Chapter 50 - 49 - Ambitions, Armies, and Pride (3)
When Corlys landed in Maidenpool, he saw Meleys on the city walls and breathed a sigh of relief. Caraxes was nowhere to be seen, but he knew the dragon was in the city. The same could be said for Daemon. Despite his youth, he was dangerous, especially after losing an arm a month ago.
Corlys quickly spotted his wife approaching; she wore armor, ready for any battle. Suddenly, Corlys’s eyes locked onto the figure behind his wife; it was Daemon himself.
Rumors said he had become calmer, colder, and more focused. In Corlys’s eyes, he preferred the old Daemon, who was impulsive and explosive. The current Daemon was extremely dangerous, so dangerous that no one knew what he would do next. And that was more threatening than ten old Daemons.
Rhaenys stood beside her husband and looked at Daemon with a calm gaze, as if their brief previous conversation hadn’t happened.
"Master of Ships," Daemon greeted the man in a calm and indifferent tone, but there was a sarcastic smile on his lips. With the scar on his face, it made him look especially malicious.
"Prince Daemon," Corlys greeted him back with dignified politeness, nothing subservient.
"I see you’ve brought your fleet, though my grandfather didn’t order you to do so," Daemon commented, looking at the warships before him. Though they weren’t all of them, for only a fool would put all his ships in one place.
"I am scouring the sea for Stepstones pirates," Corlys replied with an indifferent look.
"On land?" Daemon said with a hint of scorn.
"Pirates stay on islands, Prince Daemon," Corlys replied calmly, unbothered by the scorn.
"Careful with your ambitions, Corlys. If you overstep your bounds, I would love to tear off your head and give your body to Caraxes to devour," Daemon said in a cold, chilling tone.
"Daemon!" Rhaenys couldn’t help but interrupt in an equally cold tone. She didn’t like Daemon’s threatening tone toward her husband one bit.
"It’s like they say: when a woman marries, she only thinks of her husband and children, forgetting her own family." Seeing her react that way, Daemon didn’t hide the sarcasm in his words. Casting one last look at Corlys like a snake eyeing its prey, he departed.
Daemon had already delivered the message: if Corlys dared to overstep, the king had already informed him that he could handle it as he saw fit.
Remembering the King, Daemon touched his empty shirt sleeve and couldn’t help but wear a cold expression. Jaehaerys had used him as a pawn, and he would remember that well. He was not a man who forgot resentments easily.
Looking at Daemon’s back, Rhaenys turned to her husband and couldn’t help but speak in a troubled tone. "Don’t provoke Daemon; he’s more unstable than ever. The loss of his arm has shaken him deeply."
Corlys frowned; as a proud man, he certainly wouldn’t show fear for an untamable dragon like Daemon. House Velaryon had survived the Doom and had prospered for thousands of years. It would not be on his watch that House Velaryon would fear death.
If Rhaenys knew her husband’s thoughts, she certainly would have slapped him across the face to stop his dreaming and wake up to reality.
Ever since Aegon arrived, he had changed the rules of the game, nearly unifying the continent under one crown, and no one dared speak up while he lived. Before dragons, House Velaryon was nothing. Especially as a house that depended on wooden ships.
If there was one material against which fire was particularly effective, it was wood.
Just as it happened in the War of the Hundred Candles, where King Jaehaerys riding Vermithor, Prince Aemon riding Caraxes, and Prince Baelon riding Vhagar set fire to the entire naval fleet of Dorne, pirates in the Stepstones, mercenaries from Myr, and corsairs from the Pepper Coast.
In what became known as the Fourth Dornish Invasion and also as the Battle of the Hundred Candles, hundreds of ships burned like candles on the sea.
(Note: One by one, the ships were consumed by flames. The ships were still burning when the sun set, "like a hundred candles floating on the sea." — writings of Gyldayn.)
The fate of House Velaryon would be no different; all the ships would become candles on the sea. Corlys was so arrogant because of his achievements that he thought he was invincible.
