As soon as Rhaegar entered the place, he smelled a slightly sweet scent, unlike the horrible odor he expected. Looking at the pentagram on the floor, the strange runes, and candles at each point of the pentagram, he looked at Cadmus and said with an amused tone. "You look exactly like the church describes mages, demon worshipers."
Cadmus looked around and had to admit that it was indeed similar, but he refused to be associated with crazy cultists. "Don't compare me to cultists; they are crazy people who think demons should be them."
Rhaegar raised an eyebrow and looked at Cadmus with a surprised look. "You talk as if you truly believe in their existence."
"I am a mage; believing that demons exist is not that strange." Cadmus said as he finished painting the pentagram again. He looked at Rhaegar and spoke in a calm tone. "Now take off your clothes and stand in the center of the pentagram."
The king looked at the mage and frowned; he couldn't help but ask with a somewhat unpleasant expression. "Did you see my mother naked?"
"A beautiful woman indeed." Cadmus said, remembering Rhaella's body, but seeing the king's unpleasant expression, he laughed and said with a provocative tone. "Unfortunately, she didn't want to give you a stepfather."
"Cadmus, has anyone ever told you that you are really annoying?" Suppressing the anger in his chest from hearing someone trying to be his stepfather, especially someone so young, Rhaegar spoke with a slightly annoyed tone.
"Well, Geralt usually wants to kill me with his two swords; he says I know how to annoy people." Cadmus said in a casual tone. It wasn't his fault that people had sensitive feelings and couldn't handle the truth.
"I can imagine why." Rhaegar said with a laugh, standing naked in the middle of the pentagram.
Cadmus rolled his eyes at the king's words and spoke in a calm tone. "As I told your mother, it will hurt."
"I can handle it." Rhaegar said with a confident tone, but his confidence soon crumbled like a sandcastle; his face contorted in pain as he felt something crawling beneath his skin. It was such an uncomfortable and painful feeling that he took a deep breath.
Cadmus looked at Rhaegar's expression and couldn't help but compare his behavior with the queen's; this only confirmed the fact that one should never underestimate an angry woman. They are the cruelest creatures in the universe.
Leaving his thoughts aside, Cadmus focused on his work. Since it was the second time doing the process and the amount of poison was less, the mage felt he was better at it, and the process was faster than Rhaella's. Instead of lasting three hours, it lasted about an hour and a half.
When the process finished, Rhaegar was kneeling in the center of the pentagram, breathing heavily. "I really want to kill all the Septons and Maesters." Rhaegar said with a tone full of anger regarding the pain he felt.
At the same time, he was worried if his sons and daughters could endure such torture for so long.
"How are you feeling?" Cadmus asked with a touch of exhaustion in his voice; he looked at the king with a curious gaze.
"Aside from the pain in some parts of my body, I feel great, stronger than ever." Rhaegar said as he stood up and stretched his body. "I kind of understand why Old Valyria was so obsessed with blood and dragons; those two things are simply incredible. I can't even imagine how many miracles they performed in five thousand years."
"Blood magic acts mainly on the body, so what you are feeling is normal." Cadmus nodded, and seeing that there was nothing wrong with the king, he showed a satisfied expression with his work.
"However, two procedures a day is my limit. If I push for one more, I will fall into a coma." Feeling dizzy and his legs a little weak, Cadmus said in a calm tone. Almost five hours of extreme concentration was too exhausting for him. Although he could take some potions to speed up his recovery, there was no need to rush; no one was dying at the moment.
Rhaegar nodded, seeing Cadmus's slightly pale face; he couldn't help but sigh and looked at Cadmus gratefully. "Thank you for your effort, Cadmus; if it weren't for you, my family would have suffered even more."
"No need to thank me; you've already given me titles, lands, and a castle; I'm just doing my job." Cadmus spoke in a calm tone; he did nothing more than his job and was paid, so he really saw no need for thanks.
