Hello, long time no see! Happy Columbus Day my American viewers! Here is the next chapter, but I as you have gathered from the chapter title, the battle won't be taking place at Horn Hill. I was having the worst writer's block with this one. I just couldn't get the battle to work out, and then I discovered how far away Horn Hill is from Oldtown, so a change of plans was in order. I hope to depict a battle at Horn Hill in the future, and I am sorry to disappoint you. But without further ado, enjoy! :)
PS: I have some interesting news to share, so be sure to check out the info at the end of the chapter.
Author's Notes: Blood and gore ahead.
Starpike
Bright morning sunshine flowed through the spacious bedchamber, but the mood inside was gloomy and anxious. Lord Unwin Peake was on his deathbed, the covers were drawn up over his chest, and his breathing was shallow and weak. His lordship was not alone in his room; four individuals were keeping him company. Unwin's maester was checking his pulse, a septon was reading aloud from The Seven-Pointed Star, and Unwin's widowed daughter-in-law and granddaughter, Ladies Eleanor Tyrell and Marianne Peake, sat off to the side on Unwin's left opposite of the maester. Frowning sadly, the maester withdrew his hand from Lord Peake's neck while shaking his head.
"How is he?" Eleanor asked hopelessly, knowing already from the maester's body language that her father-in-law's end was drawing ever nearer. The maester morosely confirmed what everyone knew.
"No improvement, my lady. His pulse has gotten weaker. I am sorry."
"No need to apologize," Eleanor replied sweetly with a sad smile. "You have done everything that you could do for him..."
Marianne burst into tears upon hearing her mother's words, and a regretful Eleanor turned away from the dying Unwin to comfort her daughter. It was such a sad scene. Lord Unwin Peake had been robust for most of his sixty-five years of life until old age finally caught up to him in recent years and his health began to steadily decline. Growing weaker over the years led to Unwin transferring some of the duties that came with being the Lord Dunstonbury, Starpike, and Whitegrove over to his only son, Titus, and much to Unwin's great sadness, to give up hunting and horseback riding, forcing the old man to spend most of his time indoors in his bedchamber. While his body weakened, Unwin's indomitable spirit remained as strong as ever, an inner strength that had helped Lord Peake to carry on in the face of losing all three of his wives, five of his seven children, and his eldest grandchild.
And yet, each of these deaths slowly wore away at the armor that girded Unwin's heart, and by the time he learned that his sole surviving son, along with his half-brother, Ser Mervyn Flowers, had both been killed during the Trial of Seven at Oldtown, Unwin's heart was vulnerable and unable to withstand the pain of such a cruel double loss. Since the deaths of Titus and Mervyn, Unwin became bedridden and deteriorated quickly, bringing the Stranger closer to his door. Coincidentally, somebody did knock at the door, but thank the gods, it was not the Stranger himself. The knocker was Ser Henri Peake, one of Unwin's grandsons, Eleanor's youngest son, and one of Marianne's older brothers.
Henri's heart sank as he entered the room and listened to his sister's muffled weeping. "Has grandfather," Henri paused briefly, uttering his next word in a whisper, "passed...?"
Eleanor looked up and shook her head. "He is lingering. Would you like to sit with us, Henri?"
It was Ser Peake's turn to shake his head. "I am afraid I cannot, mother. Something momentous has occurred in Oldtown, and I need to tell grandfather about it."
"What happened at Oldtown?" asked a choked-up Marianne as she wiped her red, glistening eyes.
Raising his finger to signal to his younger sister to wait, Henri walked around the bed to stand by his grandfather's bedside on his right. Leaning over the bed, Henri gently nudged his grandfather's shoulder.
"Grandfather? Grandfather?"
Unwin stirred slightly, and his eyes fluttered open. Lord Peake was ghoulish in appearance with pale grey skin, sunken eyes that were rimmed with pink, and a thin frame, all of which made Unwin look to be over twenty years older than he actually was. It was a heartbreaking sight. Henri could still vividly recall the man his grandfather had once been during his boyhood: a powerful and dynamic man who effortlessly ran the family and taught his grandsons how to fight, ride horses, and hunt. And now, this once powerful man had wasted away into a pitiful pile of skin and bones.
"Henri?" wheezed the old man. The corners of Henri's mouth rose slightly, happy to have his ailing grandfather's attention. All eyes were on grandfather and grandson, and even the septon had stopped reciting to listen to the important news that Henri wanted to share.
"Grandfather," Henri began, his tone rising slightly so that everyone else in the room could hear him. "I just received a raven from Rickard. Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen is going to be crowned king today at the Starry Sept. He is going to try and reclaim the Iron Throne from his aunt."
The Peake women and the maester and septon all froze and gaped in surprise. Unwin looked at his grandson, his face unchanged. But then a faint smile appeared on the old man's face, and Henri could see pride filling his grandfather's dark eyes.
