[Chapter Size: 2400 Words.]
Third Person POV.
King's Landing.
...
...
King's Landing was finally seen on the horizon as Aegon's army was about to set up camp.
"Tomorrow... tomorrow we will finally arrive," Aegon commented, as he could see countless tents in front of the gates.
"It seems they are not hiding behind the walls...", Oberyn said with a curious look.
They would have the walls of King's Landing to protect themselves from the advance of his army, but at the same time they would have a problem with the small fleet of the Golden Company blocking the sea routes.
Food in King's Landing would start to become scarce in the siege they imagined. Aegon was already preparing his army for a long siege. The idea was to exhaust the enemy until a riot formed and they delivered the bastard. Perhaps he would flee with his dragon and Aegon would gain the loyalty of the lords the bastard left behind...
Aegon was confident, just like everyone behind him. With the Reach with him, he would not lack resources and could keep King's Landing under siege until the enemy surrendered.
But it seemed the enemy did not want a siege, but rather to face him in open field. That made Aegon frown. In fact, that option would be even more dangerous and problematic for him.
Tens of thousands would die in this war. As much as he did not care about the enemy's army, he still had to have one after this conflict.
He needed it, or he would have no way to control the Seven Kingdoms, to control all these rebellious lords who supported that man, when he should be proclaimed king, not a son of the She-Wolf of the North.
The Martells agreed with that vehemently.
"Aegon, the sun is beginning to set. It's time for us to set up camp. We will rest and march tomorrow," Jon Connington approached.
Aegon nodded. "All right. Set up the camp." He gave the order, and quickly the men began to work.
Varys approached him while he was talking with the Sand Snakes and his uncle Oberyn with Arianne. When Varys approached, he seemed tense. Something had happened, and he was supposed to receive news today from Storm's End.
"My king, please call an urgent meeting. There is troubling news I have just received," he said.
Aegon frowned. It was not from Storm's End at first glance, but it seemed urgent for Varys to act that way.
Aegon simply nodded. "All right."
Despite not questioning it, whatever was happening he would hear at the meeting and would have his counselors beside him. He had learned that it was better to hear bad news together with the others, where ideas for solutions worked better than hearing them alone and dwelling on it.
Quickly, the camp was set up and night fell. Scouts were circling the entire region, searching for any white mass in the sky, since the other claimant's dragon could attack them at night.
He was heading toward the main tent when he heard his two dragons in the sky, always flying during certain hours of the night, the black and the green, flying across the sky. He saw no other white dragon, so there was certainly no fight between dragons that night.
He entered the tent. Soon after, everyone was gathered.
"So, what is the breaking news? I hate when this happens," Jon Connington said with an irritated tone.
"Well, to begin with, this morning I received some mentions of a white dragon in the sky to the south."
"The bastard flew south with his dragon?", Jon Connington immediately asked, trying to guess what the other claimant was going to do. "An attack from behind or something like that?"
"I don't know. I did not want to interrupt the march, so I did not inform it, since no one else saw the dragon. Whatever he did in the last few days, he was no longer nearby."
"You should have informed us," Ser Garlan said in a serious tone.
"Anyway...", Varys continued, ignoring everyone's frustration. "I just found out why he flew south with his dragon."
Varys seemed tense. "On the same day, he returned to King's Landing during the night, but with three hostages. My little birds have just arrived with the news. It seems that in the last few days the ravens were blocked from King's Landing and no one managed to pass information. I only managed to learn this now, and it was probably on purpose."
Varys spoke carefully. "Hostages? What hostages?", Aegon asked.
"Did they attack Storm's End?", Garlan immediately worried. His grandmother and his sister were there.
But how could Storm's End fall in just a few days, and silently, without them noticing? That immediately irritated everyone.
Meanwhile, Oberyn could not help but show a smile. He did not care about Storm's End. And Varys looked at him as if saying he would not keep that smile for long.
"No, it was not there. But two other castles, just as important."
"Two?", Aegon exclaimed.
"Yes, Your Majesty. Two castles." He gave a brief glance at Aegon, then at Oberyn, and then at Garlan and Loras. They could not help but frown at that gesture.
"I do not know exactly what happened. We still have no news of what happened in Dorne and in the Reach..." That alone already left the atmosphere in deadly silence.
Varys continued. "But certainly Aegon now has Willas Tyrell, Doran Martell and Tristan Martell imprisoned as hostages in King's Landing. All of them were displayed to the city while they were taken to the black cells in the Red Keep."
Oberyn, when Varys had mentioned that, lost any expression of amusement. "You are saying that Sunspear fell?", he said in a deadly tone.
"As I said, Prince of Dorne, I do not know what happened in Sunspear yet. We have not received news. It takes some time. But it is certainly Doran and his nephew Tristan imprisoned in King's Landing, after arriving tied up and chained on the dragon itself."
"How did this happen?", he snarled, slamming the table.
No one answered.
"And Willas? How could my brother be captured like this?", Garlan said in frustration.
"I will kill him!", Loras began to shout beside him.
"Calm down, Loras. Acting rashly will not help anyone," Garlan said, despite the anger and even the fear he felt. He knew his older brother was in the enemy's hands.
"How can he simply arrive, invade the strongest castles of the houses of Westeros and leave with the most important people in a single day?", Arianne shouted, somewhat disturbed.
She was sweating between fear and anger.
"We should not be so surprised. That man already stole the coffers of the Tyrells, the Lannisters and also the Citadel without any difficulty. His abilities are remarkable, and no one knows how they work or what else he can do," said Varys.
