Note: This is a work of fiction and
dedicated to perhaps the best television series on court politics produced in
the last decade.
In the immortal lyrics of Eminem, “I smell
something in the air that’s making me HIGH!” These are the words that came into
my mind as soon as I entered there; the place where the raw fragrance of the
Gods dwelled. It was almost like I had transcended the mortal world and been
transported to a higher level of being. I imagine that is how it must feel to
be on Mount Olympus or Mount Kailash or Mount Sinai whichever way you lean.
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| Image Courtesy: Google Images. |
It
was summer in Upper Westeros, the season that isn't quite apparent there. The
city of Winterfell doesn’t have summer at all but that year something was
different. The sun shone with such brilliance as it hadn’t in a very, very long
time. It was only in legends that I had heard of the sun melting the eternal
snow that covered our land. But that year was not only memorable for its summer
but also remembered for the bloodshed it caused because of the sun.
It was the year that Danerys Targaryean,
Mother of Dragons had reclaimed the Iron Throne of Westeros, the seat of her
forefathers; as the rightful Queen of her people. The Lannisters of Casterly
Rock had finally been crushed and every last remaining person who bore the arms
of the Lion had been put to the sword. It was a glorious day indeed when the
Queen ascended her throne with her three fearsome dragons that she had herself
hatched in the fire of the husband’s funeral pyre.
Now, allow me to introduce myself. I am Jon
Snow, the bastard of Lord Ned Stark of Winterfell. I am now the Hand of my
half-brother Bran Stark, the King in the North. I’m writing this record not to
capture the history of what happened in the days to come after the Queen took
her throne, there are official records for that sort of thing. I am writing
this down so that future generations may bear in mind that although ‘Winter is
Coming’, it is not as bad as when Summer rears its head upon us.
It was indeed destined that Summer should
come on the day that the banner of the Dragon unfurled over the Iron Throne.
What happened next was not the peace and calm we all thought would follow the
return of the Queen. A sudden summer ensured that the Northern Wall, erected by
my ancestor to keep out the Wildlings and White Walkers started to melt and
grow weak around the castles that had stood watch upon it for six millennia.
A beautiful, mysterious and rare summer had
been born that would ultimately come to be known as the Red Summer by those who
managed to survive it with the onslaught of those beyond the wall who saw the
perfect time to attack Westeros and seized the opportunity. When the snow
melted off the earth below us, it also melted off the only barrier which
protected the civilized world from the barbarians and with that came the
crippling blow in the form of the massive savage attack which tore apart the
kingdom.
I was outside the capital reassessing our
strength against our foes who would attack any day now and then I chanced upon
a fragrance that was unlike I had ever had the chance to smell before. It was
tantalizing, just touching my nostrils and withdrawing. It was pulling me it
seemed towards a hill and like the hand of a seductress; it grasped me and led
me to the top of the world. I felt weak at the knees and it was as if my legs
had turned to stone from the overdose of the scent that permeated my being. I
closed my eyes and lied down in the long grass to savour that which was already
holding me captive without chains.
I have since named that plant the
lemongrass. It has a strong flavour of lemon but also a tangy under-taste that
belies attempts to compare it to lemon. Upon study, I discovered that the plant
had no flower or fruit but only leaves from which it emanated this powerful
fragrance that held me in my world of bliss in a time when it was a scarce
commodity and especially for a soldier like myself.
It is said that I was awakened by the
Queensguard who had been stationed to patrol the castle grounds. They had
noticed my armour gleaming in the morning sun and had come to investigate. They
realized that although I was lying like one who had passed on to the other
world, I still had a pulse and had carried me into the castle. When I awoke,
they said that I had been missing for three days. I had been so lost in the
fragrance that I hadn’t even noticed that I had lain next to the rotten and
smelly bodies of three Wildling scouts who had died lost in the world of the
lemongrass.
If I had not been carried out of that
field, I would have met the same fate as those poor creatures but fortunately
the Queensguard had encountered the plant before and had decided to get it
planted all around the castle walls except the main gate so that trespassers
would meet the same fate as those scouts.
It was by sheer luck that the guards had
seen my armour in the long grass and had come to investigate. They had been
able to carry me to safety without endangering themselves to the enamouring
fragrance of the lemongrass only because they had covered their faces with
pieces of cloth. They had already experienced the power of the lemongrass over
the senses and although they longed for it, they respected it enough not to
evoke their power of smell, lest they get lost within its fragrance and forget
their duty to their Queen.
In the war that did start eventually when
the wall fell, many of our men and women fell to the blades of those wild ones
from beyond the wall, but many more of the enemy died unawares by giving in to
their senses in the fields of lemongrass and dropping their weapons in ecstasy
as the feeling of pure joy overtook them.
Queen Danerys finally led us to victory but
at great cost and she had no other option but to grant Bran Stark Independence
in the North as recompense for his valuable contribution in holding out on the
northern front as long as was necessary for her to organize all her other
vassals into the sizable army that won her the war. King Bran lost Winterfell
to the marauding armies but won back the pride and honour of our family by
being crowned King of the North.
And that is why I’m glad that Winter is
Coming…
This post has been written for the Godrej ‘Inspire a Fragrance’ contest.
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