" Nock! " Rhaenys drew the bowstring back while aiming at the target. " Loose! " Rhaenys let the arrow fly, only to land just outside the black circle in the center.
Konno Haru moved next to Rhaenys, arms crossed and giving her the same disappointed look that remained on his face for the past few weeks.
" How many fucking times do we have to go over this ?" Rhaenys was still not used to Haru speaking to her in that manner, but she couldn't complain now that they were training on bows. A week after that little demonstration in front of their father, Konno Haru finally moved to teaching her how to shoot the bow, but that didn't stop the intensity of their other exercises. In fact, Haru made her run faster around the citadel, do more strength training, and then had her swim against the current of the Blackwater Rush in her dragon coat.
" I… trying-- " Rhaenys tried to explain, but that only got her the sound of a throat clearing.
" What did I say about trying ?"
Rhaenys bit on her cheek. " Useless… if… failed ."
Haru nodded. " Exactly. We've been practicing for two weeks and you haven't landed one fucking hit. Have you not been paying attention?!!! Huh?!!! "
Rhaenys jolted at the sudden raising of his voice. " I… pay… attention-- "
" Clearly not well enough ," Haru shot bitingly. " I've got better things to do with my time than to watch over another highborn cunt ." Rhaenys glared at him, still offended whenever he referred her by that term. " Oh, what's the matter, wench ?" Haru asked in mock surprise. " Do you want to kill me, dragon bitch ?" Rhaenys exhaled slowly before shaking her head. " If no, then you better start making my time more worthwhile. If there is anything that I hate in this world, it is anything wasted. Now, nock another arrow ."
Rhaenys did so. They had her train a small and simple wooden bow before they had her switch to a longbow and recurve bow. They discouraged her from using a crossbow, as the point of their training was to develop the skills she would need to be a great archer and crossbows would take up too much time to load, and battle never afforded the luxury of time for its participants to be ready to fight their adversaries.
Konno Haru and his son Arata mainly used a bow they called the yumi, which was made from a combination of wood, leather, and bamboo, the last one not existing in Westeros since bamboo existed in more damp regions with heavier rainfall such as Sothoryos. The yumi resembled the longbow in how tall it was and a bowman would need several years before mastery could be achieved. However, the yumi was utilized by the warrior elite in Yi-Ti since they were expected to be well-versed in many types of weapons besides their swords. From what Rhaenys witnessed, both Konno and Arata Haru could hit their targets with the yumi while on horseback, intriguing her further.
Given her small stature, Haru had her train with a composite bow made from goat horn, wood, and sinew alongside a self-bow he fashioned from yew. He said that the composite bow carried slightly more power than a longbow and could quite maneuverable compared to most bows, but it was vulnerable to damp conditions and had to be kept dry. On the other hand, the self-bow might not possess the same power as the recurve bow but was not susceptible to wet climates and could be used in more environments. If Rhaenys had to choose, the self-bow seemed a more attractive option.
However, Rhaenys had not been able to land an arrow on what Konno Haru called the "zuboshi", or the center of the target despite the last two weeks of instruction. One other thing that made her dislike even more was how impatient he got and how quick he was to criticize her. The man had a short temper, but Haru said to her, " Don't get confused. I'm not your father. I'm not your friend. I am your teacher and I speak to you as how the elder addresses the younger. If you hate me, I'm doing something right because the more you do, the more you learn ." She was confused by how much emphasis he had put on this fallacy, as she thought that teachers would be more understanding towards their students. But in Haru's mind, he didn't care about giving any kind of understanding.
And here was Rhaenys getting another reprimand for seemingly failing to absorb Haru's lessons. After he was finished admonishing her, Haru sighed. " It looks like we're going to have to approach this in a different manner, wouldn't you agree ?"
Rhaenys stared at him. " What.... other…. way…. Sensei Haru ?"
