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Chapter 21 - Parchments
🕑 Added 2025-06-07 15:21:39 +0000 UTCStorm Kingdom
Storm’s End
9 BAC
Ei read the letter she had received from the Citadel and wasn’t impressed at all.
“To Argella Durrandon, Crown Princess of the Storm Kingdom,
We have watched with trepidation as your machines created wonders for your kingdom, and as the sole center of knowledge in the entirety of the Seven Kingdoms, the Citadel seeks to add your valuable machines to our library, with the guarantee no similar machines or buildings will be made available to other kingdoms.
The Conclave merely seeks to ensure the knowledge itself is not lost to the ravages of time rather than any desire to break your control over the machines.
In return, we shall grant you access to Citadel’s knowledge on any matter you may wish, bar higher mysteries for obvious reasons.
We eagerly await your answer.
Archmaester Gavel of the Conclave.”
Maester Larry fidgeted on his feet as Princess Argella frowned before she began to fold the paper in various angles. When it was finished, it looked like a triangle with a grip below, and she launched it to the fireplace at the other end of the room.
It sailed through the air, did a loop, and fell into the fireplace to be used as kindling.
That was one way to make your opinion known.
“I will relay your answer to the Citadel, Princess.”
“That would be wonderful, Maester. Do I have any other correspondence?”
“None, Princess.” Sole child of King Argilac had already handled the rest of her work today with speed and accuracy even her father couldn’t match.
“What of the preparations for my trip to Parchments for the Iron Works and the coal mine?” Lord Lucan had requested the Princess’ assistance because she had the most experience with the Iron Works as its creator.
“We should be ready to leave before midday, Princess.”
“Excellent.”
—
Parchments
Two Days Later
Since Parchments was close by, the journey was short, and as Princess Argella exited her carriage, Lord Lucan Penrose stepped up to escort her inside. His son and the Princess’ uncle, Robert, were away on a task, and as such couldn’t attend.
“Granddaughter, welcome to Parchments.” He bowed his head, not only because Argella was a Princess, but because of her accomplishments.
That, and she was dangerous.
“Thank you, grandfather.” Argella nodded back, eyes wandering around, taking in the sights of Parchments. The old castle was constructed with grey stone and was surrounded by two walls to offer additional protection. It had high battlements, and guards constantly patrolled both walls.
“How have you been since we last saw each other?” Lucan walked next to Argella, guiding her inside while her guards and attendants followed. His granddaughter did not bring many people with her, most likely for faster travel.
“Well enough, working as always, and you?” Word of Argella’s latest invention, a machine that could help a man write much, much faster, had already spread like a fire, which, along with Argilac’s edict on renting every book that entered the Storm Kingdom, made it clear to the keen-eyed that the Storm Princess was going to create a center of knowledge of her own, though not many saw any need for it due to the existence of the Citadel.
He wasn’t even going to mention the miracle cure to Greyscale.
“Lordly matters keep me busy. You will be pleased to know we have already made great strides in the construction of the Iron Works.” Due to the courtesy between the nobles, work wouldn’t be mentioned to a newly arrived guest, but Lucan knew his granddaughter had no patience for false pretenses and preferred to get to the heart of the matter.
“As expected of you.”
“There is something that has been bothering me.” Argella slightly turned to Lucan, waiting for the old lord to continue. “ The lack of storms. It has been many months now, and yet, not a single storm haunted the kingdom.”
Lucan had no doubt it had something to do with Argella, and while he was curious, the storms might be a part of their lifestyle, but they also caused destruction, so he wasn’t going to complain.
In fact, he was grateful about it.
“Is that not fortunate? The storms severely impeded my work in Weeping Town; I am sure you do not wish the same.” There was a teasing edge to her voice, as if she was taking responsibility for the sudden disappearance of the storms and could bring them back just as easily.
“No, I don’t.”
Lord of Parchments used to believe that the stories of Duran and Elenei were nothing more than myths, though Argella’s very existence challenged that.
—
Ei met the wife and children of her uncle Robert, spent time “resting,” and just waited until tomorrow to head to the work site.
Of course, her current predicament was unexpected.
During training with crossbows, one of the guards tripped the other, either as a joke or because of pettiness, expecting the shooter to miss.
The guard in question stumbled, stepped on his own feet, turned his back towards the ground to cushion the fall, and accidentally fired the crossbow towards Lucan Penrose.
Lord of Parchments would be dead before anyone could even understand what happened, but to everyone's shock, Princess Argella absentmindedly snatched the bolt from the air.
The Electro Archon wasn’t really paying attention to her surroundings, too absorbed in her world thinking about the library, and only realized what she did after the whole training yard saw her.
Looking at the crossbow bolt in her hand and at her pale grandfather, who was becoming an ugly red now that he realized death had come really close.
Following the scolding, which included curses, profanities, and an order to hang the guard whose insipid jest almost led to the death of his liege lord, it drew enough attention for Ei to leave discreetly.
—
Lucan had invited his granddaughter to a private dinner in his solar. He didn’t really have an appetite after almost dying, but food wasn’t why he called Argella either.
“What are you?” He had asked if she was a sorcerer a couple of years back, and while Argella said no, she did not say what exactly she was.
“Curious all of a sudden?” Argella swallowed her pudding, leaning back on her chair.
“I almost died today, and I am old, older than many in fact, and I have no doubt the Stranger will come for me soon. I would rather not go without having that question answered.” Lucan had lived longer than most other lords; hell, most of his generation was already dead, but today’s accident made him realize his own mortality.
