Kings Landing 300 AC.
Aegon.
Where they had come from he had no idea, who they were even less, what he did know was that he was well and truly fucked, the gag and binds they had tied him with were far too tight for him to get free. Even were they not he was not a fighter, he couldn't take these men, he'd be lucky if he could take even the smallest one. For the first time in his life, he cursed not spending time in the sparring yard, cursed not taking his lessons seriously, though given what these men had done to those who had, perhaps it was a blessing he had not.
A few hours earlier.
God's the hangover was terrible, it was so bad that even after he dressed he still felt his head thumping, he knew he needed to get out of this place and so he paid the girl and walked from the room. Why he had taken Joffrey's suggestion to come here he had no idea, true the girls were more willing and more accommodating than those at Chataya's but still, it was poorer in every way.
"You look terrible my prince." Quentyn said and he laughed at the idea of being told so by the frog prince of all people.
"But I'll recover cousin, what's your excuse." he said and while Quentyn smiled, he saw the briefest glare he gave him "Where are the others?"
"Darkstar is taking a piss and Joffrey is with Hardyng." Qyentyn said.
"I need a drink." he said and the girl came quickly, while the quality wasn't the same the service was even better and whoever owned this establishment either paid his people well or they were terrified of him, not that Aegon cared which.
It was a few minutes later that Harry and Joffrey came down, Joffrey looking almost gleeful while Harry looked more like he expected he looked himself when he had walked down the stairs.
"You have no idea how much I needed that." Joffrey said sitting down "There's nothing that stiffens the cock quite like a whore's screams." the blond-haired Lannister said while smirking.
"You were too harsh Joff, far too harsh, a beating is one thing, you go too far." Harry said shaking his head.
"I paid didn't I, she'll recover, she always does." Joffrey said drinking his wine.
"How did you get away from your dog?" Quentyn asked.
"Ha, that's easy, he only guards me when I leave the manse." Joffrey said to a confused Quentyn.
"You did leave the manse idiot." Harry said.
"I did, but they don't know that." Joffrey said laughing as the Darkstar finally joined them.
"I fucking hate it here." Gerold said taking a seat.
"Blame him, he's the one not allowed to go to Chataya's." Quentyn said pointing to Joffrey.
"This is better, besides the owner gives me exactly what I wan…" he never got to finish the sentence as Aegon looked in horror at the arrow in that was now sticking in Joffrey's throat.
"Guards." he called and he heard a laugh as men came from everywhere.
"You'll need to shout louder than that if you want them to hear you." a blue-haired man said while smirking.
He jumped to his feet, the Darkstar and Harry both drew their blades as he and Quentyn moved to the door, one moment his cousin was with him and the next he was gone. He didn't bother to look back, though he heard the pained shouts of Harry and the Darkstar as he made it to the street and began to run. He almost cried in relief when he saw his uncle, seeing the white cloak in front of him he moved to him as fast as he could manage.
"My prince, we must move, now." Lewyn said and he was already doing as he was told, running for what was surely his life.
He heard the clash of blades and saw his uncle take down two men before a knife came whizzing past his ear, the thin blade striking his uncle in the neck and he saw him as he fell to the ground. He felt the force of being hit with something in the stomach and was on his knees gasping for his breath when the blue-haired man arrived.
"Well can't be leaving you here, I'll never get paid otherwise, come on my prince." the man said mockingly and he was grabbed by him and some other men as the blue-haired man pulled the stiletto from his uncle's neck.
He looked into his uncle's eyes as he was forced to his feet, watched the life go out of them and he began to sob, not even the sound of the men laughing was enough to shame him into stopping. They brought him back in through the brothel and he saw the carnage clearly now. His guards were dead, all of them, they'd had their throat's slit and there were arrows in other's chests.
The Darkstar or what he assumed was the Darkstar was headless, Harry lay gutted, his eyes open and an expression on his dead face that he knew would haunt him for whatever remained of his life. Joffrey too wore a similar expression and he looked around to finally see his cousin laying on the ground, though he still moved and looked far from hurt.
"Good boys get to live." the blue-haired man said with a laugh before he hit Quentyn over the head knocking him out "Come leave him, it's time we were gone."
Now .
The tunnels were long and the darkness welcome, the smiling faces of the men who held him not something he wished to see, he had memorized them all by now, especially the blue-haired man who seemed to be the leader. When he did see daylight he had to close his eyes and when he opened them he was bundled into a cart. How long they rode for he couldn't tell, but they let him out to take a piss and he was glad he was allowed to at least not soil himself.
"You try and run, and we take the little prince there, you understand." the blue-haired man said his dagger in his hand and despite his predicament, he couldn't help but look at the naked woman on the hilt "She's pretty my lady, but she hungers for blood, you wouldn't wish to anger her now would you, my prince." the man said and he shook his head rapidly.
After pissing he felt a little better and he was placed back in the cart, they traveled some more until finally, he saw the sea in the distance. They arrived at a small cove and the boat was already waiting, he looked to the man who spoke to the blue-haired one and as they nodded he was then walked to the boat.
"Cheer up we'll be off to sunnier weather, we've got a fair way to travel, you should take a moment to look around, after all you'll not be seeing it again." the blue-haired man said.
