6th Month of 299 A.C. Somewhere in the Riverlands
King Aegon VI Targaryen
His trousers felt as if they were going to be tearing soon, the pressure from riding Deinor for the first time, combined with the fighting that he had gone through before mounting the great beast, might well have strained the fabric. Still as he brought the dragon down to the ground, he could not help the feeling of pure power that came from the knowledge that he had ridden a dragon, one of his dragons and gotten the enemy to bend the knee. That was something that no one who was present on the field of battle was like to forget any time soon. Deinor lands with a loud thud, the biggest of his dragons, the other two continue to fly above the ground for a moment before they also land. He remains seated on the dragon for a moment and then, slowly dismounts, he lands softly, Blackfyre strapped to his back, his crown still firmly attached to his helm. Ser Arthur and Ser Jaime stop before him then, still mounted on their horses, he nods to them and then looks past them to where the rest of the army stands watching him with something akin to awe. He blushes and then mounts the horse that the two knights had brought.
Aegon remembers the enemy host, those few members who are still alive, he turns to look at them, they remain on bended knee, and so he speaks. "You are now part of my army, as prisoners or as soldiers within its ranks. The choice is yours. My men shall come and ask you, you have a choice, decide soon." Silence falls this statement, he looks to Ser Jaime and says. "Ser Jaime, you are in charge of that."
"Yes Your Grace." The knight replies, before he turns his horse off and begins the process.
Turning from the retreating form of Ser Jaime Lannister, Aegon turns his attention to the three dragons that are now looking at him. "Go, hunt, feast of the animals nearby, I shall call you when I need you." He says to them, knowing that at one point he would have felt ridiculous talking to three dragons, but now, it feels no different to when he would talk to Ghost. A moment passes, and then the dragons are off flying into the air, Aegon watches them fly for a moment, before he looks at Ser Arthur. "How many casualties?" He knows that there will be a time to discuss what happened, but for just now, he merely wants to figure out what this battle has cost them.
It seems Ser Arthur can understand that desire, as he replies. "Around three fourths of the enemy army Your Grace. Our own army only lost around five thousand men."
Aegon nods, looking across the field of battle, where the burned remains of Stormlanders lie, abandoned on the field, there are iced sculptures, that were once men on the field as well, the thought makes him feel oddly proud. That is a feeling he cannot quite explain, and so he does not bother trying to, instead he says. "That is good, Lord Brandon and Lord Robb they are safe?" The tension between himself and Robb might have subsided for now, but Aegon knows that the time will soon come for them to address the unspoken tension between them.
"Yes, Lord Brandon did not move from the reserve as you commanded Your Grace, as for Lorde Robb, well he is coming here now." Ser Arthur responds.
Aegon looks around and sees his cousin riding toward him, Greywind sprinting toward Ghost, he remains still as his cousin stops before him, his helm off, his face flushed. "Your Grace, that was quite the performance. And you mounted your dragon for the first time as well. Now I am sure we shall win." His cousin says.
Aegon smiles, happy to see his cousin that enthusiastic. "I am sure we shall as well my lord. Tell me, how are things looking with the northern army?"
"Good, the men fought well and are all hale and well. I think there might have been a few moments of nervousness around Domeric, but other than that nothing major." Robb responds.
"What happened with Domeric?" Aegon asks, the new Lord of the Dreadfort is someone that both intrigues and scares Aegon, something about him seems off.
Robb, it seems knows where his mind is going to as well, for he responds. "I am not sure, I think he either froze before barking his orders, or he changed his mind at the last moment, either way something seems off about him. I've sent him off to get seen to by the camp healers, but other than that I do not know what else to do."
Aegon nods. "A wise move. Do you think there might be trouble from the Bolton soldiers?"
Robb shakes his head. "No, I do not think so. Most of the Bolton command are amongst the dead, only Domeric survived. We should have no problems from them."
Aegon nods, relieved, then he leans forward and clasps his cousin's arm and says. "Well that's one battle done, only a few more to go. And with that many of his men dead, I do not think the false King will be so keen to force more Stormlords out into the open."
Robb laughs, but then in a manner very reminiscent of his father turns serious and responds. "Indeed, that would appear to be the case Your Grace. Though I found it very strange how there seemed to be very few true lords out there commanding alongside Caron. Why would the usurper do that?"
His cousin makes a very valid point, Aegon had noticed the lack of apparent lords within the host before them, Caron seemed to be the only one of any importance, a strange move that. "I am not sure, but it seems as though the false King might be trying to lull us into a false sense of confidence. Perhaps he was counting on Caron getting away from the field to give him an account of our strategy?"
