King's Landing 300 AC.
Daemon.
He walked through the Red Keep with Rhaenys beside him, his sister asking him how things had gone and Daemon telling her that not only had he shut the blue eyes forever but that he brought a proposal with him from the Free Folk. Rhaenys looked at him as if he was crazy, his sister wondering what possible reason they would have to do a deal with savages.
"They're not how we've been told they are Rhaenys, true they're rough around the edges but we've heard Northmen being called savages too because they're different than those in the South." Daemon said.
"But they're even more savage than they are, are they not?" she asked.
"They wish to be free, to decide what their lives should be, and not have others force them to live how they wish them to. They also live in tough conditions, it's a hard life they face and so they're tough men and women." Daemon said.
"Women?" she asked curiously.
"The women fight too, they need to be able to protect themselves and so most learn how to fight from early on." Daemon said and he saw the small smirk on Rhaenys face.
"So you've agreed a peace treaty with them?" she asked.
"More than that." he said with a smile as they reached the family apartments.
They entered the rooms to see Elia, Aegon, and his daughter and their father all sitting around, the little girl clearly having all three of them wrapped around her finger. For a moment Daemon was too as he looked at her playing with some toys on the floor, the smile on his father's face not one he'd seen much over the years and certainly not directed his way. When he'd come back it had been different he supposed and he didn't begrudge the girl or even his father for their happiness.
"Daemon." he heard Elia say as she noticed him first, the younger Elia looking his way now and smiling at him which he couldn't but help return.
"My queen." Daemon said as Elia looked him over, her eyes taking in every inch of him as she made sure he was unharmed.
"Daemon was successful father, the Free Folk seek a peace with the crown." Rhaenys said when his father looked his way.
"They do?" his father asked surprised.
"And a trade deal." Daemon said.
His father's eyes caught his own and both Elia and Aegon noticed the looks they were giving each other, Elia being the one to almost send them on their way.
"Daemon why don't you and your father go and speak in his solar." Elia said and he nodded.
"Should I come?" Rhaenys asked and while he could see his father wished to speak to him alone and he, him, he wasn't as ready for it as he thought he was and so he nodded.
He walked over and kissed Elia's cheek before he reached out his hand to touch his brother's shoulder, Aegon nodding to him and Daemon could see just how much he'd recovered. Kneeling down he smiled at the little girl and mussed her hair, her giggles filling him with resolve as he rose. Daemon took Rhaenys's arm as they walked from the room and into his father's solar. He'd come here few times over the years, more since he'd returned, and yet even standing there now all he could think of was those few times he'd been here as a child. Times when he'd snuck in to see his father, times when he'd been shown the truth of how he was thought of. His expression must have shown some of that as when his father looked at him, Daemon could see the guilt on his face, the sad look that soon forced him to turn to Rhaenys.
"How have things been going with Tywin?" he asked his sister.
"Good, we spend a couple of days together each week and speak often, I'm learning so much more about the true extent of what it takes to run the realm." Rhaenys said eagerly.
"And Willas?" he asked seeing her blush.
"Is most attentive." Rhaenys said after a moment.
"Good, he should be." he said to a smile and a kiss on the cheek from his sister.
"The Free Folk, Daemon?" his father said interrupting his small talk with Rhaenys.
"I arrived with a moon or so to spare, we spoke and I asked them what they wished for. They knew what was coming for them and all they wanted was to survive it and be allowed to live in peace but they thought to do so they needed to be on the other side of the Wall. That they needed to put it between them and the cold ones as they called them." Daemon said as he reached for the jug of water on his father's desk and poured himself a mug of it.
"The cold ones?" Rhaenys asked quicker than his father could.
"The blue eyes. One of the champions of the Great Other, the so-called Night King." Daemon said and saw his father nod as if he'd heard this story before.
"Aemon spoke often of him, him and the Long Night, as did your…" his father said and Daemon didn't need to hear him say more.
"So you brought them through the Wall?" Rhaenys asked noticing the change of mood.
"I couldn't, we had no time, and were we on the move when we were attacked then far too many would have fallen." Daemon said and noticed his father's proud look as he listened to him.
"So what did you do?" Rhaenys asked.
"We built up the defenses, readied ourselves, and put a plan in motion for when they attacked. Lyanax and I took to the air and laid down flames, the Free Folk under their King and with Throros's help formed up and we had the old, ill, the children, and the women who couldn't fight stay in caves where they could be protected." Daemon said not speaking about the flames he'd used to add to that protection or the Children of the Forest.
"And you won." Rhaenys said happily.
"And we won." he said looking to her.
"So what now of the Free Folk, Daemon?" his father asked.
"I've signed an accord with them, they'll not come south of the Wall and ask that we instruct the Night's Watch to cease their attacks on them. I've given them my word that should they not then I'd see the Night's Watch faces both me and Lyanax, and I've accepted their word that they'll live up to their end of the accord." Daemon said.
"You trust them?" his father asked.
"They don't know how to lie." he said and his father nodded.
He took a swallow of the water, the coolness of it welcome as his throat began to feel drier than ever, Daemon knowing that the time to speak on something that he'd waited all his life to speak on was drawing ever closer.
