The 'Iron Throne' seemed like a whole lot of trouble, Sylvi decided as she stood in the throne room and watched King Aegon as he addressed the court's concerns and demanded justice. Unfortunately, Sylvi had killed both of the intruders. While this had made the room decidedly safer, it had also ruined any chance of them confessing the identity of their employer.
Sylvi waited patiently for Aegon to finish his orders. Luckily his speech was in front of people who knew him well… He wasn't very charismatic. Clearly, his father and mother hadn't shown him how to lead. They just expected the people to follow. Sylvi wished that she had her voice back just so she could teach him how to give orders. As the people in the room dispersed, Sylvi walked to the throne and showed him her book.
"Why do you want to look at the room? The Kingsguard already tore it apart. If there was something to find, then they would have found it," Aegon said tiredly.
Sylvi's response was to point at the page a second time with a serious look. With a sigh, Aegon got up from the chair and led the way to Queen Alicent's old bedroom. At the moment, Alicent, Helaena, and the children were sleeping in a room with a Kingsguard on duty. They didn't know how the intruders had gotten inside, but Sylvi was hoping to find out. Upon entering the room, Sylvi cast a clairvoyance spell. The mist led directly to a wall. Sylvi looked under the remaining furniture to find a switch of some kind. There had to be some kind of secret passageway.
As Aegon drawled on about the futility of her endeavor, Sylvi ran her hands along the wall. One of the stones moved inwards just slightly. Sylvi pushed it in and held a click. A section of the wall moved in, revealing a passageway. Sylvi started to go inside when she felt a hand on her arm. Aegon pulled her away from the passageway as he stared into the depths.
"How… How did you know?"
"Guessed," Sylvi wrote. "I once fought a group of bandits that had taken over a keep. I used a secret passageway to get inside the walls."
Aegon called for the Kingsguard as Sylvi realized with disappointment that Aegon was not going to let her explore what she had discovered. Ser Cole gave her a pat on her shoulder and looked at the passageway with relief. Now they just needed to follow the tunnel and see which rooms it went to before sealing it. With a frustrated sigh, Sylvi watched the Kingsguard go into the tunnel with torches.
"How many people did you sneak into the bandits' keep?" Aegon asked as he led her out of the room.
Sylvi thought about it for a moment and wrote, "It was just Barbas and me."
"Barbas? A friend?"
"Yes. A dog," Sylvi wrote, leaving out the fact that Barbas was a shapeshifting Daedra. No doubt that would lead to even more questions. Plus Barbas always acted like a dog, so maybe that was his true form. Thinking about Barbas brought back her worries. Had he also been brought along? If so, why hadn't he found her?
"I could get you a new dog," Aegon said awkwardly. "After all, you saved my mother and sister; it would be the least I could do."
"It is not so easy to replace a friend, Your Highness," Sylvi wrote with a sad smile.
Aegon went silent. Sylvi watched him struggle to find something reassuring to say and softly gave his shoulder a pat. Lord Hightower strode up the stairs, and Sylvi bowed before getting out of the way.
Lord Hightower walked inside the room. His entire body went stiff as he saw the secret entrance. He turned and focused on Sylvi.
"Let me guess… you also found the secret entrance."
Sylvi nodded, not knowing why he was suddenly so angry.
"What's wrong?" Aegon asked defensively.
"It's just interesting… how many developments happen near our new friend," Lord Hightower said as he looked at Sylvi with suspicion. "It almost makes one think that she was a part of the plan from the beginning. Sent here to 'guide' us and earn our trust before stabbing us in the back. I know Mysaria recommended you. She was a former… 'lover' of Prince Daemon. Strange how shortly after you appear all of these plots start to unfold."
Sylvi tried to remember who Mysaria was before she wrote, "Mysaria is a friend of someone I saved from bandits in Essos. She got me a job, so I can search for my friends. Why would I stop a plot if she was the one who planned both? Why wouldn't I 'save' Queen Alicent after they got what they came for? I doubt Mysaria would send people just to die."
Lord Hightower let out a hollow laugh after he read her words and said, "Then you truly don't know Mysaria… Just know that I will be keeping an eye on you."
"That does not bother me as I have nothing to hide," Sylvi wrote and showed him the book while keeping eye contact.
Lord Hightower gave her a calculating look before he said, "Perhaps there is a way for you to prove your innocence. Mysaria will try to escape soon to Dragonstone. Find out when and how, and your allegiance will be proven."
Lord Hightower didn't wait for a reply as he strode away. Sylvi wondered how beneficial that would be for her, but the thought of this Mysaria trying to harm Helaena and the children made it hard for Sylvi to say no. Sylvi turned to see Aegon looking conflicted. With a small pat on his shoulder, she gave him a smile before walking down the hall to her room. She would need to put on some light armor before looking for Mysaria; something told her that Mysaria's group wouldn't be happy to see her after she had foiled their plans.
Footsteps stopped just outside of her room as she picked up her backpack. Aegon leaned on the doorframe. He looked at her like he had something to say but had difficulty saying it. After looking around her room, he said, "I could get you a better room… a better bed."
