128
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298 AC
Summer Isles - Jhala
Daenerys Targaryen
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Watching the fighting go on I realize I should have been practicing with a spear more than I have been. I am not entirely confident I can survive in a hectic battle like this without my comfort weapon. Not to mention the girls are practically naked and I do not like the idea of a bunch of people seeing me so exposed.
My heart almost stops when I spot a rock and see it hit Eragon, his face scrunches up and he sharply turns to see who slung it.
I spot Nata's spear down another woman who falls over, she notices the summer prince making his way to her and spins her spear.
I turn my head back and forth watching with enough worry to suffocate myself as I pray neither get cut down.
"That is brutal." I nod my head and cringe as Eragon gets sprayed with blood from the man he slit the throat of. He tries to roll away from it and gets back onto his feet as he checks his surroundings.
"They are trying to focus Nata to end the challenge, thankfully her friends decided to fight with her. They seem to be doing fine even if they are outnumbered, the battle seems to be decided now by who wins between them. Look around no one else is fighting as hard as they were before, they are watching the two 'leaders' battle." Hearing Visenya I scrunch my nose when I notice the men and women on Eragon and Nata's side are indeed watching and only putting on a show of 'fighting'.
"Cowards." I nod along with Rhaenys, I sure hope this is not the attitude the men will have when we eventually go to a real war.
"They know it is already decided and no further death other than the leaders is necessary, they started off so strong to set up the final battle from what I can see. If you notice Eragon got targeted so he wouldn't be helping Nata and the rest just went wild until their leader made his move. It was a 'trap' so to speak and they wanted to make sure as few people as possible were helping Nata, her death is the end of all of this." Hearing Ellaria give her input I calm down a bit but am still pissed off at our 'own' people.
If it was a battle to decide who had the stronger leader then it should be a one versus one and not this. The bodies on the beach are wasted life if this is the case, we need to try and prevent this in future challenges and instead directly fight the prince or princesses.
Prince Xenioa shouts and recklessly charges at Nata who takes up a stance to take him down. When the prince jumps and gets himself impaled for the poor decision I can only shake my head and blink my eyes in disbelief. This is a man who had to win his land and sits on debatably the throne of the biggest city in the Summer Isles.
How he decided to open himself up for such a counter and now finding himself impaled with a look of confusion on his face. I almost think he will be able to continue to fight until the spear tears his stomach open as he backs up.
"They won!" Rhaenyra shouts excitedly after sighing loudly in relief.
"Seems like it is victory indeed, I honestly expected it to be over faster than that. But how it went is roughly what I was expecting, we can use this to plan for future challenges. We can have our men do practice battles with the same setup as today. I think if Nata kept Eragon beside her and the two spear women she ended the fight with she could have rushed the enemy leader. I feel I will do quite well when we finish the ceremony and tie all of us in marriage to Eragon, I look forward to the next challenge." I grit my teeth hearing Visenya sound so confident in joining in, I can use a spear but not anywhere near good enough to put my life solely on my skill with it.
I am not scared in the slightest of battling to the death to make sure my family is protected but if I take the place of a better spear or axe user I could end up being the cause of their dying. I need to double down on my spear training, I will put all my focus on the spear until the next fight and see how much I can sharpen my skills.
Why couldn't they just let me use my sword...
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298 AC
Summer Isles - Jhala
Melisandre
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"So it has begun, I won't lie or pretend I am not excited to watch what is to unfold. From what has been shared with me and from my own visions from R'hllor this is the true start to a long road." Kinvara looks around as she speaks and I find a smile spreading on my face as I watch my prince hug his family.
I felt the shift in his treatment toward me recently, hundreds of times I have seen the eyes of skeptics or unbelievers. Never before have I ever let it concern me because I know the truth, R'hllor's truth. But when Eragon looked at me with his eyes having an entirely different look in them I felt pained.
He is aware of the existence of R'hllor and knows the Lord of light has blessed him and it never has shown in his actions or attitude. Most men given what R'hllor has given to Eragon would worship on their hands and knees, praising the light.
