LUKE
To Luke, Storm's End was strange.
The castle was magnificent, there was no doubt to that. Brandon the Builder had done his work well, and the ancient magic of the sea nymph that was the First Storm's Lord's wife enchanted the grey stones to shine silver in the moonlight. Maris told Luke that the walls shielded all who stayed beneath its roof from evil spirits. "The Conqueror should have chosen Storm's End as his seat," Maris had japed,"There are a hundred thousand ghosts in the realm that call his name. Instead, he gave this magic keep to his bastard brother." Yet the halls were high and cold, and Luke's steps echoed as he walked through them. Arrax did not like the castle, and he roared his displeasure every hour. Twice, Luke wished to give in to his fear and flee, but Jace's words bade him stay.
The present Storm Lord was courteous as well, giving him the warm welcome Jace promised and treating him with all the honours due a prince. It had seemed at first to Luke that his grandmother was right, and Lord Borros was true to Luke's mother. Lord Borros had welcomed Luke with songs and feasts, speaking oft of his gratefulness that a Targaryen princeling sought his humble hall. Yet when Luke had given Lord Borros Jace's letter asking him to swear his swords to their mother, Lord Borros had put it aside and instead held feasts and hunts and jousts. "I must first honour the prince beneath my roof," Lord Borros said,"Matters of the realm can wait." Luke did not know what he meant by his strange words.
Luke found Lord Borros's daughters strangest of all. There were four of them, and each of them had taken turns at Luke's side during all the revels. The oldest, Cassandra, had sat by Luke's side in the feast Lord Borros held in welcome of Luke. The second, Maris, had ridden beside Luke during the hunt, and those were the most discomforting hours of his life as he listened to her snarky remarks. The third, Ellyn Baratheon, had sat beside him as Lord Borros held a tourney of Stormland knights, and she was the best of the bunch, shy but kind-hearted. Luke wished Ellyn would sit by him again at the second feast, but instead it was her fourth sister Floris. Floris was all too pretty for Luke, with shining black hair and high tender cheekbones, making Luke self-conscious whenever he chewed.
It had been a day since Luke arrived at Storm's End, and he thought to broach the subject of fealty to his mother again with Lord Borros. "Lord Baratheon," Luke said to Lord Borros as the second feast had begun to wane,"I am very grateful for my lord's honours, but feasting was not the cause that drove me to ride to Storm's End. Your maester has told my lord the contents of my elder brother's letter, asking my lord to swear the Stormlander swords to my mother, the rightful heir of the Seven Kingdoms. I wish to know my lord's answer so that I may bring it back to my mother."
"Aye," Lord Borros said, smiling,"Princess Rhaenys is kin to me and mine-my great-aunt Lady Jocelyn was married to her father, and I loved both of them, Seven rest their souls. And your mother Rhaenyra is the fierce Princess Rhaenys come again. I have four daughters, and I love them. I know that daughters are a precious thing, and Storm's End shall pass to Cassandra. Why should the Iron Throne be any different? Aegon's cause is lost, he would see that when he learns that he had lost Storm's End. I would tell him myself…bow down to his sister, it's for the best. My girls would fight with each other sometimes, the way girls do, but I saw to it they always made peace afterward…"
"My lord has decided thus to swear to the true queen," Luke became impatient with Lord Borros's ramblings,"If that is my lord's answer, then call the Stormlander banners, and I shall bring word of my lord's loyalty to my mother."
"Aye," Lord Borros looked up to Luke and smiled,"But before my prince leaves, I must first inquire about one matter."
"What is it, my lord?" Luke asked, already rising from his table.
"Sit down, my prince," Lord Borros said, and when Luke did, Lord Borros continued: "My prince sits beside my lovely Floris, and I fathom that all my prince has had a taste of all four of my daughters during my prince's stay."
"Aye," Luke said, a finger of cold twisting in his heart as he dreaded what Lord Borros would ask.
