Main Content
Archive of Our OwnArchive of Our OwnHi, TheBrimmedHat!PostLog Out
FandomsBrowseSearchAboutWork Search
tip: words:100
Actions
Entire Work ← Previous Chapter Next Chapter → Chapter Index Edit Bookmark Mark for Later Comments Share Download
Work Header
Rating:
Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warnings:
Graphic Depictions Of ViolenceMajor Character Death
Categories:
F/FF/MM/MMulti
Fandoms:
A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. MartinA Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms
Relationships:
Rhaenyra Targaryen/Laenor VelaryonJoffrey Lonmouth/Laenor VelaryonCorlys Velaryon/Rhaenys TargaryenDaemon Targaryen/Laena VelaryonRhaenyra Targaryen/Laena Velaryon
Characters:
Rhaenyra TargaryenLaenor VelaryonLaena VelaryonHelaena TargaryenAlicent HightowerAegon II TargaryenAemond TargaryenRhaenys Targaryen (Daughter of Aemon)Corlys VelaryonJoffrey Lonmouth
Additional Tags:
Self-Insertdance of dragonsAlternate UniverseTechnologySelf-Indulgent
Language:
English
Series:
Part 1 of The Blacks, the Greens and the Reds Next Work →
Stats:
Published:2019-09-19Updated:2026-06-17Words:1,084,451Chapters:467/?Comments:4,066Kudos:6,016Bookmarks:1,174Hits:557,693
The Blacks, The Greens and The Reds
Loke_Lyon
Chapter 12: Rebellion - Chapter 10
Chapter Text
Plague in the Vale, my ass. I know there's no plague in the Vale just like I know that Ser Arnold is a dirty lying liar whose probably got Jeyne locked up somewhere whilst he brings the Vale lords to his side.
Maybe I was overreacting, history tells me he probably won't succeed but hopefully flying to Jeyne's aid would ingratiate me much further than words on paper. There was also the more selfish idea of that if, somehow, I had butterflied him into succeeding then he would never support me. If he did, he made his own claim on the Vale invalid.
I wanted to push the dragons hard but Laenor had counselled caution. He'd told me that if we pushed the dragons too hard they'd be in no condition to fight once we did reach the Vale. If I was right about Ser Arnold then we couldn't take that risk. We had no clue how he was maintaining control currently, Laenor told me, he could have fooled the Vale lords like he'd try to fool me or be perched in the Gates of the Moon with a massive army. I'd accepted, grudgingly. This meant that instead of blurring past the fields of the Crownlands and the Riverlands rolled by at a much more sedate pace.
The trip took four days at the almost agonisingly slow pace Laenor had set. We'd stopped the night at Duskendale, Maidenpool and the Saltpans. Luckily, the Lords of those towns had understood that we were in a hurry and could not afford to engage in the lavish feasts that hosts were expected to throw when royalty came calling. Or maybe they were simply relieved we weren't insisting on slowly bankrupting them with our presence.
We'd have to come back later and make a show of it. I could not afford to offend or alienate House Darklyn, House Mooton and House Cox. Or rather I could but that thinking was likely to lead to a disaster sooner or later, being too close the the original Rhaenyra's 'I am heir, bow to me' attitude that had lost her the Dance. I found it hard to sleep as we made our way across Westeros, too strung out on thoughts of somehow butterflying Jeyne's hold on the Vale away.
We reached the Bloody Gate itself in the late evening and made the decision to bypass it entirely, to fly onward to the Gates of the Moon. The dragons would cover the distance with ease and I couldn't face another night of wondering if I'd messed up somehow. Had the original Rhaenyra shown more support? Had I failed to gain a supporter in the Vale that backed Jayne?
My thoughts swirled like that as we soared through the air. Then they ceased as I beheld the Eyrie for the first time.
I found myself forced to gape at the seat of House Arryn, struck dumb by the sheer impossibility of it. Seven white towers atop a colossal mountain, surrounded by more mountains on either side and long winding road as the only approach. Stylish, impossible to seige and all but practically screamed 'I rule, you don't now grovel' to any who beheld it. It made the Red Keep look like some newly made Knight's motte-and-bailey by comparison.
No wonder cousin Jeyne had been so proud of it.
After Laenor and I finished marvelling over the local architecture we took the dragons in for landing at the Gates of the Moon, ensuring we came down in front of the castle. Inside we would be surrounded at least this way, we wouldn't have men at our backs. Dragons were vulnerable when they were on the ground in a way they simply were not in the air. Hardened scales that flexed when they breathed exposed the soft flesh beneath, impossible to hit whilst the flew but a valid target for spears and swords when forced to land.
