The lioness of Novigrad (Patreon)

Mara Martell, Central lobby of the White Palace

The nobility of Westeros knew that they were completely superior to the commoners, they were accustomed to the best castles, the best food and the best wines, it was their right as nobles to enjoy such privileges

That misperception changed when they arrived at the white palace

Novigrad, the capital of the Arcane empire, forged from the remains of five dying nations, Hadrian the Great unified them all under one banner, five nations became one

And the golden age came

The nobility of Westeros had their eyes fixed on the mural inside the white palace, with Hadrian in the center mounted on Aldar, fiercely facing a rival army, led by a bald king who ran in terror, it had a legend that said

"In honor of the battle of Tetrogor, where Emperor Hadrian the Great led the imperial legion, he broke the red army and thwarted the madness of Radovid the Coward"

Baelon Targaryen spoke

“The painting... It moves, it's as if it were alive” His voice was barely a whisper, the heir to the Iron Throne could not take his eyes off the incredible mural

The armies were walking towards each other, the enemy king walking away from the scene while Hadrian mounted on Aldar lit up the entire battlefield

All the nobles of Westeros were extolled when they heard Hadrian's voice behind them

“are you done? We must get to the great hall." The annoyance in Hadrian's voice told everyone that he was irritated, so most of the nobles were silent, wishing not to disturb him

All except Daemon, of course

The young prince spoke

"When did this happen?" pointing to the mural, the rest of the nobles were also curious, but wisely kept silent

Hadrian looked at the mural for a few seconds and replied

"I conquered Redania ten years ago, the whole empire was born in Novigrad, from here I began the expansion, adding neighboring kingdoms, from Poviss to Verden, one by one, the tiny kings prostrated themselves at my feet" Daemon looked at Hadrian with adoration and whisper

"You're a conqueror, like Aegon." Hadrian simply raised an eyebrow at the tone used by Daemon, shrugged his shoulders, and replied

“I am, when your aunt and I arrived on these shores, things were terrible, discrimination, hunger and hatred were abundant, when my eyes saw a young witch being condemned to die for helping a little girl with an illness, I knew I had to intervene, I conquered the city in one afternoon, and with the help of the wizards here, consolidate my power over it”

Mara looked at Hadrian, hunger in her brown eyes and spoke

"Will Albion follow the same path as Novigrad my love?" At these words, all the nobles of Westeros tensed, fully understanding that, if Hadrian wished, each and every one of them would be his vassals in a short time

And there was nothing they could do to prevent it

Hadrian simply shrugged his shoulders and replied

"No, Albion is my retirement home, the empire is governed by the dragon code, a magical pact that I build myself, it will limit the political power of the regents and the council and will make everything easier for my eldest daughter and heiress, Princess Calanthe."

Such words stunned everyone present, including Mara, who had no knowledge that Hadrian had an older child than James, however, the regent of Dorne was happy, Hadrian had designated his daughter as heiress of this magnificent city, that was a good sign, Hadrian would not discriminate between a son and a daughter, Mara thought happily 

Before they could answer, Hadrian spoke again

"Come on, my wife and daughter are waiting and I am quite anxious to see them, as soon as the introductions are made, I will assign each family a guide to take them on a glider to the city, I imagine that my wife will monopolize all my time until tomorrow" Hadrian's smile told everyone the kind of activities he would be busy with

Mara would be telling lies if she said she wasn't jealous, but Dorne was her priority

All visitors began to walk through the huge corridors of the palace, ceilings up to twenty meters long, with colossal crystal chandeliers that in Westeros would cost more than the entire fortune of entire noble houses, the corridors were patrolled by giant metal statues of knights-errant, at least four meters high, carrying large swords of an unknown metal

Seeing the scared faces, Hadrian simply sighed and spoke

"They are sentinels, guards created to protect the castle and the city, they will not attack you, unless you do something really stupid"

No one responded to those words, too overwhelmed by what their eyes were witnessing

After a long walk, the visitors arrived at some huge gates, guarded by two sentinels, but these were different, their armor was black with golden details, and they carried spears instead of swords, the image of a golden sun was proudly displayed on the breastplates of the powerful beings

Seeing Hadrian, the Sentinels beat their chests and bowed their heads, as a sign of respect, and to the Westerosi's surprise they spoke

"Emperor Hadrian, Empress Cirilla and Princess Calanthe are waiting for you," the beings replied with powerful distorted voices

Hadrian simply nodded, and using his magic, opened the doors of the great hall

And the throne room of Novigrad was in full view of the illustrious visitors, who were utterly speechless before the magnificence of what their eyes saw