Argella hummed, her gaze piercing through his soul as she considered whether to tell him or not.
“And if the answer is not something you find to be good?” She asked, pointing the spoon she was using to inhale the desserts laid out before her at him.
“If it is something bad, we’ll try to stop you. Should we fail, we’ll be dead; if not, then you will either be locked up or dead yourself. However, your actions so far tell me you don’t have any ill intentions, regardless of what you are.” That or she was fooling them, and in that case, it might be too late before anyone figured it out.
Argella continued to eat, eyes closed in deep thought.
“I am Raiden Ei, God of Thunder and Eternity, and some other titles that don’t really matter in this world. I died slaying the Heavenly Principles, the ruler of the heavens in my world, and woke up in this body at around two years old.” Words weren’t the only thing she offered, as before his eyes, Argella began to grow, and her dark gown with gold linings began to fade away.
In the place of the young girl stood a fully grown woman dressed in a foreign attire, and she summoned a ball of purple lightning in her hand.
Lucan laid down his almost clean utensils, leaning back on his seat to look at the ceiling, absorbing her words.
He began to laugh so loud, guards barged in worried something might have happened, before slowly closing the door back. His face slowly turned red, and then purple, and it was only the burning of his lungs that stopped Lucan from laughing anymore.
“A god? Of all the things I expected, that was not one.” Lord of Parchments kept chuckling as his perplexity returned to what it normally was.
“I have so many questions.”
“Ask.”
—
Lucan was numb. He felt nothing at all after listening to his granddaughter. Well, she wasn’t that now, was she?
He didn’t know which revelation stunned him more. That she was an actual, living god, or that she was from a different world, or that she was supposed to have died but simply found herself in the body of a mortal.
Did Argella Durrandon even exist? Had Raiden Ei taken over the body of his granddaughter, or did she not exist in the first place?
The god that was sitting before him had no answer to that question beyond she was reasonably sure there was no soul in that body, and for the sake of his sanity, Lucan was going to accept that.
“What do you plan to do now?” Argella, or Ei, being a god changed a lot of things; most importantly, it meant that the kingdom was safe.
“Same as always: see to the prosperity of the kingdom, take back the Riverlands sometime in the future, ensure the Ironborn threat is neutralized permanently, and just about that.” Ei had ideas after that, but no solid plans yet.
Lucan blinked, realizing that the destruction of Ironborn wasn’t just a possibility, but a certainty with her. “Let’s hope I am around to see that happen.”
“You may be old, but you are spry. As long as you are careful, you should live for a couple more years.” Ei may not be the ruler of death, but Lucan Penrose didn’t look like he was going to keel over and die any time soon.
“I’ll live long enough just out of spite to see those Ironborn fucks die.” Lord of Parchments would crawl out of his grave to see Argella send the Ironborn to hell if he had to.
“Language.” She warned without even taking her eyes off the dessert.
“Really?” Lucan blinked, not expecting her to have an issue with the language he used of all the things.
“I may have given leeway to keep my identity a secret, as much as I did anyway, but I don’t appreciate that kind of language in my presence. Now that you know the truth, be sure to compose yourself better.” Had any of her loyal subjects from Teyvat seen a person use that kind of language in her presence, heads would roll.
“Yes, yes, your, wait, what should I call you now?” If a god didn’t want him to swear, Lucan would mind his tongue to avoid her wrath.
“In formal settings, my subjects called me “Your Excellency,” but seeing as I am neither the ruler of this kingdom nor your god, you may continue to call me Argella, or granddaughter. Either is fine.” Argella—he was going to call her that—explained, finally finishing her dessert. She had eaten enough to kill a grown man and did not appear to feel any discomfort.
Perks of being a god, Lucan guessed.
“I don’t know what a god is supposed to act like, but you’re not what I imagined.” All the teachings of the Seven did not prepare him for a dinner with a god who also was partially his granddaughter.
He did not know anymore.
“I care about talent, dedication, hard work, and loyalty, not sermons, rituals, or worship.” In fact, none of the seven—well, six Archons and one Sovereign Dragon—she had met cared about those superficial concepts that only served to boost one's ego.
“I don’t know what brought you to this world, but you are probably the best thing that happened to this kingdom. Thank you.” Lucan, with uncharacteristic humbleness, bowed his head to Argella, grateful for all that she had done and would do in the future.
“You are welcome.”
“I just realized something. Is Carn from your world?” The deity before him blinked before her form began to morph, and in seconds, a man of average looks stood before him.
“There is no Carn, just a guise to make my affairs easier.” She started with the voice of the man before returning back to her child form halfway through.
“You can change shape like that?” Lucan leaned forward, fascinated at seeing magic, or a divine miracle, so close in person.
“Yes.”
“Then why do you take the form of a woman?” Old Lord of Parchments did not mean any offense, but with the way her eyes narrowed and his hair stood on end, Lucan figured he did offend her.
“And what is wrong with being a woman?” Ei asked with a challenging look, and Lucan relized he was in a dangerous territory.
“Nothing, simple curiosity.”
“Me and my twin, Makoto, always were like this, and unlike this world, women in Teyvat are not treated as if they are second-class citizens.” Her pointed glare told Lucan things were going to change drastically with her on the throne.
“You have a twin?” He didn’t know if they could handle two gods.
“Had. She died five hundred years ago.” Argella’s tone told him she did not wish to speak of it any longer.
“My condolences.”
“Thank you.”
They only left the solar at midnight, with Ei answering Lucan’s questions about Teyvat and her future plans.
Comments
LordRhyolith
Nice grandpa