The Gates of the Moon did not quite match the Eyrie in beauty but they were still worthy of note. Beautiful but practical, no army was getting past it without the castle's express permission. The first way stop for any visitor to the Eyrie and the first line of defence if the Eyrie ever came under attack. It also served as the seat of House Arryn during the winter which is why the title of Keeper was non-hereditary and normally given to someone within the Arryn family. Someone who could be trusted to remain loyal.
We were greeted by knights in the Arryn livery, they streamed from the open portcullis and formed a loose semi-circle around our mounts and my suspicions regarding the nature of the 'plague' were only reinforced by their nervous demeanour, the way they weren't sure if they would soon need to draw weapons. I let Laenor do the talking as my eyes searched the battlements. More men in Arryn livery dotted it but I spotted the odd flash of Grafton colours.
"Ho there, I am Ser Laenor Velaryon, with me is Her Grace Princess Rhaenyra, heir to the Irone Throne," he called. There was flurry of activity and then a handsome older man that could only be Ser Arnold Arryn strode out, waving his men to stand down. He had the classic Arryn look both my Mother and Jeyne bore. The sandy blonde hair and blue eyes that denoted their prized Andal heritage. He was clean-shaven with shoulder length hair worn in a knot and for all that he'd arranged his features into a pleasant smile a life of court had taught me to spot the subtle signs of stress.
The darkened eyes showing a lack of sleep, the tense way he held his shoulders… this guy was on the edge.
"Your Grace! I am Ser Arnold Arryn, Keeper of the Gates of the Moon," Not for much longer if you've done anything to my cousin. "I am happy to receive you and offer you guest right but I must warn you-"
"We are aware of the rumours of plague within the Vale. It was my hope to somehow ascertain if my cousin was well," I called. In the dimming light, I could see the indecision writ clear on his face. He could not prevent me from flying up the mountain if I so wished but if he was lying about the plague, I would soon know. Therefore he needed me to get gone as soon as possible and I'd just made it clear that I thought his claims of illness were just that, claims.
The fact that neither of us had moved to dismount our dragons, the only creature currently able to completely nullify the advantage the men of the Vale took pride in must also factor in to his decisions. I risked a glance at the battlements once more. More Grafton men and considerably more ranged weaponry now. He was stalling but even he knew he could not get away with murdering a Targaryen Princess and her consort, if he were even capable of it.
"I could not in good conscience allow you to do that, Your Grace. It is my duty to contain the plague here if the whole of the Vale of Arryn is not to be ravaged by it." I clenched my jaw at the word 'allow'. He would allow me nothing!
"Tell me, Ser Arryn, how did the plague come to be in the Eyrie. I note a lot of Grafton men here, perhaps it came through Gulltown?" Laenor pointed out and I watched as Ser Arnold shifted, hand falling to his hilt as he licked his lips. Probably wondering if his men could bring us down before we melt his castle down around his ears. I didn't pay attention to his response, I was watching the Grafton men. They were agitated. Clearly fighting two dragons hadn't been on their to-do list this morning and they were close to breaking. Either one would take a pot shot at us and the rest would follow or they would run.
I couldn't risk an arrow storm.
I shifted in my saddle, urging Syrax to turn her gaze to the battlements. If Ser Arryn noticed, he didn't break from his long winded explanation about the nature of the 'illness', the one Laenor was pretending to be enraptured by. I felt her tense under me as she sensed the fight coming. I loosened the whip at my side and focused on the battlements again. Having a dragon actually looking at them was doing wonders for their sudden sense of mortality.
Something just a little more direct then.
"Dracarys!" Syrax let forth a gout of flame that missed everyone standing on the battlements but ensured they all felt the heat of it. Panicked men threw down their weapons and fled, screaming. The knights that had met us outside the gate charged forward with shouts. I heard Laenor's whip crack and Seasmoke lurched forward and incinerated half of them at once.
The rest fled. Ser Arnold Arryn hadn't moved, hadn't even drawn his sword and I could see the fury on his face. He knew he was beaten, knew the Vale was beyond his reach now and he knew I made that happen. I flashed him a sweet smile that evolved into a smirk of satisfaction as the Gates of the Moon exploded into chaos behind him, his men giving calls of retreat with no thought to whether he still lived. Evidently as loyal to him as they'd been to Jeyne.
That would teach him to rely on traitors and men easily bought. They found it so easy to do so once again.
"Keep an eye on him, Laenor. I'm going to see if Lady Arryn is well," I ordered in a tone that promised dire retribution if she were not for any reason.
