124

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118 AC

Kingslanding

Daeron Nymeros Martell

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"This thing is kind of uncomfortable." I joke to my Wife while slowly dancing with her, I lift my hand from her hip to adjust my mask before putting my hand back on her hip.

"If you wore the one I picked for you, it wouldn't be as bad as that one..." She sighs and sounds a bit annoyed, but I can see her exposed lips curl up into a smile.

She is likely remembering why I am wearing this mask.

Viserra cried when she saw me wearing the half mask that Rhaenyra picked out.

It's as simple as that.

I tossed the thing out the window and let my infant pick out my mask by holding her and showing off the selection of animal masks one by one.

Unsurprisingly, she picked the owl mask.

She loves owls.

"The things I do for love..." I mutter while slowly following the pace that the rest of the crowd around us has, the music almost being drowned out by how many people are whispering to one another on the 'dance floor'.

My gaze scans the crowd around us, taking in all of the guests and the masks they are wearing. I can't help but find the concept of a masked ball to be quite strange when it's still day and the light from outside pours in through the stained glass windows. It's quite easy to see people and guess their identity, which in my opinion defeats the purpose of the masked part of this gathering.

But I guess people are having fun, and that is all that matters.

Well... most people are.

Shifting my gaze over to Alicent who planned this event, I notice she looks rather bored sitting at the head table next to my good father.

"You should dance with her." Rhaenyra speaks up after following my gaze. "No one else has the balls to ask the Queen for a dance and it seems my Father is already tired out." I purse my lips behind my mask and nod once at my wife's words.

"I will... after we finish." I refocus my attention back onto my Wife who is in a stunning red dress with a half mask that is supposed to be a dragon-themed one.

It doesn't look like a dragon to me, sorta looks like a fox if I am honest.

Makes her look good though.

Unsurprisingly.

"A few more songs then." Rhaenyra smiles and I smile back despite her not being able to see my face.

"A few more." I respond while pulling her a bit closer and her head rests against my left shoulder.

----

"You will be fine over here?" I ask while looking around strangely.

Rhaenyra seems to have gotten a bit dizzy and is now sitting under one of the stained glass windows with her head held in both of her hands.

"I will be fine... I just need to rest for a moment." She lifts her head enough to smile up at me and I nod in acknowledgment.

She knows her body best, I will trust her.

"Alright, I am going to go dance a few songs with Alicent." I turn my head and nod toward one of my personal guards who is hiding in a dark corner not far from us and he nods back toward me after I subtly gesture toward my Wife.

Looking over my shoulder I make eye contact with one of Rhaenyras female guards, Enala Sand, a Dornish bastard from House Vaith. She is dressed up as if she is just another Lady attending the ball, but she is wearing some leather armor under her rather stuffy dress. She also nods understanding my unspoken command to pay extra attention since I am stepping away from my wife's side.

I feel on edge.

These celebrations usually bore me to death, but with the state of the world right now, I am not taking any chances.

Tis why I have nearly twenty guards watching over the children in the royal quarters.

The last thing I told them was kill anyone who tries to enter the section I have them guarding.

"Break a leg." Rhaenyra uses a saying I have used more than once in her presence which causes me to smile as I turn to head toward the high table.

My eyes land on my target and I find she is already looking in my direction with a light smile on her partially exposed face.

She has on a ravens mask.

----

"Is it everything you wanted it to be?" I ask the Queen as we tastefully maneuver around the dance floor, ever mindful of the many eyes watching us.

Alicent discreetly shakes her head. "I would prefer if fewer people showed up, the entire court and all of their friends seem to have shown up." She sighs and I smile as I notice a pair close to us look over, obviously having heard her words and their faces going scandalized.

"There are quite a lot of people." I nod and slowly pull her away from the couple who have even stopped dancing to look over at us oddly. "Maybe next time don't leave it as an open invitation..." Alicent nods with her lips slightly pursed.

"That's probably for the best, I can't b-" Casually I once more lift my gaze from my dance partner to check our surroundings to make sure no one is going to bump into or overhear us.

The music and whispers deafen as my eyes come to a stop on an individual.

The well-dressed man would be just another figure in the crowd if not for the fact I could tell he is staring directly at me.

His stance is tense and he has no partner despite being on the dance floor.

On his face, a tiger mask.

"-though I sup-" I squeeze my handholds on Alicent which causes her to go silent.