"There is more." he said and Rhaenys looked at him as he put his hand in his pocket and took out a shining gem.
"What is that?" his sister asked curiously.
"The caves where we protected the Free Folk. Before I arrived they were places they feared to enter. Cold, dark places, and given the cold ones that they were already frightened of, they may have believed to be where they came from. I showed them they were not and weren't places they should fear and as I was doing so we found those." Daemon said.
"They have more?" his father asked curiously.
"They have, others too as well as Gold, Silver, Iron, and Tin. In those caves alone they have perhaps more wealth than the Lannisters do. They need things, food, better weapons, help to build proper housing and now they have a way to buy them." Daemon said.
"You're speaking about a trade deal?" his father asked.
"A very lucrative one, one in which a lot of kingdoms will benefit. I told them I'd send them men to help them so they wouldn't be taken advantage of, but the Reach, the North, the West, all will benefit from trading with the Free Folk and the Free Folk themselves will thrive. They'll have even more of a reason to keep to their word and live up to the accord." Daemon said and he saw his father nod.
"You have this accord?" his father asked as Daemon handed him the parchment.
He looked on as his father read it and then signed it, Daemon asking him to send a raven to the Night's Watch ordering them to stand down and warning them that any attack on the Free Folk would be met with consequences. After he told them he would, they both looked at each other and he felt Rhaenys squeeze his arm.
"Rhaenys, can you give your brother and me a moment alone." his father said and Rhaenys nodded, looking at him and giving him a soft smile as she walked from the room.
Daemon finished the rest of the water in the mug and quickly poured himself another, his father sighing as he drank this one down in one swallow.
"Tell me about my mother." Daemon said softly.
King's Landing 300 AC.
Rhaegar.
He had listened to the things his son had said with a sense of pride that he'd felt in him since his return. The things he spoke of and how he did so leaving him in no doubt that she had been so very right and he was incredibly wrong. As they spoke of the Free Folk and of the battles, of the accord Daemon had agreed and of a trading agreement that would in one stroke make at least three of the kingdoms a huge amount of coin, Rhaegar's mind was only partly on the words being said.
Mainly he was thinking about his personal failures, both as a king and as a father, and while with Rhaenys and now somewhat with Egg he'd managed to right some of the wrongs, with her son he had not. It was time he felt to do that as soon enough he wished to be gone from this place. Despite what Daemon had said his mind was made up and the crown on his head had become too heavy to wear. Though compared to the feelings he had in his heart regarding Daemon himself, it was a much more manageable weight. He asked Rhaenys to give him and Daemon some time alone and was almost caught by surprise when Daemon spoke.
"Tell me about my mother." Daemon said his voice soft and Rhaegar closed his eyes, the image of dark hair, dark eyes, and a smiling face one that he'd not been able to see ever since his son's return.
"Your mother was….she was everything to me. I loved her with all I had, but that love was like the flames of a dragon, Daemon, and while the flames are impossible to withstand, they don't last." he said sadly.
"You fell out of love with her?" Daemon asked his voice angry as he misinterpreted his words.
"No, I love her still, just as fiercely. It was the love itself that couldn't last Daemon, the two of us being together could never last. The gods couldn't allow such a thing I fear. Why allow mortals to feel that way when they cannot, gods are jealous creatures are they not." he said and Daemon nodded ever so slightly.
"Did you know when you first saw her?" Daemon asked.
"No, I barely paid her any attention. I saw a girl cry at a song I sang, she was not the first nor the last to do so and at the time I thought her unremarkable, how wrong I was." Rhaegar said as he smiled a fond smile "It was when we found her and I knew what she had done. When I spoke to her for the first time that she took my heart from me and made it hers."
"Why didn't you do things differently? Why didn't you think more about what things would look like?" Daemon asked though it was questions and not accusations he was relieved to see.
"Oh, we sent letters, ravens, riders, but that's not the questions you're asking is it?" he said.
"The tower." Daemon said.
"I feared the Maester's Daemon, I feared them because of my mother, your grandmother. Pycelle, Caleotte, later you proved what they were like but I feared them and so I refused to let one stay with us, refused them leave to send for one. I have many regrets my son, that is but one of them." he said as he looked at him.
"The others?" Daemon asked.
Rhaegar reached out for the jug and filled his mug, looking to Daemon who nodded and so he filled his one also. He took his time to drink the cool water, his mind seeking answers to Daemon's question and he found there were far too many to count, far too many to ponder, his life was full of regrets it seemed.
"That I wished I'd loved her a little less." he said to a shocked and angry look from his son "Had I then perhaps I could have born the sight of her son when he was presented to me." he said and saw Daemon almost deflate.
"Did you hate me that much?" Daemon asked after a few moments of silence.
"I never hated you, whatever you may think of me I'd ask you to believe that." Rhaegar said and he saw Daemon nod slightly.
"Then why?"
"I looked to you and could only see your mother. I looked to you and could only see that you were here and she was not. I looked to you and rather than see my son, our son, all I saw was the person who had taken her from me, the reason she was gone and so I could not bear to look at you and feel that way." he said his voice almost cracking as he said the words.