" You'll see ." Haru had Arata call one of their men to where they were standing before he went to the cells holding some ironborn prisoners. As for the man that just came, he also had pale skin, brown eyes, and long raven black hair tied in a bun. He was tall but skinny while wearing loose brown robes.
Arata grabbed one of the ironborn prisoners, his hands and ankles in chains while stripped of his mail shirt, and had him stand in front of the target. As for Haru, he shouted something to the other Yi-Ti man, who responded by getting on his hands and feet while his face was above the ground. His ass was also sticking up, confusing Rhaenys.
Suddenly, Haru pulled out a small wooden stick and smacked the man's ass hard, causing Rhaenys to flinch. So hard that people nearby could hear the smack and the man's suppressed grunt in pain. His ass nearly touched the ground from the stick's impact before he stuck it back up.
" Kill him ," Haru pointed to the ironborn prisoner.
Rhaenys turned around, her eyes widening in shock before looking back at Haru. " What ?"
" I want you to kill him with your bow. He's a bigger target, so you shouldn't miss ," Haru explained.
Rhaenys shook her head. " What… about… targets ?"
Haru scoffed. " How is killing a man any different than killing a stag? Also, from what Jaenyx told me, you know what it's like to kill a man up close and you've burned hundreds at Wailing Willows. I'm not understanding why this would be difficult for you now ."
Rhaenys gestured at the ironborn prisoner. " He… in… chains ."
" So? " Haru asked dismissively. " Do you think that he'll show you the same consideration if you were in chains? I thought you'd be more understanding of what death is after nearly drowning in the Blackwater Bay ."
Rhaenys killed a stag so that she and Egg would eat that day. She stabbed that ironborn in the neck at the Stoney Sept after he tried to kill her. She might have burned hundreds at Wailing Willows, but Meraxes and the other dragons did the actual killing for her. Now, Haru was asking her to use a prisoner as target practice. Granted, the man was an ironborn, but he was in chains and therefore could not harm her. This was… killing in cold blood, something that she never had to do before.
" Why… making… me…. do ?" Rhaenys hesitated.
" To be honest with you, Lady Rhaenys, I'm beginning to doubt if you have what it takes to be an archer, or a killing person in general ," Haru explain. " Hunting stags or animals is easy since they can't talk. People, however, could not only talk, but also laugh, smile, and love ." Rhaenys briefly thought about Aegon at that last word. " A good archer remembers all of that before focusing on the fact that his adversary needs to die or the archer will die himself or herself. More importantly, the archer will always endeavor to make that one arrow released from the bow the killing arrow. As I said, you either be the better one in battle or you could be the next corpse. "
Rhaenys listened to another of Haru's lessons. She initially believed that being an archer was as simple as learning how to shoot the bow, but Haru said that there were deeper ways of thinking behind archery. One thing that she did remember was that the good archer would not allow its prey to undergo prolonged suffering, which was why Haru always told her to aim for the eyes, the neck, or the heart so as to ensure a quick death. The bow weapon meant for precision and anyone who ignored that fact was either not a very good archer or worse, a sadist.
Rhaenys kept looking at Haru. " If… I… don't ?" Haru smacked at the man's ass with his stick again, this time causing a yelp. " Please… stop. "
" Consider this an incentive, " Haru replied. " Everytime you miss or your arrow doesn't deliver a killing blow, I hit him hard. Normally, I would hit you for such infractions, but out of respect for Jaenyx, I'm not hitting you. However, that doesn't I can't hit others ."
Rhaenys gulped. " If… kill…. prisoner… you… stop… hitting ?"
" Kill the target with one arrow, and you won't find out ," Haru promised, but with his grip tightening on the stick.
Rhaenys exhaled before nocking another arrow. " Remember, eyes, neck, or heart. I'll let you choose, but kill him ," Haru said.
Rhaenys drew back her yew self-bow, arrow nocked. She could see the ironborn near tears, his eyes begging for his life without saying the words, and shoulders slumped from the chains. Normally, she would be affected by such expressions and that made it difficult for her to take the next step.
