After his exhilarating victory in the fight against Edwyn Frey, Daemon's adrenaline-fueled excitement was quickly replaced by a burning curiosity. He was eager to seek advice and critique from Barristan
With his heart still racing, Daemon set off in search of Barristan. Weaving through the bustling crowd of nobles and attendees, he hoped to find the esteemed knight amid the celebrations. However, his quest for guidance took an unexpected turn when he inadvertently collided with Edmure Tully.
"Watch where you're going, peasant!" Edmure sneered, giving Daemon a disdainful shove.
Daemon steadied himself, narrowing his eyes at the haughty young man. "Apologies, my lord. I was searching for someone." He said with gritted teeth.
"Searching for someone?" Edmure chuckled mockingly. "And who might that be? A fellow street rat, perhaps?"
Ignoring the jibe, Daemon took a deep breath and straightened his posture. "I seek Ser Barristan Selmy, the renowned knight. I wish to discuss my fight and seek his guidance."
Edmure's friend, Marq Piper, chimed in with a laugh. "You? Seeking guidance from a knight? That's amusing!"
"I have trained under Ser Barristan," Daemon asserted, trying to stand his ground despite the laughter around him.
The guards stationed at the entrance to the Dais watched the exchange with raised eyebrows. One of them snickered, "A commoner claiming to have trained with a knight? Tell us another tall tale, boy."
Daemon's frustration was evident in his voice as he replied, "It's not a tall tale. I have indeed been trained by Ser Barristan Selmy. Please, I only wish to speak with him."
The other guard shook his head dismissively. "Save your lies for someone who cares."
With his pride stinging, Daemon realized that reasoning with the guards would be futile. He took a step back, deciding to find another approach.
Undeterred, he turned away from the Dais and sought solace in a quiet corner. Determination burned in his eyes as he contemplated his next move.
"I'll find another way," Daemon muttered to himself, determined not to let this setback hinder his aspirations.
He is snapped out of his thoughts by arms wrapping around him from behind him recognising the auburn curls falling over his shoulders he smiles "It's good to see you Lysa" he says with warmth.
"I'm happy you're okay, for a minute I was worried when I watched the fight," she said in a low voice as she hugged him tightly.
"You should stop hugging me people might see" Daemon says with concern but he feels her shake her head.
"They never notice me, we'll be okay if I'm behind you like this" she whispers as she softly kisses his neck.
"Where is Lyanna?" Daemon asks as he closes his eyes focusing on the softness of her lips.
"She couldn't get away, her family noticed her slipping away," she said with a small giggle.
Daemon puts his hand around hers and smiles "I'm glad you're here, I just ran into your brother he can be a real cock sometimes" you say with exasperation.
Lysa giggles "He can but don't hold it against him, of everyone Father holds him to the highest standard"
Daemon turns around confused at her words "Father needs his heir to be strong, he and uncle won't be around forever so he pushes Edmure a lot harder than anyone else"
She finds herself unconsciously frowning at her own words "Edmure is an average talent, you're catching up to him and you haven't even had a quarter of the time he has had to train"
Daemon looks sheepish at her words "That is mainly due to my new aura ability"
Lysa smiles and nods "Barristan explained it lets you predict a person's movements, it sounds very useful though people will be wary of you now that they know you're a manipulator," she says encouragingly.
Daemon takes her by the hand using 'Suppression' so they both go unnoticed, he pulls her into an empty walkway between the stands "Keep this a secret but I'm not a Manipulator Type but a King Type" he whispers to hers making her eyes go wide.
She grabs onto his hands "That is amazing! They say King Type aura users are rare, the only ones I know about are Prince Rhaegar and Tywin Lannister they're rarely mentioned"
Daemon scrunches his brow at her last words "Why would they be rarely mentioned" he asked
"Because they are so rare though some of the greatest heroes in history are speculated by maesters to be King Types," Lysa says with excitement in her voice.
Daemon shrugs her shoulders "I don't think mine counts as one anywhere it's more of a manipulation ability" he states.
'I trust Lysa but it's better to keep 'Spoils of War' to myself as it's a dangerous ability' he thought to himself.
Lysa then grabbed him by the hand "Do you want to come to watch the next matches with me? I'm sure Lyanna would like to see you as well" she says in an excitable manner.
