Chapter 32
AEGON TARGARYEN
The journey to the Vale had taken a toll on his body, and despite Silverwing's rather tempered flying, the effects were beginning to show as his head spun. But in the end, he had made it in time.
Just as the Vale's army cornered Arnold and his men from one side forcing them to push towards the Eyri, he landed on the narrow path that led to the castle and killed off Arnold Arryn with a single attack, bringing this whole war to an end.
And with that, he flew off once more, and as Silverwing landed in the open training yard, there was neither any cheer nor any celebration at the victory that they had just won. Instead, the atmosphere was rather somber, and as the men and the servants came to help him, he asked away.
"What happened?" he asked as fear gripped his heart. With that, his eyes ran over the crowd, looking for the familiar face of her friend. As Jeyne's face evaded his gaze, his worry grew with every passing second.
"Where is Jeyne?" he asked again, but the servants were quiet and seemed rather timid. That was until he saw a retinue enter the yard, and there she was. Jeyne, surrounded by a contingent of four guards and despite the victory, there was no joy on her face.
None at all. There was only sorrow and pain. Her pale cheeks were rosy, and her eyes were swollen, but the most surprising were the blotches of blood that covered her clothes and face, and as her eyes landed on him, they teared up once more, as the weariness in him vanished at the sight of her. Only to be replaced by worry as he pushed himself towards her.
"What happened?" he asked, his steps unsteady forcing the guards to help him. There came no answer again, as Jeyne's composure collapsed as she rushed towards him and flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around him.
"You are late! Why were you late!" she screamed as she wept on his chest, wailing loudly like a child.
"What happened, Jeyne? Tell me what happened!" he asked again as he tried to console her, his own arms going around her. Yet she just wept and wept, sobbing, making his shirt wet as she cried like a child.
"Tell me what happened!" he asked a bit forcefully as he pulled her away, wiped away the tears from her eyes, and caressed her face.
"Jessamyn," she whispered, finally, as his heart gave out at the mention of that name.
"She..." and he saw her hesitate.
"She killed herself..." she finished, and he could not believe his ears.
"What?" and she nodded.
"Arnold, he forced her to kill me to save her siblings, and yet in the end, she couldn't do it. Even though I let her, even though I would have forgiven her for it. But she couldn't, and in it all, she killed herself," she added as the picture became more clear, and he grit his teeth, thinking that he had let Arnold die a rather sensible death given his crimes.
"She killed herself because of me! Because of me!" Jeyne screamed as tears gathered in her eyes.
"No! No, she did not," he whispered as he held her tightly.
"This is on that bastard Arnold! You did not kill her, Jeyne, you did not," he assured her, and as she tried to object, he put a finger on her lips.
"Believe me, please," he pleaded as he cursed that bastard in his heart, ruing how he had spared the man much of the pain and agony he deserved.
"Arnold is dead, I burnt him myself," and he saw her eyes brighten at his words in vengeance as she grits her teeth and looked him in the eye.
"He will not hurt anyone anymore! Ever!" he added and saw her nod before she hugged him once more, placing her head on his chest as she added.
"I waited for you. I waited for days for a message, and yet none came at all. Why?" she asked.
"Why did you come so late?" she asked and there was no accusation or hurt in her words, but only pain.
"I am sorry," he apologized, for that was all he could do. He could not ease her pain or suffering, he could not bring back Jessamyn, all he could do was hold her.
"I couldn't," he answered as she looked up slightly.
"Why?" she asked, and it seemed as if his missive had not made it back here as well. It was good of him to rush back then.
"Because I was injured," he answered and saw her eyes widen as she looked at his face and perhaps noticed the weariness and weakness that ailed him.
"What happened?" she asked, worry lacing her tone as she pushed herself away and began to look him over.
"It's a long story," he added, thinking of just what he had done.
"We will talk later," she added, and he nodded as he let the guards lead him away to his own personal quarters.
"What of Arnold's army?" she asked, and he halted and looked back at her as he answered.
"I burnt around half of his men myself. The rest are being hunted down by Willam and the rest of the Vale armies I called forth against him. Thus, rebellion is over," he said, and to his surprise, she shook his head as she looked him in the eye.
"No. It is not," she said, and he was surprised by the sheer anger and vehemence of her tone.
"You were right last time. I was too merciful. This time, I will not make that same mistake," she said.
"Arnold's whole campaign had many supporters, but the greatest amongst these traitors was a house sworn to me. And this war will not end until I have brought them to heel," she said as she looked at the gathered men.
"House Corbyn will pay for their actions, and I shall show them what it means to rebel against their liege lord!"
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RHEA ROYCE
The Army of Arnold Arryn was rather easy to take care of with the man himself dead. It had taken them but a few hours to decimate the men before she handed off the command to Willam and came to the Eyrie to meet her son.
Upon entering the Eyrie, she learned about Lady Jessamyn Redfort's sad passing. Rhea was rather well informed of the relationship the red-haired girl shared with their liege lady, something that had surprised her. Even more surprising had been her own son's acceptance of such a thing even at a young age.
Regardless, the atmosphere in the castle was somber as she greeted Lady Jeyne, who welcomed her and thanked her for mobilizing the armies for her. And so she was led to her son's chambers, where he had just woken up after resting.