Laenor nodded, not taking his eyes off the Arryn knight. The look on his face suggested he'd be quite happy for Ser Arnold to make his move if only for Seasmoke to have a chance at eating him.
A light tap of the whip and Syrax took me upwards and over the wall. After the Gates of the Moon there were three more waycastles a would-be besieger would have to get around before assaulting the Eyrie proper.
Below me, the first waycastle, Stone, was silent and dark as the grave. Had the men of the garrison betrayed Jeyne or had they been killed when Ser Arnold had launched his coup? Syrax shifted underneath me and then snarled. I squinted at the mountain path but could make nothing out. Had she seen something? Dragons had good eyesight, even in the dark that had fallen around us. Actually, that was not strictly true. Dragons are terribly long-sighted. They could spot a rabbit racing through scrub land from the air but put that rabbit in front of them and they'd be snuffling around for it for a while.
Perhaps she'd heard something then? Another sense the dragon excelled at. Had she heard soldiers on the mountain perhaps? I was getting distracted, the adrenaline making it hard to focus on one thing for long.
In comparison to Stone, Snow was alive with activity. At the sight of Syrax, men scrambled into action. I couldn't see precisely what they were doing but I could see fires winking out and get a general sense of frantic activity.
When I reached Sky, I didn't need Syrax's super hearing to hear the unusual response. The normal response to a dragon appearing the sky above your castle was fear and screaming, not the cheering of the men of the Sky garrison. I smiled to myself. They must be Jeyne's men and nothing cheers the spirits like realising you had a dragon your side.
I swooped in low to more cheering before flying on the Eyrie proper. The fact that they had still been holding out suggested that Jeyne was still okay. Ser Arnold was her heir, technically, and if she'd died it would have given those men a legitimate reason to surrender lawfully. After all, fighting to defend a castle from the person who now owned it was not something anyone is Westeros would approve of.
The Eyrie had clearly not been built with dragons in mind. Syrax was just able to fit on the widest part of the approach to the main gate. I hopped off with less grace than I had hoped to convey and pulled my cloak tightly around my shoulders to ward against the chill. The moment I was fully away, Syrax took to the air once more and flew towards a smaller peak that the Eyrie overlooked.
I made my way to the gate. As I got closer I could make out shouts and activity from beyond it. Specks of light from torches flickered back and forth. By the time I'd actually reached them, they'd begun to swing open. More Arryn knights were there, flanking Jeyne. She was thinner than when I'd last seen her and her eyes spoke of too much missed sleep but she was smiling widely.
"Cousin! I sent you a letter but I fear it never made it through," I called. She laughed although I could tell it was strained, more from surprise and relief than any true humour. I crossed the threshhold of the gate and pulled her into a hug. She stiffened slightly before relaxing and returning it.
"Thank you for coming, cousin, how do you like the Eyrie?" she chuckled.
Actions
↑ Top ← Previous Chapter Next Chapter → Edit Bookmark Comments (12)
Kudos
Jessamintzz, Ang3lFall, Elycia_D, LuciremD, Bradley52869, CaptainSolar021, Chair404, Bellriver123, 0th_Law, monkeyyys01, Alucard43, DarkCauldron, Rikki, NotSoSecretCultist, Zirqoyi, linadreams, LadyAthos, Randomrusina, Meisse, Daughter_of_Hades, Fav_works, Aussie2003, caiside13, RudestLittleMadam, brinew, Ladyofgoats, 20fructidor, Pleasebemineillumizoldyck, Kingsombra21, Akira_senju_949522, Von_Linden, Icecream38, Hazelnutsdeath, RhiannonViAugust, Starboy15, WelshSilverLion, yuhmama, cochella22, rosestone, Russ_Kaunelainen, LoneSword, Arroz_quemado, EvieBorges, NalaSparkles23, Vaedrix, Jijiiya, Touchinggrass, Nana_louXstar, Stillhotting, tvavision, and 1889 more users as well as 4077 guests left kudos on this work!
Comments
Post Comment
Comment as TheBrimmedHat
Plain text with limited HTML ?
Comment
10000 characters left
Footer
Customize
Default
Low Vision Default
Reversi
Snow Blue
About the Archive
Site Map
Diversity Statement
Terms of Service
Content Policy
Privacy Policy
DMCA & TIDA Policies
Site Status
Contact Us
Policy Questions & Abuse Reports
Technical Support & Feedback
Development
otwarchive v1.5.0.1
Known Issues
GPL-2.0-or-later by the OTW