Pre-Chapter A/N: Here we go with another chapter. Here on time! Next four chapters on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)— same username as here and link in bio.
She stopped moving when I was about a dozen paces away. I was in shouting distance now. There were only about three trees between us. We could see each other clearly. She stood in a clearing now.
"Stop moving." She turned, holding my son right in front of her. Her hold was so gentle. Like she was nursing him, arms swaying as he was rocked. He was asleep, not having stirred since she'd picked him up and run halfway across an island with him in her grasp.
I came to a halt, near toppling over. The threat here was implicit, but with the value of what she threatened, it did not need to be any more apparent. The distance between us was enough that if she decided to squeeze, I'd be down a child before I could reach her and stop it.
"Don't do this. Stop, hand my son back and I will let you leave this alive," I said, lying like my life depended on it. She was a dead woman walking. She cackled, head reaching back and howling into the sky.
I crept a step forward, but her neck snapped back down to me instantly.
"Now take a step back before I do something drastic," she said. I obeyed instantly. Is this what it felt like to be held at gunpoint? To know that your life was completely in the hands of another?
"You are such a good liar, Laenor Velaryon. The best liar in the world. That is why Viserys believed your lie, no?" she said. What? What the hell was she talking about?
"Can we just talk? You clearly have some grievance against me. Put the baby down. He's innocent. I am unarmed. We are alone in this forest, you can have my life. You can even take me hostage, I'll get you a boat out of here and you can leave. You can leave and you can even kill me on the way out," I said.
"I will not be leaving this island alive, Laenor Velaryon. And that is fine by me. I just want the truth. The truth and your tears. Your tears to counter the tears I wept when you took my love from me," she said.
"Whatever I did to you, I'm sorry. I really am. But please. Please no," I begged. Fuck it, I begged. Her grip tightened.
"Let me tell you what you did to me. I loved a man. A man I was never supposed to love. He was mercurial, and arrogant, and saw me as his lesser in every way. But he was beautiful, and for a time he was mine. Until I became with child. This man was above my station, and married to add to it. His brother, a powerful King, had him send me away, but when he did, he made me a promise. I would give birth to his child in Lys and wait there. While he would go and build a Kingdom. A Kingdom where his brother's laws and power would not stretch. A Kingdom of Stepstones," she said, sneering at me. No. Fuck no. It couldn't be.
"Daemon," I whispered the name.
"Yes, yes. The Rogue Prince. My Rogue Prince. Rider of the Blood Wyrm Caraxes. Warrior. Knight. King," she roared the last word, but still somehow my son did not wake. There was a dark feeling crawling up my feet. Like worms in my boot. He should be waking. No child could sleep through this.
And yet my son remained in her grasp, seemingly deaf to the world. His chest was still rising and falling. I could see it if I squinted just enough. That fact alone kept me from charging her and putting an end to her right here and now. I didn't have a sword, but I was not lacking in means to bring her life to an end.
"My lover, my King, joined with you and your father to take this Kingdom, only for him to be killed right as it was achieved. His letter to me had only just arrived from a passing sailor when the news broke that my lover had died. They said he was assassinated by a pirate. But I knew the truth. He had agreed with your father that the crown of the Stepstones would be his. And now here it was, yours. What can I make of that but the obvious?" she asked.
"You think I killed Daemon?" I asked, stunned.
"I know you did. I know it in my bones like I have never known anything before," she said.
"And how do you know that? You weren't there. This seems like a lot of work to do over a suspicion. You've spent years serving my family, befriended my wife, done so much to help us, and you still think I would be capable of killing my own cousin just for a few stormwashed islands?" I asked.
"You've built a Kingdom here. A beautiful thing that should have been Daemon's. That should have been my son's after him. And now you mean to pass it to children of your own. I will not see it happen. First, I will make you mourn like I mourned, and then I will take your life," she said.
"Don't do this. Please don't do this. I said I'll come with you. You can torture me if you want. You can take your revenge on me. I am the one you're angry at. Not this child. He's innocent. As a mother yourself, please," that last word had been the wrong one. It looked like I might have made some progress there, but the second I mentioned she was a mother, her body language shifted.
"Speak the truth first. Speak it before I take my revenge," she said.
"The truth had been what I said. The wine had been poisoned. Daemon drank it, he did not survive," I said.
"Lies," she screamed, and as she did so, she squeezed my son against her. I flinched, almost jumping forward before I could stop myself. His bones were soft enough that she could crush him to death. She'd kill him before I made it. I just had to wait. Give her what she wanted, bide my time and trust that an opening would come. Sooner or later, an opening would come.