"Pick one to be your wife," Lord Borros said,"and Storm's End shall be your mother's. Choose any one you like. Cass is oldest, she'll be first to flower, but Floris is prettier. And if it's a clever wife you want, there's Maris."
Luke blushed,"My lord, I am not free to marry. I am betrothed to my cousin Rhaena."
"Does your mother think that the Stormlander swords shall come without a price?" Lord Borros asked.
"It is my lord's duty…" Luke began.
"My duty… bah," Lord Borros cut Luke off, his voice growing suddenly cold,"I thought as much. Go home, pup, and tell the bitch of your mother that the Lord of Storm's End is not a dog that she can whistle up at need to set against her foes."
Luke had risen as well, his own fury rising within him. Jace sent him here as an envoy, but sometimes an envoy must also be a warrior,"Send me back, Lord Baratheon, and I shall return. But I shall not return to feast beneath your roof. I shall return with dragons, and teach Storm's End the fate of traitors."
Lord Borros took a step back, his eyes betraying surprise, and Floris reached up and tugged Luke's sleeve,"Please, my father did not mean what he said." Luke shook the Baratheon maid off.
"Then leave, Luke Strong," the Stormlander lord said as his eyes soon grew cold again, and he turned to look at Luke's hand which lay on his hilt,"Keep in mind that you took my bread and salt as you walked in the door. You cannot lay a finger on me beneath my roof without you and your whore of a mother becoming forever cursed by all the gods."
Luke was about to draw his sword, the Seven be damned, when Arrax roared. A semblance of sense began to return to Luke's mind, and he bit his lip until it bled. No, he thought. He would not shame Jace and his mother in Storm's End.
"My lord Baratheon," a knight with copper hair and a surcoat of twin griffins came into the feasting hall and knelt,"There is another dragon on the horizon."
"Whose dragon, Ser Steffon?" Lord Borros asked.
"Queen Visenya's Vhagar," Ser Steffon answered, his face red as his hair.
"Aemond," Luke snarled, his accursed uncle who had shamed Luke and his brothers all those times. It was fortunate that Jace had sent Luke here to Storm's End where he would meet his uncle. Luke would prove himself a knight, and slay the one-eyed monster.
Soon, another knight with a surcoat of twin swans burst into the hall, his face red as Ser Steffon's,"The dragon has landed in the yard. Its rider Prince Aemond demands that my Lord Baratheon come out and greet him. He comes as an envoy from his brother Aegon, whom he says is now king."
"Prince Lucerys," Lord Borros said as he saw Luke's hand curl on his hilt,"Not here. He came as an envoy. I want no blood shed beneath my roof." Lord Borros turned then to the swan knight,"Ser Byron, Prince Aemond came to me as a guest in my castle. Offer him bread and salt, but tell him that he must come to me in my hall. He has to remember that I am Lord of Storm's End."
"There's a chance there, Luke," Maris's voice appeared seemingly out of the darkness,"You've insulted my father, but Prince Aemond has as well. Play carefully, and you may sway my father back from the Greens."
"Get away from me, stag," Luke snarled.
At the same moment, Lord Borros yelled for his four daughters to come before him. Luke saw Maris glance back at him once and give him a mocking snort.
"Lord Baratheon," Luke heard Aemond's shrill mocking voice,"I saw a dragon out there in the yard. Which of the Strongs came to win you to the whore?"
When Aemond entered the hall, his one eye fell on Luke. Aemond went to draw his sword, and Luke's hand tightened on his hilt. A booming shout from Lord Borros, like a sudden crack of thunder, stopped them both,"My princes shall not fight whilst my princes stay beneath my roof."
Lord Borros turned then to Aemond,"Why has my prince come to my humble hall?"
Aemond glanced at the remnants of the feast around him,"Has my lord already declared for the Whore of Dragonstone?"
"That may depend," Lord Borros said, then echoed his first question:"Why has my prince come to my humble hall?"
"Lord Baratheon," Aemond said,"King Viserys is dead, and in his last will, he appointed his eldest son Prince Aegon as the heir to the Iron Throne. I have come on the new king's behalf to ask for my lord's loyalty to the true king."