A huge round hall, there was no ceiling at all, the sky was completely visible, some kind of dome protected the place from the Wheater, and spectral dragons were visible flying all over the room, their purpose unknown to visitors, windows at least thirty feet high and all with the design of the dragon of the Potter house, a huge crystal chandelier provided a faint light over the entire circle,  the walls were adorned with images of beautiful landscapes completely unknown to the Westerosi, in the center was visible a stone platform with two levels, the interesting thing was that it was levitating over the center of the huge and luxurious hall

On the lower level, there were eleven thrones, each personalized in some specific way, where several beautiful women were sitting placidly, however, one of the thrones was empty

On the other hand, on the upper level, there was only one throne, it was white and huge, made of an unknown metal which shone with its own light and had details made of a black crystal, in it, sat a beautiful woman, with snowy hair and emerald eyes, looking towards the guests with icy eyes, The young woman's presence radiated pure power

Mara swallowed, there was no doubt that who it was, Hadrian's mysterious wife, the one who was above all the others, the ruler of Dorne was sure that she would know this beautiful woman very well, in her mind was still fresh the fuck Hadrian gave her in the library of sky palace, after all

Just then, Hadrian heard an annoying and familiar voice

“Presenting His Highness, Hadrian the Great, Master of Death, Lord of the noble and ancestral House Potter, Emperor of Arcania, Master of the White Palace, Shield of Novigrad, Rider of Aldar the Luminous Fury, Prince Consort of the Empire of Nilfgaard, Guardian of the North, Sorcerer Supreme of the Lodge of Sorceresses and Archmage of the Royal Arcane Academy- at those words,  Absolutely everyone present in the throne room knelt before Hadrian, nobles, mages, sentinels and paladins showed their submission to their emperor

And the reactions of the guests were not long in coming

The Targaryens looked suspiciously at the reaction, it was completely evident what these people felt for Hadrian, Baelon thanked the fourteen llamas that Viserra and Gael were married to this man

Ellard Stark looked at everything with a critical eye, the magic here was practically alive, the feeling was the same as what his ancestors described in times of old, he was sure that, in these walls he would find answers about what happened in Westeros

Mara looked at everything calculatingly, if this was the kind of power Hadrian commanded, the princess of Dorne would make sure to please Hadrian in all his whims, she and Delia would be at his complete disposal, this kind of power would rule Sunspear, of that, Mara would make sure

The man who announced Hadrian, spoke again

-Presenting her Highness, Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, the Lady of Time and Space, Savior of the World, Crown princess and heiress of the Nilfgaard empire, rider of Cydoris the Silver fury, Queen of Cintra, Heiress to Inis Ard Skellig and Inis An Skellig, Princess of Brugge, Duchess of Sodden, Lady of Metinna, Ebbing and Gemmera,  Suzerain of Attre,Nazair, Vicovaro and Abb Yarra, and empress consort of the empire of Arcania”

At those words, all the guests turned their gaze to the beautiful woman who occupied the throne, the young woman stood up and breathed all those present

She was a goddess made woman, her mere presence captivated all those present, women and men alike could not take their eyes away, next to her was a little girl, who, seeing Hadrian, screamed with emotion 

“Daddy!”

And without warning, she let go of her mother's hand and in an emerald flash, appeared in front of Hadrian and gave her a big hug, who received her with open arms and a huge smile

"Hello my love, how big you are!" Then, the young woman began to laugh uncontrollably while her father lifts her up with his magic before taking her back in his arms

However, the moment was interrupted by a beautiful and melodious voice

"My love, welcome home, we would have prepared a dignified welcome, but your arrival took us all by surprise" although the tone was sweet, there was a certain edge, it was evident that the woman wanted an explanation and she wanted it at that very moment

The Targaryens, Stark, and Martell looked towards the origin of the voice, the woman on the throne stood in front of Hadrian with her arms crossed, waiting for his explanation, Hadrian sighed and replied

"It's an express visit my love, something happened with James" at those words, the woman's countenance changed completely, the anger faded and a face of concern and determination appeared on her face, then she spoke

-James? What does my child have? Is he okay? If anyone dared to do something to my prince I hope you have dismembered him or I will do it myself" As she spoke, Ciri used her own magic unconsciously, shaking all the guests, who looked at her with suspicion

Hadrian sighed and replied

"A sorcerer cursed Viserra's family many centuries ago, that curse affects James, I'll break the curse, but it's so ancient and powerful that I need to go to the place where it was cast, that's why I came, to seek Geralt's help, he's the best tracker my love" Those words calmed the young woman, who simply nodded and,  Without warning, he grabbed Hadrian by the neck and gave him a big, sensual kiss, while moving his hands all over his body in desperation

Those present did not know how to respond, Baelon, his children and Ellard were really uncomfortable, while Jocelyn, Delia and Mara looked with faces of complete envy at the beautiful woman

The only one who spoke was the little princess, who screamed

“IUGH how disgusting!!” such words interrupted the kiss and Cirilla looked at her daughter with a smile and spoke

"Calanthe, why don't you show Daddy what you've learned from Aunt Cynthia, we'll see you in the royal tower."