He cried that night, cried like he hadn't since he was a babe, cried so hard he ran out of tears, ran out of breath such was the intensity of his sobs. They gave him a mat to sleep on and at least fed him but he felt fear he had never even known existed. That he was traveling east was clear, where and why was not and the not knowing scared him more than anything. Though if he really thought about it knowing wouldn't be that much better, if he really thought about it he knew all he needed to, he knew he was fucked.
Kings Landing 300 AC.
Rhaegar.
He felt his world come crashing down around him, his son was gone, missing, his friends dead, well all except two, and it was those two who he was on his way to speak to. Lewyn was dead and even his wife hadn't truly been able to grieve for her uncle as of yet, not with knowing Aegon was out there, somewhere. When the news had come to him he was still trying to deal with the fact his other son was fighting for his life.
Since it came to him he had been able to deal with nothing else, he had left Arthur with Rhaenys, asked him to get the answers to what had happened. The answers that he was incapable of concentrating on, he knew his friend would get to the bottom of things and it allowed him and Elia to find out what had happened to Aegon. His mother had offered him some of Daemon's men to see them back safely, and he was grateful at least that she was being supportive, though he knew recriminations would come.
Knowing how he was about to respond to his son's disappearance, they would come and be even harsher. For now, though he walked to the room where Quentyn was being held, the boy thought himself as being protected, but until he found out what had happened he was a prisoner, and Dorne could go fuck themselves if they felt slighted by it.
"Your Grace." Varys said and he glared at the eunuch.
"You are my Master of Whisperers what have you found out?" he said while still walking.
"There seemed to be two attacks your grace, one on the prince and princess and one on Prince Aegon, I believe one may have been a diversion for the other."
"A diversion, my son lies dying Varys, had it not been for him then my daughter would probably be dead or lying beside him and you dare call it a diversion?" he said angrily.
"I believe the attack genuine your grace, only that it was used to divert us as they went for Prince Aegon."
"Who? Who went for my son? answer's dammit, I need answers."
"I am trying your grace, what I know is they were a large group, all the prince's men, his friends, prince Lewyn they all fell except for prince Quentyn."
"And Loras Tyrell."
"Ser Loras wasn't with the prince your grace, though I know not why."
"Then what use are you? find me answers Varys, find me them soon or I'll find a man who can."
"Your grace." Varys said as he scurried off.
He entered the room to see Quentyn remarkably unharmed and worse than that he was asleep, it infuriated him, angered him so much that he slammed his hands on the table waking the boy immediately.
"You dare to sleep when your cousin, when my son is god's knows where, you dare to sleep."
"I'm sorry your grace, I.."
"What happened?"
Hearing the tale from Quentyn's lips didn't make it any better, nor did it make him seem any less involved. Ten guards and a Kingsguard were dead, four whores had been murdered, the son of a great house, the second in line to the Vale and a cousin of the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard had all been murdered. Yet Quentyn sat there in front of him with barely a scratch.
"May I be excused your grace."
"Excused, you will stay where you are until I tell you otherwise, you don't think it strange that you alone walked from that place?"
"I don't understand, I was lucky your grace, they thought me dead." Quentyn said and he felt the rage boil over.
"No one is that lucky." he said as he walked from the room leaving him sitting there with a dumbfounded look on his face.
"Your Grace. Ser Loras?" Ser Oswell said and he looked to him and nodded before turning to the other guards.
"He doesn't leave that room and no one and I mean no one enters do you understand?"
"We do your grace." the guard said.
He walked down the corridor to the room where Ser Loras was kept, walking inside he found a very different picture being presented. Loras was pacing angrily around the room, though soon he calmed and nodded when he saw him enter.
"Your grace." he said with a bow, ever the chivalrous knight Rhaegar thought.
"Why were you not with my son?"
"Your grace?" Loras asked confused.
"My son, your prince, why were you not with him?"
"I… your grace, I'd rather not say."
"What you would rather do or not do matter's little to me Ser Loras, do I need to order you to answer?"
"No your grace, I wasn't with Prince Aegon because I refuse to see my sister shamed so."
"How so?"
"Brothels, your grace, I refuse to accompany Prince Aegon to them any longer. I'm sorry your grace and I understand if this puts me in disfavor, but she is my sister and while I may not be able to do anything about the shaming itself, I'll not be a part of it."
"So that's the only reason you were not with my son last night?"
"It is your grace, has someone suggested otherwise? You need only speak to the prince, your grace, I have made my feelings clear on this to Prince Aegon." Loras said and Rhaegar wondered if he really didn't know what had happened.
"When did you last see my son?" he asked more curious now.
"Last night your grace, he and the others wished to go to the brothel and so we parted. We're to meet up later today."
"You are?" he asked surprised and it was becoming clear that either he was lying or he really didn't know what had happened.
"We always do your grace." Loras asked a confused look on his face.
"You have no idea what happened do you?"
"Your grace?" Loras said even more confused now.
He decided to tell him and as he watched his reactions it was clear that this boy was no mummer, he was genuinely shocked. That it seemed to be more Harrold Hardyng and the Darkstar he was upset about wasn't a surprise given what he had said about Aegon, but still the boy tried to be comforting.