"At last," he said, his voice sounding a little stronger than before. "At last, the great wrong will be righted."
"It will be, grandfather," Henri replied, giving Unwin's shoulder a loving squeeze. "It will be."
Pleased with what he had heard, Unwin closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep, a content and peaceful smile on his face. Taking a moment to look at his grandfather while life still clung to him, Henri briskly departed from the room. Curious about her son's quick departure, Eleanor rose from her chair to catch up with Henri down the adjacent hallway.
"Where are you going, Henri?" Eleanor asked once she caught up to her son, grabbing hold of his left arm.
Henri was silent for a moment, unsure of how to tell his mother what was expected of him. Taking a deep breath, Henri turned around and took his mother's hands into his.
"I am going to assemble a host, mother, as quickly as I can. Rickard is going to march on Horn Hill with Prince Lydus Targaryen and his dragon and cousin Lyonel. Horn Hill is one-hundred leagues northeast of Oldtown, and it will take less than a fortnight for them to get there. Rickard has ordered me to gather as many men as I can to attack Lord Tarly's lands to hobble their war effort until the Greens reach Horn Hill."
A pang of motherly terror seized Eleanor, and she all but crushed her son's hands in hers. She had been widowed nearly a month ago, and was on the verge of losing her father-in-law, now there was the possibility that Eleanor was going to lose one or both of her sons in an upcoming war. Lady Tyrell shook her head vehemently.
"No! Please don't do it, Henri! This is madness! Pure madness!"
"Mother..." Henri said soothingly, his hands squirming in Eleanor's grasp, which she loosened in response. "This is for the good of the realm, for Jaehaerys II, the rightful King of Westeros. Queen Rhaenyra has always been a usurper and now she is a tyrant. She needs to go. Jaehaerys will restore peace and normalcy in the Seven Kingdoms once more, and I want to help him."
"But only the Reach has suffered, Henri," Eleanor countered emotionally. "The queen has allies in every corner of Westeros as well as more dragons. She will unleash the full fury of House Targaryen upon us and the lives of you and your brother will be forfeit to the Iron Throne!"
"The Reach has friends too, mother, and Rhaenyra is not loved by all. I have a feeling that more support will be coming our way soon."
"How do you know?!" asked a nearly exasperated Eleanor. "How can you be so sure about that? This is pure folly, and you know it, Henri! Please, please write to Rickard and tell him to stop this madness at once and come home before he reaps the consequences of his actions."
Henri listened as his mother implored to him with a sympathetic ear, but he knew that he was not going to stop this. Brotherly love and loyalty were not the only things that were motivating Henri to mobilize House Peake's forces. Henri and his family were heartbroken when they heard of his father Titus's death at Oldtown, and they were angry with the draconian measures that Rhaenyra I had imposed on the Reach during the manhunt for her half-brother. Ser Peake wanted to protect his homeland and to put the Dragon Queen in her place as well as be a part of something greater than himself. Eleanor saw the sad resolve in her son's eyes, and her heart sank when she realized that there was no talking Henri out of this.
She released Henri's left hand so that she could brush some bangs out of his face and to touch his skin. Henri had curly brown hair and brown eyes, traits he and brother and sister all inherited from their mother, a scion of House Tyrell. Eyes shining with tears, Eleanor embraced her son, who returned her affection.
"Gods be with you, my son. Please, please be safe and come back to us whole." Eleanor said encouragingly, her speech sounding more like prayer, as if she were addressing the Seven Above rather than her child.
"I will, mother, I will."
And with that, Henri turned from his mother and left to assemble a force as told. House Peake possessed three castles along the foothills of the Red Mountains, and those castles were each defended with large garrisons and dozens of household knights. Ravens were dispatched to Dunstonbury and Whitegrove, and Henri set out to assemble the 1/3 of his host at Starpike. By the time Ser Henri Peake headed out for House Tarly's domain later that same morning, a force of three-thousand strong were marching behind him that consisted of infantrymen, archers, and mounted knights from the three garrisons. There was the threat of Macetail, but Ser Peake was confident that, given the dragon's relatively small size, arrows should be able to bring him down.
Henri would find out whether or not that was possible later that day.
Horn Hill
Earlier that Morning
The first day of the eleventh moon officially began after the roosters in Horn Hill's coop welcomed the sunrise with their crows. Ravens in the castle rookery began squawking at the sound of the crowing, the ruckus they raised rousing the maesters from their slumber to face the new day. House Tarly's septons and septas prepared for the morning service in the castle's sept by lighting candles, filling incense burners, and flipping through The Seven-Pointed Star to find a suitable passage to start the morning service with. Servants got out of bed to begin their daily chores, the first being lighting the kitchen fires, gathering water, feeding the castle animals, milking cows, and collecting eggs. The highborn of Horn Hill were the last to awaken.