At those words the little girl nodded quickly and ran quickly out of the hall, followed very closely by at least twenty soldiers in black armor, seeing that, Hadrian looked at Ciri with a raised eyebrow, the beautiful woman simply replied

"My father's orders, the well-being of Crown Princess Calanthe is the number one priority of the empire, he has her completely spoiled, she even managed to get the white flame to tell her stories to sleep." Hadrian looked at Ciri in disbelief for a few seconds, until he simply laughed without apparent control, imagining the fearsome emperor, completely dominated by a seven-year-old girl

The family moment was interrupted by Baelon, who with great suspicion, approached the couple and asked

“Hadrian... I hate to interrupt but what do we do or where are we going?" Hadrian was about to answer, when he was interrupted by Ciri

"My husband will go with me to the royal tower to spend a beautiful family afternoon, a feast is being prepared for his welcome, we will continue this conversation at dinner." Then, the young woman looked at the group of women who had approached Hadrian and spoke 

“Phillipa, please come here”

At the order, a beautiful woman approached the conversation, wearing a white dress with black and gold details, so tight that it showed her beautiful waist and large breasts, combed with a pair of rather long pigtails and eyes that looked magical, she proudly showed a choker with a dragon medallion

Another of Hadrian's concubines, Baelon thought with a sigh

Cirilla spoke again quickly in her voice

"She's Phillipa, a member of the council that helps my husband rule, anything you need, she'll provide it for you, now if you'll excuse me." Cirilla grabbed Hadrian by the neck, and in a second, they both disappeared in an emerald flash, leaving all the visitors quite bewildered

The aforementioned woman, Phillipa, spoke

"Dear visitors, welcome to Novigrad, capital of Arcania, it is a pleasure to receive you" the nobles sighed, this was a welcome they were used to

Baelon nodded gracefully and replied

"Thank you for the welcome, Lady Phillipa, the palace and the city are just...amazing” the prince's tone was respect and admiration

Phillipa nodded and snapped her fingers, then three people appeared behind her, two women and a man, the visitors looked confused at the act, but were silent, waiting for the words of the beautiful woman

"The emperor sent information about your families and your magical gifts, I took the liberty of assigning them personalized guides based on the magical skills shared by Hadrian" that information surprised the visitors, who nodded with a look of gratitude on their faces

Phillipa continues

“For the Martell house was assigned Layla of Oxenburt, a sorceress specializing in hydromancy, she will be the family's guide throughout their stay” those words intrigued Mara and Delia who looked at the young woman with open interest

The aforementioned Layla approached Mara and spoke

"Princess Mara, please follow me, I will guide you to your designated chambers, don't worry about your belongings, they are already waiting for you in the assigned suite"

Mara, quite surprised, simply nodded and followed the young woman with her sister, they were quite tired, and wanted to sleep a little before the banquet

Phillipa continued, pointing to a beautiful young woman with platinum hair and blue eyes

“She is Dominique Delacour, battle witch and student of the academy, specialized in pyromancy, will be the guide of the Targaryen family”

Baelon and his sons nodded politely, and following Mara's example, they retired to rest

Phillipa continued to look at the last of the emperor's VIPs

"Lord Stark, the emperor told me about your gifts with nature magic, Kyle Loomis, a student of the academy, tamer of magical beasts and a true prodigy with Celtic magic, has been assigned to be the guide of the Stark family during their stay in Novigrad"

Lord Stark simply nodded and followed the young wizard into a room to rest

When she was left alone, Phillipa sighed loudly, causing laughter among the rest of the sorceresses

"Come on ladies, the emperor will be busy fucking his wife for several hours, we have to prepare everything for the banquet."

Sabrina just laughed and answered

“We all know you'd rather be warming Hadrian's bed, you don't have to take it out on us”

Sighing, Phillipa looked at Jocelyn who was quite lost with the situation, the sorceress spoke

"Emperor Hadrian has assigned you your own chambers in the royal tower, they are yours to do and undo, as one of his concubines, you have access to practically the entire castle, if you have any doubts, you can ask me" Jocelyn simply looked at the woman and answered

"Thank you Lady Phillipa, I would like to retire to rest" the sorceress nodded and making a series of gestures with her arms, a yellow vortex appeared in the room, Jocelyn looked at it with suspicion

"Walk through the portal and you will reach your room instantly," exclaimed the sorceress

Jocelyn sighed and went through the portal with some doubt, not knowing what to expect on the other side, at one point, the woman disappeared from the throne room

Sighing, Phillipa spoke

"You already have their orders" the rest of the women nodded and they all disappeared from the throne room, each one to fulfill their respective obligations

The next few days at the White Palace would be quite interesting