"The prince must be alive your grace, surely they'll ransom him?"
"We will see, you should go be with your family Ser Loras, you have my apologies for bringing you here like this."
"They are unneeded your grace, I understand and if I can be of any assistance."
"I thank you Ser Loras, but I fear you cannot help here."
He walked back to his solar and sat down trying to make sense of this, trying to figure out the why and who of this. Two attacks on his family in the same few hours, one son fighting for his life and the other god's knows where, he felt the tears fall from his eyes, he felt the helplessness of it all and he began to cry.
Kings Landing 300 AC.
Olenna .
When they'd come to take Loras away Olenna had never felt herself more nervous or worried about their position. Whatever had happened not only was it more serious than she had heard, but it involved both princes and perhaps the princess too since no one had seen Rhaenys. Her men weren't allowed on the streets, she and her family confined to the Maidenvault and so the news itself was slow to reach her.
What she knew was something had happened with Prince Daemon, something which now had the city in lockdown and which also clearly impacted Aegon and Rhaenys too. While Margaery sat and worried more for her brother than her future husband, while Mace, as usual, sat cluelessly and wondered why he as a small council member wasn't being sent for. She sat and worried not of a betrothal or her granddaughter on the throne, but of whether they would keep their heads.
This was why when Loras arrived back she was both relieved and eager to see him. Her grandson was unharmed though clearly disturbed, he seemed incredibly upset which Margaery noticed as she immediately ran and embraced her brother. A part of Olenna wished to do the same but they had more pressing concerns right now than her grandson's feelings.
"What's going on?" she asked when Margaery and Loras moved towards her and she hated how clueless she was at that moment, hated how much like her son she sounded.
"They're dead Grandmother" Loras said simply and to the point and incredibly vaguely much to her annoyance.
"Who is dead?"
"My friends, those who were with Prince Aegon, the prince is missing, but they're dead, Joffrey, Harry, Gerold, Prince Lewyn, and the guards too."
"What? How? When." she said and if she thought she sounded like Mace moments earlier than now she was channeling him.
"I don't know, Quentyn was the only one who survived. I think his grace thought I played a role as I wasn't with them." Loras said his voice still clearly showing his upset.
"Princess Rhaenys, Prince Daemon?"
"Princess Rhaenys is safe grandmother she's by her brother's bedside." Loras said infuriatingly telling her just the barest details and forcing her to ask for more.
"Loras, what the hell is going on? Speak up boy." she said her temper rising and causing both Loras and Margaery to look at her with concern.
"Someone attacked Prince Daemon he's been hurt badly grandmother, someone also attacked Prince Aegon and my friends, they're dead along with Prince Lewyn and Aegon is missing." he said back snippily and were it lesser news he was telling her she may have reprimanded him for it.
Instead, though her mind was already processing or trying to process what had happened, an attack on both princes, Quentyn the only survivor, were it not for Lewyn she'd be sure this was the work of Dorne. Could it have gotten out of hand? Gone wrong somehow and Lewyn was an unintended casualty? She kept going over and over things in her mind, trying and failing to figure out the game that was being played.
Dorne would wish Daemon dead on that much she and they almost agreed, though given what she had heard earlier from the dragon and what Gormon had suggested, she had changed her mind on that thinking. Perhaps Dorne didn't have the same luck with their research as she, perhaps they were still so assured over their lucky shot. But she worried what a riderless dragon would do should Daemon fall.
"Grandmother, what are we to do?" Margaery asked and Olenna wasn't sure if she actually had the right answer.
"There is nothing we can do, we are prisoners here sweetling, until the king gives us permission to leave we are prisoners."
She spent most of the rest of the day trying to figure things out, Harrold Hardyng's death would eliminate the Vale as suspects, though with Littlefinger there perhaps not. Joffrey's would provoke the lions into responding though Daemon's attack alone may have been enough for that. But her mind kept going back to Dorne, logically they were the ones who benefited, Rhaenys was unharmed, Aegon not killed but he had been removed from the board.
Should Daemon die, should Aegon not be found and she doubted he would, then Rhaenys would next sit the throne and Doran would have what he always wished for. But this was too overt, too obvious, and it was not a move she'd see Doran make, which made it far more likely that it was someone making it seem that way. But who? Why? What did it benefit them? Where was this to lead?.
The more she played it over in her head the more she was convinced it wasn't Doran Martell, Joffrey's death made it clear it wasn't the Old Lion, not that she'd put a move like this past Tywin, but he'd not do so at the cost of his grandson. Which brought her to Prince Daemon himself, could it have been him? Was this him making a move for the throne?.
"Loras, Prince Daemon how serious are his injuries?" she asked and Loras didn't reply "Loras." she said a little louder.
"What? Sorry grandmother, I didn't hear you."
"Prince Daemon, Loras, how serious are his injuries?"
"I believe they're grave grandmother." Loras said and Olenna felt herself shudder.
Faking an attack on yourself while you made your move was one thing, but actually being attacked, injuring yourself gravely. No, this wasn't Daemon, nor his people given how they practically worshipped the ground he walked upon. Which meant this was someone else, a new player in the game, or an old one making a return and Olenna felt a shiver down her spine, as yet again she was lost in the dark.