"You think I wish to be here? That I'd not have gladly given my life for hers? You think I asked to be born?" Daemon said this time accusations instead of questions.
"No. but you asked and I told you how I felt, Daemon. I don't blame you for your mother's death, but I was grieving for her, and I did then." Rhaegar said.
"And that's an excuse?" Daemon asked his voice dismissive.
"I have no excuse, I can't change the past Daemon, would that I could. I can't go back in time, you think you're the only one who would have gladly given their life so she could live? You think there's not a day that goes by where I don't beg and cry to the gods that they should have taken me instead of her?" Rhaegar said his voice rising as his anger did and when Arthur opened the door, he shook his head and his friend stepped back out.
That he didn't answer at least stopped the possibility of them coming to blows, Rhaegar not sure if he could have accepted Daemon calling him a liar when he spoke truths that he'd not spoken to anyone ever before.
"Whatever you believe of me, I ask you to believe this, when you left there was not a day that went by where I didn't think of you. Not a day where I didn't pray to the gods that you were safe and well. Seeing you return, looking at you in front of my eyes in the Throne Room that day, I've known joy like that only a handful of times in my life. If you take nothing else from speaking to me, take that and that I'm so very proud of you, not what you've done, not what you've achieved, though those too, but you, you are her son, Daemon, more so than you were ever mine." he said looking to him.
"I don't know what to think of you." Daemon said looking at him "You were never a father to me."
Rhaegar swallowed, the pain in his heart almost unbearable as he looked into his son's eyes.
"I say that not to hurt you, not to cause you pain but because it's the truth. Thoros, were it not for him I'd have never known what a father was, Davos, Melisandre, Shiera, Grey Worm, Dale, Mathos, Asher, they became the family I'd not had, not known." Daemon said and yet there was no malice in his words, his son simply stating things as they were.
"Your grandmother?" he asked.
"Was different, she was, she is, without her, I'd be lost. All the years I was away she was the one person I longed to see, the one person who could have made me come back here. And yet, I'm here now for others too." Daemon said.
"Myrcella." he said with a smile.
"And Rhaenys, and Egg, Elia, even you, I've hated you for so long, for too long. It's not what she would have wanted from me, I don't… I can't… not today but one day perhaps I can think of you as more than just my sire. I have hope that I can, so if it's what you wish then you can have that hope too." Daemon said and he found himself breathing deeply, a nod of his head his only reply.
They sat in silence for few moments, both of them looking at each other as they drank their water, Daemon looking as if he was on the verge of saying something but not until finally, he did.
"What is it you wish for, truly? Is it to live your days in Summerhall? To give up your crown and try to find some peace with your family? Or are you doing so because of some guilt or sense of obligation to me?" Daemon asked.
"And if I was?" he asked.
"Then I'd say on my part you have no need to feel that guilt any longer or that obligation." Daemon said.
"It's not that, truly. I'm tired Daemon, I'm so very tired, of wearing this crown, of this city, of the life I lead. Heavy lies the head that wears the crown, Aemon said that to me once and for so very long I've felt that weight bearing down on me. I've worn it not because I wished to, though once I did, but because I feared what would happen when I wore it no more."
"And now you don't fear that?" Daemon asked.
"You, Rhaenys, together you can do what I could not, Myrcella and you have what Elia and I never could have had. Had your mother lived, had the world been a less cruel place then maybe I'd have had the strength to be the man I should have been, but it wasn't just her that died in that Tower, Daemon, that man died there too and the one in front of you is who I became."
"Do you wish to leave, your grace?" Daemon asked and Rhaegar nodded.
"Then I wish you good fortune." Daemon said rising from his seat "I'll ask Rhaenys and Tywin to make the arrangements."
"I thank you, your grace." Rhaegar said as Daemon moved to the door.
He was surprised when he stopped, Daemon turning around to look at him, a look in his son's eyes he'd never seen him wear before, or more truthful never seen him direct it at him before. It was a look he'd saved only for his grandmother, Rhaegar suspected.
"That man who died in the tower, I wish I'd have met him, that was a man I'd have gladly named as my father." Daemon said before leaving the room.
Rhaegar felt the tears fall not long after he had and he whether he wept for Lyanna, for Daemon, for the man he could have been or for the life they never knew, he couldn't be certain, only that he wept for some time.
King's Landing 300 AC.
Elia.
As much as she wished to be there for Rhaegar she knew she could not, her place for now was by her son and granddaughter's side. Daemon and Rhaegar would need to work through their own issues while she helped Aegon work through his. It was something she spent each and every day doing in some fashion. Her son was almost back to himself, though it was a different and better self she felt. Never was this more clear than when her granddaughter was present, Egg seeming to be a completely different person once she was.
The girl had a way of making the world around them disappear, for her, for Rhaegar but even more so for Egg. When she was with them, Elia would find herself torn between looking at whatever the curious little girl was doing and at her son. Egg's face would light up and those small fears and involuntary shudders he got when a stranger or even when someone arrived that he'd not observed, they completely faded away. Elia cherished those moments and wished for nothing more than for her days to be filled with them.