"I swear on my wife that I am telling you the truth, I did not kill Daemon," I said.
"I have your son and still you lie? I want the truth now. Speak the truth or the boy dies."
She was holding him too closely. The reality of her threat was sinking in now. There was nothing I could do here.
"What do you want me to say?" I asked because there was nothing I would not tell her to stay her hand. There was no crime I would not confess to. Guilty or not, it did not matter. She had my son and that was all that mattered to me now. I understand how Eddard Stark must have felt in those cells reading the letter from his daughter begging for him to confess. The letter that contained the implicit threat to his child. What is honour compared to the warmth of a babe in your hands? And my babe was in hers now.
"Tell me you killed him. Tell me you envied him and killed him because of it. Tell me the truth," she said, near screaming at the last phrase. She was angry. Oh, so angry.
"I did it. I killed Daemon Targaryen. I envied what he had and contrived a plan to steal it from him," I said. She nodded like that was enough and then she reached into her dress, drawing a dagger.
"Please. Please stop," I begged. My voice cracked against my volition there.
"When I found out that Daemon had died, I went insane. I could not live. Could not eat, could not drink. I languished in my misery for a time. But then sadness left and rage replaced it. King's blood is powerful, as you know? I sacrificed my own son and sent him to be with his father to give me the power to stand here before you, to exact my vengeance. To hurt you as you did me," she said. The bracelet around her wrist began to glow as her features began to morph.
Her silver hair lightened even further in colour, becoming near white. Her already lithe form thinned even further until she was not the woman I had seen for months on end. She was now the one the world had called the White Worm.
"You should thank your sister with your last breaths, Laenor Velaryon. Only for her sake do I spare your other children. Instead I will take a son for a son and then I will take a husband for a husband. Today, you die, Laenor Velaryon," she said, but before she could bring the blade to bear, "Dracarys."
Sunfyre's flames covered her form from head to toe. I jumped across the distance between us, snatching my son from shocked hands before the fire could spread to him too badly. His blanket had been burned slightly but there were no signs of the fire reaching skin.
Mysariah stood there wailing in pain. I was tempted to leave her to her suffering, but that was still a risk. This woman could never be allowed to return. She snapped her fingers and the fire began to fly off her form and towards her outstretched hand.
"Aegon, blade," I called, hoping my squire would get the message. He did. His dagger was at the apex of its flight curve when I reached her, wresting her to the ground and allowing some of the fire to spread to my own body.
The blade I caught with an outstretched arm and stabbed straight down into the woman's neck.
Her eyes snapped forth to meet mine, and in them I saw only a black hate. Those purple orbs spoke of a desire for vengeance that could not be matched. I heaved once, slicing across with the blade already buried sideways into her neck and pushed until the blade had sheared most of her head from her body. The light still remained in those eyes.
"Say hi to Daemon for me in hell," I snarled, before her eyes finally went dark. She was gone now. Dead, at least. I looked up to find Aegon and Sunfyre looming over me. Well, more the latter than the former. The dragon just watched, seemingly asking me for permission for something while Aegon just looked like he was struggling to comprehend what he was seeing.
His gaze was pinned down on the body while he shook in his boots. Was this his first death?
"Aegon. My Prince, where are you?" That was Cargyll's voice now. That explained why the Prince was alone, at least. He'd escaped his minder.
"Thank you, Aegon," I said, rising.
"We're here, Ser Cargyll." I raised my voice before stepping out of range of the woman's body.
"Go ahead, Sunfyre," I said.
With that bit of permission given, there was nothing holding the dragon back. He bathed the body in fire, her gown and flesh burning to near chars before I noticed the one thing that did not burn. A bracelet. A metal cuff with a ruby in the center. It glowed brightly as Sunfyre's fire washed over it, but was otherwise unaffected.
"Tell him to hold on," I asked Aegon, and was already walking towards the corpse before my words were conveyed. Sunfyre might not have been my dragon, but I knew I had nothing to fear from him. His fires stopped, allowing me to pick up the bracelet, wrenching it free from her roasted wrist and stepping back. It was hot to the touch, but the heat could not bother me anymore. I had been careful not to disturb my son when I had bent down but it was still strange that he still slept.
I looked down at it. It was silver, but not quite silver. Some sort of alloy? I looked down at the ruby and could not help but feel the magic within. How had I never noticed her wearing this? I poked at it with my own magic, that force that lay in my stomach and helped me control the flames, and found myself standing in a different place entirely.
