House of The Dragon:The Rise of the Emperor of the Seven Kingdoms

Chapter 174: Chapter 173 – The King’s Landing Tournament (I)

“Maekar will never let you leave King’s Landing, not when you could be used to start a rebellion. We have to flee,” Daemon said again. They couldn’t wait any longer. This was their best chance to escape while Maekar was still celebrating and drinking heavily.

They couldn’t miss this chance, or it would be truly difficult to flee King’s Landing. At least he had Caraxes to flee under the cover of night, but Viserys only had Syrax, and the dragon was too young and small to carry three people. Not to mention, even if it could, what could a mere young dragon do against the speed of an adult dragon?

Although he was a bit naive and believed Maekar wouldn’t hurt him and his family, that didn’t mean he didn’t believe others could use him against Maekar.

“I know your concerns, Daemon.” Viserys let out a sigh. “But, instead of fleeing, I’d rather stay in King’s Landing. Maekar won’t hurt Aemma or Rhaenyra as long as I remain peacefully in the Red Keep.”

“Besides, if I flee, it would practically confirm that I want to rebel. Once that happens, the noble houses will split and the realm will fall into civil war. And, knowing our strength, do you really think we could win?” Viserys asked with a sigh.

“Instead of fleeing, I’d rather stay in the Red Keep and be an idle prince; that way my family will stay away from those conspiracies and can live comfortably.” Viserys said in an emotional tone. In the end, he preferred the stability and safety of his own family above anything else.

Daemon truly understood Viserys’s thoughts. That was a great option after everything that happened. However, the idea of being trapped in one place and even prevented from leaving the city was simply the worst punishment anyone could be sentenced to.

Daemon remained silent for a moment and spoke calmly. “You have that option, but I don’t.”

“He won’t let me live after what happened between him and me. Not to mention I’m not willing to accept it; I believe I could kill him in a dragon duel.” Daemon added in a tone full of bloodlust and resentment.

As for dying, he felt that if he could take Maekar down to hell with him, he’d have won; after all, Maekar now had everything and a very good life ahead of him. Making him lose all of that made up for everything, including his own death.

Viserys quickly looked around and, seeing that no one was paying attention to them, showed a relieved look and then looked at Daemon with a look full of anger. “Daemon, don’t talk about killing your future king here.”

He wasn’t like Daemon, who had no family. He had Aemma and Rhaenyra; he couldn’t just listen to those words that could very well be an execution for his entire family.

Daemon also felt it had been a bit rash, especially saying such a thing at a feast. Even if the music, applause, and voices were loud, it could still be possible to hear something. And it only took one mouth to cause a huge incident.

As for whether Maekar would use this to kill him, Daemon had no doubts about that.

Looking at Viserys, who watched him with concern, Daemon smiled and spoke in a calm tone. “Brother, I might not be able to see you again for a while, so take care of yourself and don’t do anything crazy like me.”

Viserys wanted to stop Daemon from fleeing, but he only hugged his younger brother tightly, full of worry about Daemon’s future.

“Take care too, and I want to see my nephews and nieces as soon as possible.” Viserys said in a tone full of concern. He thought children might calm his younger brother’s mind.

Hearing his brother’s words, Daemon showed a trace of disgust. He already disliked the arranged marriage with Rhea Royce because of Alysanne; now he disliked it even more. The idea of marrying and having a child with that bronze pig was simply unbelievable to him.

Putting on a smile, he masked his feelings of disgust and looked once more at Viserys and Aemma.

“Take care.” With that, he turned and left without looking back.

Leaving Viserys full of worry about his future.

–

“Daemon has left his chambers; it seems Your Grace doesn’t command as much respect as you imagine.” Maekar, beside the king, remarked with a laugh, watching Daemon’s figure walk away.

Jaehaerys ignored Maekar’s little jab and spoke in a cold tone. “He’s going to flee. Aren’t you going to do anything?”

“You’ll stop me from doing what I actually want to do, so I’m not going to waste my time going after him and finishing what Gael started.” Maekar said in an indifferent tone. He really wanted to kill Daemon at that moment, but Jaehaerys and Alysanne were a big obstacle to that happening.

Maekar didn’t care about his reputation; if Daemon died that day, he only cared about the big problem he’d have solved. Unfortunately, he had no way to kill Daemon. Jaehaerys and Alysanne wouldn’t let him do that.

At the end of the day, Daemon was still their grandson. Jaehaerys didn’t kill Rhaenys, who caused a great deal of trouble, let alone Daemon.

However, if he were Jaehaerys, he would have killed Rhaenys and Daemon without a second thought. Even though House Targaryen claims not to respect the laws of men and gods, that phrase only applies to the king, who holds supreme power.

Other dragon riders don’t have that right; they have to follow rules or they’ll be punished according to the severity of the offense committed.

Would you let an atomic bomb fly around with no restrictions at all?

“Can’t you two make peace?” Jaehaerys frowned and asked in a calm tone.

“Of course we can,” Maekar showed a smile. “He just has to give up Caraxes.”

Jaehaerys looked at Maekar, speechless. What was the difference between that and not wanting to make peace at all? Besides, he had never heard of a Dragon Rider giving up his own dragon. That bond would only be broken by the death of either or both of them.

There had never been a dragon abandoning its rider. How incompetent would a dragon rider have to be to make his own dragon flee from him?

(Note: Aemond: Sorry for being useless…)

“He’ll flee to Essos, probably Pentos. The magistrate of Pentos is his friend.” Jaehaerys said, looking at Maekar.

“Didn’t we burn some ships from Pentos?” Maekar said in a surprised tone. He knew Daemon had a friend in Pentos, but he didn’t expect that friendship to still continue even after what happened.

“What happens to Pentos is Pentos’s problem. What does that have to do with the Pentos magistrate’s friendship?” Jaehaerys said in an indifferent tone.

Maekar understood what Jaehaerys meant. He remembered something similar from his past life. All monarchies were generally cousins; hatred could exist between the populations of two countries, but those kings never killed each other, even after defeating one another.

After all, if you kill a king, you create a very bad precedent that the king is no longer untouchable. That was terrible, especially if a revolution happened and the country turned into a republic overnight.

“But he won’t be so safe in Pentos; he might die poisoned.” Maekar said with a laugh. Westeros and Braavos were still at war; neither side had declared defeat. And House Targaryen wasn’t going to declare defeat, especially after such resounding victories in battle.

Jaehaerys nodded. That was truly a problem for Daemon, but it was Daemon’s problem.

“I’ll hold a tournament in your honor and tell the people the new heir has been chosen. Be present, and cause the population a bit more stress.” Jaehaerys changed the subject; he didn’t want to deal with the feud between Daemon and Maekar. It was a headache he wanted to ignore for the moment.

Maekar was surprised and nodded.——–

Read my other books:

House of The Dragon:The Rise of the Emperor of the Seven Kingdoms

Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos

Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.

Game Of Thrones: The King’s Court Wizard