Unfortunately, Rhaenys did not know her husband’s thoughts.
"How many sailors did you bring?" Rhaenys asked, looking at the nearly fifty ships before her.
"About fifteen thousand men. All true soldiers," Corlys replied in a proud tone; he couldn’t help but grow even more arrogant. Few noble houses could field so many soldiers.
"Corlys, they are sailors; they aren’t as good in a land battle," Rhaenys advised in a worried tone, noticing her husband’s arrogance.
"I know. I’m not a fool to think I could truly defeat a massive, fully armed army. I just need numbers to scare our enemies and show that House Velaryon is strong." Corlys certainly didn’t think sailors could fight against fully armed soldiers. But he only needed to intimidate, not actually fight.
"Come, I want to leave this city as quickly as possible," Corlys said as the sailors of House Velaryon disembarked in great numbers. Of course, the ships wouldn’t be left alone; a thousand sailors would stay to protect the warships. Enough to hoist the sails and flee if anything happened.
Rhaenys let out a sigh and felt that things were more complicated than expected; the Great Council had truly set the entire realm in motion.
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The Riverlands, Castle of Harrenhal.
The castle has five towers of dizzying size, with equally monstrous walls. The walls are incredibly thick, and its rooms are built on a scale that would be more comfortable for giants than for humans.
The five towers looked like black spears piercing the sky, terrifying and horrendous, but none of the towers are straight, being bent, deformed, and cracked due to the melting of the stone during the burning of Harrenhal by Balerion, the dragon of King Aegon I Targaryen.
At this moment, outside Harrenhal, there were already dozens of tents, all belonging to small noble houses that could arrive quickly.
However, that changed on this day.
A massive army appeared on the horizon; the ground shook with the army’s footsteps. The banners of House Blackwood and House Darry fluttered in the wind.
Gael, who was already in Harrenhal, looked at the massive army from one of the castle’s towers. She couldn’t help but take a deep breath. It was the first time in her life she had seen such a large army. She was nervous, but as Maekar’s future wife, she tried to calm herself and appear dignified and princely.
The princess quickly descended the long stairs under the protection of several handmaidens provided by Alysanne and reached the castle stables.
In the place where horses should have been, Dreamfyre now slept comfortably.
Gael, still wearing a dress, quickly mounted the dragon under the surprised gazes of the handmaidens and settled into the saddle. Dreamfyre woke up grumpy, but since it was her rider, the dragon rose from the ground and, wasting no time, took flight.
On the other side, Roderick Blackwood and Darnold Darry looked at the dragon coming toward them and became cautious, but seeing the dragon’s color, they visibly relaxed. The dragon passed over the army and, as if checking if they were friends or foes, finally deciding they were friends, flew back to the castle.
Gael was also relieved; she saw the banners of House Blackwood and Darry, Maekar’s allies, especially House Blackwood, where Maekar had lived his whole life. She was also relieved not to have to use Dreamfyre at that moment.
Three hours later, the army reached the outskirts of Harrenhal; the reason for the slowness was the large number of soldiers. It was not easy to mobilize so many people and manage them all.
Roderick and Darnold dismounted their horses and saw a procession coming toward them. It bore the banners of House Targaryen. Four imposing black horses pulled a carriage.
Both lords waited patiently, and when the procession arrived, the carriage door opened, and Gael, wearing a black dress, stepped down, accompanied by four ladies of the court.
Roderick and Darnold did not hesitate; both knelt. Soon after, Benedict and David also knelt.
"House Blackwood/House Darry has come at the call of Prince Maekar," both lords spoke at the same time.
Gael secretly swallowed hard and, hiding her nervousness, spoke in a calm tone.
"Rise, my dear lords. Your arrival at this moment gladdens me more than anything else," she continued, speaking with a dignified and graceful tone. "My future husband will not fail your loyalty in this most important moment."
"Yes, my princess." Roderick and Darnold rose at the same time, as did Benedict and David.
Under the eyes of everyone, Princess Gael greeted the massive army with grace befitting a queen.
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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