Chapter 42
GAEL TARGARYEN
She should have expected this. She should have. Daemon was cruel and vindictive, but he was no fool. Rumors about the King's desire to replace him as the heir had been circulating at court for some time now, and so it was obvious for him to prepare for such an eventuality.
Despite his mistrust of his son, the King had never quite had the heart to remove his son from his council, though he had not attended a meeting in years. Daemon, for all his faults, was still the Commander of the Gold Cloaks, a dozen of which stood behind him, as he blocked her path to the Dragonpit.
Ser Harwin stepped forward and put himself in between them and Daemon and his men.
"You have no right to stop us, my Prince. Let us through," and Daemon scoffed.
"Prince. Did you not hear those bells, Strong?" he asked, and Ser Harwin stiffened at those.
"My father is dead, and that makes me the King now," and Ser Harwin shook his head as he took out his blade.
"You are no King of mine," and the Gold cloaks rustled at that insult, yet one gesture from Daemon was enough to halt them in their step.
"Is that so?" Daemon questioned as he stepped forward.
"Then you are a traitor, and let me show the fate of all such traitors," and with that he reached for the man behind him, who handed him a bag, and Daemon threw it on the ground as a head rolled out.
"NO!" she heard Rhaenyra gasp, as she put herself infront of her niece, to spare her the horrors.
"YOU! YOU BASTARD!" Harwin Strong cursed as his face paled at the sight of his father's lifeless head rolling in the dust, and the implications of it were clear.
"WHERE IS SHE! WHERE IS ALICENT!" Rhaenyra screamed, and Gael had to pull the girl back before she rushed towards Daemon, demanding an answer.
"Oh, you speak of that harlot! Don't worry, my dear, I am not so cruel to harm my future Queen's friends," and with that, two men stepped forward, as they held down a struggling yet bound Alicent.
"LET HER GO! LET HER GO!" Rhaenyra screamed, but Gael held her back as a sense of frustration and loss filled her as she saw the brown-haired girl struggling in her chains and bindings.
"Rhaenyra! Rhaenyra!" she screamed for her, as Daemon smirked cruelly.
"Now what shall I do with you traitors?" Daemon questioned, as tears slid down her niece's face. Harwin Strong kept staring at his father's lifeless head, and Gael was reminded of the very reason she had denied her brother's command until now, for she had feared such an outcome.
"Baelon did not wish for you inherit the throne," she spoke up, guilt rushing through her veins at the suffering she had caused. But she could still stop this here.
"He thought you unfit for the throne and nominated me as heir," she added, as she met his gaze.
"The throne is mine by all the laws of men and Gods! MINE! I will not let you steal my birthright from me!" Daemon screamed, and she closed her eyes.
"You can have the throne," she said to the surprise of all those gathered around her, including Daemon himself.
"I have no desire for it, but you never touch Rhaenyra or her friend. They leave with me, along with Aemma and my mother," and Rhaenyra seemed taken aback by her words, but if this was the price she had to pay to save them all, then so be it.
"And where will you take them? To Braavos? To that so-called Healer of yours?" Daemon taunted.
"That is my choice," but the only reason she had even accepted her brother's offer was to protect Rhaenyra, and if giving up the throne allowed her to do that, then she would do just that.
"Answer me now, do you accept?" she asked, and Daemon laughed, and his men laughed with him.
"And here I had hoped that you would put up more of a fight?" he taunted, as Gael grit her teeth.
"But what else should I have expected out of a woman like you!" and Gael had heard enough of him.
"ANSWER ME, DAEMON! DO YOU ACCEPT?" she shouted, and the laughing stopped as he met her gaze.
"I have no need for you, and Otto's little harlot," he scoffed, as his eyes fell to Rhaenyra behind her, as he pointed his blade at her.
"But she stays," and Rhaenyra wanted to accept it, just to save Alicent.
"I ace..."
"NO!" she cut in as she covered her entirely.
"Rhaenyra leaves with me," and he was being stubborn, for he may claim to have a right to the throne, but in his heart he knew that his claim was weak, and that there were others who would contend for his rule.
Marrying Rhaenyra would strengthen his claim, but a part of her knew that it went beyond that. His lady wife, Lady Rhea, offered quite a few advantages herself. She was the heiress to a storied House and was friends with the Lady of the Vale.
A tolerable relationship between them could have won him the backing of the entire Vale, and yet Daemon had not cared.
"She is mine," Daemon countered.
"Rhaenyra belongs to no one," she countered as she reached for the dagger on her belt, and he spotted her hand and smirked.
"Do you really think you are in a position to negotiate with me?" he asked, as he waved at his men.
"Look around..."
"SHE IS!" but before he could finish, a loud voice cut through the crowd, as several dozen men and women stepped out of the crowd and began to surround them all.
She could only look around in shock as she found herself surrounded by several dozen men and women, before the person who had spoken up stepped forward.
"And who are you?" Daemon questioned, and she was sure that the voice she had heard was familiar, and as the person at the head of the group pulled back her hood to reveal an all too familiar face.
"You..." and she was not the only one to recognise her.
