ALL NOVEL Chapter 118: 118
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118 AC
Driftmark
Daeron Nymeros Martell
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With powerful flaps of my mount's wings sand is sent flying in all directions as I am jolted in the saddle, Aegon tightens his grip on my arm while Gaelithox lands. Balerion lands not far away with an annoyed screech as he is nearly sent flying backward from the gusts kicked up by Gaelithox's wings.
Balerion shakes off like a wet dog before flapping his wings vengefully kicking up sand in our direction while two smaller dragons land behind him. Meraxes and Ny Sar who are not much younger than Balerion but are dwarfed by him also follow his lead and flap up a small sandstorm aggressively.
"Ah!" Aegon shouts aggrievedly as he puts his hands over his face forcing me to grab his shoulder to prevent him from slipping off the front of the saddle as Gaelithox leans sideways to hide his head under his wing to not get sand in his 'face'. "STOP!" Aegon shouts and I also feel some annoyance but I can't help but smile as I use my cloak to protect my Son and Myself from the sand attack.
"I told you we should have ditched them instead of encouraging them to follow us around." I taunt my Son as he tries to spit out the sand that got in his mouth.
"I will teach them a lesson for this!" He angrily shakes his little fist while glaring at the three troublemakers who are no longer paying us any attention. "I will have their food stuffed with vegetables!" I snort while patting him on the back to get him to start climbing down.
I am glad he is cheered up, he has been like a sponge recently, absorbing the sadness of everyone around him due to the unexpected death in the family.
"Come on!" Aegon impatiently calls out to me as he needs my help to get down the rope ladder.
"Speaking of vegetables,-" I speak up as I walk on my knees toward the edge of my dragon to begin my climb down. "-when are you going to start eating yours again?" My Son shows no emotion outwardly but I know he is taken aback by my question as I put my feet into footholds on the ladder and lift him to sit on my shoulders.
"What are you talking about, Kepa?" He innocently asks as he wraps his arms around my head to keep from falling off my back.
I can't help but chuckle a bit as I start climbing down and catch Gaelithox peeking out from under his wing at us as if he is asking 'is it safe out there yet?'.
This is the dragon that used to eat small hatchlings.
Now he is bullied by the little shits.
To think, it only took me nearly drowning him to get him to 'tame down'.
"I saw you sneaking your food onto your mother's plate the other night." I speak up after leaving my Son to worry for a few moments about what I would say.
His grip on me tightens as he hears my words.
"Did not..." He mutters against the back of my head making me laugh lightly.
"Did so." I drop the last few feet of the rope ladder and land heavily on the soft sand with my boots sinking into the coarse material.
"Nuh-uh." He chirps while squeezing his legs around my neck as if he is going to choke me out or something.
"Yes-huh." I respond while shaking the little monkey off my neck but fail as he grabs fistfuls of my hair and giggles loudly.
"Nuh-uh!" He cheers happily while I sigh and start walking back to the castle.
Hmm, fine.
He can win for now, but I will call him out the next time he does it and his Mother will handle him.
Young'ins rarely remember stuff like this for long, he will forget and will slip up and I will catch him red-handed in the act.
Rhaenyra will likely give him a doubly serving as well.
I will lose this battle, but I will win the war.
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"Alright, down you go." I lift Aegon off my shoulders when he least expects it after entering the castle, he attempts to grab ahold of me but I caught him unprepared and he is soon on the ground.
"I want to ride all the way back." He whines but follows along as I start walking, only kicking at the ground a few times before matching my pace.
"It's not appropriate right now, people are in mourning and we need to be respectful." No one would likely care or say anything, I just don't want to be inconsiderate to Laena or Laenor who are visibly shaken and upset.
"Daeron." I freeze in place hearing Lewyn's voice and turn to catch my Brother slip out from around a corner I just walked past. "There you are, I was looking for you." I hum and continue walking with Lewyn walking on the opposite side of Aegon.
"Hello." Aegon perks up and looks at his Uncle with mischief in his eyes as we continue forward.
"Aegon." Lewyn for a moment loses his neutral expression and smiles down at my Son as he ruffles his medium-length silver hair. "Did you have fun on your flight?" Lewyn asks after sniffing a bit and obviously smelling the strong scent of dragon.
"I did!" Aegon bounces forward almost stumbling as he tries to seamlessly keep up with us and show his excitement at the same time
Lewyn catches him by the collar of his tunic while wryly chuckling. "Don't fall, the last thing we need right now is anyone getting hurt." Aegon nods, no longer looking like he is up to no good and instead looks forward and walks calmly.
I shake my head at his antics that never seem to stop.
"Need me for something?" I ask my Brother after a moment of silence.