Kings Landing 300 AC.
Arthur.
He watched Daemon's breaths come in short gasps before returning to normal, the princess and Myrcella along with the queen mother had finally left him alone. Reluctantly on the two younger girls' part, they had gone to eat something. He had stayed behind his eyes were focussed on the boy he had trained whenever he could. Thoros too hadn't left, the red priest showing far more fatherly concern for Daemon than Rhaegar ever did.
He loved his prince, his king, he was his greatest friend, and like all friends, they had their falling outs, though theirs always revolved around the boy who was now fighting for his life. From the day he had returned from Dorne to the day Rhaella took Daemon to Dragonstone, even in his friend's grief Arthur's anger and disgust at him never went away.
At one point, he had almost thrown down his white cloak only for Elia to talk him out of it, Ashara to talk him out of it. So he had tried to help Daemon where he could, he had trained him against Rhaegar's wishes, he had spoken to him and did his best to alleviate the boy's worries and fears. He and Ashara had tried to show him love as best he was able, his sister better in that regard than he, they had tried to show him he had friends at court.
"Thoros." he thought he heard a woman's voice say and so he looked up and realized he'd been holding Daemon's hand.
"Thoros, you must come." the woman said and he saw she was another of the red priests.
"Our prince needs me here." Thoros said making it clear he wasn't leaving.
"We cannot help him here, the fight he is having is not in this world." the red priestess said and he wondered what she meant by that.
"Melisandre?" Thoros asked his voice sounding just as confused as Arthur was.
"It's R'hllor's will which keeps him alive Thoros, it's to him we must look, both of us." she said and he noticed now the concern in her voice, this woman cared for Daemon, she cared deeply.
"Ser Arthur, I ask you don't leave him alone." Thoros said.
"I won't." he replied simply and to the point and the priest nodded as he and the woman left.
He looked back down to the boy, apart from the bandages around his chest you'd think him just asleep, the expression on his face not one of pain or hurt but one he had seen him rarely wear. As a boy when he trained him or when Barristan did, when they spoke to him of battles long past or when Ashara smiled at him he'd wear that same expression. Mainly though it was reserved for his grandmother, for seeing her when she returned, or when she was taking him back to their island, for that's what Dragonstone became.
He had visited it rarely while Rhaella was in residence, but the boy he found there made his anger rise at his friend, how could anyone not love that boy? Not be enchanted by his smiles or laughter? How could they not see he was his mother's son, and if he loved her like Arthur knew he had, how could he not embrace all that was left of her?.
"I should have been with you." he said as he looked at the bandages "I should have protected you." he said as he brushed his hair from his face "Forgive me Lya." he said softly as he closed his eyes.
He didn't sleep, didn't even think, his mind free and clear and as he sat there he saw the images come to him.
A small boy waving a wooden sword dancing away as he swung it, tearing a piece of bread in two and watching the boy wolf it down. An angry slap by a queen to her errant son as he failed in his duty to his child. He saw a broken king cry, weep over things that were said and yet not once acknowledge how hard they must have been for the boy to say them.
His eyes opened as he heard the door do likewise and Rhaella and the girls walked back in, Myrcella had been crying as had Rhaenys and he was glad they had her with them, as she could offer them comfort that only a mother could.
"Thoros?" Rhaella asked.
"He and Melisandre have gone to pray."
"You should speak to Bon, Arthur, he and Davos will best tell you what happened."
"I need to speak to the princess, your grace."
"Speak to them first Arthur." she said and he nodded as he got up, he brushed the stray piece of hair back from Daemon's eyes once again and leaned forward and kissed his forehead, shocking all three of the women by his actions.
He found the leader of the unsullied outside the room and he showed him where Bon and Davos were speaking, as he walked in he saw almost a dozen men of the hundred in the room with them.
"Ser Bonifer, Ser Davos, a word if I may?"
"Aye, you have your orders, Ser Jareth you have command."
"I am but one in a hundred." Ser Jareth said less firmly than he'd have thought.
"As am I." Bonifer said and his voice was firmer and far more determined.
Once the knights had left Bonifer sat down and he noticed how angry and concerned the man looked, Ser Davos too, but he knew Bonifer longer and was more able to read the man.
"Forgive me, Arthur, I have lost too many friends this day."
"There is nothing to forgive Bon, what happened?"
"Here or with Aegon?"
"Tell me of here first."
Bonifer began to tell him of how Rhaenys arrived and spoke to her brother, how they seemed friendly, and then as she was leaving how Ghost and then Daemon began running after her. He told him that Daemon pushed her from the first arrow and ordered his men to get her to safety before he was hit by the second.
"Why didn't they take him, Bon, I mean I'm glad the princess is safe, but why didn't his men take him?"
"The unsullied follow orders Ser Arthur, they do so explicitly, an order from their prince can only be countermanded by their prince and he told them to protect the princess, so that's what they did." Ser Davos said.
"Even at the risk to himself?" he asked.
"You have no idea what that boy has done Ser Arthur, what they have seen him do, they have a bond he and the unsullied, an unbreakable bond. Your king orders you to do something and you do it, you may not agree with it but you do it. That's not how it works with the unsullied and Daemon, he freed them, he gave them their lives back, they don't question, they do." Ser Davos said and Arthur nodded.