Daemon's face shifted in an instant as well, as he recognised that scarred face in a second.
"YOU!"
"Elsa...."
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DAEMON TARGARYEN
Elsa Waters, and that name still made his face twist in rage as he remembered the humiliation that he had suffered at her hands. The bitch was no different than the other who had tried to steal away what was rightfully his.
She was a bastard, one who was meant to grovel at his feet, and yet she stood there defiant, as several dozen men in cloaks and hoods surrounded him and his men.
"What are you doing here, you lowly woman?" Daemon asked, and unlike most women, she was not even good-looking with that misshapen scar reaching up her neck.
She was hideous and a sore excuse of a woman.
"Shouldn't you be with that healer of yours?" and she was her sworn shield, and the reason that bastard was still alive. If not for her, the bastard would have been long dead, and his life would have been far simpler.
"I was sent here to protect the Princess," she answered with a wicked grin.
"The Healer always knew that you had a habit of claiming for yourself things that do not belong to you," and she had the audacity to taunt him.
"Even that blade you now hold is because of my generosity," and Daemon's nostrils flared, but they were surrounded on all sides, and the men all seemed armed with blades and daggers.
"Do you know who you are speaking to?" Daemon thundered, and he could not let her humiliate him like this.
"Kneel, and I promise you a quick and painless death," but the woman scoffed as she stepped forward and took out her blade.
"I would much rather die than lower my head to someone like you," and so the challenge was obvious, and Daemon had no choice but to accept it.
"Let the Queen and the Princess leave, and I will spare you the humiliation," and letting Gael Targaryen go would decimate his chances of ever sitting on the Iron Throne, and so he stepped forward with his blade in hand.
He could not let a challenge like that go unanswered, and he still owed her a debt from the humiliation he had suffered during that tourney, and as his men stepped up to follow him, the cloaked men beside that wretched woman stepped forward as well.
"Stop," Daemon ordered, and his men stopped at once.
"I will handle this," and with that they began to circle one another, as the bitch took out her own blade, and Daemon was the first to rush forward as be brought down his blade at an angle, and the girl blocked the attack, and pushed his blade to the side, before she swung her own sword towards his neck, but he had jumped back before it could cut him, as he pushed forth once more adn tried to skewer her, but the blade only scratched her armor, before she rushed forward, and hit him with her shoulder and Daemon stumbled though he was quick to steady himself, as he avoided her swing and swing at her arm, trying to cut it clean off.
But the woman spun on her heel, and their swords clashed in the air, sending out sparks as they both stared into each other's eyes, and Daemon noticed the pattern on her blade for the first time.
"That pattern..." he recognised as they both, separated once more as they avoided kicking one another, as he frowned.
"That is Valyrian Steel," and that was impossible.
"It is indeed. A gift from my lord, and one that I will now use to cut your head," and it irked him to see such a Valyrian treasure being used by someone like her.
"Well, it won't help you against me," Daemon taunted, and the woman scoffed.
"We will see about that," and with that, she ran forward, and swung up once more, and Daemon took a step back to avoid the attack, but she stopped her swing midway, and somehow pushed in an extra step and the blade cut his cheek as Daemon stumbled to the side as she began to attack him with full force.
CLANK! CLANK!
Sparks flew in the air, and the metal of their blades ground against one another, as Daemon continued to bleed away from his cheek, and with every passing second his frustrations grew as he found himself getting pushed back, and so when he saw an opening in her defence he rushed forth, and came in closer as he tried to take advantage of her overextended swing, but the smirk on her lips was an answer enough.
"You lose," and he finally noticed the sharp edge coming out of her arm guard as she brought it down, and he could not jump back in time, as the edge tore through the side of his neck, as Daemon screamed in agony.
"AGHHH!' and then she hit him with her head as she had years ago, as Daemon stumbled back, but he was not out yet as he swung his blade, but she kicked his leg, and removed the blade from his hand in one sweep, and Daemon found himself on his knees with a blade on his neck.
"STOP!" and before she could end his life, a familiar voice tore through the crowd, and halted her as, he looked to the side, and saw Mysaria standing there with a dagger aimed at Alicent's neck.
"You move that blade one more inch, and I make her bleed to death," and he saw her grit her teeth, as she glanced between him and otto's daughter, and he tried to reach for his sword but that scarred bitch moved fast, as she pushed her sword into his shoulder, and then aimed a dagger at his neck just as quickly.
"NOOO!" and Rhaenyra's scream tore through the crowd.
"Please let her go. Alicent has nothing to do with this," and how naive she was. Did she really think that he did not see Otto's hidden hand in all this? In poisoning his father's mind against him, and in plotting to make Gael the Queen.
"Two can play at that game," the Healer's bitch muttered, as his blood soaked his eyes and dyed his vision a complete red. Only the pain from his shoulder dulled the pain of the humiliation he had suffered.
"Then I believe we are at an impasse," Mysaria continued, as Daemon's head spun and the faces began to blur.
"Give us Alicent, and we will give you Daemon," Gael offered, and he looked at Mysaria, and he tried to shake his head, yet he had no power left in him.
"I believe we have a deal...."
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