Chereads / Game of Thrones-The Black Lord / Chapter 4 - The Young Lord

Chapter 4 - The Young Lord

(Third Person POV)

"Remove the bodies from the street, put out the fires on the buildings if you can." the Young Boy Lord told the townfolk as he walked towards a soldier, "You, reinforce some buildings and keep the people there. There's a chance more Ironborn scum will come." 

The soldier, appalled by the fact that a mere boy was giving orders, merely stood there, "M-My lord?" 

"Go on, surely your Old Gods don't expect you to sit around and wait to be killed off by a bunch of sea-faring rapists, do they?" Rhaegon said with a frown

As he said that, Morghul let out a deep growl and various vocalizations in the distance, atop of the house he landed at. 

"Y-Yes..." The soldier said

Rhaegon then walked towards one of the townsfolk, an old-looking man, and removed his leather gloves, "Gather wood to create a large bonfire in the middle of the town." He said, "It's rather cold here. Also, my dragon is starving, the flight over here was long and rushed. Bring forth as many sheep you can spare.....oh and make sure they're sheared, he hates burnt wool and well, we can't waste such perfectly useful resources." 

The Townsfolk bowed down slightly, "M-My lord....I apologize, we do not have any sheep nor goats...." He said, "We butchered the remaining goats we had for food and the sheep were sent upwards to Moat Caillin on orders of our Lord." 

"Lord Stark?" Rhaegon said, "No, Lord Reed.....right? I'm surprised that this land is quite dry, considering the Neck is a swamp....Rather cold isn't it?" 

"Well, Winter approaches so even the Summer Snows can reach down here...." the man said as he looked at Morghul, "We do not have any meat to offer your Dragon, Young Lord....." 

Rhaegon turned around to see several limping horses in the distance, he had assumed they were caught in the assault from the Ironborn. 

"Well.....any lame horse that would prove no use to the soldiers will have to do." He said, "Put them out of their misery first, I will not have my Dragon think it is okay to eat live horses." 

"Forgive any ignorant assumptions, Young Lord." The man said, "But wouldn't feeding horses to a Dragon give it a taste for them?" 

"Morghul hates horse flesh." Rhaegon said as he walked away, "You have no worries about that." 

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"Seven Hells, boy!" Lord Robert Baratheon shouted as he dismounted his steed, "What do you think you are doing here?!" 

It was the day after the attack, the Baratheon forces had reached Greywater Watch and marched past it, hearing the sighting of a Dragon where Ironborn raided. 

The Lord of Storm's End, sworn brother of Ned Stark, had cursed the sky when he heard word of Morghul in the sky. 

Rhaegon sat atop a log as Morghul, the majestic black dragon, lay behind him. They were in the middle of the town, near a massive burning bonfire that was lit by the dragon the night prior, keeping the townsfolk and surviving soldiers warm. 

He was taking a bite off a piece of bread, something he was surprised the townsfolk still had in their possession, "Oh, Father!" He said with a smile, "You've arrived!" 

The Baratheon soldiers, several hundred strong, merely shifted in unease at the sight of the sleeping Dragon behind their Boy Lord. Robert had sent the rest of his forces forward to attempt to take Moat Caillin and defend it from Ironborn. He had merely taken a detour to the small town on the way to his destination. 

Lord Robert, tall and lean, scowled at his son, "You are a fool, you know that?" He said as he reached him, "Your mother will feed me to her dragon if something were to happen to you and your stupid black beast!" 

As he said that, Morghul awoke, raising his head while opening his eyes. The Dragon let out a deep rumble as he laid eyes on his rider's Lord Father. 

"Careful, Father." Rhaegon said, "Morghul is intelligent enough to understand the common tongue." 

"But he is foolish enough to obey your impulses, boy." Robert said with a sigh, "What is this? What the fuck happened in this gods-forsaken shit hole? By the gods, everywhere I turn in the Neck, I see nothing but sorry sights." 

"Ironborn were raiding this place." Rhaegon said, "I was going to fly to Moat Caillin and see if any Ironborn scum were near there, but I saw a sizeable raiding party attacking here." 

The boy lord stood up and pulled out a map, pointing a single spot near the Moat, a few miles from the town they were currently in. 

"What?" Robert said

"There's a small fort here, Father. The crannogmen left it unattended in order to fend off attacks a bit further up." Rhaegon said, "Ironborn have taken it and if they keep it for much longer, they might build more forces to raid Moat Caillin. The paths that only Crannogmen know to take will be tortured out of them and with time, the Ironborn will claim the Moat." 

Robert took the map out of his son's hands, "By the gods, you're right." He said, "And you're sure that fort is taken?" 

"Yes." Rhaegon nodded, "I flew over it this morning." 

"Fucking hells, boy." Robert scowled, "You're too damned reckless! What if they shoot you down?!"

Morghul growled deeply as he looked at Robert. He was not a fan of Robert's tone. 

Rhaegon looked at his Dragon, 

"Ah, Lykiri, Morghul. Lykiri." 

The Dragon heard the commands and laid his head back on the ground, not taking his eyes off Robert. 

"Yes, calm yourself, stupid bastard," Robert grumbled, "Very well, I'll have my men take that fort and leave some of them to hold it. We'll march to the Moat and after we have it secured, I'll join Ned to fully mobilize our armies to squash this rebellion." 

Rhaegon nodded, "I can take the fort if you want, Father." He said as he bit more bread off his small loaf, "Just say the word." 

"You'll do no such thing, you fool." Robert said, "You will take this dragon and fly back to Storm's End, your mother will have my fucking head if I don't send you home. That is a command." 

Rhaegon frowned, "Fine...." He said, "Just saying.....a dragon will end this war faster than men." 

"If the Greyjoys have a dragon of their own, which they claim, I will call you." Robert said with a chuckle as he turned around and walk away, 

"But they don't. So go home!"