Chapter 38 - 37 - The Ballad of the Serpent and the Dragon (3)
On the day of the trial by combat.
Inside a tent in the tournament grounds outside King’s Landing.
Maekar was donning his armor with the help of Harwin and Borros; both seemed more solemn than usual.
"You look like you’re dressing me for a funeral," Maekar said with an amused tone as he observed the expressions of both friends.
"It’s not a wake, but it’s similar." Harwin, being a loyal friend, couldn’t help but speak in a heavy tone. He still didn’t know that Harrenhal would change hands, that he would cease to be the heir of Harrenhal and become an heir to the Goldfield.
This fiefdom was created by Jaehaerys between the Golden Tooth and Silverhill. It could be said that House Strong almost controlled the only passage from the Westerlands to the Riverlands and Riverrun. Not to mention there were gold mines in the fief chosen by Jaehaerys.
As for whether House Lefford, Lord of the Golden Tooth, and House Serrett, Lord of Silverhill, would say anything about having lost, respectively, a third of their fiefs, that was not a concern for Jaehaerys. The king was taking the opportunity to punish the Westerlands because of recent events, as well as to drive an important nail into the Westerlands.
Even if they were furious, they had to bow their heads and curse Loreon for giving the king a reason to strike at them.
In summary, House Strong lost Harrenhal but gained an important fief that controlled the exit from the Westerlands, as well as a gold mine.
"It’s not as serious as you think; besides, I’m going to make Daemon regret meddling where he’s not wanted," Maekar said with a cold smile. He had long wanted a valid reason to ruin Daemon’s handsome face.
Although he couldn’t kill Daemon, he could do much worse: destroy his spirit and make him suffer humiliation while alive. When everyone looked at him, they would no longer remember Daemon, the Rogue Prince, but Daemon, the Armless!
Seeing Maekar excited for battle, Harwin and Borros exchanged glances, wondering about the reason for the resentment between the two brothers.
How could they know that Maekar and Daemon deeply hated each other? They had wanted to kill each other for a long time; this trial was just something both desired. And, although they couldn’t truly kill each other, they could do much more.
Borros didn’t know what happened between the brothers, but he stepped away from Maekar and solemnly picked up the Valyrian steel sword. Looking at the dulled steel and the legendary hilt of the sword, he couldn’t help but think that holding that sword was incredible; it seemed to give him the right to rule all of Westeros.
The heir of Storm’s End handed the sword to Maekar, who gripped it firmly.
Looking at Blackfyre in his hand, Maekar smiled. The sword was truly beautiful, worthy of a conqueror’s sword.
Placing the helmet over his face, Maekar walked towards the tent’s exit. His black armor was polished and gleaming, with a grayish hue, and had a silver dragon crest on a golden background on his chest. It had no draconian details but seemed especially dense and protective.
As soon as Maekar exited the tent, a light dazzled his vision, and a flat arena appeared before him. Looking to both sides, there were the stands. They were completely packed. All of noble origin or great wealth.
Surrounding the entire arena, all standing, were the common folk, who seemed like an endless crowd.
As soon as Maekar exited the tent, shouts erupted. The ground seemed to tremble, and a thunderous sound reverberated everywhere. Suddenly, the sound of wings was heard, and soon after, others. The world seemed to darken for a moment.
Three gigantic dragons flew above the arena. One had platinum scales with golden edges, powerful and strong; the other was entirely silver, elegant as a queen; the last and smallest had beautiful blue scales.
All three dragons flew in circles slowly, their majestic bodies making people breathless for a moment.
"Bahamut, Silverwing, and Dreamfyre!!!" When the first shout was heard, people looked with awe at the three adult dragons.
Suddenly, a sharp roar was heard, and a red shadow flashed across the sky, followed by another red shadow, and soon after a huge dragon with bronze-colored scales, before a larger, older, and more powerful shadow flew over all the other seven dragons.
"Caraxes, Maelys, Vermithor, and Vhagar." Exclaimed the same man who had spoken the names of Maekar’s, Gael’s, and Alysanne’s dragons. Apparently, he was a dragon fanatic.
Raising his head and seeing the seven enormous, adult creatures flying above the arena, it was truly a terrifying sight and also one to make anyone hold their breath in pure admiration.
"Let’s call this day the Ballad of the Serpent and the Dragon." Maekar murmured with a smile. The serpent was naturally Caraxes, with his serpentine body, and the dragon was naturally Bahamut. He found the name appropriate because it was just him and Daemon fighting.
Suddenly, the seven dragons split into two teams, one on the left side with Bahamut, Dreamfyre, and Silverwing. On the right side, Caraxes, Maelys, Vermithor, and the colossal Vhagar.
Seeing this, Maekar’s gaze went towards the royal stands, where Gael, Alysanne, Jaehaerys, Viserys, Emma, Rhaenys, Corlys, and even the bedridden Baelon were present.
Looking at his father’s pale face, the last trace of affection he had for the man disappeared at that moment. Vhagar, being on Caraxes’ side, showed the side Baelon had chosen in this conflict.
"In the end, I’m nothing more than a bastard who isn’t as important as the children of his beloved wife." Maekar murmured in a calm tone. To say he felt no sadness was a lie. The man his mother loved could never love her or even him equally.
Laughing, Maekar felt stupid for trying to at least treat Baelon as a father, something he never was or would be, at least for him. Gripping Blackfyre firmly, he took a step forward and walked towards the arena.
On the other side, wearing black armor with draconian aspects, especially with the helmet with dragon wings, Daemon approached holding Dark Sister.
Usually, it would be a joust before anything else, but both Daemon and Maekar chose to ignore the joust and went straight to hand-to-hand combat.
In the stands, seeing the two figures approaching, Baelon began to cough violently. He clutched his stomach in pain and looked painfully at both his sons, about to try to kill each other.
"Baelon, go back to your chambers; you’re not well enough to be out of bed." Alysanne spoke in a worried tone.
"Let me see, Mother. Even if it’s the last thing I see today." Baelon gritted his teeth and endured the sharp pain in his stomach. He didn’t want to see his sons killing each other, but he couldn’t escape what was happening.
Jaehaerys said nothing, but his clenched fists showed that he was still furious about what was happening.
Corlys, who was next to his wife, looked at Baelon’s deplorable state with a strange glint in his eyes. There was a morbid joy hidden in his gaze. Baelon had stolen his wife’s crown; he couldn’t be happier seeing him suffer so much. Rhaenys didn’t know what her husband was thinking; otherwise, she would have been furious.
Gael didn’t care about anyone else at that moment except her beloved; she was only looking at Maekar’s figure walking in the center of the arena. She had her hands clasped as if praying to the gods, even though she knew this battle would not end in death.
Back in the arena, Maekar and Daemon finally stared coldly at each other.
"What a pity I can’t decapitate you; I’d like to use your skull as an entrance decoration in my new castle." Maekar raised his helmet’s visor and spoke in a calm tone, almost as if speaking normally.
"When someone entered Harrenhal, they would see your head and think: ’This was Daemon Targaryen, the fool.’"
Daemon raised his helmet’s visor and replied in a calm tone, but the purest fury burned in his eyes.
"I never planned to follow the king’s orders."
"You die today."
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Note: I knew some people would be angry that I didn’t kill Daemon. Unfortunately, if I were to go down that path,the path where the protagonist becomes king, it would simply end with that duel.
I won’t go into detail about my thoughts on this, but just know that Daemon does die, but he’ll die in an epic way, because I, just like you, love this character.
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/GOTSW
Read my other books:
House of The Dragon: The Pale Prince
Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos
Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.
Game Of Thrones: The King’s Court Wizard