"I wanted to talk to you." I catch him looking toward Aegon as we walk along, I immediately understand he wants to talk alone.
He arrived after us with Laenor, I have not talked with him since greeting him and Laenor.
I can make a pretty good guess at what he wants to talk about.
"Alright, let's talk after I make sure Aegon cleans up so he does not stink up the place." Aegon puffs up as if offended but does not say anything.
"Sounds like a plan." Lewyn smiles again as he watches Aegon but it's not long before his face turns back to a neutral expression with far-off eyes.
He is likely thinking the same thing as I am.
Someone murdered the Lord of the Tides.
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Leaning against a wall overlooking the calm water of Blackwater Bay I purse my lips.
"Too many people wanted him dead." I state simply while resting my head against the cool stone.
Corlys was a powerful and rich man, he had a lot of enemies.
People jealous of his success.
"I have been thinking the same thing." Lewyn sighs while running a hand through his hair. "Seven Hells, nearly every trader in the Narrow Sea hates him... hated him." Lewyn shakes his head. "Corlys and his ships do not have to pay the toll that everyone else does to pass in and out of the Narrow Sea, it's not a secret and I hear people whining about it all the time in my port." I sigh and close my eyes.
"That's not really a reason to kill him though, petty jealousy of that level would not make someone send a not-doubt skilled assassin after the Lord of the Tides." I know Corlys is no fool, his staff is small but selected from the best of the best he likely could find.
People who grew up on this island, whose bloodline has likely been serving House Velaryon for generations.
A stranger slipping in would have been spotted.
Either someone was paid a stupid amount of coin to betray House Velaryon, or it was someone who is very good at their job.
"Maybe someone from Essos?" Lewyn speaks up after a moment of silence and I tilt my head.
"Maybe, mainly it's our House and House Targaryen who are stepping on toes over there though." I don't see why someone from Essos would go after Corlys, maybe someone from my House or House Targaryen, but not Corlys.
Sure he helped with the Conquest of the Stepstones, but he did not gain any lands directly over there.
"Volantis has been stirring..." I shake my head at Lewyn as he seems to be just wildly guessing at this point.
"Volantis is after Daemon and the lands he has claimed, I highly doubt they would be after Corlys." I am pretty sure Corlys has friends in Volantis as well, he steadily has been trading with the Free City even after the Conquest of the Western most Free Cities. "I am thinking it was someone in Westeros." Which does not help in any way if I am honest.
Many Lord and Ladies will celebrate hearing about the death of the Master of Ships.
A council position has opened up.
Likely the richest if not the second richest man in Westeros has died.
The three-way alliance between Houses Targaryen, Velaryon, and Nymeros Martell has been 'weakened'.
No one but the people on this island is going to mourn the death of the Sea Snake, his death will be celebrated.
"I want to blame House Hightower." I speak up while trying to come up with a way to blame this on the most annoying House in Westeros.
Ever since the death of Otto, they have been too silent for my liking, all of Otto's Sons left the capital to head back to the Reach. They only rarely send word to Alicent and when they do it's always short and devoid of any worthwhile information. They have either decided to take a step back and are waiting for an opportunity to return to the King's court with purpose or they have given up on gaining influence in the shifting snake pit that is Kingslanding.
"I doubt it." Lewyn muses aloud and I raise a brow at him after opening my eyes.
"Why?" He shrugs.
"This doesn't seem to be to their benefit." I snort and push off the wall to start pacing.
"It could be revenge, it's not exactly a secret that Otto was... dispatched due to Court Politics." I know I am being a bit tunnel-visioned, but I am just itching for a reason to kick up a fuss with House Hightower. "Many assume it was me who did it,-" Rightfully so. "-but there are also those who think it was the more aged and wise Corlys who had the deed done." I almost felt insulted when I heard those rumors.
Some people seem to have assumed I just came into the King's court and got lucky with the timing and closeness to the King to get the Hand of the King position. The rumors are that Corlys himself wanted the position but got denied as the King suspected he was behind Otto's death and picked me instead due to the suspicion.
Most people chalked it up to the Dornish using underhanded tactics to gain more power, but Lord Hightower may think otherwise.
With the lack of any evidence, it's impossible to know for sure.
"The only thing we can honestly do is keep our eyes peeled, we have nothing to go off at this moment." I sigh while looking back toward the Blackwater, Lewyn soundlessly joins me. "I am going to double down on food testers..." I mutter while mentally noting to send word to my Mother and Father to do the same.
It's not like we have been slacking off, most meals we eat are reheated if I am being honest.
The last time I ate a fresh hot meal was a few weeks ago and I was the one who cooked it.
It sucks, but you got to do what you got to do.
Lewyn nods in agreement while joining me in leaning against the waist-high stone wall that separates us from falling a decent height into the sea.