their cargos at the dock outside of Madukat and people loading them on carts, pulling them into the city.

To the eastern side of outermost wall of Madukat was the farming area, with small isolated houses and huts of farmers and farm owners in between, surrounded by fields of red potato or ice corn.

The architecture of Madukat came as a surprise to Moira despite the destitute state of its main street and the residence area of the peasants. There was no street within the city that was not cobbled, it was something of an achievement that only the King City of Silver Snow has ever achieved as far as Moira knew. The layout within the Inner Wall was designed to be complex, which added to the challenge for any invader who made through both walls.

Moira was delighted to discover that the street lead to the business area was clean and pretty, unlike the destitute main street of Madukat. The great market of Madukat sold everything that the Golden Triangle region and neighbor regions had to offer, horses, cows, red potatoes, ice corn, meats, fishes, animal hides, leathers, slaves, and so much more. The people went around the streets of the business area were mostly traders from outside of Madukat. The clothes they wore were colorful and unique to Moira’s eyes. Some of them were obviously very rich or came from powerful families within the neighboring area, wearing expensive clothing with the glitter of silver and gold shone at every neck and arm, which came as a big contrast to the poor people Moira saw on the main street.

As Moira joyously skipped through the business area of Madukat to the central plaza, she came across a witch execution.

An old woman was tied to a stake with pyre arrange beneath her feet by a group of inquisitors and paladins of the White Winter Kingdom. She was condemned for the crime of practicing witchcraft and sacrilege against Sinintee by the inquisitors. After that came public lashing, the chief inquisitor lashed at the woman, peeled her flesh and skin away with his jagged whip while whipping the watching crowd into a frenzy mob that chanted to burn the witch.

As the pyre caught fire, the woman screamed, her horrific scream reminded Moira of the bandits she consented to the fate of walking pyres.

That evening, Moira’s mind was still occupied by the image of that execution. She did not return to the Warden’s residence for dinner and experienced the cuisines of Madukat from a well-known bar opened by a wandered elf within the business area. Of course, Sir Erik sent a guard back to the manor to inform Girout of that decision.

Moira returned to her room late, excited to share her story with Iffy. She promised that she would take Iffy with her in the day after that. Suddenly, the lord residence shook. Moira’s magic scepter which she put on the edge of her bed rolled down on the wooden floor. Moira heard an echoing crash sound from the Western wall, small, she was not sure. Then, the house shook again, this time, that crashing sound was a bit clearer. Moira grabbed her magic scepter, pointed at Iffy, “Stay here,” and ran out of her room. She asked the guards outside but they were just as clueless as Moira was. She looked for her knight leader but he came for her instead with his guards gathered.

“What’s going on?” Moira inquired.

“I am afraid that this city is under sieged my lady,” Sir Erik replied grimly, guessing from the sound.

Moira walked toward the lord's quarter, searching for Girout or anyone who knew what these crashing sound and shaking mean. Then, she spotted Girout wearing his sleeping costume, accompanied by dozen of guards, was running through the garden that separate the guest’s area to the lord quarter.

“Girout, what’s happening?” Moira asked, feeling another vibration beneath her feet. That crashing sound on the Western wall became more apparent when she was outside of her room.

“My lady, please head inside of your room and close the door. Leave this matter to the guards,” Girout replied, his face pale white had no blood.

“What’s happening? I won’t ask again,” Moira asked in a more commanding tone.

“They say that it was a siege, my lady. Bloodbeard and his bandits are back,” Girout replied, startled by another vibration that shook the entire manor.