"Just accept my thanks, you annoying boy." Rhaegar rolled his eyes and said solemnly, looking at the young mage. He was truly grateful for Cadmus's work; without him, the future would be dark and cold.
'When I marry your sister, I want to see if he will thank me...' Cadmus thought, laughing, imagining Rhaegar calling him Good Brother. He was sure the king's expression would be priceless.
Looking at Cadmus's smile, Rhaegar, for some reason, had a bad feeling, but he thought he was being too paranoid. Picking up his clothes from the floor, he began to dress while still looking at Cadmus with a skeptical and cautious gaze.
"Come on, my mother finally wanted to have dinner with the family again and invited you, although other houses are present." Already dressed, Rhaegar spoke to Cadmus with a smile on his lips. Seeing Rhaella eating with the family made his day more relaxed and happy.
Cadmus was surprised but nodded, thinking that the queen was indeed quick and decisive; she obviously wanted to bring him and Daenerys closer as soon as possible.
Unaware that he was being manipulated by his own mother, Rhaegar left the dungeons with a smile and saw Arthur and Barristan waiting for him. Both Kingsguards visibly relaxed with the king's arrival, especially seeing that he looked healthier than ever.
"I need to take a bath, and then we'll go to the dining hall." Rhaegar said as Cadmus walked side by side while Arthur and Barristan followed behind with their hands on their sword hilts. Even with no danger, they were still on guard for any occasion.
Cadmus also felt he needed a comfortable bath after working so hard.
-
Arriving at the dining hall, Cadmus saw a long table full of food, different dishes, and cutlery spread along the table, which could easily accommodate fifty people.
Cadmus looked at the guests; they were members of House Targaryen, Baratheon, Tully, Stark, and Tyrell. As for House Lannister, Jaime certainly couldn't appear, not when Rhaella was present.
Aerys might be mad, but in the end, he was still Rhaella's brother; Jaime trying to kill her brother and husband/brother was still a fact that could not be ignored. Although Jaime was not present, his twin sister, Cersei, acted as the representative of House Lannister.
Cadmus felt that dinner would be fun, especially seeing Cersei's closed expression and the graceful smiles of Queen Elia and Queen Lyanna.
Rhaegar seemed indifferent to the gaze of so many people, especially the looks coming from House Tully. Accompanied by the two members of the Kingsguard, the king sat in the main seat, but not before gently kissing both queens.
Curiously, Cadmus sat next to Daenerys, where there was an empty seat. He looked at Rhaella, who winked at him, encouraging him. The mage was speechless at the actions of the widowed queen, but he didn't complain; he really wanted to talk to Daenerys.
However, Cadmus did not start talking immediately; he looked toward the only member of House Baratheon present and showed a satisfied look upon seeing that Shireen's face no longer showed the Greyscale.
Although the girl was not considered beautiful, without the Greyscale, the girl could get a marriage with a good man in the future.
Suddenly, feeling a gaze upon him, Cadmus looked toward House Stark and was surprised to see Arya wearing a blue dress, although the girl had an unpleasant expression on her face. However, upon seeing him, she waved animatedly at him, which Cadmus returned with a nod and a smile.
"Do you and the girl from House Stark know each other?" Hearing the sweet and curious voice beside him, Cadmus looked at Daenerys and replied with a smile.
"I met House Stark on the King's Road, and when I saw that she had some talent for Projection Magic, I gave her a book to study."
Daenerys's eyes lit up at Cadmus's words; she looked at him with admiration and asked with a hopeful tone. "Do I have that talent too?"
Looking at the absurd amount of dormant magic within Daenerys, Cadmus wanted to say that she not only had talent, but the girl was truly a genius among geniuses.
"You have more than anyone in this room or even on this continent." Cadmus was sincere and spoke with a laugh, especially after seeing Daenerys's bright eyes.
-------
Note: I wasn't going to write today, but I felt bored and wrote something.
Read the advanced chapters on my Patreon!
/GOTSW
Read my other books:
Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos (500,000 words written).
Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.
Game Of Thrones: The King's Court Wizard