Alan Tarly, the Lord of Horn Hill, was roused by his manservant, who then helped his lordship in getting dressed. Allison Beesbury, the Lady of Horn Hill, and her widowed mother-in-law, Dowager Lady Jeyne Rowan, were both awakened by their chambermaids, who then helped the women to change out of their nightclothes into dresses, brushed their hair, and anointed them with perfume. The Tarly children were woken up by their septas or nursemaids. The two captive princes, brothers Valerion and Aeryn Targaryen, were awakened by servants. The brothers' nearly ten month old niece, Lady Daena Tyrell, awoke her wet nurse with her crying, and the woman was quick to rise and attend to her young charge.
Prince Aelyx Targaryen and Ser Percival Wylde woke up on their own volition, having become accustomed to waking up early over the course of the manhunt. Aelyx remained in bed, his eyes studying the ceiling of his room. Grey stone and wooden beams greeted his eyes. The bedchamber was a little smaller than the prince's room at the Red Keep was, but it was just as comfortable. The canopy bed was big with a soft mattress, and there were Myrish rugs laying on the floor on both sides of the bed so that a guest's bare foot did not have to touch the cold stone floor.
Other furnishings included two chairs, a table, a folding screen, and a long dark wooden chest that sat at the foot of the bed. The room's walls were decorated with a tapestry depicting a hunting scene, an old treecat hide, and three deer antlers that were mounted vertically over the mantlepiece of a fireplace. Aelyx had stayed in this room during his grandmother's royal progress in 140 AC. He remembered fearing the antlers at night, for they looked like pairs of demonic arms reaching out to him from across the room whenever the moon was bright. The then five year old prince had hidden under the covers during his first night at House Tarly's seat whimpering in fear over the antlers' frightful nighttime forms.
A savior came in the form of Princess Alyssa. Their rooms were right next to each other, and somehow, in the dead of night separated by a stone wall, Alyssa heard her little brother whimpering and on the verge of tears. Aelyx remembered hearing his bedroom door opening, causing him to burrow even deeper under the covers. His terror subsided when he felt his sister's hand on his back and heard her soothing voice. Alyssa got under the covers with Aelyx, and the little boy snuggled up to her and was able to fall asleep, his fears having been chased away by the presence of his big sister.
The memory caused Aelyx to smile wistfully. He missed Alyssa, but he missed their late father even more. Sorrow plucked Aelyx's heart like a harp string. It wasn't fair. Aemond had been nothing but a mean-spirited bastard his whole life, whereas Jacaerys was a wise man who did a lot of good for the realm as his mother's Hand of the Queen.
Not only that, Jacaerys was also a good husband, father, and grandfather. Aemond, meanwhile, was married with a mistress and had a son by each woman. Over the course of the manhunt, Lydus had tried to convince Aelyx that his father was not the evil, jealous bastard he thought he was. According to Lydus, Aemond was an attentive and caring father who loved both his sons and their mothers equally. Aelyx found Lydus's statement about how Aemond treated his sons to be more believable than how the one-eyed prince treated his partners.
But Aemond being a good father did not absolve him for killing Jace by any means. Aelyx dreamed frequently of killing Aemond to avenge his father, his methods of execution varying from decapitating Aemond with a sword, impaling him on a spear, manually strangling him, and having Macetail burn him alive. And yet, Aelyx knew deep down that he could not kill Aemond himself no matter how much he wanted to. Aemond was his half-granduncle, so Aelyx would become a kinslayer just like Aemond if he did kill the bastard. It would be better for everyone if Aemond was captured and faced judgment by the Iron Throne.
If Aemond chose taking the black over execution, then Aelyx wanted to be the one to lash him thirty-six times as suggested by his Uncle Joff, one lash for each year his father had lived. Causing Aemond pain and seeing his blood run down his back would be enough to satisfy Aelyx if it ever came down to that. The prince's reverie was disturbed by a knock at the door. A servant had arrived to help Prince Aelyx get dressed. Bidding the servant entry, Aelyx got out of bed and was helped into his clothes for the day.
The last lace on Aelyx's outfit was tied when somebody knocked frantically on the door. "A thousand pardons, your grace," the voice belonged to Lord Tarly's manservant, "but Lord Tarly would very much like to see you in his solar as soon as you are able. Something serious has come to his attention."
Prince Aelyx was caught off guard. "What happened?" he asked.
"A raven bearing a letter written by your grandmother arrived not too long ago, your highness. A terrible crime was committed at the Red Keep last night, and Lord Tarly would like to discuss the rest of the letter with you. Again, many pardons for the disturbance, your grace."
"I see," replied the concerned Aelyx. "No need to apologize. Thank you for informing me."