While she thought that, Rhaenys heard another smack and another yelp from Haru's stick. " I'm waiting, Lady Rhaenys. Don't take too long ," Haru warned.
Closing her eyes, Rhaenys exhaled again, willing such thoughts of understanding for the prisoner from her mind. She didn't know the Yi-Tish man's name, but she wasn't to let him get smacked again because of her. Also, the prisoner was an ironborn, the people that started the war in the first place. She adjusted her aim and let her arrow fly.
Rhaenys didn't have to wait long until she saw the arrow pierce the man's throat. His mouth was shaped in an "O" while blood was pouring out his mouth. He also had a shocked expression on his face and eyes widened before he fell on his knees and crashed on the ground, lifeless.
Rhaenys let out a shaky breath as she lowered her bow. She may have killed before, but this was the first time she had killed in cold blood. Haru might have pushed her by smacking that other man in the ass, but she was the one that decided to go through with it.
Haru patted her on the shoulder. " Never hesitate, my lady. You either kill your enemies quickly, or you will die. We're done for today. On the morrow, we will be hunting for our own food ."
Rhaenys felt a weight come off her shoulders while another came on them. She no longer had to be worried about hesitating to kill, but she worried about how long she could handle killing before it became too much for her. Haru's words still echoed in her mind and the memories of killing the ironborn prisoner still fresh. Now I know why Quenton never talked about what it was like to take a life .
Rhaenys set her bow down and made her way back to the manor house on the top of the tallest hill for refreshments with her father.
Rhaenys found herself in another green field, but she felt… cold. Unlike the last field where it felt warm, this one had cold winds coming from the north. And they blew hard. She had to wrap herself up in her arms to keep herself from shivering as she walked through the field.
But as she looked around, Rhaenys saw a forest to her left. What stood out about this forest was that instead of trees with green leaves, this forest was filled with pale white trees with blood red leaves. As she got closer to the forest, she saw faces carved on them.
"Weirwoods?" Rhaenys whispered in confusion. There were only a few places south of the Neck that even had godswoods and she never saw this many weirwoods before, as the First Men and later the Andals cut many of them down. From what Rhaenys read, they also drove the Children of the Forest, mythical people known for their abilities stemming from the supposed magic of weirwoods, to the point of near extinction. No one had laid eyes on a single child of the forest for many centuries, but some said that they could still feel their presence whenever around weirwoods.
Rhaenys felt more perplexed by why she was here. She didn't have the blood of the First Men in her veins, but she was still dreaming of weirwoods. Remembering the last time she was here, she couldn't understand why she saw a large wolf and why Meraxes just stared at it.
Just then, Rhaenys heard a dragon roar from behind her. Turning around, she saw Meraxes fly past her and towards the forest. "Meraxes, girl! Come back!" she shouted, but to no avail. Sighing in frustration, Rhaenys pulled up her dress and ran into the weirwood forest.
Rhaenys felt very uneasy upon seeing so many carved faces of the weirwood trees. The children of the forest and later the First Men saw these faces as representations of the old gods or even the old gods themselves, but what made her nervous was how they all just stared at her, like the eyes of their faces were following her. But she then put her nervousness aside, as she needed to find Meraxes and know why she ignored her command.
After running through a seemingly endless stretch of weirwoods, Rhaenys arrived at a clearing in the forest. But instead of being a regular clearing, she came upon a lake, a shallow one at that. In the middle of this lake was a small island, with a large weirwood surrounded by sloping grass. This weirwood was the biggest she laid her eyes upon, as this one broke through the forest's canopy and could rival one of the towers of Harrenhal before they burned it to the ground.
But what caught her attention was Meraxes, who was curled on the ground around the trunk of this massive weirwood and being large enough to wrap itself around the tree and have her head touch her own tail. Even more, there was a man near the edge to the lake and that same large wolf lying next to him. This man appeared to sharpening a knife with a rock while not taking notice to Rhaenys.