"What's that Sweetling?" she asked as her granddaughter had said something that she'd missed.
"Will we be having pie today, gamma?"
"I don't know, Egg, will be having pie today?" she asked looking to her son who she was happy to see was playing along, a contemplative look on his face as he looked to her granddaughter who now looked a little worried that there would be no pie forthcoming.
"Hmm, pie, do you wish for pie my little dragon?" Egg said to a vigorous nod from the girl.
Elia smiled when he got to his feet and grabbed her granddaughter, lifting her up and spinning her around much to the girl's delight.
"Then pie you shall have." Egg said as the girl pretended to fight him off as he began to tickle her.
"Stop, Stop, Mr Egg, Stop…" her granddaughter said through the loudest laughter she'd heard in some time.
When Rhaenys joined them a while later, Elia looked worriedly in the direction of Rhaegar's solar. Her daughter though told her that all seemed well between Daemon and his father when she had left and Elia could only hope that it stayed that way. All four of them decided to have pie when her granddaughter practically begged Rhaenys to join them. Her daughter too lost to the little girl's enthusiasm and Elia torn between eating here in their rooms or outside. Once again given way to her granddaughter who suggested the latter.
Time seemed to move far too quickly though and soon enough Marla was there to take her granddaughter to her rooms. Elia glad enough that the woman had agreed to bring her to the Red Keep to live rather than stay in the small house in Flea Bottom. She'd gone to see it and despite what Daemon had said she'd refused to allow her granddaughter to spend another night there. Elia was a princess of House Targaryen, whether she was named such or not and she would be raised at the very least in the comfort that title provided.
Rhaenys had left some time earlier and Rhaegar and Daemon were still speaking in her husband's solar and so Elia took the chance to spend some time with her son. Egg taking her arm and walking through the gardens with her, the quietness something they both welcomed. She knew that quietness was soon to be a thing she'd miss, Oberyn had returned and now Daemon had also, things were bound to get quite loud, and very soon she felt.
"She's happy isn't she mother? Elia, she's happier now?" Egg asked his worry clear in how he stiffened as he held her arm.
"She is son, very much so. Marla too." she said and felt him relax.
"I… she's the one good thing I did, mother. The only good thing." Egg said and Elia found to her dismay that she couldn't truly disagree with him.
"Then it's a true good, is it not?" she said which at least got a smile from him.
"I want to be a father to her, to take her from here, from King's Landing and raise her somewhere….somewhere better." Egg said.
"You don't think she belongs here?" she asked though she and Rhaegar were of the same mind on this she wished to know her son's thoughts too.
"This place it… you find out who you are here, mother. It forces you to reach deep inside yourself and seek out that bit of good that's in you, but most times you can't find it, instead, you stop looking and…."
"Elia is good, my son, she doesn't need to look deep inside herself to show that." she said and Egg nodded.
"But those around her, those who would be around her, mother, they won't be." he said firmly.
"Your father wishes to move to Summerhall, Egg, he and I.." she felt him stiffen some more "Would like you and Elia to come with us, Marla too. We can all be together, away from this place, would that be something you wish for?" she asked.
He stopped and turned to her, Egg looking directly into her eyes and she could see his answer in his own without him having to speak it aloud, though he did so anyway.
"I want to leave, mother, but I'm not ready to be on my own just yet. I need help with her so yes, it's something I wish for." he said and she leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek, feeling him hug her tightly once she did so.
They walked a little further, the two of them speaking of less important things and she sighed when she saw Oberyn come her way. Looking to Egg she motioned to Ser Jonathor and then told Egg she'd speak to him later and he should get some rest. Her son nodding that he would and then walking with her Kingsguard and leaving her alone with her brother. Oberyn had a look on his face which she knew all too well and his words were ones that she expected.
"The bastard has returned." Oberyn said sneeringly.
"Prince Daemon has returned and you dear brother need to watch your tongue. He is to be your king and words such as those would see you brought to your knees." Elia said and Oberyn snorted.
"Would they indeed, I told you we would not bow to a bastard, sister, did you think me jesting?" he said looking to her.
"And I told you that you'll kneel or you'll burn, Oberyn, Daemon is not me, he's not Rhaegar. He owes Dorne nothing and holds no love in his heart for House Martell, your position has changed and changed drastically, you would do well to remember that." she said moving to walk away.
"Are you a Martell or a Targaryen?" he said stopping her from moving.
The slap she gave him was hard and the look on his face was one of surprise and anger, Elia for the first time finding herself afraid of her youngest brother.
"Don't you ever question who I am, Oberyn. I am both, but unlike you, I'm not a fool. I've given you fair warning what you do with it is on you and on Doran." she said loudly.
"The bastard will soon…."
"What learn his place." a voice called out and she looked to see Daemon walk their way, Elia looking pleadingly at him to not cause trouble.
"Daemon." she said softly her eyes on his and she was relieved to see him smile.
"My queen." he said as he kissed her cheek.
"Prince Daemon, what a pleasant surprise." Oberyn said the sneer still on his face as he did so as if his words didn't show their lies in them enough with the tone they were spoken in.
