Building a Kingdom and Conquering the World - Chapter 203

Chapter 203: The worried Falmer
The grand royal chamber of Luak’s castle was a symbol of opulence, one that mirrored the desire of swallowing the whole North. The tapestries and curtains lining the walls were crafted from the furs of bears and foxes, luxurious materials in the North, expensive enough to buy a whole village. Yet, despite this grandeur, there was a stifling sense of decay, like an old tree ready to fall.

Falmer lay sprawled across a massive bed that took up nearly half the room, surrounded by a dozen women. They were all naked, but some of them had bruises all over their pale skin, while others pretended to be asleep with tight shut eyes, curling their bodies as if trying to disappear. None of them dared to move or speak, even though the beast was asleep.

Cough.

Cough.

Suddenly, a rough cough broke the silence. Falmer jerked upright, his hand clitching his throat. His mouth was dry, his throat burning as if he had swallowed dirt. He struggled to swallow but couldn’t, his throat felt tight and scratchy, making it hard to breathe.

“W-Water!” Falmer tried to shout, but his voice was hoarse and weak. He looked around the room, his eyes wide with desperation. “M-Maids!”

Despite hearing him, none of the women moved. They were too afraid to draw attention to themselves. Falmer’s eyes darted around the room, desperate. His gaze stopped on a jug of water resting on the table next to the bed. With a grunt, he crawled over the women, pushing their bodies aside without a care. One of them flinched as his knee pressed into her ribs, but she stayed quiet, biting her lip to stop herself from crying out.

Falmer grabbed the jug and drank the water in one long gulp, finally easing the painful dryness in his throat. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and glared down at the maid who lay on the bed, pretending to sleep. She was still, but Falmer knew she was awake. He could tell by the way her eyelids trembled and her hands shook slightly.

He considered throwing the empty jug at her but decided against it. He wanted more water. He got up from the bed and stormed out of the room. Two guards stood outside his door, standing upright, afraid to be punished.

“You,” Falmer said, pointing at one of them. “Follow me.”

The other guard stayed quiet as Falmer threw the empty jug at him. “Fill this with water and bring it to me in my study room. Do not make me wait”

The guards exchanged a quick glance but didn’t say anything. One followed the king down the dark hallway while the other hurried to find a maid to refill the jug.

“Damn it,” Falmer grumbled, his voice still hoarse from the coughing fit, but enough for the guard to hear . “I have not had a decent night’s sleep in days. That brat-king of Stahl has been ruining everything. I swear, when I get my hands on him, I will hang his head from the castle walls. And as for that useless Duke… I should have had him executed by now.” – his face twisted in fury.

The guard following behind said nothing, as he had learned to do over the years. He had been assigned to the king’s personal guard long ago and had witnessed Falmer’s cruelty firsthand. The king’s chamber was a place of horror, where no woman was safe, be she noble or commoner. Every night, a new girl was chosen, and every morning, the castle staff whispered about the screams that echoed through the stone halls. Some women left the room bruised and broken. Others simply vanished. The knight didn’t want to vanish or visit the room.

As they walked through the dimly lit corridors of the castle, the ground beneath their feet suddenly trembled, a faint quiver that grew stronger with each passing second.

“What the hell is that?” Falmer stopped, his eyes warily darting around, afraid of the ceiling suddenly falling onto him.

“I don’t know, my king,” the guard replied, his hand instinctively moving to the hilt of his sword, ready to protect himself and the king. The tremors continued, growing more intense. Dust began to fall from the ceiling.

“Well, do not just stand there like an idiot!” Falmer roared, his voice filled with fury. He struck the guard across the face with the back of his hand, hard enough to send the man stumbling. “Find out what’s going on!”

The guard swallowed his pride, his face stinging from the blow. “Yes, my king,” he said stiffly, bowing before rushing down the hallway, his boots echoing off the stone floor.

Falmer’s face twisted in anger, watching the guard’s figure disappear into the darkness – “Useless,” he muttered. “Every single one of them is useless.”

He continued walking toward his private study room, trying to shake off the uneasy feeling gnawing at him. But the quakes beneath his feet would not stop. The walls groaned as the quivering intensified, and a small part of him began to feel something he hadn’t felt in years, fear.

“It’s probably nothing,” he muttered to himself. “Just a small quake. Nothing to worry about.”

Falmer entered his study room, and for the first time in ages, he locked the doors behind him. He even went as far as to slide a thick wooden bar across the door. He had always been reckless and did not usually trust his instincts, but tonight something was gnawing at him. He could feel that something dangerous was nearing him. This feeling drove him to take this measures.

Though no cries or alarms had echoed through the palace, the silence itself felt like a warning. It was too quiet. The kind of quiet that settled over a battlefield right before the bloodshed began. And, Falmer was right, something was indeed wrong within the capital.

Outside the palace, the real threat was already moving.

Henry and his cavalry advanced through the capital’s streets, their horses’ hooves muffled by the thick layer of snow covering the ground. Inside the houses, the people who heard or saw it, remained still, afraid to even make a sound.