"Very good, your grace."
Aelyx departed as soon as the manservant left. Ser Wylde's room was next door to his, and the prince knocked on it and told the knight to make haste and accompany him to Lord Alan Tarly's solar. When the royal host first arrived in the Reach, Ser Percival Wylde accompanied Prince Aelyx and his forces when they traveled to Horn Hill. Percival proved to be an invaluable asset to the young prince's host. He helped to plan searches, led search parties, questioned people, and, if necessary, threatened those who defied royal authority.
Aelyx, although grateful for Ser Wylde's loyalty, knew the real reason why the knight was accompanying him. Atonement. Percival wished to atone for his failure to protect Prince Jacaerys Velaryon during the Trial by Seven at Oldtown by serving as the protector of Jace's youngest son. Every action Ser Wylde had done so far had been driven by his desire for redemption in the eyes of both the Seven Above and of the late Prince of Dragonstone. Aelyx could not imagine the weight of the guilt that Percival bore, and he hoped that the man could find some peace in the end regardless of if they did or did not find Aemond the Kinslayer.
Percival marched behind Aelyx as they made their way to Lord Tarly's solar. The solar was a large and impressive room. A round table stood in the middle of the solar with a map of the Dornish Marches and the Reach lying on top of it. The table, desk, and all the chairs in the room were made out of dark wood, and the chairs all had red upholstery. Decorations wise, the solar possessed the same décor as Prince Aelyx's bedchamber did, although this solar had the addition of three old, tattered banners procured from Dornishmen who were slain by Alan's forefathers in past conflicts between Dorne and the marcher lords, their heraldry identified by Lord Alan as belonging to Houses Blackmont, Fowler, and Manwoody.
Lord Alan Tarly was sitting behind his desk when the prince and Ser Wylde entered. He was not alone. Five other men were present in the solar with Alan. Three of the men were kin to Lord Tarly: his uncle, Ser Medgar Tarly, and his two sons, Alan's cousins, Steffan and Ryman. The fourth man was Alan's maester, Orion, and the fifth man was Alan's manservant.
Orion and the manservant were the only men not seated when Aelyx and Percival entered the room, their entry causing the four Tarly men to stand and greet their visitors.
"Good morning, your grace. Ser Wylde," said Lord Tarly, who nodded at both men. The prince and knight returned Alan's greeting. "I apologize for requesting your presence here so early in the day, but the letter I received from your grandmother requires your utmost attention."
"Where is the letter?" Aelyx asked. Alan picked the letter up from his desk and handed it his manservant, who brought the parchment to the prince for him to read. Purple irises moving from left to right as he read his grandmother's letter, Aelyx turned pale and nearly dropped the letter when he learned about the murder of his half-uncle's wife and of the Green Conspiracy. It was a lot to take in so early in the morning.
"By the gods..." Aelyx murmured when he finished reading the shocking letter.
"What is it?" asked Ser Wylde out of concerned curiosity. "What happened, your grace?"
"Lady Thea, my Uncle Aegon's wife," Aelyx began, his voice sounding disturbed and distant. "She was murdered last night by an assassin hired by the Greens..."
Percival's jaw dropped, his eye filling with horror. "What?!"
Aelyx handed the letter wordlessly to the knight, who took it swiftly and began reading it in earnest. Percival's expression as he read the letter matched that of Prince Aelyx's. Lord Tarly rose from his desk to address the prince.
"On behalf of House Tarly, your grace, we offer you our sincerest condolences over your loss. Lady Thea was a lovely woman."
"She was," Aelyx said softly with a nod. He was in a daze. How could his aunt be the victim of such a violent attack? How could anyone be so vicious to her, let alone butcher the poor woman in front of her own children? Not only that, but what were the Greens thinking?
As if Thea's cruel murder wasn't bad enough, there was Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen's betrayal to comprehend. How could Jaehaerys and his family betray Aelyx's grandmother the queen after everything she had done for them? Murder, betrayal, conspiracy. It was a lot for the young prince to take in so early in the morning.
"Why don't you have a seat, your grace?" the voice belonged to Lord Tarly, who was concerned for Aelyx. "You look pale."
Aelyx shook his head to dispel the heavy fog of his thoughts and noticed that Ryman had risen and was offering his chair to him. The prince held up his hand and shook his head.
"No, thank you, Lord Ryman. I am fine. I am just in shock over what is going on is all."
"It is all very shocking, indeed, your grace," said Ser Medgar. "Tragic and shocking..."
"Ungrateful bastards," spoke up Ser Percival at last, still holding the letter in his hands. "The Greens need to pay for what they have done!"
"We all agree with you, Ser Wylde," replied Steffan. He turned to face his cousin. "We need to mobilize as soon as possible, Alan."
"How fast can House Tarly raise their host?" asked Aelyx. "How big is it?"