"Aegon?"
"I don't know Arthur, his guards were killed, his friends apart from Prince Quentyn, but as good as his guards are that wouldn't give me pause. My men, Prince Lewyn, these were trained men Arthur, well trained, while there are those who could beat them there aren't many. Of those in Westeros, I always know their locations." Bon said
"You're saying these weren't Westerosi?"
"Have you seen the man who attacked Daemon?"
"No."
"Walk with me Arthur, Davos?"
"Aye, I'll come along." Davos said.
He was taken down a corridor and into a room, the body lay on a table, it had been cleaned and it looked to him as if they had examined it, something which he found strange.
"I had Marwyn take a look, I asked him to see if he could find anything that I may not see." Bon said.
"Did he?"
"No, it is as you see it Arthur, just a man, but while he may look Westerosi I'd bet my last copper that he's from Essos, that man is a sellsword Arthur, I'd stake my life on it."
"How do you know?" Davos asked.
"Look at his hand's Ser, that man has wielded a sword in battle, check his fingers, those are fingers of a man who's used a bow all his life."
"Doesn't make him a sellsword Bon." Davos said.
"On its own no, but the arrows were too close together, this man is far too experienced to be just a random man who is good with a bow, this is a sellsword and by the gods, I'll find the company he works for if I have to go to Essos myself."
"No need." Arthur heard a voice from behind them, all three of them turning to see the unsullied leader standing there. He'd not even heard him come in and seeing him with his hands behind him standing straight he felt unnerved.
"Torgho Nudho?" Davos asked.
"Stormcrow, Ser Davos." the man said before walking away and heading back down the corridor.
"How can he be sure?" Arthur asked before Bon had the chance to.
"If Torgho Nudho says he's a Stormcrow, he's a Stormcrow." Davos said.
"Torgho Nudho?" he asked.
"It means Grey Worm, Arthur." Bon said and he shook his head.
"You've dealt with these Stromcrows?" he asked Davos.
"No, not I, Thoros would know of them though."
"He's gone to pray."
"Then you should rest Ser Arthur, it's going to be a long night."
Kings Landing 300 AC.
Daemon.
The sand was warm, the sun beaming down on him, and yet he felt no thirst or need for rest. He moved on, forward, ever forward, he had to get there, he needed to reach it while he still had time. He saw the tower in the distance and then he saw her, she was laughing with Arthur and Oswell while Ser Gerold stood by straight-faced. Even from this distance, he could hear the sounds of her laughs and as he moved closer he smiled.
Her hair was long and dark brown and though he could see her belly was swollen it would be hard to tell given how she moved. She almost glided across the sand, almost as if she was floating through the air. As the images began to fade he ran, soon he was sprinting and yet he was too late, far too late.
He stood outside a room, the door open but he couldn't get inside, some barrier preventing him from doing so. She was in a bed, the sheets were bloodstained and she looked terribly weak, terribly fragile, and it was hard for him to picture this woman and the one he'd seen earlier as being one and the same. His uncle, Ser Arthur, both sat on the bed as she looked at them.
" Is it really you?" his mother asked.
" Aye, it's me." his uncle said.
" I missed you big brother."
" I missed you too."
" I'm sorry, for Brandon, for Father, I..it was."
" Shhh, we can worry about that later, you need to be strong Lya."
" I'm not, I've tried to be. I'm not, if I was then I wouldn't be leaving him alone. Ned, Arthur, I need you to promise me, both of you I need you to promise me."
" What Lya, what?" Arthur said.
" His name, his name is Dae… Dae… Daemon Targaryen, promise me, promise me….."
" Lya, Lya." his uncle said as he cried.
When his own tears stopped he found himself in a glade, the Weirwoods surrounded him and he wiped his eyes. He got up and began to walk moving past the Weirwoods and deeper into a forest. Up ahead of him he saw a small house by the water and as he moved towards it he saw a large grey wolf at the door, he moved more carefully now, the wolf watching his every step.
"Winter, do we have a guest." he heard a woman's voice, and then he saw her.
"Mother?" he asked.
"Daemon?" she said her smile blinding.
He moved towards her and instead found himself in a large grey room, the fires burning all around it, the brazier's lit, a room he knew all too well, a room he had visited as a boy.
"Let me go back, let me see her." he shouted.
"Why?" the voice said.
"I am your chosen, I've always been your chosen, I pledged myself to you, did I ask for anything in return?"
"No."
"Did I carry out your will?"
"Yes."
"Let me go back, give me this."
"It is not me who wishes to give you this boon Daemon Targaryen, it is not in my power to do so, why should I allow others give you what I cannot?."
"You are jealous?" he asked surprised.
"Have you not always known it so?" the voice said.
"My God is a jealous God." Daemon said.
"You are my chosen, mine, not theirs, it is my will you serve, my gifts you carry, my favor you wear."
"Now and always." Daemon said as he took a knee and bowed his head.
"Then you may return, tell my brothers we may serve the same purpose, we may seek the same ends, but my champion is mine and mine alone."
"As you will it so it shall be done." Daemon said and the fires burned brighter than he had ever seen.