"Damned sorcerer... damned sorcerer king. This is an abomination. Rhaegar must be twisting in his grave! His son is an abomination!", Jon Connington began to curse Daemon.
"I know everyone is frustrated, but we must stop to analyze the situation and try to find a solution," said Aegon himself.
Of course he was frustrated. Hostages meant that his army would have to be cautious, both with the Martells and with the Reach to attack the enemy.
"No wonder they chose an attack in open field... They expect our hesitation and caution," said Lord Tarly, coldly analyzing the situation.
"We must take the army to the front of King's Landing and see how we will deal with this," Aegon said in the end. There was no point in remaining frustrated.
Oberyn said nothing. He simply turned and began to leave.
His niece Arianne looked stunned and soon followed him. Everyone saw him leaving without saying anything else.
"Uncle, what are you thinking of doing?", Arianne immediately tried to stop him, whatever it was that her uncle intended to do.
"My brother is in the enemy's hands. You saw what he did to the Lannisters, you saw what he did to the Freys, to the Westerlings and to the Boltons. That man is not very different from Tywin Lannister. He may not kill children, but he is even more ruthless!", said Oberyn as he walked, while his niece tried to catch up to him in a hurry.
"Uncle, what do you plan to do? You are not thinking of..."
"I am going there, Arianne. I am going to invade the Red Keep," he said in a decisive tone.
"You are insane! You think you can go there, enter King's Landing and rescue my father?"
"Not only rescue him. I will also kill Daemon Targaryen, driving a blade with poison into his heart," he said, clenching his teeth.
Arianne wanted to shout at him, but he continued. "Do not think that I do not know King's Landing. I know several passages. I secretly studied the city under a disguise a few years ago. I discovered some easy points to enter. After all, we had a vengeance to claim back then, did we not?"
He said that, and she nodded, but she did not agree with it.
"Tell Aegon they will not even need to fight. I intend to kill Daemon Targaryen," he said, making Arianne stop and watch her uncle walking away.
"They have already taken my father... now my uncle wants to risk everything."
"I know what you are thinking, Arianne!", Oberyn shouted, already distant. "But do not worry, I will succeed in this."
He said it knowing that Arianne could imagine what Daemon was capable of doing, just as he had invaded two important castles and captured their lords as if he were taking a stroll.
The discussion continued inside the command tent. Arianne did not return, much less Oberyn. In the end, Aegon only discussed logistics, with a gleam and concern in his eyes.
"Well, everyone is dismissed. We will continue tomorrow and we will see what to do when we arrive in front of King's Landing and the enemy army," Aegon said.
Everyone nodded, beginning to say their farewells and leave.
"Ser Garlan, Ser Loras. It was a blessing your father was not in Highgarden at the time of the attack. He will arrive tomorrow as well with the army. He is camping during this night," said Varys, while the two brothers nodded.
Their father, Lord Mace Tyrell, was in the Reach until now and would join them soon, since he also wanted to take part in the glory of conquering King's Landing and defeating the Bastard Dragon, as they called him.
Olenna clearly did not want this, but he was still the Lord Paramount of the Reach.
The two brothers along with the rest of the people had already left the tent, while Aegon frowned and narrowed his eyes at Varys, who refused to leave...
"Tell me, what other news do you have?", he said. After all, this matter must be private for Varys to remain there with him.
"I received news from Storm's End, as you had requested," he said in a tone that made it difficult to tell what he was thinking.
Aegon frowned. "Varys... say it is not true." He still hoped the bastard dragon's lies were only a way to try to overwhelm his mind.
But Varys did not answer. He simply took a parchment and placed it on the table.
Aegon picked it up.
'The young flower has been meeting with the bastard every night. Only a few moans are heard, and clothes can be seen on the floor.'
Immediately, the ground beneath Aegon seemed to disappear. He looked at the parchment, reading it about three more times in a row, and then he felt that burning sensation, the pain of betrayal.
He could have slept with other lovers, but he would still give the dragon lineage and the throne to the damned flower. How dared she betray him like this?
Immediately, anger and hatred began to run through his body.
"Your Majesty, I am sorry, but you must compose yourself," Varys said immediately, asking him to calm down.
"How can I compose myself? The damned pink prostitute is having a lover! If she appears pregnant and tries to place a bastard on the throne... a bastard of another Baratheon bastard!!", he exclaimed in anger.
He felt disgusted. He had been replaced by a bastard.
"I am sorry for that, Your Grace, but I believe remaining like this on the eve of a great battle will not be good. We also need to be certain, if we wish to be fair. For now, when you win and take King's Landing, you deal with her betrayal. The Tyrells will no longer be a problem. We can expose the betrayal, and they will not be able to do anything if you choose a better queen to rule the Seven Kingdoms by your side."
Aegon remained silent for a moment, angry. Until he sighed. "Varys, you are right..." he began to calm down, finally.
"I think you are right," he said at last, with a sigh.
But the frustration had not gone away yet. It remained there the entire time.
"I will return to my tent and drink some wine. I have a lot to think about," he said in the end, as he left the tent.
Soon the camp began to fall silent, as people went to sleep.
Aegon was drinking more than three bottles of wine by himself. Arianne approached, but he dismissed her. He only wanted to be alone.
At the same time, in a corner of the camp, a horse quietly departed as Oberyn advanced, circling King's Landing in search of one of the entrances he knew.
He wore nothing of the Martells or of Dorne, only a black cloak and several weapons with poison.
He would save his brother.
He would not allow the same thing to happen as what happened to his sister Elia.
And he would kill the Bastard Dragon.
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