Chương 2: Chapter 2
Chapter 2- The Pampered Princess!
In today's time, it is hard to imagine that for a significant time in history, Westeros was considered the land of barbarians. Yes, up to around 300 years after Aegon's conquest, Westeros was still behind the likes of Yi-Ti and Bravos.
Though that gap would be erased by the end of the third century, with Westeros leaping ahead of the rest of the world by the 350th year, such advancements can all be traced back to the Imperial Citadel. The Imperial Citadel would truly rise to its prominent status in the reign of King Aegon VI. King Aerys II had built the foundation for it.
The Old Building of The Imperial Citadel, often called the Dragon College, remains preserved today and is a famous tourist attraction. The proceeds from it fund the education of thousands of deserving students throughout the globe even today, because of a decree of the late King Aenys VI.
DAENYS TARGARYEN-290AC
Kings Landing had changed a lot over the years. Over the years, she had seen such change occur with her own eyes as portions of the city had been under construction for over twenty years. Over almost thirty years of his reign, her father had utterly transformed the city that represented Targaryen's rule.
Gone was the infamous stench that made a living in the city unbearable. With her father rebuilding the sewage system. However, that had not been enough. Flea Bottom had to be demolished, and its residents had been relocated to one of the expansions outside the walls. To accommodate its population of half a million people, the city had been expanded outside the main walls, with a new set of walls built around what was now called the Outer City.
Most of the work had been done. But that did not mean there wasn't work being done. She looked to the side and saw the construction taking place to her North. The colossal building getting built was for the Imperial Citadel. Another one of her father's ideas. And she shook her head at that. Perhaps he should really take a break from all this.
More than thirty years of prosperous and peaceful rule. He was now regarded as one of the most influential Kings of the Targaryen dynasty. Such progress and consistency had only ever been seen during the reign of the Conciliator. Many often compared her father to the Old King to lay down praise. Not noticing the stiff smile that would appear on his face on that.
Her father was not a big fan of the comparison, for he had a rather unflattering opinion of the Old King. Calling him the root of the tragedy that was known as the Dance of the Dragons. A tragedy that would end with their house losing its greatest strength.
Dragons.
"Princess, you do know that I will have to tell your father about this outing of yours," came the voice of her sworn shield. A member of her father's Kingsguard. The Lord Commander would usually be by the King's side, yet her father named the White Bull her sworn shield on her first name day.
And the man had been by her side ever since. Ser Gerold Hightower, the White Bull, one of the finest and fiercest knights of the Kingsguard.
"Father will be slightly disappointed but will not mind it too much. And I cannot miss my chance with the upcoming tourney," she replied as they slowly waded through the throngs of people. Even with the expansion, the city was filled with people. She could not even imagine how crowded it would be when the announcement of the tourney would be made.
"What are you planning, Princess? Your father may be lenient on you, but I could always go and talk to your mother as well," and she groaned at those words. And then she turned to face the elderly knight, giving him a slight glare.
"Then I will complain about you to Father, and maybe he will remove you as my sworn shield. Now, you wouldn't want that, would you?" she bluffed in a haughty tone continuing as she scrunched up her nose. And her sworn shield seemed unimpressed as he simply raised a brow for both of them knew that her father would never remove him from his position, though she would never ask that as well. She had grown to like the man, so she continued.
"After all, is there any greater honor than protecting the sole Princess of the realm?" but the man seemed unimpressed by her speech as he just stared at her with those dead eyes.
"You seem to forget that you have not been the only princess for quite some time. You forget about Princess Rhaenys, your niece." And her comment made her stop. And he was right. Her niece shared that position with her and was nearing her tenth nameday.
"Plus, where are we even going? If you need anything, I can have the merchants come to the castle," he said as he looked around.
"We are going to the Street of Silver to buy a piece of armor for me." And the White Bull frowned as he heard that.
"Princess, that could have been arranged through the castle Armory." He continued as he stared at her with narrowed eyes, and they suddenly widened as he realized his intentions—" Please tell me what you are planning?" when she did not reply, he added.
"Then it seems we must return to the castle immediately, and you could explain your plans to The Queen herself?" Daenys huffed at that. Mother was already angry with her over her response to her marriage proposals. Fortunately, she had the firm support of her father in that regard. But, still, if she got wind of this, she would be in a heap of trouble.
So, it was time to take a gamble. She turned to face the Kingsguard again, who had stopped walking and was looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Okay, I will tell you, but you must first promise me that you will not tell anyone else," she said, and the man shook his head.
"You know I cannot do that, princess. I am answerable to the King and cannot lie to him. Even for you."
Daenys groaned at that. H was just as stubborn as a bull as well.
"Then you cannot tell Mother. You are loyal to the King and swear your oaths to him, not to the Queen," after much staring, the man relented as he sighed.
"All right, I promise. So, why are we buying a piece of armor from the Street of Steel?" he asked her once more.
"Because I plan to compete in the tourney. Father will have no choice but to grant me a knighthood with a win in the melee." She would only be the second woman in all of Westeros to do it. Being the first princess to do so. The only such knighthood had been given to Brienne of Tarth. Now dubbed as Ser Brienne of Tarth, the first female knight.—"Maybe then mother will stop with all that talk about marriage." She finished with a hopeful plea.
And her sworn shield was shaking his head.