The forest seemed never-ending, he ran faster than he had ever thought himself able, but whether he was moving in the wrong direction, whether he was running in circles, each time he cleared it he ended up back once again in the glade.
"You seek a boon, but offer us nothing Dragon Prince." the voice called out and he looked on as a small child walked towards him, no not a child, a child of the forest.
"Our brother would keep you for himself, yet we have need of you too." another voice said from behind him.
"Have we not already given you a boon, given you our symbol, and yet it's to our brother you bow, to him you kneel." another voice said.
"Where were you when I was alone in the world? Where were you when I didn't know my place? Was it you who came to me and helped me? You who walked me through the shadows?" Daemon said as the children began to laugh.
"We waited for you, there is not here, his world is not our own." the first child said.
"Had you come North instead of gone East then we would have come to you, did we not do so when you finally walked the path you were supposed to?" the second one said.
"We now offer you another boon, one our brother cannot match, yet still you refuse us." the last one said "We who are the gods of your mother, the gods of your kin."
"I have no god but R'hllor, so yes I refuse you, for eight years it was he who fought for me, he who fought with me, he who made me, so yes I refuse you."
"You will not be our champion?" the first child said.
"You will not be our will?" the second one said.
"Then you will not be our chosen?" the last one said.
"My God is a jealous God, I am his, he is mine." Daemon said.
"Then what use are you to us?"
"Why should we help you?"
"What do we gain if you will not be ours?" the children said one after the other.
"We serve the same purpose, we seek the same ends, but I am his champion, so help me or don't, but you need me otherwise you wouldn't risk so much. So I'll help you, but I'll never be yours."
The light was blinding and then he felt the cold, felt the ice in his veins, opening his eyes he stood on top of the wall, the bandage around his chest leaking blood and it dripped onto the ice beneath his feet.
"Blood is the key." he heard a voice that was different but the same as the children's, "The night may be dark and full of terrors, the light may defeat dark, but cold winds are blowing, be careful they don't extinguish your flame. You may not have chosen us, but we choose you, Jon Snow, we choose you for who you could have been."
He heard the wolf howl and found himself back in front of the small house, Jon Snow? Why had they called him that name? he tried to think but the door opened and the woman stood in front of him, her smiling face looking directly at his, he felt her fingers on his cheek and he closed his eyes and leaned into her touch.
"My son." he heard her say.
Kings Landing 300 AC.
Rhaella.
Myrcella took the death of her brother well, though she had known they didn't get along, she had been upset of course, and had needed time with her uncle, but she was far more worried about Daemon than Joffrey. As for Rhaenys that was a different matter, while she was upset, there was something else there, something Rhaella wasn't sure of, something which concerned her.
So after eating some and coming back to see Daemon she waited, she waited for Arthur, for Thoros, for someone else to come and sit with her grandson, she and her granddaughter needed to speak. It took some time and she was pleased to see how both girls were with Daemon. Myrcella was everything she had hoped she would be when she and Joanna had agreed to the match all those years earlier.
Seeing her with her grandson she knew they would be good for each other, seeing her with him now she knew her feelings to be true. As for Rhaenys the concern she didn't show for Aegon was clearly there for Daemon and she wondered what they had spoken of, had they cleared things up between them? Could it have happened so quickly? Or was it that her brother had saved her life? Was that the reason for her newfound concern?.
"Your Grace, I would like to speak to the princess now." Ser Arthur said as he entered and before she had come to a conclusion on her granddaughter's mindset.
"I'm afraid you need to wait Ser Arthur, my granddaughter and I need to speak."
"Of course your grace."
While Arthur took a seat, she took Rhaenys's hand and they walked down to her room, she asked for tea to be brought and took a seat bidding Rhaenys do likewise. Once she had she began and she didn't bother to beat around the bush, this, whatever this was needed to be dealt with quickly. They needed to move on and so she needed to know what was her granddaughter's mind.
"You will never be queen, Rhaenys." she said to a gasp from her granddaughter.
"I.."
"I know it's what you wish for, I know it's what you've spent your whole life thinking was your role, helped no doubt by your uncles, but you'll never be queen granddaughter the realm won't allow it."
"So you wish to see Daemon crowned, even though he doesn't wish it?" Rhaenys said with a little bite in her voice, she had decided to go full-on as the girl needed to learn and time was of the essence.
"I do and the best kings are those who don't seek the throne, the best queens too."
"Like you?"
"Ha, you think I ever sought the throne for myself? Or that I'm doing so now through your brother. If you do then you're far less clever than I think you are." she said surprising the girl some.
"You think I'm clever?"
"I do and the realm needs clever women, your brother will have need of you when he recovers."
"What if he doesn't?" her granddaughter asked her worry clear.
"If you only knew child, arrows, they are the least of what your brother has faced."
"I..I don't know what I want." Rhaenys said sighing "I want my family safe, I want them protected and Egg… Egg he would have seen us fall."
"I know, I've been watching you a long time granddaughter. I know what's in your heart better than you, had Daemon not returned I'd have supported you."
"You would?"
"I would, I've seen your brother, we cannot afford another bad king Rhaenys you were right on that. But the realm wouldn't have accepted you, they won't accept you."
"Daemon did." she said a small smile on her face.