"Room and bed are good," she wrote before picking up the urn from the table. It was unfortunate that she needed to sell out Myrra's friend, but… The one rule that Sylvi had always adhered to was to never harm a child, and she wouldn't allow one to be harmed when she could prevent it. Helaena's children were likely still in danger. Rhaenyra had seemingly decided the price to pay for killing her child was the child of her enemy… which Sylvi found despicable.
"What is that? A vase?" Aegon asked, and Sylvi placed it back on the table.
"An old friend. His ashes are within the vase. I will carry him with me until I can take him home."
Sylvi set the urn onto the side table closest to the bed. Aegon had looked a little uncomfortable about the ashes. She briefly wondered how they handled their dead in Westeros before deciding that she needed to get moving. She opened her bag and pulled out her leather scout armor. It was simple enough to not stand out but still sturdy. Pointing to the door, she looked at Aegon meaningfully.
With a smirk, he leaned against the door and said, "Trying on some clothes? I could help."
Sylvi stood up to her full height which made the king's smile falter for a moment. Closing the door, she heard him nearly fall as the door pushed him back. She couldn't help but smile as she continued looking through the backpack. With a wistful sigh, she moved the dragonscale armor to the side. Too eye-catching. After putting on a cowl, she moved the facemask and hood down so that it looked like a dark scarf.
The sun was slowly setting over the horizon. After one last look toward the door to her room, she slipped out of the window onto a lower part of the wall. Quickly and quietly working her way down, she reached the ground. She looked back to the castle window before quickly hiding in the shadows. Sylvi decided that she would give Ser Criston Cole some advice on security… Although that would need to wait until after she had gotten what she needed.
Using a clairvoyance spell, Sylvi saw a stream of light leading her further away from the keep. As she left the inner castle walls, she looked back toward her room. No doubt the young king was growing impatient. Sylvi felt a small twinge of guilt at leaving him without an explanation, but if Mysaria was trying to escape soon, then there wasn't a lot of time. The Kingsguard would keep Aegon safe.
Sylvi walked around the castle grounds and kept to the shadows as she periodically performed a detect life spell. There were no signs of red. Sylvi used a clairvoyance spell and followed the blue mist outside the castle walls. A carriage being searched by guards caught her attention. It was approved by the guards and started to head out.
Using her detect life spell, she immediately took to the shadows. Hidden in the seats of the caravan were at least three red figures. Using the shadows to stay hidden, she followed the caravan out of the castle's view and put on her mask and cowl. As the caravan slowed to turn, Sylvi ran to the front and slammed the driver's head onto the wooden seat. She turned the carriage around and started heading back to the castle when she heard a man shout from inside the carriage."What are you doing, you brainless fool?!"
The sound of footsteps hitting the ground made Sylvi speed up the horses. She turned to see a man in fancy clothes running after the carriage. The guards looked at her with confusion as she approached the gates; one of the guards drew his blade.
"What have you found?" A breathless Ser Cole asked from the landing above them. "I thought there were no carriages allowed to leave without an order from Lord Hightower."
The guards defensively said that this carriage had an order as Sylvi grabbed the oil lantern from the driver's seat. The horses were freed from the carriage before she poured the lantern's oil on the inside of the carriage. Sylvi then dropped the flame and jumped back. The guards yelled at her as the carriage went up in flames. There was panic from inside the carriage as the people hidden inside sensed the danger.
Sylvi watched Ser Cole disappear as he hurried to get down to them. Sylvi jumped back as a dark haired woman and two Altmer jumped out of the carriage while trying to put out the flames on their robes. Upon seeing Sylvi, the Altmer mages cast freezing spells in her direction. In the warm Westerosi climate, it felt almost comforting to the Nord woman. Charging at them as they tried to take out their knives, Sylvi quickly jumped and stabbed the closest Altmer in the neck before using his body to deflect the other Altmer's spells. Ser Cole had taken Mysaria inside the walls as the Thalmor focused on Sylvi. Suddenly, the mage disappeared.
Sylvi dropped the Altmer's body and looked into the darkness while using the detecting spell. Seeing the Altmer running away, Sylvi took a guard's bow and arrow from his hands before firing the arrow into the distance. The arrow flew Altmer fell to the ground, no longer moving.
Sylvi gave the bow back to the guard before following Ser Cole to the keep. As she approached, the Kingsguard drew their swords. Ser Cole waved them down. Sylvi waited patiently as Ser Cole gave them orders.
After making sure everything was going smoothly, Ser Cole waved for Sylvi to follow him. Sylvi followed while wondering if she should take off her mask. Ser Cole had made no mention of it. Perhaps it was best to keep it on for the moment. Lord Hightower, King Aegon, and Queen Alicent watched them curiously as they entered. Sylvi pulled down her mask as Ser Cole gave her an amused look.
"Mysaria has been found and captured!" Ser Cole announced, and Aegon gave Sylvi a look of disbelief. Even Lord Hightower let out a laugh of surprise. "However… I believe our friend here has more to tell us."
Sylvi let out a tired sigh as she grabbed the paper and charcoal from a servant. After stretching her hand, she quickly jotted down as much as she knew about magic, the Thalmor, and their plans.