"That is an extremely risky and foolish idea. Even though I have trained you with the sword myself. The melee is extremely dangerous. Your father will not accept it. He may indulge you, but I can assure you he will not allow you to risk your life."
And Daenys knew that he was right. Her father may indulge her, but he would not like this. She chewed her lips as she realized the gaping holes in her plan. Perhaps seeing her resigned and conflicted expression, Ser Gerold approached her and kneeled on one knee to look at her.
"Didn't your father promise you that he would not marry you to anyone without your approval? So why are you putting yourself in danger for something so foolish," and his question was valid.
It was true that her father had promised her that about her marriage. A privilege that he had not offered her brothers. But the proposals had come from all over the realm for her hand. And her mother had also started to talk to her about potential matches with her good sister.
"But there have been just so many proposals! What if he is forced to accept one of them? Then what will I do?" she spoke up indignantly. But the old man just scoffed.
"Someone force King Aerys. That will not happen, princess. You are the only person who has ever forced him to change his mind over something. And proposals for your hand have been coming for years, but he refused to listen to any of them, citing that you will only be married after your sixteenth nameday."
And now she was looking at him with surprise. She had not known about that. And she saw the smile on his face as he nodded.
"He rejected them all, and I can assure you that rejecting some of them had quite some consequences."
Her eyes widened at those words. She had not known anything about it. The man got up and looked around the street. They had been standing on the side to avoid the throng of people.
"So, don't worry, princess. Your father will not ignore your input regarding this. So why don't we move back to the castle?"
And she nodded her head slowly. Her mind was still thinking about the new information she had gotten. And they began to walk back toward the castle once more.
But then suddenly, Ser Gerold stopped, making her bump into him.
"Ah!" she rubbed her nose as she looked up, and her eyes narrowed as she noticed the increased presence of the King's Army. Ser Gerold held her wrists as he looked towards her, with the usual cheer gone from his voice.
"Be careful, Princess! Something is not right!"
And he was right. While the ten thousand standing army had a settlement in the Kings Landing. They did not usually patrol the city. That was the job of the Gold Cloaks. The Army usually had about half of its troops in the capital, with the other half scattered throughout the realm at various settlements.
She saw a small squad of soldiers come their way. All of them were on horses, wearing castle-forged steel armor with a shield strapped to their back. Their shoulder guard were painted to show their rank in the army. Ser Gerold moved in front of her. Removing his hood and cloak to reveal the special armor of Kingsguard. And she could see recognition dawn on the army officers as they spotted the shining white armor of the Kingsguard.
The officers stopped in front of them, still atop their horses, as she moved to Ser Gerold's side and moved the hood to show her face. The officers probably recognized her as they immediately began to dismount their horses.
"What is going on? Why is the Royal Army on the streets?" Ser Gerold asked. And the commander moved and kneeled in front of him.
"We do not know, but orders came from the castle to increase patrols and close off the city. I believe it would be better if you rushed back to the castle with Princess Ser Gerold. While small, there is a possibility that some disturbance could occur in the city as we close the gates."
She was frowning as she heard that. The city was never locked down like that in recent times. She had only ever heard of something similar in two previous instances. And both times, it had been followed by war.
Ominous thoughts ran through her mind as Ser Gerold talked to the captain. Thousands of questions sprang up.
"Princess!" and she was broken out of her stupor by Ser Gerold's voice as he held the reins of the horse to her.
"We must rush back to the castle." And she mounted the saddle of the horse. Ser Gerold doing the same in front of her.
"Hiyaa," and with that, both of them were on the move. Galloping through the streets. Two more members from the Armies squad covered their rear. The people parted to the sides, giving them the required space, probably recognizing the shining white armor of the Kingsguard.
They reached the castle gates, which were locked. But before Ser Gerold had spoken up, she heard a very familiar voice.
"Open the gates!" and then the fates were opened for them. She entered along with Ser Gerold. And both of them were greeted by one of her father's Council members. The Commander of the City Watch, Ser Stannis Baratheon. The man held the same dour look that had made her nickname the man Dourface.
Though she did notice the severity of his expression as he approached them. Clad in full armor, but unlike the regular soldiers, his was of smoked black color. Appearing as if it had been charred.
"You left the castle without informing anyone, Princess. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is?" he snapped at her. And had he not been her cousin, she would have had his tongue cut off. But she was saved by her sworn shield.
"The princess was with me, Lord Stannis. And I had informed Ser Lewyn before leaving," the man stopped speaking, but he still glared at her. Honestly, what was wrong with him?
"Now tell me what, what is going on? Why is the city being closed off?" Ser Gerold spoke up.
And Stannis just shook his head in response.
"I am just as clueless as you in this regard. The Queen suddenly ordered me to close off the gates and deploy the army. She refused to say anything else."
And Daenys frowned at that. Her mother had ordered this. The Queen almost never got involved in such matters. Her mother had never been fond of attention and had always avoided getting too involved with the realm's day-to-day running. She preferred a much simpler lifestyle.
"Where was Father when she ordered this? Was he there when she ordered this?" and the man shook her head.
"He wasn't there, princess?"
Dread began to pool up in her heart. Alarm bells rang in her head. And she closed her legs to command, and the horse sprang to life as she rushed towards the Red Keep.
She could hear Ser Gerold rushing in behind her, shouting at her to slow down. But she couldn't. She had to reach the castle. She had to see her father.
0000
BOOOM!
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