I can only see this as R'hllor's will, why would he need a champion who will never be capable of standing on his own two feet? When the darkness comes he will have to lead the way and no one else can walk Infront of him.
He has slowly and surely 'grown' before me into who he needs to be and as he takes more responsibility he will grow even faster. He has always had someone with more 'authority' over him and soon that will be a thing of the past.
His brother or mother and while in Sunspear Prince Doran, but after he is crowned a summer prince he is under none of them. His duty to his family and the responsibility to pay debts to those he owes will still stand. But those will not restrict him as he was held down before, and now he is starting to fly on his own.
Looking at his wide smile as he talks with his lovers and family I mentally correct myself, he does not fly alone. He steers the ship and guides the way but by no means is he on his own, a blessing.
For the night is dark and full of terrors and even if no one can walk Infront of him and brave the darkness they can at least walk beside him.
His eyes meet mine as they make their way over toward where I stand with Kinvara and I keep my face neutral to not make him feel like I am reaching or something of the like. But his pondering look changes into a smile as he closes the distance between us and pulls me into a soft hug. The few smears of blood left on him get on my dress but I ignore it as I move my hands behind his back.
"Let's go celebrate and check out the new Targaryen palace." His voice tickles my ear and I nod in agreement as he breaks the embrace.
His eyes already look to be returning to their original look of a few days ago, and I am glad. My hand drifts down to my lower stomach as I feel the new 'flame' inside of me heat up.
I am conflicted about what I can do but I also think it is wise to do nothing, to ensure he knows my real intentions. Defeating the great other is my goal and serving the promised prince is the way to do that. I follow R'hllor's will and let it show me the way and it has not failed me as of yet.
But the feeling of happiness as I walk among the people I have come to care about gives me conflict. Such emotion has long been mute inside of me but has been roaring like a flame right along with the flame growing inside of me.
Is this what R'hllor planned for me or is this a test?
I am hesitant to search out an answer for I fear what it will be, I don't want things to change and instead want to continue how it has been. Supporting the prince and enjoying the process while exploring long-forgotten sides of myself. I am content with this but I can't drop the worry that I am doing something wrong.
I feel like I have already made my decision and sticking with it is the only real option, so I will.
If R'hllor is testing me and this is my failure then I will meet his judgment with a clear mind, and I won't regret it.
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298 AC
Summer Isles - Ebonhead
Eragon Targaryen
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"Fuck yes, this is exactly what I wanted and I could not be happier at this moment." Laying back on the fresh feather mattress and silk sheets from the jade sea I sigh in comfort.
"It is very fluffy, the only bed that was close to this is the bed back in Sunspear we had. This is a bit small but we have squeezed onto smaller before, I will have another bought as soon as possible and we can push two together." Danny walks around the bed and looks around our massive personal room.
I have not seen the other cities of Summer Isles but I believe this is one of the biggest with Lotus port being a close second or potentially a bit bigger. It is spread out and does not have as many buildings as Old town but I would say it is close to comparable with Old town. Nowhere near as many people thankfully but it has a decent population we will get the full count sometime tomorrow.
The walls around the city are being draped with the Targaryen banner and the Palace is already covered with them. For now, the Dornish will be staying as our guard around the Palace and surrounding buildings. Ebonhead is easy to defend and with the men we have we will be fine for now, no one will get news for many moons, and reacting to it will be even longer.
By then we will have Ebonhead and the people in it fully under our control and set to fight off any poor attempt to attack us. We can not be lazy though, we need to gain ground and more people under our banner or we will eventually be snuffed out. With all of the Summer Isles, we will be as strong as one of the kingdoms of Westeros or even stronger depending on how big of a fleet we can support.
Lots to do and lots of people to meet and speak with tomorrow but I only feel excitement at the prospect of getting the real 'work' started.
"Come on Eragon, we are going to eat dinner all together and some of the chiefs are going to be there to celebrate." I stand up and grab Danny's hip to seal her lips from talking more, a soft gasp as I pull her in is all she gets out.
Breaking the kiss I keep one hand on her lower back and guide us to the door. She leans her head on my shoulder and puts her hand on my back as we make our way out of the room to join the rest of our family for dinner.