"We can raise ten-thousand men in one month from conscription and our household knights, garrison, and bannerman, House Hunt. In case of emergencies, we can raise three-thousand in less than a week."
"Really?" Aelyx said in amazement "That quickly?"
Lord Tarly nodded. "Marcher lords are the swiftest when it comes to raising armies on short-notice, your grace. Centuries of repelling Dornishmen made us that way."
"And I have one-thousand under my command in addition to a dragon," added Aelyx. "And then there are my mother and uncles' dragons, their forces, the Velaryon Fleet, and the hosts of Houses Rowan and Beesbury."
Lord Tarly smiled and nodded. "Excellent. More than enough to put your cousin in his place and to avenge your uncle's wife, your grace."
Feeling at ease with the knowledge of all that was available at his disposal, Aelyx relaxed. Lord Tarly sent Maester Orion off to send ravens to the Arbor, Goldengrove, and Honeyholt to enquire about how they were responding to the queen's letters, and to inform House Hunt to rally their forces and to draft conscription notices for Lord Tarly's domain. Following the maester's departure, the remaining men gathered around the table where the maps were laid out to plan their march on Oldtown. The same pincer attack that Prince Joffrey Velaryon had thought of at Honeyholt was conceived by the Tarly's as they looked at Oldtown's position on the map and the locations of Prince Lucerys and the other Black forces on the mainland. The men were still around the table strategizing nearly an hour later when Maester Orion hurriedly returned to the solar with a new letter in hand.
"A raven from Honeyholt just arrived, my lords. Lord Beesbury has some very disconcerting news that he wants to share with us."
"Read it out loud for us, Alan," said Ryman as his cousin took the letter from Orion and unrolled it. Lord Tarly complied with his cousin's request, and he read his father-in-law's letter aloud.
"Alan,
This is urgent. Please read this letter carefully. I am sure that you have received a letter from Queen Rhaenyra regarding the subjugation of Oldtown, but what I am going to tell you in this writ is even more concerning. I just received a raven from my niece in Oldtown saying that the queen's nephew, Prince Jaehaerys, has just crowned himself and his wife as king and queen of Westeros! The Greens have mobilized and are marching on us with dragons in their ranks.
Call your banners and ready yourself for battle, Alan. This is very serious. Protect your family – my daughter, my grandchildren, your kinsmen. Prince Joffrey is readying himself for battle along with his dragon Tyraxes, and Prince Aelyx needs to do the same. Gods be with you and may you all be safe.
Sincerely,
Your father-in-law,
Lord Alan Beesbury"
Greeting the end of the reading was a tense silence that seemed to drain all the oxygen out of the room. All but Lord Tarly and Maester Orion exchanged horrified glances. Not only had the Greens beaten the Blacks on making the first move, but there was also the sinking feeling that the kind and quiet Prince Lydus Targaryen was part of this betrayal. House Tarly had to act now and fast. Not wanting to waste any time, Lord Alan Tarly hurried to ready Horn Hill for war.
The garrison was put on high alert, and Horn Hill prepared for war. Horn Hill's courtyard was bustling with frantic activity when Aelyx and Percival arrived there. Servants were rushing about carrying and setting down weapons, armor, shields, and other equipment as household knights and archers examined their arms and armor. Horses were being led outside of their stalls to be groomed and dressed in armor like their owners. Nervous about his first battle, the fifteen year old Prince Aelyx nevertheless threw himself headlong into the martial preparations.
With Ser Wylde's help, Aelyx reviewed his troops and took an inventory of their supplies. It was during this review that Aelyx and Percival were approached by a grave looking Ser Steffan Tarly.
"Maester Orion just received another raven. This one came from Lord Herbert Hunter. His keep is being attacked by House Peake!"
Aelyx and Percival gaped and exclaimed at the same time. Their men exchanged glances and whispered amongst themselves. Steffan continued speaking as the shocking news he just shared sank in with his audience.
"My cousin wishes to aid House Hunt as soon as possible, but we don't have enough men to confront the Peake force on our own." Steffan then gave the prince his full attention. "Your grace, I know this is a lot to ask, but would you please accompany us to Harte's Watch with your dragon to help Lord Hunt?"
Aelyx's heart skipped a beat at the idea of going into battle sooner than planned, but his answer to Steffan Tarly's question was yes. Nervous or not, Aelyx was going to help House Tarly. They had assisted the Black Targaryen's so much during the manhunt for Prince Aemond, and Aelyx wanted to return the favor. Not only that, but the Tarly's would become the prince's family by marriage after he married the Lord of Horn Hill's eldest daughter, Arielle, when she came of age. What would it look like if Aelyx were to balk at going into battle to help his future father-in-law and his bannerman?
Steffan grinned with relief to hear that the prince was going to help his family.