I shift her closer to me while I turn a bit to put myself between her and the tiger-masked man who seems more alert now, one of his gloved hands going behind his back. Blood rushes to my ears and I hear a ringing noise as I quickly bend the man's blood inside of his chest to kill him, which causes him to let out a scream and fall forward, dropping a short knife onto the ground.

"What's wro-" Alicent curiously looks up at my face but goes silent and turns toward the clattering blade and wailing man.

No, the entire room goes silent and looks toward the source of the noise.

My eyes quickly dart around the room while an uneasy feeling washes over me, intensifying to a worrying level as I start to notice more and more tigers among the crowd.

"Fuck." I quickly bend down before any of the suspected assassins can recover and I swoop Alicent up into a princess carry and swiftly head toward where I know my Wife last was.

"Is that man- no wait, did you?" Alicent sounds shocked and confused but has seen me on more than one occasion turn someone's insides into a smoothie and quickly realizes what is going on as the exposed part of her face pales.

A scream fills the mostly silent room and I recognize the voice belonging to a Crownlands Lady, her scream seemingly having brought the room back to life causing a panic in the crowd.

"A knife!"

"Assassin!"

"Run!"

"Ah, my leg!"

The room descends into chaos but I care little as I shove my way toward the stained glass window on the far side. My heart beating hard enough that I expect Alicent to be able to feel it as she curls up in my arms with her face pressing against me.

"Please..." I practically beg whatever God can hear me as I knock an older Lord over as he seemed too stunned to even move. "Come on..." Breaking out of the crowd I almost slip and slide on the slick polished floor but manage to catch myself and round around one of the pillars holding up the ceiling.

My chest tightens as I see my own guards plus Rhaenyras, they are standing alert but also blocking my vision of my Wife. I waste no time closing the distance and almost collapse as an opening is made to let me through and I spot my Wife looking frightened and confused, but alive and well.

"Daeron!" Rhaenyra sighs seeing me and pulls off her mask tossing it aside as I set down Alicent and quickly wrap my Wife up in my arms. "What happened?" She asks, her voice slightly muffled against my chest.

"Someone is crashing the party." I let her go and turn to look over one of the female guards' heads and I spot chaos out on the dance floor with more bodies lying on the ground than I expected. "Stay here." Knowing my Wife is fine and I have secured the Queen's safety, I feel far more confident heading back out to capture some of the people behind this madness.

I knew it, I felt something was wrong but I chalked it up to paranoia.

It sucks to have to tell myself 'I told you so' in this kind of situation as now I will likely be far more paranoid in the future.

Oh well, gotta roll with the punches.

Speaking of punches.

Pushing my way past the guards, leaving them to watch over my Wife and secret lover, I spot something that brings a smile to my face.

Lord Emmon of Sharp Point, cracking a tiger-masked individual over the head with a meaty fist, knocking the individual to the ground with a single blow. The Lord swiftly arms himself with the defeated foe's dagger and turns toward another Tiger-masked opponent with a feral grin on his face.

Respect.

Shaking my head I start bending water from the air and surroundings, quickly I form over ten ice spears and launch half of them toward a group of tiger mask-wearing men who seemed eager to approach me and the guards behind me.

"What is that?!" One of them shouts before being impaled through the stomach which also passes through the man behind him, pinning them together.

"Well if people didn't know before... they know now." I use my bending in public quite often, but I know there are still many people who do not believe I have 'recovered the ancient art of water magic'.

I guarantee after the news of today spreads, many more Rhoynar are going to flock to me as they did a while back.

Seeking the secrets to the 'old ways' and pestering me for guidance.

Though I suppose it's not a bad thing.

If my guess is right about who is behind this, it won't be a bad thing to have some more of the Orphans of the Green Blood flocking to support me.

If this is an attack by Volantis, I can use the Orphans of the Greenblood to settle a new city at the mouth of the Mother Rhoyne.

Nothing would be left of Volantis after my retaliation after all.

"Quick, clear the way!" I turn after sending a second ice spear through a tiger-masked individual, my eyes wide at what I see and I feel my stomach drop. "Prince Daeron!" The Kingsguard carrying the King toward me looks ghastly as he desperately approaches me. "The King needs healing." He falls to his knees before me and nearly drops my Good-Father onto the ground.

King Viserys lays limp in the Kingsguards arms, with a small knife stuck through his eye and into his skull.

"Oh..." I speechlessly respond while kneeling down, not even sure where to begin as I check for a pulse and thankfully find one despite the blood pouring down the King's face and through his hair onto the ground.

This isn't good.