"Lies," Luke shouted,"King Viserys always declared my mother as his rightful heir. The will is a forgery written by the vile Hightowers."
"Seal your tongue, Prince Lucerys," Lord Borros said,"until you are asked to speak."
"Yes, seal your tongue, little Luke Strong," Aemond mocked.
Luke put a hand on his sword,"One more word, uncle, and I'll take your other eye."
"Hold, Strong, that reminds me," Aemond said, tearing off the eye patch he wore on his false eye to show the gleaming sapphire beneath,"You have a knife, just as you did then. Put out your eye, and I will let you leave Storm's End alive. One will serve. I would not blind you."
"I shall have no blood spilt beneath my roof," Lord Borros growled again, his eyes on both of them, then turned back to Aemond,"and I have your answer, my prince."
"Is my lord a true man?" Aemond asked,"Or shall my lord kiss the old whore's cunny?"
"If I do as your brother bids," Lord Borros said,"which one of my daughters will you marry, boy?" He gestured at the four girls standing before him,"Pick one."
Prince Aemond looked at all of them, then pointed at Floris, the prettiest of the four,"Her."
"It is as simple as that," Lord Borros said, then turned to Luke again,"Go home, Prince Lucerys, and tell your whore of a mother that Storm's End has risen for its true king."
Luke wanted to draw his sword, then saw that all Lord Borros's knights had their hands on their hilts. Each of Lord Baratheon's daughters was glaring at him, and Aemond was sneering. Luke walked towards the door.
"Wait," Aemond called,"You still have not given me your eye." Luke ignored him and continued to walk to the yard where Arrax rested.
"You flee a craven and a traitor," Aemond called behind him,"I will have your eye or your life, Strong." Luke ignored him again, and kept walking, promising himself that one day he shall see himself avenged on Aemond Targaryen.
"What is my prince Aemond doing standing there?" Luke heard Maris behind him speak to Aemond,"Was it one of your eyes he took, or one of your balls?" Her tones were as sweet as honey,"I am so glad you chose my sister. I want a husband with all his parts."
"Strong," Luke heard Aemond's thunderous steps behind him, and Luke began to run. Luke sucked in a breath when he arrived outside in the yard. At one side was Arrax with his white scales, and on the other was Vhagar, five times Arrax's size. It was clear skies above, good weather for flying, and Luke prayed that with luck, Arrax would be able to outdistance Vhagar even if Aemond gave chase. Luke heard Aemond thunder down the steps behind him, and ran to Arrax, mounting the dragon. Yet when Luke untethered Arrax from the pillar the dragon had been tied to, he looked up to see that Aemond had already mounted Vhagar, and the larger dragon's own tethers were loose.
"Luke," Aemond's voice rang through the windless yard,"Fly away with your eye, and it is Vhagar you shall face. Leave your eye here, and perhaps Vhagar shall enjoy the scent of your blood and stay."
Luke looked down at his white dragon that he had reared by his own hand since the dragon hatched from an egg as pale as ivory. Then, he looked up again at Vhagar, Queen Visenya's mount which had burned countless armies and would rip both Luke and Arrax to shreds. There was no hope for escape, now that Aemond was on his dragon.
Luke climbed down from Arrax and drew his dirk, watching Aemond's smile widen. Luke looked away, drawing his knife across his left eye. At once, Luke collapsed and dropped his knife, clutching at the burning that erupted in the side of his face. He heard Aemond's laughter in the far distance. Luke reached up, his vision in his other eye blurred, and he felt for Arrax. He found Arrax's wing, and climbed onto the dragon. Luke could not find the chains, until he felt the chains clasp on his belt and heard Ellyn's whisper: "Go, before Aemond changes his mind." Luke urged Arrax up, hearing a crash as the girl rolled off the dragon's wing. Anything to get away from Aemond and his terrible beast.
Luke did not know where he flew, but he did not hear the sound of wings behind him.