Chapter 36: Daemon II

The sky was filled with stars, and the moon was in its highest position. There was an absence of wind, and the heat of the land blew off of him. He took a step forward, expecting to find ground but instead found himself floating. Daemon gasped, but nothing happened he did not float to the ground, instead he kept going. Over the land, and over the stars, until he found himself so very high in the sky. As he stared over the land, he saw beasts of black and red fighting. Snarling and breathing jets of fire, whilst the world burned around them. They snarled and they bit and they fought, but neither could truly win. He watched that and then he floated away, he saw a golden dragon and a blue dragon fighting, a black and a green, a man with a lion's face, and a woman with the face of a wolf. They were speaking in howls and whispers and he was afraid.

The vision changed, now he was seeing wolves fighting, a brown wolf, and a black wolf fought whilst the grey wolf whimpered and died. Giants, flayed men and moose fought as well, whilst the silver fist hit a merman repeatedly. The chaos around him startled him. Daemon had not fought he would see such a thing. Meanwhile the Kraken snaked its way through the land, taunting and hissing as it did so. At its centre was a man with the head of a crow, and a stone eye. His other eye was purple. It bled when he looked and whispered. Somewhere a crow cawed and a lion roared, then he felt dragon eyes on him. Daemon turned and found a silver monster moving toward him, it opened its jaws and fire came out.

Daemon opened his eyes with a start. His cell was dark, but he could hear his own heavy breathing. He blinked and tried to calm himself. He was still locked deep underground, his hair was still damp, and his clothes still stank. The cell door opened, and a figure stood before him. "Hello, uncle." Daemon replied casually, hiding the fear he felt whenever this man appeared.

"Had another dream, I take it?" Bloodraven replied, remaining on the fringes of the cell.

Daemon ignored the question, and instead asked his own. "What are you doing down here? The last time we spoke you were single, and the Queen was praying for a child. Congratulations by the way. The guards tell me your wife and child are doing well." That was a lie the guards never spoke to him, he'd seen it in a vision.

Bloodraven said nothing for a moment, Daemon could not see his face, and therefore did not know what he was thinking. "Thank you." The man eventually said. He continued. "I have come to ask you some questions."

Daemon bit back a sigh, he had suspected that something like this might have come eventually. Bloodraven had asked him nothing beforehand, when he'd initially been taken prisoner all those years ago, but now here he was. "Ask away." Daemon replied.

"You gave yourself over to get away from Aegor, that much I know. However, you have not once asked to be sent to the Wall, nor have you said you would offer any information in return for clemency. Why?" Bloodraven asked.

Daemon laughed, or he tried to, he coughed more than laughed, if he thought about it. This had not been what he had thought a man such as Bloodraven would have asked. "I did not think you would believe anything I had to say, or if you did you would have already known about it. Everyone knows that you have a thousand eyes and one all over the kingdom, and Essos. Nobody does anything without you knowing about it. This is common knowledge, my lord." Daemon coughed again then said. "Regardless, I prefer being here. At least the darkness does not hurt my eyes and I have never liked the cold." That was true, he'd visited Lorath once and it had been quite painful.

There was silence, after he finished, and Daemon wondered what Bloodraven was thinking. Uncle Aegor had painted the man as some sort of evil monster, hellbent on destroying the natural order of things. But as Daemon peered at the figure before him, all he saw was a man, not a God. A man who could make mistakes, just like father had. Deciding that he wanted to know more about his father, Daemon asked. "Why did you side with Daeron the bastard?"

"He was the rightful King, as is his son." Bloodraven replied instantly, though the answer sounded off to Daemon.

"But really, why? Was my father such a monster?" Daemon asked.

Bloodraven seemed taken aback. "Is that what Aegor told you? Is that what he said was the reason for why I sided with Daeron?" Daemon nodded, and Bloodraven sighed, surprising Daemon. "No. I loved both Daeron and Daemon, they were both kind to me, but Daemon broke the law. He had no proof that King Daeron was a bastard, for there never was any. He listened to Aegor and to Quentyn Ball, he listened as they whispered poison in his ear and he dreamed for something that was never his. Daemon lost his way."

Daemon could understand that and yet he had to ask. "Did that justify killing him and my brothers?"

"Yes." Bloodraven replied simply. "They were a threat as long as they were alive. Aegon and Aemon were the eldest of his sons and they seemed as though they would be like him. Daemon would never have stopped fighting had I let him live. He needed to die, and therefore they needed to die."

Daemon nodded, he could accept that. "What will you do with me?"

"You shall remain here; you are more valuable alive than dead." Bloodraven replied, before turning and walking out of the cell.

Daemon sighed as the door to his cell shut. He knew he did not have long left, Uncle Aegor would find a way to kill him, and then he would be finished and war would come. He had foreseen it.