Adding to her confusion was how… calm Meraxes was around this stranger. As she looked closely at him, this man had long, raven black hair that grew past his shoulders and a black beard. She also saw that he had grey eyes, which only the First Men had. He seemed very lean and tall like Jaenyx while wearing leather boots, trousers, and thick fur coat. Meraxes would not dare be close to those not having dragonblood, but she was with him.
Needing to find out, Rhaenys walked into the lake. The water sloshed around as she stepped further, with the weirwood becoming bigger with each step closer to it.
But before she could step foot on the island, she heard the man say, "That's far enough" while still focused on his dagger.
"You knew that I was here?" Rhaenys asked.
"Of course. I felt your presence from the moment you entered these woods," the man still sharpened his dagger. "Nothing is hidden from the old gods."
"Are you one of them?" Rhaenys was getting very fearful at that possibility.
Fortunately, this man laughed and shook his head. "No, I'm not of the old gods. If I was, I would have dreamt up a castle, not woods," he gestured to the forest with a circular motion of his finger.
Another question entered Rhaenys' mind. "Why can't I go on this island?" Her feet were still in the water.
At that, the man stopped sharpening his knife and looked at Rhaenys. She was taken aback at seeing his piercing gaze, which was similar to Jaenyx's but with grey eyes. "You don't have the blood of the First Men or that of the Warg King. And this is sacred ground."
More confusion entered Rhaenys' mind. "But what about my dragon? She's of Valyria, not of the First Men."
The man shrugged. "True, but her presence is necessary for this," he gestured to the air around them. "To occur. She's quite a creature, your Meraxes."
Rhaenys narrowed her eyes. "How do you know her name?"
"I can't say," this man shook his head. "It will be revealed in due time, but I can only say so much before the old gods cut the connection, which will be soon."
Rhaenys scoffed. "You're making me more confused. How is it possible that the old gods can communicate with those of Valyria? I am not even sure if this is really happening. I am not of the First Men and I don't--"
This man interrupted her. "You are Rhaenys of House Targaryen, third and youngest child of Aerion Targaryen and Valeana Velaryon Targaryen and descendant of Aenar Targaryen. I know who you are, but to explain why we're talking in this space would take too long."
Rhaenys groaned in frustration, but she also saw that she wasn't going to get anymore. "Can I ask your name, then?"
This man smiled. "Of course. My name is Snow. Brandon Snow, son of Harald of House Stark, first of his name, Lord of Winterfell and King in the North. "
Rhaenys' eyes widened. "You're… a Stark ?"
Brandon shook his head. "Not exactly. I'm a bastard, with my half-brother being King in the North."
"Torrhen Stark, is that right?"
Brandon nodded, smile widening. "You know the rulers of Westeros. Very good."
It all started to make sense for Rhaenys. Courtesy to Maester Harrion before their father had him return to the Citadel, she had stories about the Starks' war on the Warg King, on how some of the Starks born after his defeat also inherited the ability to warg, or skinchange. It was the only explanation as to why Brandon Snow was here in front of her.
"Are you a warg, Lord Snow?" Rhaenys had to ask.
"Impressive. You must know our history well." Rhaenys nodded. "But no, I'm not a warg. I have something else, something that can only be used effectively in the presence of weirwoods."
Rhaenys wanted to ask, but she also remembered the large wolf laying near Brandon Snow. "And what is that?" Rhaenys pointed to it.
"Oh, him," Brandon turned around. "This is… Autumn." As Rhaenys examined the wolf closer, its fur was a mix of red and brown. Then, it looked back at Rhaenys, revealing its yellow eyes. "He's a direwolf."
"Really?" Rhaenys had heard about direwolves, but they were mostly seen north of the Neck and even there, sightings became rarer as they were hunted down in droves. "Never seen a direwolf before."
"No southron has. I just happened to find her along with a few other pups in the Wolfswood one day. I couldn't find the mother for some reason, but that's a story for another time."