Before his cousin can reply, Ser Jaime appears mounted, with three men following him, two of the men bear his three headed dragon sigil, the other bears the nightingales of House Caron. "Bryce Caron for you Your Grace." Ser Jaime says gesturing to the man before them.
Aegon looks down at the man, and then says. "So you are Bryce Caron? Tell me, why do you fight for the false King?"
The man's face is broken and scarred, but there is defiance in his eyes. "The Baratheons removed the dragons from the throne, and they became the rightful Kings. Your family is false. You are false, bastard."
That gets the man hit on the head by one of the men holding his chains. Aegon laughs slightly. "Oh, I can assure you I am not false." He draws Blackfyre then. "I wield Blackfyre, the Sword of Aegon the Dragon, I have three dragons, I can fly on dragons. I have an army supporting me. I most definitely am not false. Now tell me, what did they offer you to support them?"
Caron looks at him in disgust. "They offered me nothing. I would rather support for the Baratheons than a dragon. You are the product of madness."
That earns Caron another cuff on the back of his head. "Come now Lord Bryce, I am trying to be civil with you here, so be civil with me. Why are you honestly fighting for the Baratheons? If I remember correctly, your father had to be forced into fighting for Robert Baratheon during the rebellion, and that was because he had captured the man's brother. So tell me, why are you fighting for the false King's bastard son?"
Caron stares at him for a long moment, before replying. "King Durran is not a bastard, he is King Robert's firstborn son. As proven by the High Septon and the man's own mother and grandfather. It is you who is a bastard. A concoction created by Stark greed."
Aegon laughs, this is getting to be quite absurd. "So you are willing to fight for a boy who was pulled out of nowhere, by a man who despised his brother's wife and her family, yet you question my own legitimacy. Tell me Caron, what is this boy to you? What is Renly Baratheon to you?"
Silence follows this question, and as it begins to drag on, Aegon begins thinking that he might have to have the man hit again, when Caron speaks, his voice soft. "A chance to redeem myself. A chance to make right on wrongs."
"Ah," Aegon exclaims, understanding coming to him. "So you feel you owe this boy something then is that it?"
"Not the King no, but his uncle." Caron admits grudgingly.
That interests Aegon immensely then, so much so that he hands Blackfyre to his squire, dismounts from his horse and pulls off his helm, allowing his hair to breathe, holding onto his helm he comes to stand before Caron and he asks. "And what do you owe Renly Baratheon?"
Caron stares at him, hatred clear in his eyes, his voice is sharp when he replies. "Why would I tell you that bastard?"
Aegon sighs. "I am giving you a choice here Lord Caron. Either tell me what you know of the false King's plans, or spend your life in chains. So what will it be?"
Caron seems surprised at the fact that he would remain alive, right now Aegon is not in the mood for killing of a marcher lord, considering the problems that would create, still he stands before the man and waits. Eventually Caron's shoulders slump and he says. "They are waiting for you to become overconfident. They will send someone else out to fight you soon."
Now that is something. Aegon leans forward a bit more and asks. "And why do they want me to be overconfident?" That is something new, he knows that that makes good strategic sense, but that thought coming from Baratheon and Tyrell, that seems unlikely.
"Because then they believe you will be more prone to making mistakes, and that they can catch you off guard." Caron responds.
Aegon feels like laughing, but he senses that there is more to this, and so he asks. "And who might they be sending in this second attempt to defeat me? Tarly? Rowan? Will Tyrell be the one venturing forth?"
Caron is silent for a moment, then he responds. "I do not know, though I do believe that Tarly might well be the one they send."
Aegon nods, that makes sense, Tarly has a lot of sense, though the fact that Renly Baratheon would not send a Stormlord to face him again, makes him wonder, it seems almost too convenient. "Where are the other Stormlords?" he asks then.
Caron looks at him grinning like a mad man. "They are coming soon as well boy; they will be here before you know it. You cannot win."
Aegon snorts at that. "I have three dragons, one of whom can breathe ice. I think I'll be fine."
"A there's the dragon arrogance that I was looking for. You have three dragons, but you cannot control them all of the time can you boy?" Caron asks. Aegon looks at him, not daring to give away anything. "You might fool these people here, but we both know that there is more to this than meets the eye. And my people know about dragons and storms. Your end is coming boy."
Aegon looks at the man, and then turns to Ser Jaime. "Ser Jaime escort Lord Caron back to where the prisoners are being kept." The man nods and hastens away accompanied by the two men who were holding onto Caron's chains. As Aegon watches them disappear, he turns to Robb and says. "Get the men ready, we're going to do some scouting before we move on."