"Thank you, your grace. Thank you, so much!"
Aelyx said nothing but nodded in response. With that taken care of, Aelyx hurried off to get dressed in his armor. Once he was garbed in plate and a surcoat that displayed the heraldry and colors of House Targaryen, Aelyx took off for the courtyard again to saddle up Macetail. At nine years old, Macetail was nearly the size of a grown male elephant, and his growth showed no sign of stopping. Macetail made his nest in Horn Hill's courtyard by the well, which he would curl himself around when he went to sleep at night.
House Tarly's servants were understandably hesitant to fetch water from the well when Macetail was curled up around it, but over the course of the Targaryen's stay at Horn Hill, and in addition to Aelyx's reassurances, Macetail proved himself to be a gentle giant who got used to the presence of people at the well. Some servants were still afraid of Macetail, but thankfully the rest were able to draw water in full view of him when he was awake without trembling, Macetail's gaze being one of friendly indifference. Now, amidst the fracas that was going on at Horn Hill, Macetail was sitting up, his body still curled around the well, watching with curious eyes as people and animals crisscrossed about the courtyard in a hurried fashion. Aelyx approached Macetail and patted him on his left thigh, causing the dragon to look over his shoulder at his rider.
"Something big is afoot, boy," Aelyx said as he looked his mount directly in the eye. "The Greens want to make war against us. We need to ready ourselves for battle. Are you ready to give fire and blood to our enemies just like we did at Highgarden?"
Macetail stared at his rider, listening to every word he said. His response to Aelyx's question was a nod and grunt. Pleased with his dragon, Aelyx held out his hand, to which Macetail stretched his snout out towards for a quick rub before he was led away to be saddled up. Petting and realizing the power he had over his dragon comforted Aelyx somewhat. If he could control such a powerful beast, then he should fare well in battle; Prince Aelyx just needed to stay calm and in control of himself.
Of course, that was easier said than done, but at that moment, Aelyx focused on getting Macetail ready for their first real battle. Lord Alan Tarly and Steffan emerged from the castle wearing armor as Aelyx was outfitting his dragon. Strapped to Alan's back was his family's prized heirloom, a Valyrian Steel great-sword called "Heartsbane". Passed down from one Lord Tarly to the next, Heartsbane had a long and bloody history. Used mainly in battle against the Dornish, Heartsbane had tasted her fair share of Reachmen blood before and after Aegon's Conquest, and she was going taste some more today at Harte's Watch.
Aelyx found Heartsbane to be magnificent, not as magnificent as Blackfyre and Dark Sister of course, but the blade was a welcome sight to the dragon prince's eyes at that moment. The presence of Heartsbane provided more comfort to Aelyx, and he felt almost as confident and fearless as Aegon the Conqueror himself. Soon after applying Macetail's bridle, Aelyx flew out of Horn Hill with a host of 1,060 led by Lords Alan and Steffan and Ser Percival. The one-thousand was the Targaryen host Aelyx had brought with him to the Reach: 500 infantrymen, 300 archers, and 200 mounted knights; the sixty were what House Tarly could spare from their garrison at the moment: 30 archers, 20 spearmen, and 10 household knights. One third the size of the Peake host, the Tarly's had the advantage of having a dragon in their ranks, their situation calling back to the host Aegon I had at the Field of Fire: 11,000 men and three dragons against the 55,000 strong led by Kings Mern IX Gardner and Loren I Lannister.
If three dragons were enough to obliterate the Two Kings' host while losing less than a hundred men on their end, then the Tarly's felt that one dragon could help grant them an easy victory over the Peake's. In due time, the Tarly's would see whether or not history would repeat in their favor. Harte's Watch was a small walled keep located three leagues northeast of Horn Hill, and it took the Tarly's just as many hours to reach their bannerman's seat. The early stages of siege warfare greeted the Blacks when they finally arrived. Harte's Watch was surrounded and arrows were being exchanged by both sides, and there were teams of men wearing Peake livery chopping off the branches of two freshly cut down trees to turn them into makeshift battering rams.
Sable pillars of smoke wafted up to the sky on the horizon. A nearby village had been put to the torch. The sights and sounds of warfare piqued Macetail's interest as well as agitate him, and he let out a sibilant roar as he closed in on Harte's Watch. Ser Henri Peake turned pale when he heard the roar and he looked up at the sky to see Macetail flying down towards his army. Then came the rising din of Targaryen soldiers and Tarly men as they began running towards the enemy.
Cheering could be heard coming from Harte's Watch. House Hunt's rescuers had arrived. Henri commanded his infantrymen to take up defensive positions to repel the advancing army when Macetail flew overhead of them. First things first, Macetail burned the archers who were firing on the Hunt's. Seeing the dragon and how easily he was turning the tide of battle caused some of the Peake soldiers to break rank and escape only to be felled by enemy arrows before they could get too far.