"He would, he used to speak of you when he was a child, not to me, not to others, but to himself when he thought we weren't listening, when he thought himself alone, he spoke of you." Rhaella said.
"I..I want my brother back, I want both of them back." Rhaenys said before she began to cry.
Rhaella got up and walked over to her, taking her into her arms for the first time in she knew not how long, feeling her embrace her back. The world wasn't ready for a queen to rule, had they no choice they'd have followed her, but no matter her schemes no matter her wishes the road would have been a far too difficult one to travel. Her closeness with Dorne alone was problematic but not so much as her sex would be.
Aegon being passed over would create a rift and some lords would seek to take advantage of it. If it wasn't with her grandson then it would be with her son and Viserys would then end up as the pawn of ambitious men. So many years earlier when it was clear to her how the battle lines were being drawn, when she had taken her grandson and had him safe with her she had begun to make her own plans.
The North would follow Daemon, the Riverlands would be split but with the Blackfish they'd carry them mostly, which left her to choose between the West and the Reach. Joanna trumped Olenna for her, both were ambitious but for different reasons and so it was to the West she looked and to them, she made the alliance. The North, the West, the Riverlands, the Vale too, at least while Jon Arryn had led it, and then the question would be war or a council While always hoping for the latter, she knew deep down it would be war.
"I will support my brother." Rhaenys said a few moments later and she smiled at that.
"And he, you, together Rhaenys, you do this together, the realm may not be ready for a queen, but a Hand perhaps." she said as her granddaughter gasped.
"I… you think?"
"I think you are the most suited for the role, I'm sure your brother will agree."
"What of Egg?"
"We will find my grandson, on that, you have my word."
Kings Landing 300 AC.
Varys .
Daemon's return had completely changed the game, he had practically taken the table and turned it on its head,. Even he had been caught by surprise by it, by all of it, the dragon, the red priests, the army. How had he not known? How had they not known? A Targaryen in Essos surely they should have sought him out, surely they should have found him and done what was needed.
But somehow they had not, somehow he had blinded himself to them, to him, and no whispers from them, or from his little birds had ever reached his ears. So when he had spoken to the king and been unable to offer any news of Prince Daemon all those years earlier he had spoken the truth, when he had spoken upon his return he had spoken the truth.
For over one and twenty years he had played his role here, he had whispered in Aerys's ear and helped drive the madness only for somehow the dragons to survive. He had thought he may lose his head when Rhaegar took the throne but had surprisingly kept it and his job. While not as mad as his father, the son was someone who could be managed, a man who could be diverted and so he had done so for as long as he could.
But it was with the children that he saw the greatest opportunity, to the rifts in court, to the Dornish, and to the Hand. Indirectly he helped the festering wounds grow, kept tales from the king of his heir's worst excesses, of the princess's silly plots, and things went how he hoped until Daemon's return. A new player and one he couldn't reach, couldn't predict and couldn't if the boy wished it so, stop. So plans had been changed and a more direct action had been agreed upon.
A few days earlier.
The tunnel was dark and quiet except for the footsteps coming towards him, he almost laughed when he saw the blue-haired Tyroshi in the light. The arrogant swagger the man walked with he hoped was more than an act, given what they were about to do.
" Lord Varys." the man said and he grimaced that he knew who he was.
" And you are?"
" My name is not important, my orders are, it is all set?"
" Almost, your men are ready?" he asked.
" They are, this brothel-keeper you trust him?"
" I trust only one man, and you're looking at him." he said and the Tyroshi laughed.
" His guards?"
" Castle men, he's yet to be appointed a new Kingsguard."
" Your king is a fool." the man said.
" I have no king." Varys replied.
" Nor I, the distraction is set?"
" It is, they will wound the girl, you must do the same to the boy, Dorne is to be blamed for this, and then we will have what we want."
" Chaos is a ladder, my friend."
" Chaos is a ladder." he said as he walked away hoping not to have climbed too high if the ladder suddenly got kicked away from beneath his feet.
It was now time to thread yet another needle, time to introduce more chaos into the world. He entered into the passageway behind his walls and began to move to the Tower of the Hand, climbing up the ladder and smirking at the symbolism. When he reached the room he was happy to find Jon Connington elsewhere, drowning his sorrows over his beloved Aegon no doubt.
He placed the note on the ground as if it had been slipped under the door and then he crawled back into the passage and began his long journey back to his own rooms. He would need to change and apply more perfume but it had been worthwhile, as no doubt Connington would take the bait. The princess's lack of injury annoyed him, the assassin doing a terrible job, though he supposed if the prince died then the assassin had earned his coin.
Not that he'd get to spend it, it was too hard to outrun a wolf it would seem and he only hoped for his own sake that he would be luckier should he need to run himself. Upon his return, he changed his clothing and applied his perfume and made his way to the King's solar. He may not keep his job this day given the news he brought, but it didn't matter, the dye had been cast and all he had to do now was wait.
"His grace asked not to be disturbed." Ser Oswell said.
"I know that Ser, but he asked me to bring him what I found, and so I have."
He waited while the knight went inside before he was then shown in a few moments later. The king and queen both sitting by his desk.
"My son Varys, where is he?"
