ULF
"You're deploying. All three dragonriders."
Aemond didn't phrase it as a question.
We stood in the war council chamber—maps spread across the table, markers showing troop positions, supply lines, areas of Black control. The Riverlands looked like a wound on the realm's body.
"Daemon has terrorized that region long enough." Aemond moved pieces on the map. "Three dragons against one. Vhagar, Vermithor, Silverwing. We end this."
"And if Caraxes refuses to engage?"
"Then we burn everything he's protecting until he has no choice." Cold. Logical. Ruthless. "The Riverlands either submit to the crown or cease to exist."
Hugh Hammer grinned. He'd been eager for action, restless under Aemond's more strategic approach.
"About time. Let's show the Rogue Prince what real dragonriders can do."
I said nothing. My mind was in Helaena's chambers, where she waited—three months pregnant now, though not yet showing. Three months of their child growing while war called me away.
"Ulf." Aemond's voice cut through my thoughts. "You have objections?"
"No objections, my prince."
"Your hesitation says otherwise."
"Personal matters. Nothing that affects my readiness."
Aemond studied me. That single eye missed nothing.
"We leave at dawn. Whatever personal matters concern you, resolve them tonight."
Resolve them. As if I could resolve the fact that my child might grow up without ever meeting me.
"Understood."
THE GOODBYE
Helaena's chambers. Midnight.
She stood by the window, silver hair loose around her shoulders. The moonlight made her look like a ghost—pale, ethereal, already mourning.
"I have to go."
"I know."
"I don't want to. If there was any way—"
"If you refused, Aemond would ask questions. He'd wonder why the queen's protector suddenly values his own life over the crown's wars." She turned to face me. "You must go."
"Helaena—"
"And you must come back." She crossed to me. Took my hands. "This child needs a father. Not a memory. Not a story about the hero who died fighting the Rogue Prince."
"I'll come back."
"Promise me."
"I promise."
She kissed me. Desperate. Hungry.
When we finally broke apart, I touched her stomach. Still flat beneath my palm, but I knew what grew there.
"Stay safe. Both of you."
"We'll be safe. The children are here. Orwyle is here. The city is secure." She gripped my hands tighter. "It's you who faces Daemon. It's you he wants dead."
The Dragonslayer. The man who killed Blood and Cheese. Daemon's personal enemy.
"I've survived worse."
"Have you?"
"I've survived everything so far."
She didn't smile. Her eyes held that prophetic distance—seeing things I couldn't see, knowing things she couldn't say.
"In my dreams, you're always standing. Always fighting. But the fire around you grows higher every time."
"Then I'll learn to walk through higher fires."
I kissed her forehead. Her cheeks. Her lips.
Then I walked away.
THE FLIGHT
Three dragons flew east.
Vhagar led—ancient, massive, Aemond riding with cold confidence. Vermithor followed, Hugh Hammer laughing at the wind. Silverwing flew steady beneath me, sensing my distraction, compensating for my divided attention.
King's Landing shrank behind us. The city that had become home. The place where everything I loved remained vulnerable.
In my pocket, the token Helaena had pressed into my hand—a silver ribbon from her hair. Small. Precious.
Our child. Our future. Everything depending on what happens in the next few days.
Hugh maneuvered Vermithor closer.
"You seem distracted, bastard."
"Focused."
"Focused on what? We've got three dragons. Daemon has one. The mathematics are simple."
"Simple mathematics get people killed."
"You worry too much." Hugh's grin was too wide. Too eager. "Relax. Enjoy the hunt."
He pulled away, whooping at the sky.
I watched him go.
He's still planning something. Still waiting for his moment.
Aemond circled back. Brought Vhagar alongside Silverwing.
"Hugh seems excited."
"Hugh is always excited about killing."
"True. But useful." Aemond's single eye studied me. "You seem less excited."
"I'm focused on the mission."
"See that you remain so. Daemon is dangerous. He won't make the same mistakes Rhaenys did."
No. He won't.
We flew on toward the Riverlands.
Toward Daemon.
Toward whatever waited at God's Eye.
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