Macetail flew up the road ahead of the surviving fleeing soldiers that led to the burning village and he blocked their only means of escape with dragonfire. Amidst the chaos, Ser Henri Peake ordered his remaining archers to take shelter in the surrounding woodlands and open fire on Macetail from there. The men did as they were told, and they fired arrow after arrow at the dragon as he flew overhead. Most of the arrows missed their target, but the ones that did hit struck Macetail's lower back and left thigh. Irritated with the archers, Macetail turned around and burned them out of the woods.
Determined to bring down Macetail even in the face of suffering a fiery death, the Peake archers who made it out of the woods alive returned fire. Shooting from the open as the dragon flew overhead allowed for the archers to strike Macetail's soft belly and neck. Twenty-one arrows riddled the dragon's body when the pain forced him to land behind enemy lines. Seeing the dragon wounded and out of the sky brought out the inner dragon-slayer within the Peake men, and fourteen of them quickly surrounded Macetail in hopes of dealing the fatal blow and earning immortality through paeans.
Burning seven of the men to a crisp with a great gout of dragonfire, Macetail lunged for one of the stunned remaining seven with a mouth full of white, sharp teeth. The poor man flailed helplessly in the dragon's mouth with his arms waving and his legs kicking, but his suffering ended quickly when Macetail bit down with all his might. A gruesome snapping sound was heard, similar to that of a twig being stepped on, as the soldier's spine was broken in two, his severed arms falling to the ground as syrupy streams of dark crimson blood poured out from between Macetail's teeth. Tasting human flesh for the first time enhanced Macetail's bloodlust, and he threw the mangled corpse aside and went after his first victim's horrified comrades.
"Get the hell away!" shouted Aelyx as he cracked his whip over the head of a spearman who tried to gore his beloved dragon. Dazed by the blow to his head, the spearman was soon greeted by the sight of Macetail's open maw rushing towards him, seizing him, and throwing him up into the blue sky above before black, red, and white fire filled his vision and cooked him alive. Macetail waved his trademark tail back and forth to deter anyone from attacking him from behind as he sauntered on burning and biting his enemies. One mounted knight tried to do so, but the dragon heard the galloping hooves, and he smacked the mounted knight aside with ease as if he were a fly. Both man and horse tumbled violently on the ground, the right sides of their bodies shredded by the spikes on Macetail's tail.
Prince Aelyx felt exhilarated and unstoppable as he and Macetail dominated their corner of the battlefield. War veterans referred to this condition as "battle fever." Far from being a debilitating illness, battle fever was a "blessing in disguise" that helped Aelyx carry on fighting and made him fearless.
"I am like the Conqueror, like grandfather, may I daresay even like Maegor!" Aelyx thought as he commanded Macetail to set fire to a Peake infantry column. Thrilled beyond words, a grinning and panting Aelyx felt a spark of emotion radiate within him. His mother and Alyssa would be so proud of him, as would his father if he were still here. No doubt Jacaerys was looking down at Aelyx from the heavens keeping his youngest child safe from harm.
A Peake soldier wielding a spear charged at Macetail only to be swiped aside by his spiked tail. The tail came to rest on the ground after dispatching the latest enemy, and one knight took note of this. Ser Niall Hutcheson, who was known as Niall "the Nimble" by his brothers in arms for his agility, was one of House Peake's household knights, and he saw an opening when Macetail's tail came to rest. Discarding his shield to make himself lighter, Niall made a mad dash for Macetail as he was busy roasting an archer alive with his dragonfire. Taking a deep breath and praying for luck, Niall leapt towards the part of the dragon's tail where it started to get thicker and grabbed onto one of the spikes that grew on his back and began climbing up Macetail as if he were on a ladder.
Macetail shrieked and tried to shake the intruder off. Niall held onto the spikes with all his might, and with the aid of adrenaline, was able to get a foothold on the middle of Macetail's back. Aelyx turned around and tried to whip Ser Hutcheson, but the man grabbed the whip and sliced it in half with his sword. Aelyx turned pale as he realized how much trouble he was in. Needing to buy some time, Niall plunged his sword between Macetails' ribs, whose scales were not yet hard enough to deflect steel weapons.
Macetail let out a pained shriek and reared up with his wings spread out. Niall held onto the hilt of his sword to stay on the dragon's back. Once Macetail's wings touched the ground again, Niall the Nimble gunned it for Aelyx. Panicking, his battle fever subsiding, Aelyx reached for his sword until Niall wrapped his left arm around his neck. Pulling off the prince's helm and tossing it aside, Niall unsheathed his dirk and lifted a frightened Aelyx's chin upward so that he was looking up into Ser Hutcheson's eyes.