"I do not know for certain your grace, only that a ship left heading south not but a day past."
"A ship, I ordered the docks closed, who's ship?" Rhaegar said angrily.
"The ship was anchored a few miles up the coast your grace, some men were seen rowing towards it from a small cove."
"South, to Dorne? You think my family involved?" the queen asked angrily.
"I do not believe so your grace, I believe we're being led in that direction by those who are truly involved, though who they are I'm yet to ascertain."
"You think someone wishes to blame Dorne?" Rhaegar asked.
"I believe it's too blatant to be Dorne, too obvious and while I could, of course, be wrong, it begs me to ask the question of who would wish to make it seem so."
"You think the Reach?" Elia asked.
"I do not know your grace, my little birds sing me no whispers of what the roses have been doing, so if it is them I'm afraid they've caught me unawares."
"You are the Master of Whisperers, what use to me are you if you cannot help me?" Rhaegar asked angrily.
"I can only offer my apologies and say that I serve at your pleasure your grace, should my services no longer be required I am yours to do with as you wish."
He watched as Elia whispered in her husband's ear and though he couldn't hear he knew exactly what she was saying 'our son is missing we need him'.
"Find my son Lord Varys." Rhaegar said a moment later.
"I will do my best your grace." he said as he began to turn "One other thing your grace, most strange."
"What?"
"The Hand your grace, I would have thought him more concerned given his closeness to the prince, however, my little birds have whispered that he's Ahem." he coughed for good measure "Been partaking in some pleasures of the flesh."
"What?"
"A local brothel your grace, one which caters more to the particular tastes of the Hand."
"I want you to find my son Lord Varys, not my Hand." Rhaegar said as he looked to his wife, the bait swallowed yet again.
"Of course your grace."
He walked from the room happy and sure the seed had taken root, chaos is a ladder that one needs to keep climbing all the time. Climb and hope that you've reached high enough from the ground that you'll find eventually find a safe place to step off.
Kings Landing 300 AC.
Daemon.
She stood no more than two feet in front of him, his mother, she could touch him, he could feel her and so he grabbed her in his arms and for the first time since he was a babe he felt his mother's arms around him.
"My son, let me look at you, such a handsome man you've grown into." his mother said as she led him inside the house.
It was small, but neat and tidy, well kept and looked well lived in, on the fire a pot boiled and he could smell the food cooking. She directed him to sit down at the table and grabbed two bowls, some mugs a jug, and some spoons which she placed on the table before walking to the pot. As he watched her struggle to lift it he jumped up only to be waved to sit back down and then she walked forward and placed it on the table.
He watched every single movement she made, every single one, he memorized them, how she moved her hair back when she placed the pot on the table, how she picked up the bowl and filled it with the stew. He watched as she poured the water into the mug and even how she sat down on the chair.
"Eat up my love, and then we can talk."
"Yes mother." he said and her smile went straight to his heart.
The stew was among the best meals he'd ever tasted, whether it was the food itself or simply the company he ate it with he didn't know, but when she offered him another bowl he took it gratefully. He found himself looking at her as she ate, her spoonfuls small and delicate compared to his own overly full ones, before the meal was over he was copying her, drinking when she drank and eating as she did.
When they were done she got up and put the pot down on a shelf before taking the bowls and washing them in a small bucket, he dried them for her and she took them and put them away and then they walked over and sat by the fire.
"They promised me I would see you, that I could touch you." she said reaching out and taking his hand in hers "That they would gift me this for bringing you into the world."
"Who?"
"The old gods, the children of the forest, you've seen them have you not?"
"I have."
"You were born to be their champion Daemon, born to be someone else. Daeron Targaryen that's what I wished to call you, Jon Snow that's how the gods would name you." she said a smile.
"But how, what happened?"
"I don't know, someone intervened, someone powerful, something powerful, the world is filled with gods and monsters my son, you know this better than any."
"I do." he said as he reached over to touch her face "I dreamed of you, at night I'd dream of you, a shadow, a phantom, just out of my reach, but I knew it was you and I longed for you to be real." he said his tears falling.
"I'm sorry my love, our time together was to have been longer, but it was not to be and I..I..they showed me, they showed me you. I've seen you happy Daemon, seen you sad, seen you when you were hurt and alone and when you were surrounded by those who loved you. I'm sorry I couldn't do more, I'm sorry your father didn't do more." she said and he took her in his arms as she cried.
"You have nothing to be sorry about mother, I love you, I've always loved you."
"And I love you my son." she said as the wolf began to howl.
"You must go Daemon, you must go before you cannot."
"No, I want to stay here, I want to stay with you." he said his voice pleading.
"I will see you again my love, think of me and know I'm always thinking of you. Now come, I can lead you out."
They walked with the wolf to the glade, his mother holding his hand all the way, the wolf leaning against her side.
"Thank you for what you did for the North, for my family, for our family." she said.
"I.."
"I know, now listen, listen to me carefully Daemon."
"Yes, mother."
"You were born to be a champion, to be a prince, to be a king. It's time Daemon, it's time to be who you were meant to be."
"I don't know who that is?"
"Kill the prince, Daemon, kill the prince inside you. Winter is almost upon us. Kill the prince and let the king be born." his mother said as she faded away.