"Prince Oberyn, if you'd excuse us, I wish to speak to her grace alone." Daemon said and Oberyn gave him a mocking bow as he walked away.
She found the look on Daemon's face to be one that surprised her, there was no anger, no annoyance instead he was looking concernedly at her.
"I'm sorry my queen." he said his voice barely a whisper.
"Elia, Daemon, to you I am Elia." she said and he nodded.
"Things are going to get difficult Elia, Oberyn, Doran, Dorne, I shall do all I can to hold my sword, but I fear it won't be enough." Daemon said and she smiled at him.
"You're to be the King, Daemon, it is not my concern." she said kissing his cheek and walking back into the Red Keep.
Yin 300 AC.
Daario.
He stood on the deck of the Bountiful Harvest, Pyat Pree beside him as he looked out on the docks of Yin. Daario felt some sense of relief he was coming to the city from this direction and not the other, as he'd no desire to look on the great gates again. The memories of what had happened outside those gates, not memories that he wished to think on. The warlock looked to him and Daario glared at the man, their tricks and ways, not something that he'd accept being used on him.
At times they were able to discern a man's thoughts and whether it was some fell magic or a skill he cared not, his thoughts belonged to him and not to a blue-lipped ghoul. He looked to the docks themselves and saw the group that awaited them, the guards, servants, and officials. Daario almost smirking as instead of the sellsword he was, it was as if he was one of the Pureborn themselves that he was being welcomed.
When they docked he took his time to walk down the gangplank, Pyat Pree had already disappeared without saying a word and Daario found himself missing the warlock for some reason. He and his guards strolled down and as he reached the group that awaited him, he saw the warlock in the distance. Daario watching as he disappeared down an alley and shaking his head before looking back at the men in front of him.
"The God-Emperor Bu Gai welcomes your presence in the great city of Yin, Daario Naharis, he bids you join him at the Golden Seat." a man said in the common tongue.
"Lead the way then." he said with a smirk.
He turned down the ride in the carriage, instead insisting on and being given a horse to ride, though as he rode through the city he soon wished he had not. The sight of the large steel gates bringing up more memories and Daario doing his best t shake them from his mind. It was only when he reached the Golden Seat that he found he was able to. Being welcomed by almost one hundred concubines and the same numbers of guards was something he'd not expected and again he began to wonder just how far up the ladder Bu Gai was.
To his surprise it was later that night that he found out the man wasn't who he was to meet at all and had no idea what he was speaking of when he told him that Chaos was a Ladder. Instead, the God-Emperor had heard he was an assassin and offered him as much wealth as it took to kill his enemies, a general in Trader Town and a Sorcerer in Carcosa. Daario agreed to consider the offer and was treated to a large feast and then offered his pick of the concubines, something he refused much to the God Emperor's annoyance. Why he had refused he couldn't tell only that he felt the need to sleep alone and so once the feast was done he made his way to the rooms he'd been given. He was tired, needed sleep, and prayed it would be a dreamless one, fearing it would not and finding he was right to do so.
Yin 296 AC.
The girl was pretty, dark of hair and eye, her skin a tan that was most appealing, she was young too and though he preferred experience, there was something about her that made him want her fiercely. He paid little attention to those with her, a young boy who had swords on his back that he more than likely didn't know how to use and a red priest and priestess. What they were doing in Yin was beyond him but he cared not, his eyes focussed far more on the girl than them.
There were more than enough women to go around in Yin, though none to his taste. Daario preferring those from the other side of Essos rather than the meek girls of Yi Ti. Not that he'd not taken his pleasure here too, but he missed the struggle, the chase, the taking of a girl who was both willing and unwilling. Here be it those he paid for, those he seduced, or even those he had taken by force, they all were equally dull to his mind. This girl, however, she had a fire in her and it was one he found himself drawn to.
He followed her around the marketplace, his eyes were drawn to her each time she laughed and he felt his jealousy rise each time the boy touched her arm or spoke to her. It took him some time to reach her, more to get close enough to see her truly, and when he did he felt himself stiffen. She was a beauty, exquisite, someone he could see himself wanting to do more than just spend inside. Daario feeling that if he didn't take her for himself then he was no man at all. So he watched, waited, and when the girl moved from her companions he struck.
"Say a word and my lady will taste your blood." he whispered to her as he dragged her from the stall, his hand over her mouth and the knife held to her throat.
She struggled against him and so he slapped her hard, the blood on her lip something he found inflamed his desires even more. Where they came from he didn't know, the sounds of the boy calling out her name was not even something he had heard until now.
"Talisa?"
"Talisa?"
"Not a word." he said holding the knife to her throat.
He moved as fast as he could dragging her with him, the alleys all looking the same and the doors locked to him for some reason.
"Daemon." the girl shouted and he slapped her again only to find they were in front of him now, the boy and his red priest and priestess.
"Let her go and you can walk away." the boy, Daemon said.
"You and your red fanatics should leave here boy, you are in the presence of Daario Naharis, be thankful that he lets you live." Daario said.
"Who the fuck is Daario Naharis and why the fuck would I care, go, leave now and you leave with your life."