It was a ship. A ship that I would have recognised anywhere. From the colour of the wood and the way it was arrayed to the Seahorse on the sails. It was my ship. No. Not my ship. Uncle Vaemond's. The deck was barren, except for a table with two chairs on it. The scene that was being represented here was one that I had not thought of for a while. One of the times I had come close to death. If Igneel had been any slower, then that would have been it for me here. They had me outnumbered, out-armed, and outmaneuvered.
"Laenor Velaryon," the woman's voice came from behind me even though I had kept my head on a swivel and checked that direction not even a few seconds ago. Still, I feigned calm and turned to look at her.
"What was that name of yours again, witch?" I asked, turning to look at the Red Priestess who I had killed.
On her neck was a weeping wound from where I'd stabbed my blade straight through. Blood flowed freely.
"Matters little. What matters is the name you would have given that son of yours. Do Westerosi name dead children? I know not your customs," she said.
"I wouldn't do that," she said as my fingers were mere inches away from grabbing a hold of her neck. I stopped myself, just in case she somehow from this gem had a hold on my son. His sleep was unnatural. Myriah, nay Mysariah, had done something. How did this witch even get her claws into her?
"Good man. You see, you can not kill me as I presently exist. But if you try, you will kill your son from the backlash," she said.
"What did you do?" I ground out the question.
"Not me. Mysariah. Such a brilliant girl, if a bit shortsighted. She thought she could hide her lack of devotion to the Lord of Light from me. Of course, she did not truly understand the higher mysteries. Not in the way someone like you does," she said, giving me a look I could not quite place.
"Speak clearly," I said. I did not have the time nor the interest in her flattery.
"The gem you hold now is an interesting creation. When you killed me, I used what magic I could summon to put all I was, my essence, within it. It contains me as I am. And while I was dormant for a while, Mysariah's power gave me succour for a while. She did not have enough for the two of us so we needed another source. And luckily for us, there was a powerful couple with King's blood just on the other side of the island. It was easy to convince her to get us close enough to Mysara to bespell her. The false memories and identity of Myriah came from there, and once we were close enough to your wife, my plan began to proceed. Of course, I had to convince her that she would get her revenge on those children of yours once they were born. We engineered dead child after dead child to make your wife desperate enough to come to us, and when she did it was almost sad how easy it was. A woman like her, noble born and raised for court but forced to live here in this desolate collection of rocks? She was friendless and we became her friend. She trusted us and that allowed us to set things in place. Of course, I am not cruel. I did grow to love her in much the same way as I am sure Mysariah did in time. We split the children in the womb so while we took one, she would have enough for her to not be too heartbroken..."
"Can you just get to the fucking point already?" I asked, clenching my fist. It was taking all I had to not wring her neck and try my level best to pull her head from her shoulders with my bare hands.
"Your son is linked with me as I exist now. His magic powers my soul and keeps me alive. If you break that bond, killing him would be the best case scenario," she said.
"What do you want?" I hissed. She smiled, and then shook her head.
"I already have what I wanted. I told you that Rhilor had promised that I would not die on this ship. Do you believe now, Laenor Velaryon?" she asked. Her voice, scathing in its mockery.
I was about to curse at her before I played the sentence over again in my mind. Wanted.
"And what is it you want now?" I asked.
"I told you that Rhilor means for me to guide you. I want to work with you. I can modulate how much I take from your son if you give me another source for the magic I need." Her look was meaningful here as she stared at me.
"You mean for me to submit myself to you?"
"Think of it more like a partnership. Of course, I am aware of what happened the last time I attempted to trust in your honour so I will be keeping my link to your son as insurance. I assure you that he will not suffer for it, though. If anything, a consistent drain would help his development early on. And if you want, I can reduce the drain to close to nothing. You have more than enough power for the both of us to share. So much..." she said. Her greedy look was enough to send a shiver down my spine.
"You're insane," I said.
"Perhaps. But I am also the person with your balls in a bear trap. You have to do as I wish, or your son will die. Either I take all his magic and leave him a husk or I leave him alone and take yours. What say you, Laenor Velaryon?" she asked.
A/N: This one took so long mostly because OTH was taking a while. I've had this planned for so long that it feels like the words are racing to come out more than anything else tbh Enjoy the chapter. Discount on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) for those interested. Next chapter comes on here on Wednesday night.
Next four chapters up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) (same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early.