[1021 Words]
—Westeros, King's Landing, within the Yard of Red Keep, 291 AC—
As Axel held the sheathed sword, Joffrey was already drawing back his arm to strike the servant boy again. Joffrey's mouth twisted with that cruel delight had turned into confusion. The boy flinched where he knelt upon the cold stone, but the blow never came.
Axel pulled hard.
The prince staggered as he lost his balance, boots scraping against the floor before he fell hard upon his ass with a painful cry that reverberated throughout the yard.
The nearby guard stiffened at once, hand hovering near the hilt of his dagger at his side, uncertain. He had been commanded to protect the prince, yet how was he to protect the prince when it was another prince who attacked the other?
"Aaaahh, Axel, what are you doing?" Joffrey asked as he fell to the ground with a cry, outrage building in his voice.
"Aaaahh, Axel, what are you doing?" Joffrey demanded, though the bravado in his voice rang thinner than he might have wished as he lay sprawled upon the grass. His shriek broke into another cry as Axel gave a last tug and yanked the sheathed sword from his grasp.
Axel said nothing. His face showed no emotion, but his jaw was clenched. He cast the sheathed sword aside and stepped forward, looking down at Joffrey with cold eyes.
"You made Myrcella cry." That was all he said before pulling his fist back as Joffrey did with the sheathed sword.
THUD!!!
His fist struck true, striking the side of his head, snapping it to the side and drawing another cry from his lips, filled with shock and humiliation, tears brimmed in his eyes.
That was when the guard moved.
Duty overcame doubt; he seized Axel's arm in a gauntleted grip, iron biting into cloth and flesh alike, pulling him back before any further harm could be done.
Axel only looked at the guard, his heterochromatic green and blue eyes cold as the far North, resolute as the man's iron grip held his arm. The yard, moments ago filled with the common noise of squires and servants, fell into an uneasy hush.
Just then, more guards rushed in with the guards that had been sent to take Myrcella back to her room. Behind them came the King and Queen with the King's Guard, while Jaime was by Cersei's side and Jon Arryn was at Robert's.
"What's going on here? Get your hands off the boy!" Robert's voice boomed throughout the yard, loud as a warhorn. His presence filled the space with not just his voice, but his body, as he had also fallen to the debauchery of wine and whores.
"Joffrey, oh, by the gods, Axel, what in the seven hells are you doing?"
Cersei swept in at his side, her golden hair seeming to shimmer beneath the sun, her gaze falling at once upon her sons, and Jaime looked at everything from afar with many thoughts running through his head.
"Joffrey!" she cried, her voice filled with concern and fury. "Axel, what have you done?" Rage boiled beneath her words as she beheld both of her boys standing opposed.
Axel looked first to his father, then to his mother. His expression did not fluctuate. His eyes then shifted to the guards, and lastly to the servant boy still in the fetal position upon the grass, trembling even more in fear that he might be punished or worse, dead.
"Myrcella and I were playing with a carved wooden lion, as she was telling me a story she was read to by a servant," he said plainly. "While Joffrey was hurting this servant boy, his cries made Myrcella cry. So I made Joffrey cry and stop hurting the servant boy."
He did not lower his gaze. He told the truth about what he had done and why he had done it.
"Ho..." Cersei began, stepping forward, her voice gaining a darker tone as she prepared to punish Axel for laying hands upon Joffrey, no matter the cause, only that he had done it.
Robert lifted a hand.
"Enough." His voice cut off the words she was about to say. He looked from one son to the other. "I see what happened."
His mouth curled, though there was still a hint of anger in it.
"So then. Joffrey. Axel. You'll fight, right here, right now. Whoever wins is right."
"Robert, what are you saying?" Cersei's voice rang out in outrage. "Axel should be punished. So what if Joffrey wished to hurt the servant boy? He should never have struck his own brother, his blood!" Her hands trembled at her sides, gold rings flashing in the sun as outrage overcame reason. She did not wish her sons to fight, least of all against one another.
Axel did not flinch at her fury.
"Actually, I do not care if he kept hitting the servant boy," he said, his tone calm and unashamed. "It is that he made Myrcella cry; no one will make her cry. At least not in my presence."
There was no false nobility in his words. He was not claiming to shield the weak nor defend the helpless. He spoke plainly that he did it out of revenge and for his sister.
"Ho, ho," Robert laughed, the sound booming throughout the yard like thunder. He looked at Axel with curiosity. "And what if it were I who made her cry?"
Axel didn't hesitate, "I would make you pay when I could."
He knew full well he could not best Robert as he was, yet the answer came without hesitation or fear.
That only widened Robert's grin. "Well," Robert said at last, "that changes nothing. You struck your brother. So you will fight it out now. And there will be no more interruptions."
His gaze shifted pointedly to Cersei. The meaning was clear: 'This will happen, and you won't stop it, so stop trying'.
The Queen stood fixed, her fury clashing with the helplessness she felt, but she could do nothing but watch as her sons were set to go against one another.
[Author's Note: If you're confused about anything, stick with me, I'm making this as we go! Did you like the changes I made? Yes, no leave a comment and tell me I will do what I can, so leave a review and tell me what you may want to see, and as you know, this is a harem, so who would you want in it?
Disclaimer: I have a rough idea of where this is going, but I haven't mapped out every single detail or an overarching idea. So if you have suggestions to make the story better or who you might want to see, please leave a comment and review! I hope you like the story. While I do use AI, I don't think it is slop, and if there is any, I will try to change it and or add humanity into it, but just give me a chance, sorry I did not make a chapter, so I'm putting this one out, sorry but have a great or blessed day.
Next time: So the next chapter will continue right where this one left off, we will see the fight of Joffrey & Axel, and maybe in the next chapter or the one after that, the memories will awaken with a reason and not a good one. Here's a hint: Aemond 'One-Eye' Targaryen, Brynden 'Bloodraven' Rivers, and lastly Sandor 'Hound' Clegane. Now this will be a group/collection/chain chapter, so I suggest you wait to read it until all chapters are out, and it will be between 3-5. See you then!
Ending Note: Thank you for the support. Have a great( if you're not religious) and or blessed day, and check out my other account where I publish Og novels. It's called Fiction_Dragon! :)]