Staring death in the face, Aleyx screamed out his last (heartbreaking) words to a rescuer who would never come.
"Alyssa, help me!"
Raising his dirk up high, Niall plunged the blade into Aelyx's exposed throat. Blood was emitted from the prince's mouth instead of a scream, the ichor coming out as a red spray. But Niall wasn't done. Far from it. He rose the dirk again and again, stabbing all over Prince Aelyx's neck, face, and head.
When Niall finally stopped stabbing, there was nothing left of Aelyx's face but a wet, torn, bloody mess; the silver streak in his brown hair was stained a bright red. Princess Alyssa's darling little Zorse was no more... Macetail, sensing his rider's death, let a deafening roar of rage and grief that seemed to paralyze all who heard it. Alan and Henri, who engaged in one-on-one combat, stopped their duel and stared at the dragon. Ser Percival Wylde looked up from finishing off a Peake soldier when he heard the dragon's roar, his heart sinking and then imploding when he saw Prince Aelyx in the clutches of an enemy, whose dirk was dripping with blood.
Fury and sorrow numbing the pain he felt from the arrows lodged in his body, Macetail flapped his wings and took to the air again. It was Niall's turn to panic, and he held onto the slain prince's body as the dragon achieved liftoff. But only Niall's left hand was free, and he soon lost his grip and fell twelve feet to the ground. With his dead rider still strapped to his back, Macetail poured dragonfire on anything that wore orange and black, the colors of House Peake's coat-of-arms, turning the area into a giant pyre. It was the beginning of the end of the Assault on Harte's Watch.
The final straw for the Peake host was when Lord Alan Tarly cut off the head of Ser Henri Peake with Heartsbane. With their leader dead, what was left of the enemy either surrendered or were slain by the Blacks. Ser Wylde ran across a hellscape of blood, bodies, and fire to reach Niall the Nimble, who was trying to stand. Burning with rage, Percival, whose eyes shone with tears, kicked Niall down and proceeded to stab him again and again with his sword. Percival screamed wrathfully at the dying Niall; his screams drowned out by the shouting of other men, the clangor of steel, and Macetail's roaring.
As the battle wore down, the sounds of fire crackling and men moaning in pain became more audible. These new sounds were accompanied by two scents: blood and burning flesh. Through fire and blood, the Blacks earned their first victory on the same day the Greens claimed their first two. But the victory was a hollow one. Prince Aelyx Targaryen was dead, and there was an even larger army marching on Horn Hill with a dragon of their own.
The fact that Houses Tarly and Hunt had lost less than a hundred men altogether while House Peake lost over a thousand brought little comfort to the Blacks. The Tarly's still needed to raise their host and prepare their home for a siege. Alan, mournful already over losing Prince Aelyx, dreaded having to inform Aelyx's mother that he was gone. Not only did Princess Baela have to be informed, so did the late prince's family back at King's Landing. There was so much to do, but Alan was determined, and he would leave no stone unturned.
First of all, Alan wanted to have Prince Aelyx cremated. He saw a crestfallen Percival drag Niall the Nimble's corpse over towards Macetail, who had landed by the tree line. Macetail sniffed the body, detecting traces of his rider's blood on him. Recognizing Niall as being Aelyx's killer, Macetail unleashed a geyser of dragonfire on the man's body, charring it black and consuming it in three bites. Macetail let out one more roar after swallowing the last of Ser Niall Hutcheson: triumph, rage, and sorrow resounding from every decibel.
The first day of the eleventh moon of 150 AC was a dark and bloody day for Westeros. Going down in history as "the Day of Blood", that date served as a harbinger of the horror that was to come from the Dance of the Dragons, which had flowered from the carnage like a blood-bloom. No amount of negotiation and goodwill could mend the gaping chasm between the Young King's descendants from his two marriages. Two dragons – one red and one gold – vied for the Iron Throne, but only one could have it, their fires threatening to burn the innocent who were generations removed from the initial conflicts that plagued the reign of Viserys I. Worst of all, no real winner will emerge in the end, only death and tragedy...
Poor Aelyx... Not only has Baela been widowed, but she has also lost a child; Baela and Eleanor both... The Day of Blood is over, but more such days are coming. The next chapter will be another sad one since it will depict the fates of Princess Helaena Targaryen and the other Green Conspirators. But anyway, I am glad to have gained so many followers and people who have favorited this story.
Thanks House of the Dragon! However, I still prefer Fire & Blood's storyline over anything HBO produces. Do you guys like it? But that's not the interesting news I wanted to share with you. Thanks to a suggestion made by Nerdman 3000, I will be publishing my stories on Archives Our Own under the pen name "Maid_of_Clio29." I can't wait to grow my audience on a different platform. I plan on uploading my stories to Archives Our Own after I publish both Chapter 46 and the third appendix.
Thanks for reading!