Hunting Beatrix of the Briar

Maekar smiled. "If you can make a snare, by all means," he replied, examining the nest. "I've got a bow, though I don't know why," he added with a small chuckle. "Habit I suppose, though I was never a particularly good shot anyway."

"I know little of the woodlands, beyond which berries and mushrooms will make you sick if your supplies run out. My tutoring was in figures and weights and measures, for quartermastering, and logistics, strategy, and tactics, for command," he said. He had studied a number of other subjects beside the arts of warfare, including history and law and philosophy, but on the languages of the east he had floundered, being unable to master even their basics. "I remember Lord Rosby; he came to petition the old King, with his father, the old Lord, when he was a young knight and I was the King's squire at the time. They say at court he squeezes pennies tighter than a Braavosi banker."

Maekar laughed lightly, giving Vira a playful poke in the ribs. "I can track a boar well enough, and you bring dogs when hunting deer or foxes. My father does not hunt often, and my grandfather, before his death, preferred to hunt things that were capable of hunting him back. It is said he once spent a fortnight in the Mountains of the Moon, and when he returned it was with the six of the largest shadowcat pelts anyone had ever seen," he replied.

"Tell me of your mother, and her husband," he said, slipping his hand around hers again. "I barely knew my own mother, and my father is the King so there is truly little to tell."

Maekar's smile was tender as she spoke. It sounded like a difficult, but happy life, and he was surprised how interested in her story he was. He had invited her to hunt with him for the prowess of her dragon, and because he thought she might have been able to be useful as a peasant for flushing out a lower class bandit, but in the three days they had been in the Kingswood he had found himself growing more and more curious about Vira, the things she liked, her dreams, her past. He was not accustomed to speaking about his feelings, nor even to feeling them so strongly.

"My mother was Princess Daenya Targaryen, the eldest Grandchild of King Aenys; her younger brother was Aenar, of whom I am sure you have heard," he said. "The King, then a mere prince but still second in line for the throne, declared his right to First Night when she wed Lord Harroway of Harrenhal; it is said that he had long lusted after her, and he kept her in Dragonston until I was born, before allowing her to join her husband at his seat in the Riverlands. I only saw her at state functions thereafter, as I was raised at court. She rode the dragon Dreamfyre and died a year or two ago," he added, with little emotion. "Lord Harroway does not like me much."

"No, he could say little, even as the Master of Laws, and especially when my father became King," Maekar replied, entwining their fingers when her hand tightened around his. "I do not know if I am brave. I have done rather awful things in service to the King, because I have no choice but to obey him. Perhaps a brave man would refuse to sully himself so, and pay the price that I was unwilling to pay," he said quietly.

"The day news arrived that Prince Maeron had been killed in Oldtown, old King Maegor struck the head off of the Inquisitor who brought him the message," Maekar said, remembering vividly. "That night I snuck out of the castle, and down into the Dragonpit. I'd never tried to bond a dragon before, though I'd been around them all my life. I bonded Meraxes after several hours, though she burned my left arm so badly the Grand Maester thought I might lose it for a few days. She broke my arm, burned it and nearly bit it off, but in the end she bowed her head, and as I flew out over the city Balerion met me in the air, with the King on his back."

"He knighted me that afternoon, and pinned the black cloak around my shoulders the same day. When my father became King, he reconfirmed my commission, but I have served them both since I was sixteen."

"Not when it was offered to me, though truly it was not an offer. It was a command. I soon learned what would be required of me, however. It… Much of what I have done has weight heavily upon me," Maekar said, in the same soft tone. "In my dreams, however, I remember all of it clearly."

Maekar stopped also, slipping his arms around her waist, and he met her kiss gently. "I am deserving of the guilt and nightmares, I suspect, more so than most men. As well as whatever bloody end I find as a result of what of it is on my hands."

He held her close for a moment. "We should remain on our guard. Beatrix of the Briar is said to had the cunning of a fox, and that she can appear out of the woods like a ghost," he said, in a tone that suggested he thought those statements were exaggeration, but regardless did not want to underestimate her.

Maekar's right hand hung at his side, and if he'd still had his left it would have been on his sword hilt. "You are the distracting one," he teased softly. "It is you who could not be bothered to wake for her watch, and you who distracted me so, during my own."

Maekar laughed. "Indeed, that is undoubtedly true," he said. Vira became aware that his gait was somewhat strange, as if he was gingerly trying to avoid his breeches rubbing against his groin with each step.

Maekar shuddered at the thought of riding in this condition. "That might be faster, but hardly more pleasant, Lady Dragonseed," he said playfully. "I am surprised you can even walk today, though. I would say that every man should be so lucky as to know your company, but I am afraid I am far too selfish to make such a statement and mean it."

Meakar laughed at her flattery, though he thought he detected a tremor in her voice as she mentioned other men. He found it very easy to talk to Vira; their banter was effortless and he did not feel even remotely uncomfortable speaking of things had he had never spoken about to anyone before, but these feelings confused him even if he did not allow it to show on his face. "You are a shameless flatterer, my lady, but do continue," he replied with another laugh, trying not to sound too pleased with himself.

Maekar chuckled, and pulled a twig off a low hanging tree-branch. "You would leave me in the woods, without your expertise of gamefowl and eggs?! How cruel you are to me!" he exclaimed in mock effrontery, throwing the twig at her playfully.