"This is… a lot," Rhaenys admitted. "As I said, I'm of Valyria yet here I am, speaking with one deeply rooted in the blood of the First Men. I am still confused as to why I'm here, as Dragonstone has no weirwoods, or how we can talk in the first place."
"To be honest, Lady Rhaenys, this is perplexing also. But you've forgotten something. There is a weirwood where you live, just not at Dragonstone, and it's very close to your walls. That's why we can talk."
"But why are we talking?" The confusion returned in full and then some.
"Everything will be revealed in time, but all I can say is that a great danger is coming and it will spring up from all around you."
Rhaenys cocked her head. "What do you mean?"
"We may not be of the same blood, but our blood allows us to do this and other feats. Unfortunately, there will be those who will hunt us down because of it and they will wish our extinction because they don't understand our gifts."
"Who'd want to hunt us down?"
Before Brandon could answer, they heard a branch snap from behind them. Rhaenys turned around, to find a bush of flowers and vines had grown on the place where she stood. "That wasn't there before."
"It wasn't," Brandon confirmed while drawing his sword. Autumn the direwolf had gotten on her feet while Meraxes had awakened.
From behind the bush, a massive lion emerged before more followed. In fact, more than expected. All of them looked ready to pounce on the Stark, the Targaryen, the direwolf, and the dragon. Rhaenys looked ahead and saw two falcons flying above them, one larger than the other.
"That's a lot of lions," Rhaenys remarked.
"It's all right. They're scared of water like any other cat, so we're both safe."
"I could have Meraxes burn them all now," Rhaenys offered.
"Not yet," Brandon replied. "We can't have the flames touch the weirwoods."
"But, we're not looking at actual weirwoods, aren't we?" Rhaenys pointed out.
Brandon pondered about that, then nodded. "I see your point. If you're going to use your dragon, try not to burn this large weirwood."
Rhaenys smiled. "Of course." She then looked at Meraxes before gesturing to the group of lions. "Dracarys."
Meraxes let loose her dragonfire, the lions roaring in pain while the thorned bush burned. She looked up to the sky and saw that the falcons were nowhere to be seen.
"We'll meet again, Lady Rhaenys," Brandon said.
Rhaenys nodded before Brandon, Autumn, and Meraxes turned into bright white light .
"Are you sure that's who you met? You're not confusing things?" their father pressed.
"Yes, father," Rhaenys nodded. "Everything felt so real and I wouldn't have been able to remember clearly what I said to him if I was mad."
"My gods," their father exclaimed before letting out a laugh. "Of all the people you could've met in your dreams, it had to be Brandon Snow, a member of House Stark. I don't care if he's a bastard, since he certainly showed that he has extraordinary abilities."
"I must admit, Lord Targaryen," Taygor Leniar joined in. They were having their daily discussions and he had also heard Rhaenys' dream. "I am confused as to how one with dragonblood was able to communicate with one not having it, but there have been some studies in the interactions between the water magic of the old Rhoynar and the fire magic of Valyria."
"What do you mean?" Rhaenys was curious.
"Magic manifests in many forms. Besides the fire of Valyria, you have the water of the Rhoyne and now the magic of these forest children. But one theory that my ancestors came up with was that while magic may have different forms, the foundation was the same and therefore allowing its users access to a parallel world where all can interact."
Rhaenys shook her head. "I'm sorry. A parallel world?"
"It's a complicated theory and one that I myself don't fully comprehend, but magic is a tool that can be used to alter this reality, but it also allows what my ancestors thought to be a way to enter another reality that exists alongside our own. In that reality," Taygor used his hands to visualize for Aerion and Rhaenys Targaryen. "No matter what magic you practice, as long as you have magic, you can access and interact with other practitioners no matter the distance or location. There, the rules of the world as we know it doesn't apply and we're not as disconnected in that space as we are now. In essence, that space allows a coexistence of various types of magic and allowing its users to communicate with one another."