He grabbed the girl and touched her breast, looking at the boy while he did it, her struggles excited him, and yet it was to the boy he looked and he smirked seeing the anger flare in his eyes.
"Let me go." the girl said and Daario laughed.
"She said let her go, Naharis." the boy said, and when Daario saw the swords and heard the boy say some words he felt for the first time some fear that all was not as he'd thought.
Looking at the boy when he began to move, the urge to run swept over him and so he waited until he had just reached him and then he pushed the girl into the boy. He felt the sword as it cut down his back, then heard the boy stumble, and for the briefest moment, he felt like he should end him there. For whatever reason though the urge to run was overwhelming and he gave into it. Not stopping until he was well away from that alley. When he got back to his room he looked to see the damage the sword had done and felt lucky that it had not broken the skin. His clothing was ripped from his neck to arse and another inch or so would have ended him.
It was with that bitterness that he found himself waiting on the hill outside the gates, the arrow ready to be fired and though he missed who he had aimed at, it had the same effect. The boy's tears something that he would remember for a very long time, as was the girl's face as he breathed her last.
Now.
He woke in a cold sweat and reached over to drink the wine that he'd left on the table, swallowing it down from the bottle as he moved his legs from the bed and rose. The night air felt cool on his naked body as the sweat began to get even colder. Daario walked to the window and looked out on the steel gates as he remembered that day.
"Had you tried to kill him then you'd have died that day." he heard a voice say and he turned to see Pyat Pree standing there looking at him.
"I should have hit him with the arrow." he said not bothering to question how the warlock knew what had happened.
"Perhaps. We must leave these place, I've arranged our meeting." Pyat Pree said with a smile.
"Who are we meeting?"
"Pol Qo and the true God-Emperor, the men our host asked you to kill." the warlock said.
"Which I'm not going to do." he said with a chuckle.
"I don't think our god would be too happy if you did."
"Chaos is a ladder." Daario said.
"Chaos is a ladder." the warlock replied and as Daario turned to put his clothes on he shivered when he swore he saw the candlelight burn that much brighter and a girl with dark hair and dark eyes look his way.
King's Landing 300 AC.
Rhaella.
She found her grandson sitting alone in the garden of their manse, the strange children he'd brought back with him were now housed in some temporary huts that the unsullied had built. They were comfortable enough she supposed and the children seemed to be happy in them but it made her wonder what they had lived in before them. What kind of lives they'd had if they were so happy with huts in a garden to live in.
Not that they were what was most prevalent in her thoughts, instead that was reserved for her grandson who had been quiet since his return from the Red Keep. Daemon hadn't even inquired about Myrcella's absence which had been most odd. Rhaella though was pleased to see that despite his quietness he didn't look upset and so when she took her seat beside him, she waited for Daemon to speak rather than press him on what had occurred.
"He's stepping down as king." Daemon said after a few moments.
"I know." she replied.
"It's what he wishes grandmother, to step down and move to Summerhall, he, Elia, Egg, he wishes for them and my niece and her mother to be a family, to be simply that. To throw off the burden of a crown and live a life as a father and grandfather." Daemon said.
"Does that upset you?" she asked and Daemon shook his head.
"I never wished for this, to be king, to wear the crown. I know it's something you wanted for me but it's not what I wished for." he said and then she was surprised when he laughed a little.
"Daemon?"
"All my life I wanted to be nothing like him, I swore that I never would be and yet, what he now wishes for his life is what I always wanted from my own." Daemon said.
"And you can have that too, Daemon." she said reaching out to take his hand in her own "My son, your father, he never became the man he should have been. For the longest time, I blamed myself, your grandfather, the war, and even Rhaegar himself but perhaps I was too harsh, I lacked understanding and I see now that it was just not meant to be." she said her voice soft and quiet as she wondered how much of what she said she truly believed.
"It was because of my mother." Daemon said and she turned to face him, her hands on his face as she looked at him.
"I'll not have anyone blame her Daemon, not even you." she said firmly.
"No, I'd not, I'd never. It was something that fat… he said, he told me that the man he could have been died in that tower the day my mother lost her life. That after that he became the man he is now."
She looked at her grandson and was surprised to see that he seemed to be far more understanding about this than she had been.
"I… we may never be father and son, not truly, not as he is with Egg or Rhaenys but I don't hate him, grandmother, I don't think I ever truly did." Daemon said and she nodded, taking him in her arms and holding him close to her chest.
They said nothing as they sat there, the two of them quiet as she rubbed his back and held him tight. From the moment she had held him in her arms on the ship to Dragonstone he'd been her son. She'd felt for him as she had for Rhaegar or Viserys and had loved him as much as she had Dany. She'd wished for him to wear the crown and had even gone so far as to plot against her son and grandson to see it come to pass. A war that would pit the realm against her house and created another dance was not something she had wanted and yet to see Daemon crowned she'd have gladly accepted it. Now she thanked the gods and even Daemon's own that it was not to be that which led to him being king.
"Are you ready for this, Daemon?" she asked as she let him go and looked into his eyes and Daemon nodded.