He had grown weak and thinned, and his smile was a bit hollow as he greeted her and she entered his chambers.
"It is good to see you, Mother," he added as she sat beside his bed, eyeing her son.
"You, on the other hand, do not look good at all," she said, and he gave her a stiff smile.
"I am just tired. I will be fine in a day or two," he said, and that was also the master's assessment.
"Good, now why don't you tell me exactly what happened in the capital and why did the King engage you to the daughter of the Hand?" for though he had mentioned some details in the latter, she was still not clear about what had truly transpired in the capital.
And so, with a sigh, he began to narrate the story, and as she listened, she was much disgusted by the politics of the court and was reminded once more of just why she detested that wretched place so much. Rhea was married to a Prince and was a noble lady of considerable influence; given her station, it would not be remiss of her to go to court and wield that influence, and yet she had always detested the little power plays and games.
She much preferred hunting and falconry to this farce, and rightly so. But as she heard the tale of the depravity of the Hand, the King, the Council, and most of all, her own husband, she regretted not having the courage to accompany him to court herself. Aegon had always made her proud. Even her own father had praised his political acumen, but despite everything, he seemed to have been caught unaware by the intricacies of court.
"So, the Hand and his daughter knew of your chivalrous nature and used it against you," she concluded, and he shook his head.
"Alicent had no part in it. But her father—I never expected that he would defame his own daughter like that. I never thought anyone could do something like this," he added, and indeed, she was surprised as well.
Despite being in Vale, she was not deaf to the rumors about the Hand, though now it seemed as if there was more truth to them than she realized.
"And you are sure that Daemon did not..." Aegon nodded.
"I am. She told me herself," he added.
"Well, you could have asked the King to intervene, could revealed the truth to him or just used me as an excuse," she added.
"Believe it or not, I could be rather demanding for a good and appropriate match for my son," she added with a chuckle as Aegon shook his head.
"It would have affected her. Truthfully, there was not much time. Things worsened so quickly that I was caught by surprise," and then there was the fact that her son liked the girl. She was his mother and could tell his inclinations, and though she had reservations about the girl in question, she chose to believe in him despite them.
Plus, things were not set in stone yet, and no matter what the King may decree, she was still his mother, and that came with some rather unique powers.
"You like her," she chose to ask him directly. There was no need for subtlety. And he hesitated for a second before he nodded.
"I think so," he replied.
"Then let me meet her. I will write to the King to have her sent to the Vale, if you are right about her father's actions then it will be good for her to be away from the capital after everything she has endured," and she could evaluate the girl herself once she was in Vale and see her true intentions.
"Moreover, I will finally get to see the girl who has capt..." and before she could finish the sentence, there was a knock on the door, making her frown.
"Come in," she ordered, and the doors opened. An acolyte entered the room.
"My lady, this arrived from the capital just now," she said. With that, she was handed a missive, which she unfurled. Her heart nearly gave out as her eyes read the contents, and she gasped and drew a heavy breath.
"Seven Hells," the words slipped out of her mouth as Aegon frowned.
"What is it? What happened?" he asked as she looked into his eyes, knowing that the contents of this missive would devastate him. And yet there was no hiding this from him, and so she gulped down as she pushed the missive towards him with a shaky hand.
"Alicent Hightower is dead," and at those words, she saw his eyes widen, as his face turned ashen as he grabbed the missive and began to skim over it.
"She was found dead in her room with her wrists slit," she finished.
"No," Aegon gasped as she saw his eyes water.
"No. It cannot be," he gasped shakily as she shook her head.
"She killed herself...."
0000
CORLYS VELARYON
The offensive in the Stepstones was set to begin in a day, and the initial attack was being led by Daemon himself and he had returned to High Tide to oversee the supply lines and the other preparations for the prolonged war that was set to begin in a few days.
And more importantly he was here to discuss the latest happenings of the capital with his lady wife. Things in the capital had devolved rather rapidly after the Queen's death, and clearly there was infighting between the various factions at the court.
The greatest casualty of this was his aspiration to form a match between Aegon and his daughter Laena, especially given that the boy was the supposed heir now.
"It seems the Hand was able to ensnare Aegon with his tricks," Rhaenys added as she sipped her wine, standing on the balcony looking over the most prosperous land in the Seven Kingdoms.
"It was to be expected. Aegon may be smart, but Otto Hightower has spent all his life in court and is a master at politics and plots. He was able to sink his teeth into the boy," Corlys added, not surprised at all by the recent news from the capital.
"A shame! I had hoped a match between him and Laena would have united the realm," Rhaenys added, agreeing to his own opinion on the match.
Speaking of that, he was curious about one thing. Rhaenys had come to Dragonstone when she had learnt of Laena's bonding with Vhagar, and she had stayed there for a few days, only to leave suddenly alongside their daughter.
"Why did you return with Laena to High Tide so quickly?" he asked, noticing her expression stiffen as she turned towards him.
"Because I saw something I did not like," she said stiffly, making him frown.
"What?" he asked.
"Daemon," she answered scathingly suddenly, and before he could ask her to elaborate, there was a knock on the door, making them both halt their discussion.
"Who is it?" he asked.
"My lord, an urgent missive arrived for you from Kingslanding..."
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