Daemon chuckles at her excitable attitude a far cry from how she was before "Guards on the upper dais already told me to get lost, so I don't believe I'll be welcomed"
Lysa frowned and squeezed his hand tighter "If they have a problem they can take it up with me, I may not show my face around much but I'm still a Tully" she said with her head held high.
Daemon chuckled and nodded his head, hopefully, he would see Barristan and maybe he could observe his competition "If you believe so my lady" he says emphasising the last words teasingly.
Lysa giggles and rewards him with a punch as they head towards the upper dais, the guards see Daemon approaching and sneer. One looks like he wishes to draw a weapon while the other opens his mouth more than likely about to use a profanity of some kind. However both their eyes widen and they both stand up straight as they see the daughter of their lord walking with him.
"This man is with me, is there a problem" Lysa states sternly
"No! Milady none at all" they both nearly shout out as they step out of the way.
Daemon and Lysa walked passed them and Daemon couldn't help but feel him pressed at how Lysa handled that "I'm surprised you were able to speak to them so bluntly, usually you're not very talkative to others" Daemon then looks down at her and notices she's breathing heavily.
"That was so s-scary! I've never talked like that to anyone" she breathes out and Daemon can't help but laugh.
As they approach the part where her family resided Lyanna noticed them and lit up she noticed Daemon, Brandon who sat next to his sister noticed her excitement due to her shaking her chair and looked her way.
Brandon smiled broadly as he saw Daemon "Daemon! A bloody good fight, glad to see you've kept up the tradition of sending the Freys home after the first round" he said eliciting some laughter from a few surrounding people.
Daemon smiled back "Good to see you My Lord though I'm surprised you're not taking part in the melee"
Brandon chuckles "Aye I would've but Father here believes in keeping your strength a secret until it's time to use it"
Rickard Stark who sat next to Brandon nodded his head "Knowing someone's ability leads to them finding a way around it, best not give them the chance"
Though Rickard does look at Daemon with his usually stern face "It was a good match boy, especially for one so new to using aura, but don't expect the other combatants to be as easy as the Frey"
Daemon bowed his head respectfully "Thank you, my lord"
Hoster Tully who sat near enough to Rickard he heard found his eyes widen, he turned to Daemon "Boy come closer" he asked though it seemed more of a command.
Daemon strode forward with Lysa following behind, Daemon smiled at Lyanna as he walked past but he had to keep himself from getting too familiar as there were other nobles present.
Daemon stands in front of Lord Tully as he inspects him while Lysa slinks off to her seat next to her sister "How long have you trained in aura boy" he asks in a clear voice
"4-5 months my lord" Daemon replies respectfully.
Hoster raises his eyebrows a bit but other than that his face is unreadable "Who helped you develop that aura ability of yours"
"No one my lord" he replies.
Hoster seems dissatisfied with that answer "Do not lie to me, boy! Some people go their entire lives without developing one, and you expect me to believe you managed it in a few months"
Daemon finds himself unsure of what to say as the truth wasn't accepted but luckily for him, he's saved from having to answer "I beg your pardon my lord but I can confirm to you with absolute certainty that no one helped Daemon in developing his aura ability" Barristan Selmy states as he stands behind the Queen who watched the spectacle with interest.
Hoster looked at the knight and considered his words "What makes you so sure Ser Barristan?"
"I've been training the lad for the past few months, though the only help I've given him is in the more advanced aspects of aura, however, I've been aware that he's been developing an ability of his own. Though your daughter would know more than me as she's been the one to make sure he didn't kill himself" Barristan states though adding the last part as a joke.
"I see..." Hoster Tully states as she sits back in his chair, though his face looked neutral his mind was racing at the sheer talent it would take to develop an ability so soon. He would have to think more about Daemon, though he would wait to make a decision based on how he does during the tournament.
Daemon was about to leave and take one of the open outside seats near where the Starks sat however he was stopped in his tracks by a voice "Would you mind joining me Daemon" he heard from his right-hand side. Turning around he can see the Queen who smiles at him gently.
(AN: So Hoster has taken a little interest in our MC I wonder what he might do. Damnnnnn. Also the ending Rhaella jumps in. I wonder what's going to happen. Ngl this authors note is pointless but I always do one so ehhhhhh. )
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