"Lord Corlys! I am, as you can see, rather busy now!" he shouted,
chaos and shouting all around him as the garrison of the Red Keep
was roused to action. At dawn the banners of the Stormlands had
been spotted approaching from the south, spreading out across the
land advancing upon the banks of the Blackwater Rush.
Finally, that illiterate arse Borros Baratheon was making his move,
and he was determined to give the Blood Wyrm a good gorging of
her favorite repast, cooked manflesh. He was convinced that this
was the last gasp, desperate move of a beaten enemy, and was
determined to extract as much of a decisive victory as he could. Or it
could equally be Borros Baratheon ignoring orders and deciding he
had enough of sitting on his hands and threatening Kings Landing.
Well, either way, he was going to deliver the Stormlands a defeat
they would take generations to live down. The last reports they had
of the whereabouts of Vhagar put the beast in the central Reach, at
Longtable, along with its rider Prince Aemond.
He felt the slightest bit of pity at that, for he would have liked to have
taken on Aemond and Vhagar, despite her bulk and size Vhagar was
old and not as nimble as she once was, and some of the moves that
Hugh had been practicing atop Vermithor looked to be perfect for
dealing with that old cantankerous dragon, and her equally annoying
rider.
But he would take an unopposed shot at the armies of the
Stormlands any day of the week, of that he was sure.
"Your Grace, my, my agents have discovered a plot to infiltrate the
Red Keep! The Greens have snuck men into the city over the last
several moons and are moving against us even as we speak! They
intend to take the Red Keep while you are away on your dragon!"
Daemon snarled, his mind coming to the obvious conclusion
instantly "they intend to rescue Alicent and hers. So be it, Ser
Conklyn!"
A rather scarred and battered looking knight ran up to Daemon, but it
was his eyes that he noticed most of all, dead and flat, lifeless and
utterly devoid of any human emotion. One of his longest serving
hired killers and a man you could rely upon to do anything you
ordered.
"Your Grace!"
"Take twenty men and go to where Queen Alicent and her family is
being held. You are to execute the warrants for their deaths sighed
by our dear former Queen forthwith. Take no chances Ser Conklyn,
kill then all as swiftly as possible, no delays!"
"Yes your grace" replied the man, his voice as dead as his eyes,
giving him a quick bow before dashing off to fulfil his orders.
Noticing the rather pained look that had crossed Lord Corlys's face
he snapped "now is not the time Corlys, if we lose them they are no
use to us, better them all dead than escaped! I must be off to the
Dragonpit, I have some burning of errant Lords Paramount to attend
to! I charge you with the defense of the Red Keep Lord Corlys! Make
sure it does not fall, I have assigned part of the Kingsguard to keep
my sons safe, and you had best make sure my dear daughter
survives, otherwise there will be consequences!"
With that he swung himself up into his saddle and galloped off out of
the Red Keep, in company of about thirty mounted soldiers and
knights.
He would deal with Corlys later, the old Sea Snake had been plotting
with the Greens, he was now certain of it, he needed no evidence,
the evidence of his own mind was enough. That whore Lady Misery
had not been able to provide conclusive proof of the plotting Corlys
was up to, nor had she provided any warning of this attack, so she
was either incompetent or she was in on the plotting, either way he
would be disposing of her services once he returned from Caraxes's
favorite way to spend a day. And one of his favorite ways also, for
there was nothing like burning your enemies to ash from atop a
dragon, well fucking and seeding the screaming, moaning wife of
some Andal Lord did come a very close second to his mind.
The slightest of fears for his sons and for Rhaena touched the
surface of his mind, for he suspected that if the Greens were going
to try and take the Red Keep his blood would be likely top of their list
for elimination. He snarled at this thought, but at least he knew that
Alicent and her spawn would not survive. And if it came to it, he
could always father more children, though he would of course need a
bride of suitable purity and breeding, a thought flashed across his
mind briefly, there was a Rogare daughter of just the right age still
available as far as he could remember.
He pushed these thoughts out of his mind as they raced through the
dawn streets of Kings Landing, not stopping for anything, smallfolk
either got out of their way or were trampled under hoof. They
descended the Royal Way1, galloping as fast as their horses' hooves
would allow on the slabbed stones of the street, intending to reach
the Square of the King2 before racing up the Street of the Sister to
the Dragonpit.
He would not risk the side streets and many smaller streets, the
potential for ambushes and delays was just too great. As they
approached the entrance to the Square of the King arrows began to
rain down on them from several windows far above, he swore and
spurred his mount on even faster, uncaring for anything but breaking
through the trap and making the square up ahead.
Armed men charged out from several side streets, spears gripped in
hand and stabbing at their horses, he barely avoided getting
skewered several times before he made the safety of the square,
which was no safety at all he realized, as a bunch of crossbow men
levelled their weapons at him.
Reacting instantly, he wheeled his horse around and dashed down a
side street, hearing the swish of blots whizzing by him, and feeling
the wet thud of a blot into his horse's hind quarters. The horse nearly
threw him then and there, the beast kicking and bucking until finally it
began to collapse, he leapt from the beast just in time to prevent
being crushed by the dying animal.
Hooves thundered from behind him and with a snarl he drew Dark
Sister and prepared to meet his end, blade in hand, only to see three
of his knights galloping towards him, he sheathed his sword and
grabbed at the offered arm, swinging up into the saddle behind the
knight.
On they galloped through the streets, heedless of anything but
making the Dragonpit, eventually gaining the Street of the Sister and
racing up its long, wide thoroughfare to the Dragonpit ahead of them,
where a battle was raging. A huge mass of what looked like smallfolk
were blocking the way to the dragon pit and were to his eyes even
trying to storm it!
What, what madness was this he wondered as the Knights slowed to
a canter to assess the situation, for there was no way through the
screaming, shouting and frenzied mob ahead of them. At the rear of
the mob many started to turn and catch sight of them, a screaming,
chanting curse filled howling was building up, and it was obvious that
the crowd was about to charge them.
Just then a shattering roar filled the air, and Caraxes nosed her bulk
out of one of the outer doors of the Dragonpit, her snout scenting the
air, another roar from the Blood Wyrn nearly stunning him with its
volume. And then she let loose with a veritable stream of dragonfire,
immolating the crowd before the Dragonpit, he had never seen
Caraxes lose such a long-lasting stream of her flames, swaying her
head back and forth across the now fleeing crowd.
He could not help but grin as his old friend cleared the path for them
to her lair, he urged the Knights onwards, though they seemed
reluctant to brave the mass of charred bodies that now were the only
obstacle between them and the Dragonpit.
Gaining the Dragonpit he was admitted, noticing that many of the
guards had blood upon their spears and blades, that was a good
sign to his mind.
The head dragonkeeper approached him "your grace, we unchained
Caraxes the moment we got the signal from the Red Keep that you
were on your way, she took offence to the rabble outside all on her
own" the man said, a mixture of pride and wariness evident in his
features and voice.
"That old bitch would never let a rabble like that disturb her! And I
know she lusts for battle; she can sense the upcoming slaughter of
those rebels from the Stormlands! She is saddled I assume?"
"Aye your Grace, she is ready!"
"Good!" he replied as a roar the likes of which he had not heard for
many's the year shattered the air all around them. He knew that roar
anywhere, and as ice water sluiced down his back in sudden fear he
knew Vhagar was here!