c23 Getting Lost
Inside Dragonstone.
In the narrow corridors of the castle, rows of torches shaped like dragon claws extended from the walls, their flames burning fiercely, radiating light and heat.
The main castle of Dragonstone was entirely constructed of dark volcanic stone fused by ancient Valyrian sorcery, its towers carved into the shapes of dragons and gargoyles. The overall atmosphere was somewhat somber and oppressive; even the timid would feel a chill run down their spines walking through it.
At this moment, the silence within the castle corridors seemed worlds apart from the fierce naval battle raging on the sea outside Dragonstone.
Rhaenys, clutching a rag doll, walked timidly through the silent corridors of the Stone Drum tower, swallowing hard, then tentatively and cautiously calling out,
"Hello...is anyone there?"
Only her echo returned, along with the faint sound of the wind blowing in from the cliffs overlooking Blackwater Bay.
Silence remained.
Although she had lived on Dragonstone for half a year, the brown-haired girl was still only four years old.
Moreover, the terrain of Dragonstone's castle was uneven and steep, built against the mountainside of the volcanic island, with winding roads, twisting staircases, and complex internal halls and rooms, even containing many hidden passages built during the days of the Valyrian dragonlords.
Therefore…
Rhaenys was lost.
She had woken up in the middle of the night intending to find Viserys, as their rooms weren't far apart in the royal quarters. However, when Rhaenys arrived at his bedroom, she found the bed in disarray and no one there.
Even Queen Rhaella's maid, who had always cared for them and kept watch over the young Targaryens, was nowhere to be found.
Unsupervised, Rhaenys was free.
The daring girl, clutching her doll, ran off alone in the middle of the night, hoping to find the missing Viserys somewhere inside the vast castle of Dragonstone.
But she wandered around the castle for a long time with her doll, unable to find Viserys and Queen Rhaella, who were supposed to be at the Sea Dragon Tower. Meanwhile,
Maester Daniel had suddenly fallen critically ill earlier that evening, and the castle servants and guards had gathered to bid him farewell as he lay dying.
But then, the distant lighthouse on Dragonstone rang its alarm bells, the deep and distant toll echoing across the dark sea and throughout the island fortress, striking a chord in everyone's heart.
The brown-haired girl, who had been wandering alone in the castle for a while, was already feeling a chill run down her spine. Then she heard the bells ring, and her small body shivered slightly as the fear hidden deep within her heart was suddenly amplified.
The little girl bit her lip tightly, not daring to utter a sound, and ran all the way back, trying to find the path to her bedroom so she could shrink beneath the covers.
And then...
she tragically got lost.
...
The castle at night was shrouded in darkness except for the few lit corridors and halls, making it feel far more confusing than during the day.
Because of her young age, Rhaenys was usually kept under strict watch by the castle servants and guards and rarely had the opportunity to wander through Dragonstone at night, so this situation felt like being lost in completely unfamiliar territory.
Fortunately, the brown-haired little girl was braver than other children her age; she didn't burst into tears, but her eyes were slightly red, and tears welled up as she continued clutching her rag doll tightly in the silent stone corridor.
One small hand gripped the cold wall, her body curled up, clutching the doll in her arms, listening to the constant sound of the wind coming from the cliffs of Dragonstone, and then she groped her way forward.
Whoosh~
The flames above her head swayed gently with the eerie wind blowing from somewhere through the narrow arrow slits of the castle, and the girl's shadow cast on the opposite wall distorted slightly.
"Ah!"
Rhaenys was startled when she saw her own reflection, her scalp tingling.
Instinctively, she leaned against the wall, clutching her skirt.
Just then, a soft clanging sound seemed to come from the darkness at the end of the corridor, like something falling to the ground.
"Huh?"
The little girl's ears twitched slightly; she heard the sound, then leaned against the wall and turned to look into the darkness.
"Viserys?"
Rhaenys called softly, assuming it was Viserys responding to her voice.
However, the next second, she heard the sound of metal scraping against metal.
Clang...
A spiked claw had somehow appeared from a nearby stone window that overlooked the cliffs of Dragonstone, landing on the ground and pulling back slightly until it hooked into a crack in the wall.
Click
the claw adjusted its position, the metal scraping against the uneven volcanic wall making a teeth-grinding sound; it seemed someone outside was pulling a rope to secure the claw.
In the torchlight, the spiked claws in the distance gleamed coldly, and a strange man's deliberately hushed, rough voice came from outside the wall.
"Ready...already..."
They seemed to be whispering something in a foreign accent, then the sound was carried away by the wind blowing from Blackwater Bay.
Rhaenys felt a chill run down her spine.
"Who is it..."
The little girl's face paled slightly, her lips trembled, one hand gripped her skirt tightly, and the doll she was holding in the other fell to the ground, but she was oblivious, instinctively pressing herself against the cold, black stone wall behind her.
She didn't know...what to do.
However,
even though Rhaenys was young, she understood that whoever infiltrated the castle in this way was definitely not a good person.
She had also witnessed the battle on the main road earlier, when soldiers clashed during the chaos surrounding the fall of the Targaryen dynasty, the blood and flesh flying everywhere, a nightmare that had haunted her countless times.
She understood the wickedness of this world.
Rhaenys certainly didn't want to die.
But then she heard the sound of people outside pulling ropes, trying to climb up along the castle wall, seemingly getting closer.
"What...what should I do?"
The girl was terrified. A thin layer of cold sweat beaded on her forehead, and strands of brown hair clung to her skin. She looked around nervously.
Suddenly, a thought struck her.
Her small, delicate hands tiptoed and pulled the doorknob, trying to open the door to the next room and hide inside.
However, the door seemed to be blocked by something, and Rhaenys couldn't open it.
But the faint sounds coming from outside were getting closer.
Rhaenys's panic reached its peak; her legs felt weak.
She gave up trying to open the door and turned to run.
The waves crashed violently against the jagged rocks beneath the cliffs.
A longship,
without a single light burning upon it, sailed silently across the dark sea, approaching Dragonstone beneath the pale moon.
The crew gathered their weapons, abandoned the ship once they reached the shore, and quietly went ashore.
They were a group of mercenaries from the southwestern coast of Essos, from the chaotic Disputed Lands between Myr, Tyrosh, and Lys, hired secretly by the Iron Throne.
Lord Paxter Redwyne knew nothing of this.
Robert Baratheon harbored a deep hatred for the Targaryens, vowing to exterminate these so-called "dragonspawn" and wipe out the last remnants of the dynasty that had ruled Westeros for nearly three centuries.
However, he did not entirely trust Paxter alone to deal with Dragonstone; he had also secretly bribed a small mercenary group from the eastern continent,
commissioning them to find an opportunity to infiltrate Dragonstone and assassinate the remaining Targaryen heirs such as Viserys and Queen Rhaella.
Now,
having received a hefty deposit from King Robert after the victory of the rebellion, these mercenaries had finally seized their chance, reaching the shores of Dragonstone while the Targaryen fleet was engaged in battle against the Green Pavilion fleet outside the island.
Crack
The spiked claws carved three shallow white marks into the uneven volcanic stone wall, the moonlight outside the window pale and lifeless.
The next second.
A burly figure appeared above the stone window, gripping the rope firmly, a sharp battle axe slung across his back, the blade gleaming coldly in the moonlight as he began climbing into the castle.
.....