Rhaella's Arrival

Maekar looks up when the Queen enters. His left arm is still in a sling, bound at the stump of his wrist, and there are fewer bandages on his face; just a simple strip of linen binding a thicker linen pad that covers his empty right eye.

"Your grace," Maeker said by way of greeting, with a polite nod of his head. He said nothing further, however, waiting for Prince Aegon to give his account.

AT first the queen was relieved that her daughters were safe but the feeling was shortlived. The blood drained from Rhaella's face. Her brother, battle companion and dearest friend dead. It couldn't be. But she knew Aegon would not lie to her.

She held herself silent for a long moment because the alternatives were to cry or rage and she didn't want either Aegon or Maekar to see that. But when she finally trusted herself to speak she said "What did you do with the High Septon's corpse. I want his head since I cannot have Ser Hector's. Your father will want it tarred and displayed for all to see the might of House Targaryen."

She paused, swallowed. "Tell me about Valarr. They should not have taken his life. We fought together so many times. I should have kept him with me. But your sister asked for him."

"The Faith devised... weapons," Aegon clarified. "A harpoon on an enormous chain, shot from the top of the Hightower. And some means of arrowhead for their ballistae, which exploded with enough force to kill a dragon. Valarr did not linger in pain."

"The High Septon's body is in the Whispering Sound now," Aegon added.

Maekar was inwardly amazed that she brushed off the deaths of four dragons and close to two thousand soldiers, focusing on one man, even one who was her own brother. They had been examining quartermaster's reports when the queen arrived. "Unless shipping resumes in the Whispering Sound, and food is important, we won't have enough to feed our own men beyond the end of this week, let alone any prisoners."

"What happened when you fought Lord Redwyne at sea, your grace? Will his ships be a threat if we order the merchants to begin shipping grain?"

"I wanted to see their corpses, Aegon," Rhaella said. "I have dreamed of it, ever since the first Battle of Oldtown. I was almost killed then. And now I have been denied the chance to look upon their dead faces. Now I have more reason than ever to wish I might have done that. And I have been denied my vengeance. You are young men, both of you. You cannot imagine how I have dreamed of this day. The cost has been so high. I had hoped to see the traitors burn. Now I never can."

Rhaella was quiet for a moment, thinking. She regretted the loss of Vermax and Nenyan though she couldn't help but be relieved that Aenar's children were dragonless. Azuria was a greater loss since she had produced so many eggs for House Targaryen and her egg had come from the same clutch as Amethyst. Victory had come at a great cost of dragons, as well as men. Rhaella had always expected to lose men, because that was the way of battle, and with Oldtown so strongly manned, she'd expected heavy losses, unfortunate though it was. But she had been hoping that this time they wouldn't lose any dragons. It had been bad enough almost losing Seaskimmer. She was immensely grateful to the gods that Amethyst was unharmed.


"Redwyne is still a threat, but he cannot hope to stand alone, even with his fleet. Why would he, when he can no longer trade with the Faith Militant? We cannot afford to ignore his ships, so it would be wise to wait before we start arranging grain shipments."

She paused, slid her hand down to the hilt of her sword and squeezed.

"Lord Velaryon was outmatched by Redwyne. We were forced back to Sun House before we lost our dragons, though the enemy retreated to the Arbor. Both sides had to lick their wounds, and Greyjoy has returned to the Iron Islands. So we must hope Redwyne will give up the fight now."

Maekar nodded at that. "That would be reasonable, however the loyal houses whose lands border those of the Hightowers will expect gains for their service. Lord Tarly in particular deserves a reward; I am told that he practically prevented our lines from routing on the ground before the day was decided. More than fifteen hundred of our men are dead; when those who have mortal wounds finally succumb it will likely be closer to two thousand dead over all, though at least five times that number of the Faith were killed on the field. I imagine more were killed in the rout, but we must have at least thousand poor fellows taken prisoner. Six and a half thousand of our own men remain, though nearly half of those are wounded in some way," he said, looking up from the table.

"Lord Aemon certainly distinguished himself in battle, and is well deserving of such a reward," he added.

"I-" Maekar cut off for a moment. "I serve at the pleasure of his grace the King, and take whatever he sees fit to be stow," he said quietly. "His grace the prince has already gifted me with the sword Vigiliance that was his prize by right."

"Then Tarly has his reward," Rhaella said with satisfaction. "Unless he asks for more, in which case we will deal with the matter if it arises. And it seems Maekar has his reward too."

She looked at the bastard for a long moment, as if questioning why he had not asked for lands and a keep of his own, but then she turned back to Aegon.

"Yes. A parley would be good. It may be that Redwyne will approach us. If not, we must needs send one of our own dragonriders with a flag of truce, though that would not be my own choice."

"I agree. With our dragons as wounded as they are, and with only half the ships that Redwyne possesses, it would be foolhardy to press an attack before attempting negotiation. I will go myself. You were present at the battle, Mother. Do you desire to treat with the man also?"

Rhaella nodded. "Yes. it is best if I not go myself. It needs only one of the two of us. That would be most suitable. You shall go, then, Aegon." She took off her signet ring and pressed it into his hand. "Go with my blessing. Arenya and Trajan may accompany you, as Maekar suggests. Be sure to make no more concessions than you must."

She looked at Maekar. "In the meantime your brother may continue to assist me in setting things to rights here before we return to Kings Landing."

Though her eyes narrowed as she thought of home. She wasn't looking forward to seeing Maegor again. Not this time.

She put her hand on his shoulder. This close, he could see the grief written across her face. "I'm thankful you are safe too. Please, put aside your belief in their Seven gods and cleave to the true gods of Valyria. And keep yourself safe, if you can."