"I am, I don't want it, I never wanted it but I'm ready for it." he said and she smiled as she kissed his cheek.
Later as she stood in her room and waited for Bon to return she knew they'd be staying here for some time. She couldn't go back to Dragonstone until long after he was crowned, he needed her, her family needed her and she would be there for them in their time of need. Rhaella turned as Bon walked in, the smile on her face true as she looked at him and told him what was to happen. Bon simply nodding along and telling her the hundred stood ready.
"Dorne, Bon, we must deal with Dorne." she said determinedly.
"And we will my love." he said as he looked at her.
"Did you ever think we'd manage this, that we'd see him crowned a king?" she asked after a moment.
"From the moment my queen told me that she would." Bon said and she smiled as she kissed him.
King's Landing 300 AC.
Thoros.
His prince was to be king and Thoros wasn't sure how he felt about that. Not that he didn't think he'd make a great king or that those under his rule would have a better life with him in charge. More that their god's work would take them from here at some point and were that to happen while Daemon sat the throne, it would cause issues. Myrcella, Rhaenys, Rhaella, their own red priests and priestesses even the unsullied, and those others who would be there to help wouldn't be able to take the place of an absent king. It was something that Daemon had spoken to him about already and expressed much of the same concerns to him about, yet it was what was to occur.
Davos seemed overjoyed by the news as did Grey Worm, or as overjoyed as Grey Worm ever got anyway. As for Daemon, his prince at least didn't seem to be upset by it or by the meeting he had held with his father, a meeting that he'd not yet spoken to him about in any great depth. He looked to see Daemon speaking to Myrcella, the two of them still clearly enjoying their married life and being together. Thoros for his part just happy to see the smile on Daemon's face as they japed together at the top of the table.
Eventually, their breaking of their fast came to an end and Daemon looked his way, Thoros nodding when his prince did and ready for the day ahead. He waited outside the manse for his prince and when he came his way the two of them began to walk towards the Red Keep. Grey Worm insisted they take a guard with them and Thoros was once again happy with the suggestion, surprised too that Daemon didn't refuse. His prince at times was reckless and while it was one of the things that Thoros enjoyed about spending time with him, it did worry him greatly at times also. Not even seeing what Daemon could do helping to alleviate those worries some days.
"Where are we going, my prince?" Thoros asked.
"I need to speak to Lord Tywin and to my sister. We have to put things in place for when my father steps down." Daemon said as they walked through the streets.
"What of our work?" he asked.
"Among the many things we need to make ready for, Thoros. When the call comes I must go, we must go and crown or not R'hllor's will comes first."
"You and your father, Daemon?" he asked softly, Daemon stopping to look at him.
"We've reached an understanding, things are better." Daemon said and he nodded.
When they reached the Red Keep he knew there was going to be trouble, the Dornish almost seemed to be waiting for them and Thoros turned to the Unsullied and gave them a nod. The six men suddenly alert, or to be more accurate more alert than they had already been. Seeing the smirk on Daemon's face he found himself rolling his eyes as he knew that this was not going to be pleasant. His prince seemed in the mood for fun and that at times did not end well.
"My prince wishes to speak to you Prince Daemon." one of the Dornishmen said looking dismissively at Daemon.
"Does he indeed, and why would I care what your prince wishes?" Daemon said challengingly.
"He wishes to test his spear against those swords of yours and asks to meet you in the sparring area." the man said a moment later, a look of contempt on his face that Thoros did not like not one bit.
"What say you Thoros, should I put a prince on his arse today or not?" Daemon said with a chuckle when he looked at him.
"Our meeting, my prince." Thoros said and Daemon nodded much to his relief, though it was short-lived.
"I'm afraid now is not the time, tell your prince I'll meet him in two hours, tell him to sharpen his spear and to wear clothes he doesn't mind getting dirty." Daemon said laughing as he walked towards the entrance to the Red Keep and left the Dornishmen glaring at them as they passed them.
"Did you really have to do that?" Thoros asked annoyedly.
"No, but it's such a nice day, look Thoros the sun is shining, what better way to spend a day like this than teaching a snake a lesson." Daemon said with a grin on his face.
"Daemon." he said frustrated.
"This fight is coming Thoros, Oberyn has heard I've been named heir, perhaps even that I'm to be king very soon, I'd rather he tested me this way than another." Daemon said and Thoros nodded.
He followed behind Daemon as they walked to the Tower of the Hand, Thoros happy to see the lightness in his prince's features as they did so. Daemon had thought many lessons over the years and Thoros had found when he did so they usually came in one of two ways. There were those when he was annoyed, angry, and usually because someone had done something or said something to rile him up. Then there were those when they were more out of amusement, a jape either between him and his prince or for his prince's own sense of fun. This thankfully seemed to be the latter rather than the former.
"You wish to come inside?" Daemon asked and Thoros shook his head.
"I'll not keep you waiting long." Daemon said and Thoros nodded as he took a seat and Daemon entered the room.
He was sitting there when Rhaenys arrived, Thoros telling her that Daemon was already inside. Asking one of the servants to bring him some water, he suggested to the unsullied they drink only for them to shake their heads. Thoros laughing a little when he saw the pouches on their sides and he realized they'd brought their own. Time seemed to go by slowly and when Daemon finally walked from the room he was with his sister, the two of them speaking softly together before Daemon looked to him.
