Game of Thrones: Tragedy and Reunions

Prologue of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy :)

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R R Martin.


Prologue

The road was deserted; his was the only cart for miles around. The old man smiled at that. The ghost stories about Harrenhal had scared away all but the bravest of merchants; only those with a mission dared risk selling their wares there. The old man was stooped with a crooked back, and blind in his left eye. The remaining one peered out, an emotionless beady black eye. Apart from the short, sparse, greying black beard there was no hair on his head, not even for eyebrows. He was thin, wrinkled, and had very few teeth left and was clad in dark travelling clothes. He gave the cart horses a whip to keep them moving. He glanced back at his cargo; several sacks and boxes, all containing food and supplies for the castle stores. Or at least, that's what the disguise appeared as. Following the incident at Blackwater, the old man's master, King Stannis Baratheon, wanted revenge. So, on the guidance of his red witch, he had his loyal alchemists brew up their own Wildfire. Every item in the cart was hollowed out and carrying the volatile substance. Now they had chosen a target: Harrenhal. It had taken a long time to pull the plan together; several months had passed since Blackwater and it was only now that the Wildfire was ready to use. The war was still going but not with its usual fervour. Despite this, King Stannis was determined to deal a devastating blow to the enemy.

The old man smiled when he spotted Harrenhal, he was close to his destination now. He urged the horses onwards and before long they were at the gate. The two guards standing at the gate wore the Lannister sigil; the gold lion on a red field. They looked bored and were likely hoping their relief would arrive soon. The old man sneered when he saw them, they looked up but his lack of eyebrows made his expression difficult to read. They probably thought he was merely smiling at them.

'Fools.' He thought bitterly, 'Witless fools. How they defeated his grace, King Stannis, I will never know.'

They stopped leaning on their pikes and stood straight as he brought his cart to a halt before them.

"We'll need to check your cart, peddler." The nearest guard said. The old man nodded and offered no argument.

One of the guards headed to the back of the cart while the first spoke directly to him.

"What do you have in your cart?" He asked.

'Just some Wildfire to blow your castle up.' He thought gleefully, but with a neutral voice he replied. "Bread, fruits, supplies for the castle stores."

The second guard confirmed this; he didn't even suspect the goods were concealing Wildfire. Soon the old man was allowed through and he rode casually into the castle.

He looked around carefully; the stables were to his left. That would be where he set it off. Most of the buildings in the area are wood; they would burn easily and allow the fire to spread.

His smug grin was cut short as one of the horses shied and began to rear. He briefly panicked before a figure approached and took the horse in hand, calming it. The old man breathed a sigh of relief and turned to the man who had aided him. He carefully scrutinized the stranger. The man was tall and thin, and had long hair that was red on one side and white on the other. The younger man's dark eyes seemed to bore holes into elder man's skull. Swallowing his discomfort the old man smiled.

"My thanks, friend." He said carefully.

The stranger's cold eyes seemed to glint as a small smile graced his lips.

"A man carries a dangerous cargo." He stated much to the old man's shock.

"I don't know what you-" He stuttered, taken aback by the stranger's comment.

"Now the man lies. You carry the dangerous fire; a man knows a trick when he sees it."

Totally shocked at this the old man looked around, hoping nobody had heard. The only other people nearby was a tall muscular boy working in the forge, and with him a skinny young girl. Her hair was cut short, trying to pass as a boy no doubt. The disguise nearly worked had he not looked carefully.

The old man, relieved nobody had overheard, turned back to the strange man.

"Why I-I don't know who you think you are boy..."

The man smiled again. "These men are no friends of this man...This man will not stop you...Just allow him to get to the other side of the castle, far enough away first."

The old man considered the stranger's proposal before he wordlessly nodded his approval. He studied the retreating form of the stranger. What if this was some kind of trick? He glanced back at the two at the forge; they were talking in low voices but hadn't seen him. He got out of the cart and dropped to the ground. He straightened out as much as his hunch would allow and grunted slightly in frustration as he turned to the back of the cart. He stepped up onto it and observed the yard; more people were approaching. Perfect, now was the time.

He picked up a melon and examined it carefully. Without as much as a second thought he released it. The fruit hit the cart and split open. The wildfire contained within exploded and the force detonated the others. The explosion was immense! He had severely underestimated the strength of the Wildfire. He had taken this mission knowing that it was suicide. However nothing prepared him for the force of the blast.

As he lay burning he saw the damage, almost all the buildings were engulfed in a wave of sickly green. A large gaping hole in the fortified wall demonstrated its handiwork. The rest of the wall looked precariously close to collapsing. He heard screams not his own over the roaring flames. He had just enough strength left to look and see its source.

The boy he had seen earlier was on the ground; his clothes were singed- but he was soaked? He was lying on top of the girl, who like him was also soaked. She was covering her eyes, screaming. He noted there were angry red patches forming on her right side cheek, neck and hand. Then he saw the strange man, who had kept his secret, approach the two young ones as they lay on the ground writhing in pain.

Finally the burning was too intense. His vision blurred and he knew no more but the agonizing pain of the flames; until even that disappeared and all there was, was black.


End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.