Rhaenys felt her head hurt. "Taygor, these are very abstract concepts, but you mean to say that I may have entered that space through my dreaming?"
"Possibly. That's the only explanation that I can offer."
Rhaenys heard her father sigh. "So, Rhae, you've made contact with the Starks before you even met them. And he said that he couldn't explain everything yet?"
"Yes."
Her father nodded, accepting the situation. "I might have to send some feelers to north of the Neck. I had a few dealings with Lord Manderly at White Harbour years ago, so I might contact him to see what the situation with the Starks is like. What's troubling is the part about the lions, the thorns, and the falcons, because those represent Houses Lannister, Gardener, and Arryn. What are their roles in all of this?" their father thought aloud.
"Brandon Snow said something about people wanting to destroy us because we have connections to magic," Rhaenys answered.
"And if those houses have something in common, they're connected to the Faith, whose septons have not hidden their dislike of us or our Valyrian heritage. But how will they attack us? We haven't attacked them and what's more curious is that your dreams and Brandon Snow didn't mention the stag, which probably means that we will subjugate the Durrandons," their father rubbed his chin in thought.
Rhaenys nodded, not denying his reasoning. But before they could continue their conversation, a servant entered the open solar in the manor house. "Milord, pardon me for the interruption."
"What is it?" their father asked.
"Urgent message from Lord Aegon. The messenger said something about it relating to King Argilac."
Their father stood up, snatched the message, and dismissed the servant. After opening the message, he grew more agitated with each time he read it. He clenched his teeth in anger, surprising Rhaenys.
"Read it aloud," their father handed the message to Rhaenys. "And clearly."
Rhaenys cleared her throat. "Father, I have news regarding our advances against the Arrogant king. After Jae and Vis blunted the Swann force west of Bronzegate, we moved to besiege Bronzegate and began preparations for a storm on the walls. I had to return to the bridge on the Wendwater at the behest of cousin Daemon to oversee the additional reinforcements from the riverlands along with Jae and Vis, leaving Orys in charge of the siege. However, while Jae and Vis recommended using a tactic similar to the one used on Haystack Hall, Orys met with the head of House Buckler and made a deal. If Bronzegate wasn't relieved by the next moon, then Lord Buckler would surrender the castle to us and assist in our advance on Storm's End. If he is relieved, then the castle would remain in Durrandon hands." Oh, no, Orys. Why did you do that?
Their father was understandably indignant. "I get that you want things done the honorable way, son, but this was very unwise," he thought aloud. "Because of his lack of patience with sieges and his want for things done 'the proper way', he put us in a bind. If we don't honor this agreement, our word will have no weight. We're outnumbered and now, Orys went behind our back and basically told us to wait for the enemy to come to them. This is exactly the Arrogant king's fight!"
Rhaenys sighed, shaking her head at Orys' ignorance. It was no secret that he didn't like Jaenyx's approach to war and how Aegon just went along with it, as he trained in the knightly conduct of war. She loved her brother, but he just ruined a perfectly good strategy of keeping the enemy off-balance. Now, they had to fight outnumbered in the field because of his promise and the Arrogant king will never allow this to go unanswered since he'd understand what losing Bronzegate would do.
However, Rhaenys also understood that Jaenyx would likely disregard Orys' promise and go take Bronzegate anyway. If that occurred, there would be a huge fight between her brother and good-brother, with effects possibly leading to a permanent rift. She had to stop that before it happened.
Rhaenys stood up and left the solar. "Where are you going, Rhae?" their father called out.
"To Bronzegate. They might need all of the dragons present when we do fight against the Arrogant king." Rhaenys was set as she dressed in her dragon coat, strapped her dagger and quiver, and placed her bow on her back before proceeding to Meraxes. She hoped that her lessons with Haru for the last few weeks would be enough as she yelled "Sōvēs!" to Meraxes and flew into the air towards the Storm kingdom.