"Well, we have a spar to go to, perhaps we can eat together tonight Rhaenys, at the manse?" Daemon asked the girl.
"I'd like that." Rhaenys said with a smile as Daemon got a mischievous look on his face.
"Why don't you bring Willas along?" Daemon asked.
"Daemon." Rhaenys chided.
"I'd like to meet my sister's betrothed, I need to judge whether he's worthy of her hand." Daemon said and Thoros chuckled at the annoyed look on Rhaenys's face before she laughed and slapped her brother's shoulder.
"You will be nice with him, Daemon." Rhaenys said determinedly.
"I will be nice, sister." Daemon said kissing her cheek.
"Very well, I'll ask him to join us." Rhaenys said.
They walked some of the way together before the prince and princess hugged and parted, Thoros then walking with Daemon towards the sparring yard. It was fuller than he'd expected when they reached it and there was a sense of anticipation in the air. Looking around he could see the Dornish prince, his daughters, his paramour, and his niece. There were also some other lords and ladies that he didn't know or recognize and he noticed one of the men of the hundred run off while some others stayed where they were.
"Prince Daemon, I had thought you'd not show up." Oberyn said moving toward them when he saw their arrival.
"Why would you think that Prince Oberyn, surely you don't think me scared of a simple spar?" Daemon said looking at the man.
"Not scared no, reluctant perhaps." Oberyn said.
"Care to make a wager?" Daemon asked.
"How about those swords of yours?" Oberyn asked and Daemon laughed.
"And what have you got of equal value, Prince Oberyn, your fealty perhaps?" Daemon said and the look on Oberyn's face was one that had Thoros almost reach to his sword "Not that your fealty is in question." Daemon added with a smirk.
"Of course not, my prince. Perhaps fifty gold dragons would suffice?" Oberyn said.
"Make it one hundred." Daemon said and Oberyn nodded.
He waited for either Daemon or Oberyn to make their way to the tourney blades and then looked on as the Dornish prince picked up a spear and as Daemon reached to his chest. Thoros seeing the brief flash of the ruby when he moved to Daemon's side.
"He's poisoned the blade, Daemon." he whispered softly.
"I know." Daemon said and Thoros watched as he took out Flame and Spark.
"You can't risk it, my prince." he said worriedly.
"There is no risk, I walk in the light of our god, Thoros, and it's time to shine a light on an errant prince."
Thoros stepped back and looked to the balcony, seeing Daemon's grandmother, Myrcella, and his father and sister all standing there. Beside them Queen Elia, Daemon's brother, and Lord Tywin, and soon enough there was even more of the small council and men of the hundred on the balcony. He saw Davos look to him and he nodded and as Rhaella looked to the blades in Daemon's hands, Thoros heard the words Daemon spoke, and then the spar had begun.
Oberyn thrust the spear out quickly and Daemon simply moved out of the way, one moment he was directly in its path, and the next he was gone. When Oberyn tried to aim for his legs, Daemon simply jumped over the spear and when he aimed for his face, his prince leaned back and allowed the blade to just miss its target. Through it all Daemon hadn't made an attempt to strike back, instead just dodging the spear as if he was playing with the man who held it in his hands.
It was only when Oberyn said something under his breath that Thoros noticed the change and for Oberyn it was not a welcome one. The sound of Flame slapping down hard on Oberyn's arm was one that was heard all around the yard and one that almost caused him to drop the spear to the ground. The kick he got to his knee had him limping and then he looked on as Daemon crossed the blades and they ignited. It wasn't as true as the flames could be but it was enough and only that Thoros was more used to them than any was he able to see what happened next.
It wasn't the swords that won the day for Daemon, though their light did help. Instead, it was the butt of his head, as he caught Oberyn twice with it his forehead once on the chin and the other on the cheek. Thoros then watching as Daemon stepped away and Oberyn fell to the ground unconscious. There were cheers and relieved looks from those on the balcony, angry and concerned ones from those among the Dornish prince's entourage. Oberyn's paramour running to his side to make sure he wasn't badly harmed.
He looked on as water was given to the Dornish prince and he was woken up. Other than a small amount of blood and a cut lip he'd not been harmed but he had been soundly beaten and had he wished it then Daemon could easily have hurt him much more. His prince instead sending a message that should he will it then he could do so without much effort. Thoros looked from the angry look on Oberyn's face to the equally angered one on Daemon's, whatever the prince had said to him had caused him to use the flames and teach him a lesson and he wondered what it was. Daemon soon telling him all he needed to know when he walked over to him and accepted the water he'd fetched for him.
"That man will die painfully, Thoros, mark my words on that before long that man will die painfully." Daemon said his voice calm and collected but there was a fire in his eyes he'd seen but rarely.
"Daemon?" he asked.
"No man will ever speak of my mother that way, no man." Daemon said and Thoros looked to the Dornish prince and felt some sympathy for him.
The man had woken a dragon and would soon feel the flames after all.