章節 12: Laenor
Urrax dove down again, and the two men leapt into the sea. The boat was suspiciously empty of any fishing tools or luggage, so Aerys felt no hesitation as he commanded, "Dracarys!"
A stream of pink flames erupted from Urrax's jaws, engulfing the dinghy in fire. The heat from the flames warmed Aerys' back as he and Urrax climbed higher into the sky.
Looking down, he saw his targets resurfacing briefly before diving back under the water. He laughed heartily at their frantic attempts to evade them.
"Whac-A-Mole!" he shouted, diving back in.
True to his expectations, the men ducked again to escape Urrax's jaws. Not that they needed to, for he had pulled up well before Urrax could snap at them. He wanted Carl Corey alive, after all, and that was definitely Carl Corey fleeing with a man in a hood. Aerys tried to pursue Carl again in the next dive, but the hooded man leaped into the water, attempting to distract him.
He allowed Mr. Hood to think he was succeeding in his diversion and dove toward him. To his credit, the man was an excellent swimmer and dove deep just in time to avoid Urrax. Now truly invested, Aerys commanded "Dracarys" in the next pass to deal with the interloper and refocus on his target.
To his surprise, when he soared back up, the man resurfaced again. Unharmed, except for his hood, which had been scorched away to reveal a bald head.
Aerys took a moment to admire the man's instincts or perhaps his familiarity with dragons, which allowed him to predict when Urrax would unleash flames. That was actually impressive.
No longer wishing to kill him, Aerys turned his attention back to Carl, who had reached the shore and was rushing towards a cave to hide. He dove towards the fleeing man, ignoring the calls from the bald man trying to attract his attention. A burst of flames cut off Carl's path, and he attempted to encircle the man with fire. But Urrax still couldn't sustain a flame for that long.
They landed in front of Carl, and Aerys urged Urrax forward, intending to incapacitate him with a bite or something similar.
"Aerys! Stop!" The bald man came running towards them, desperately shouting his name. On closer inspection, the man's features seemed strangely familiar.
He grinned at the reckless actions, which were very brave and loyal, but also very foolish.
"Go away! Leave me behind!" Carl seemed to agree, shouting at his bald companion.
"It's me! Laenor!"
What?
"Laenor Velaryon!" The man shouted desperately, then tripped and fell while running towards them. He scrambled to his feet, crying, "I'm alive! Don't hurt Carl!"
Huh, that fall was reminiscent of his brother's drunken tumbles. And it did seem like him.
Truthfully, Aerys only wanted to capture Corey and collect the reward promised by the Seasnake for the capture of his son's murderer.
He couldn't get that if Laenor still lived.
For a moment, he considered correcting the deviation from what he thought was canon. Laenor was definitely supposed to be dead. There weren't even any ridiculous theories about Laenor secretly surviving, unlike many other characters.
But before he could decide, they were all jolted by the roar of another dragon. A much larger one.
The Red Queen landed near the sea, blocking off any escape routes. Meleys' massive head scanned the scene as she and her rider examined the group. When her gaze fell upon Aerys, he felt a moment of fear.
Then Urrax roared defiantly, and Aerys laughed along with his feisty companion.
Meleys turned her head away, having grown used to the other dragon, then growled at Carl. But before she could act, Laenor's lookalike jumped forward, waving his arms.
"Mother, stop!" Rhaenys almost didn't, so Aerys urged his dragon forward. He wasn't in the line of fire, but close enough to distract her.
"Mother!" Laenor leaped through the circle of fire to protect his lover, and Rhaenys seemed to finally recognize him.
"No." She shouted. "No!"
Aerys thought she might fry both men anyway before she commanded her dragon to calm down and sit, then slumped in the saddle.
…
"How could you?!" Rhaenys berated her son for the hundredth time as she tied a bandage torn from his cloak around the injury on his biceps.
Aerys turned to Corey and shrugged from beside Urrax.
"Mothers, amirite?"
The man glared balefully from where he lay on the ground, bleeding from his wounds.
Because when Rhaenys had descended from Meleys, she had brought her dragon riding whip with her. She had gone to town on the knight, not stopping until Laenor stepped in front of him and took a lash for his trouble.
"I thought you knew how it felt to lose Laena, but then you turned around and made me suffer through it again!"
She shook the man in front of her, jostling the injury she had just bandaged.
"How could you do this to your own mother?" She cried again, the scolding becoming repetitive, and Aerys started to get bored.
"That's assuming he is the real Laenor." He interrupted.
"What?" She asked, puzzled.
Aerys shrugged and pointed at the bald man.
"He's probably a faceless man."
Back in his old world, such an accusation would have been dismissed out of hand. But here, face-stealing magic was a reality and a valid consideration in dealing with political adversaries.
Rhaenys' eyes narrowed, and her hands tightened around his shoulder, making the man wince in pain.
"Aerys, why do you think he's a faceless man?"
"They are said to take the faces of people they kill. I'd wager the corpse in the fireplace didn't have a visible face."
"Mother!" He protested as Rhaenys brought the hilt of her whip against his neck. "It's me!"
"Then why can't he answer why he was escaping like an assassin?"
"I did! I… I'm sorry, mother. I wanted to live freely, with the man I love!"
Rhaenys' suspicions seemed to wane but were replaced with anger directed at her son's lover.
"Then why fake death? He could have just flown away on his dragon. Could the real Laenor have killed someone in cold blood and disfigured the body just to torment you?
Could he leave his dragon and lose the ability to fly again?
Could he abandon Spicetown and all the effort he invested in developing it?"
Rhaenys choked out a sob. The blood in her whip's hilt drew more blood from Carl.
"Princess Rhaenys," Carl choked out. "Don't listen to the boy! That really is your son."
"Shut up, traitor! You have either tried to steal my son from me or actually murdered him!"
The knight cowered.
Rhaenys' hands roamed over Laenor's face, perhaps searching for a seam where it might have been sewn together. Normally, she might have deduced the truth from his behavior. But torn between believing her son was murdered or alive and faking his death, Rhaenys was not in her right state of mind.
"Get on Meleys." She commanded the Laenor lookalike.
"What?"
"Get on my dragon. Try to run away, and the traitor becomes dragon food."
"Mother, but why?"
"You're not getting away from my sight! Whether you're my son or an impostor, I'll figure it out later. For now, you'll do what I say."
He tried to protest again, but Aerys patted Urrax's neck, and she growled menacingly over Carl, still bleeding from the whippings.
"Qarl, no! Fine! I'll go with you."
"Where are you taking him, aunty?" Aerys asked.
"To the castle." She answered, marching Laenor up Meleys' back. "He'll be confined to his room until we uncover the truth."
"But what if he is Laenor, and some assassins try to kill him again?"
"I thought you said he was the assassin?"
"Fine. Then what if other assassins come to rescue him?"
"What are you saying now?"
"We should keep him hidden. If no one knows he survived, no one can try to kill him again."
Seeing his suggestion gaining traction with the older dragonrider, he continued.
"I have a friend with a ship here. We could keep him safe there."
She scoffed, then showed a thoughtful look.
"No. I have plenty of private boats of my own." She nodded decisively. "Keep Corey here. I will be back soon."
She gave Laenor a meaningful glance.
"If I don't return, kill the traitor."
Aerys nodded excitedly as Meleys flew away. Then he remembered something important.
"Wait, who is going to pay me now?"
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