Four dragons tore through the sky, pushing at full speed straight toward the capital.
Vhagar, Tessarion, Silverwing, and Sunfyre rushed their wings against the wind, driving hard through the clouds.
Hugh and Vermithor had been left behind with Lord Ormund to guard the slow-marching Hightower army, but the princes and Ulf could not afford to travel at the pace of foot soldiers.
Ravens would already be flying.
News of the slaughter at Tumbleton and the dragonseeds’ betrayal would spread across the realm like wildfire, and they needed to strike the Red Keep before Rhaenyra caught wind of what happened and fled into the night.
“Just a little further, my glory,” Aegon whispered.
“I swear to you… after this, you will eat the best cattle in King’s Landing. I’ll have the best maesters look after you, and I won’t fly you again until you’re completely healed. Just a little further.”
Beneath him, Sunfyre let out a low, rumbling growl, pushing his scarred golden wings harder against the sky as the distant towers of the Red Keep finally began to break through the clouds.
Soon the people of King’s Landing looked up and saw four great dragons circling their city.
Aegon had come for his throne and for his wife.
Inside the Red Keep, Rhaenyra watched absentmindedly through the window as the dragons circled the city.
The keep itself had descended into total madness around her; maids, guards, lords, and ladies ran frantic in every direction, desperate to escape.
“Your Grace! We must leave, now!” a guard shouted, his panicked voice snapping her out of her stupor.
Her eyes never left Silverwing and Ulf as they swept through the sky.
“Traitors. Bastards… traitors…”
A roar from the Dragonpit drew in all the circling dragons as Seasmoke and Addam rose into the sky.
They clashed instantly with Silverwing, who was flying above the dome.
Before the fire in Seasmoke’s throat could fully unleash, Tessarion swept in from behind.
A blinding, searing blast of blue dragonfire hit Addam, burning away his upper body in a fraction of a second and leaving only his charred lower half chained to the saddle.
Seasmoke let out a mournful, agonizing cry as he felt his rider’s bond snap.
Silverwing moved to press the attack on Seasmoke, but Aegon’s voice cut through the air.
“Leave the dragon alive!”
Desperate and screeching in grief, Seasmoke dropped out of the sky, tumbling toward the hill before retreating into the dark vaults of the Dragonpit.
His mournful cries echoed deep within the stone, stirring the other trapped dragons into a frenzy. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“Fuck yeah!” Ulf roared from atop Silverwing, his raucous laughter booming into the wind as the populace below broke into an absolute frenzy at the sight.
“Addam…” an old, feeble voice muttered.
Corlys, fleeing through the chaos of the Red Keep, stared upward in horror as he witnessed his own blood, and the only dragonrider left to House Velaryon, get slaughtered in the sky above.
“My lord, we must leave!” Alyn urged, gripping Corlys’s shoulder tightly as he tried to pull his father away from the gruesome sight.
“Ulf!” Aegon shouted.
“Secure the port! Burn any ship attempting to leave, you know what, no. Don’t burn them. Just don’t let them leave!”
“At once, Your Grace!” Ulf shouted happily.
Aegon landed Sunfyre directly in the streets of King’s Landing.
Immediately, the golden dragon bit a City Watchman in half and smashed another against a wall with his tail, shattering stone and bone.
Aegon dismounted and took to the streets, Sunfyre trailing heavily behind him.
The people of King’s Landing watched from afar as Aegon walked through the dust, looking around for any men he could gather to storm the Red Keep.
“People of King’s Landing!” Aegon shouted, tearing off his cloak so everyone could see him.
“Your king has returned!”
Slowly, the crowds stepped out into the open.
The bravest walked first for glory, followed by the greedy looking for opportunity, and finally the rest of the herd.
“My city is filled with traitors, butchers serving the Queen of bastards, and turncoats!” Aegon roared to the crowd.
“Are there no true, honorable, leal men who will stand with their king in his hour of need?”
The crowd broke into roaring cheers and violence.
These people had been caged in King’s Landing, starved to the grave by Celtigar.
None could so much as sneeze without a new tax being implemented to fill the royal vaults.
The commonfolk in the back became rabid, swarming any and all City Watchmen their eyes landed on.
The Gold Cloaks who had butchered them into submission were the first to feel the crowd’s frenzy, dragged down and beaten to death all around the city.
Seeing this, Aegon knew he couldn’t march them into the Red Keep.
Marching a rabid mob into his own keep meant defiling it, exposing the keep, the maids, and the servants to the dangers of robbery, murder, and looting.
‘So close, yet so far,’ Aegon thought as he looked at the keep.
A contingent of household guards marched out into the yard, marching Rhaenyra and her sons at spear point.
Of course.
How could he have forgotten how fickle the keep’s guards were?
They swayed like grass in the wind, selling out whichever king or queen sat the throne the moment any danger threatened their skins.
‘I am going to need better guards,’ Aegon thought.
The guard captain shoved Rhaenyra forward, forcing her down onto her knees in the cobblestone dirt right before Aegon, Aemond, and Daeron.
“Your Grace!” the captain called out, bowing deeply as he kept a tight grip on Rhaenyra’s chains.
“The Red Keep is yours once more! We bring you the usurper and her sons!”
“Brother,” Rhaenyra called out, rising to her feet and glaring defiantly at Aegon.
“It would seem we are your prisoners, but do not think you will hold us for long. My loyal lords will find me.”
“If they search the Seven Hells, mayhaps,” Aegon said.
The guards tore young Joffrey And Aegon the younger from their mother’s arms, and not a single soul spoke a word of protest as Aegon marched her straight toward Sunfyre.
Rhaenyra’s panicked screams roused the injured dragon.
Sunfyre leaned down, his golden nostrils flaring as he sniffed at her, before bathing her in a blinding blast of dragonflame.
Before her cries could even fade, Sunfyre closed his massive jaws and devoured the false queen in six brutal bites, leaving only a leg.
The crowd staggered back in absolute horror, retreating from the gruesome sight in stunned, deadly silence.
Walking through the open gates, Aegon was followed closely by Aemond and Daeron, leaving Ulf behind to secure the Dragonpit.
The keep guards attempted to drag the still-screaming Joffrey and Aegon along behind them, but Aegon’s cold voice cut through the courtyard once more.
“No,” Aegon commanded, stopping them in their tracks.
“Leave the bastard here. He has no place in the Red Keep. Let him fend for himself in his natural place.”
The guards released their grips immediately, dropping the sobbing Joffrey onto the dusty cobblestones among the crowd.
Aegon didn’t spare him a second glance, turning his back as he, Aemond, and Daeron finally crossed the threshold into the Red Keep.
As the massive iron gates groaned and swung closed, slamming shut with a heavy thud, Joffrey was left crying over his mother’s remains.
The greediest and most heartless among the mob stepped forward first, their filthy, sunken eyes locked onto his fine silk clothes, the heavy gold chain around his neck, and the jeweled rings glinting on his small fingers.