58 -Chapitre 53-
-POV 3rd person-
In the castle courtyard, a huge gathering had been organized; the members of the royal council, the nobility, and even the officers of the royal army, all were present because the king had invited everyone.
"Archmaester Marwyn, we were only waiting for you to begin," said the king with a big smile.
He clapped his hands and then said: "Bring forth the condemned to death."
Jonothor the Blond Giant executed without delay, he signaled to his men who brought forward about a hundred people onto a wooden altar, they made them climb onto it and then tied them up so they couldn't escape.
"Today we are gathered not to witness the execution of these criminals, no...TODAY WE ARE GATHERED TO SEE THE HOUSE OF THE DRAGON RISE AGAIN ONCE AND FOR ALL."
Jonothor the Blond Giant, fiercely loyal to the king, struck his spear against the ground, and all the guards did the same with their halberds or even just by pounding their fists against their armors.
-POV MC-
"O 14 Holy Flames of Valyria, Illustrious Dragon Gods, Gods of my ancestors on this day I sacrifice fire and blood in imploring your blessing give a second breath of life to this dragon egg and bind me to it by fire and blood" I said, cutting the palm of my hand and placing my now bloodied hand on the dark green egg with bronze reflections.
I handed the dagger to Viserys and said: "Do the same as me."
He took the dagger, skeptical about the execution of the magical ritual that would bring dragons back into this world that magic had almost abandoned, and then he cut the palm of his hand with the Valyrian steel dagger that the Targaryens had passed down from generation to generation that I had recovered along with my throne.
He repeated just like me: "O 14 Holy Flames of Valyria, Illustrious Dragon Gods, Gods of my ancestors on this day I sacrifice fire and blood in imploring your blessing give a second breath of life to this dragon egg and bind me to it by fire and blood."
I smiled at him and then I created a fireball above the palm of my hand, his eyes widened and then he smiled and I threw the fireball onto the altar which transformed into a huge funeral pyre.
-POV Arianne-
"How many people do you think are on that altar?" said Nymeria, frowning at the horrible spectacle offered by the very young king who resembled more and more his grandfather.
"I don't know, probably more than a hundred," said Obara in an impassive tone, as if everything that was happening was nothing more than a boring little ceremony instead of a public mass execution.
"Do you think he'll end up like his grandfather?" said Tyene with a small mocking smile.
"It could allow Aegon to ascend to the throne," said Obara, keeping
"And Arianne to become Queen," said Nymeria.
"It's true that I would have to marry Aegon but that doesn't necessarily mean I am forced to marry Prince Aegon," I hinted.
"Get that stupid thought out of your head immediately, I'm telling you for your own good this kid is completely crazy, the same madness that struck his father and his grandfather," said Oberyn.
I said nothing because I knew that whatever I said would turn against me given the fierce hatred my father held for the Lannisters who were currently the most fervent supporters of King Aegon VI.
'How much longer will this last?' I thought, seeing that the King had not yet allowed us to leave.
"Look Arianne," said grandmother.
I laughed and then said: "What are you trying to insinuate, grandmother?"
"She, she could become Queen," she said in a condescending tone and also annoyed by the lack of effort I was putting into my efforts to seduce the King.
"Just because she stares at him as if she was ready to jump on him at any moment?" I asked in a slightly mocking tone.
'The Dornish methods in all their elegance.'
"She could well succeed the reason why I was your grandfather's wife is because I took matters into my own hands."
"I don't think I can succeed in seducing him simply by sleeping with him once they say that even though he's young he's very experienced."
"As if it was your first time, you've long since lost your flower," said my grandmother in a low voice.
I turned towards her quickly while looking carefully around me to know if someone had heard what she had said and then I said furious but making sure to keep my voice as low as possible: "Never speak of that here he must never know."
"Do you really think he's unaware?"
I frowned and then she made a gesture for me to turn to the right I frowned not seeing what she wanted to show me then she said:
"Look at the bird on the tree."
I saw the bird, a very beautiful grey hawk but apart from the fact that it was a bit larger than other birds of the same species I saw nothing special about it.
"What's the connection between this hawk and the king?" I said confused and annoyed by this conversation that made no sense.
Grandmother smiled the kind of smile she had once she knew something others did not:
"The connection is that this hawk is the favorite pet of Bryan."
"The master spy?!" I said a bit surprised.
"Exactly," she said.
"And?"
She rolled her eyes this time annoyed that I still did not understand what she meant and she finally said:
"In the North, people often speak of individuals being able to enter the bodies of their animals."
"Physically?!" I asked surprised imagining the king's master spy entering the mouth of his bird.
"Of course not, idiot, their spirits take possession of the bodies of the animals," said grandmother.
"You don't think the king and his master spy are capable of such feats."
"Who knows? he's capable of lifting a man 5 meters off the ground simply by his will, he can create fireballs capable of burning anything alive, so I'm entitled to consider all scenarios almost credible and where lie the limits of what he can and cannot do," she said in a solemn tone.
A tone I had never heard her take, a tone that reflected the fear the king instilled in each of his subjects, subjects who knew what an invincible monster he was, a man who was more akin to a living god.
"If what I think is true then we can no longer hide what we're doing or we would have a lot of trouble I think few people have really estimated the potential nuisance of this king at its true value."
"What are you trying to say?" I asked.
My grandmother hesitated and then she finally fell silent and shook her head, understanding that I would not get anything from her I resumed my original position.
All of a sudden King Aegon ran into the flames with his egg he showed no sign of hesitation he went straight into the pyre followed by Viserys Targaryen each of them carrying a dragon egg and none of the guards could stop them before they both entered the blazing pyre.
-POV 3rd person-
Screams echoed among the assembly of nobles who had just witnessed the death of the King and the Crown Prince in their ultimate act of shared madness.
None of the members of the present assembly could have imagined that the King who had just sacrificed in honor of the 14 ancient gods of Valyria hundreds of bandits decides to commit suicide and that Crown Prince Viserys runs into the flames with him without any hesitation.
"GET THE KING OUT OF THE PYRE IMMEDIATELY" yelled the old lion seeing the only members of House Targaryen who could forgive and ally with House Lannister run into this immense blaze.
Despite the Old Lion's cry, no one dared to enter the flames to get the king out and the fire of the pyre which was becoming weaker redoubled in intensity as if it had found new fuel.
For half an hour everyone remained rooted in place watching the flames become smaller and smaller until it extinguished as if by magic, nothing had survived the intense flames neither the bandits offered in sacrifice nor even the pieces of wood which should not have been consumed by the fire so quickly.
In the middle of this now deserted immense place lay two inert black bodies which at first glance were completely carbonized, the smile on Prince Aegon's face stretched unconsciously but stiffened just as quickly when he heard a small but weak growl.
Little Dragon Roar
This strange noise caught everyone's attention and suddenly the two corpses moved and got up.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"
Two laughs echoed following the noise made by the winged animal that covered King Aegon's shoulders one filled with joy and the other filled with relief, the crowd that thought to come to witness the rebirth of the Mad King had indeed witnessed a rebirth but not the one they thought, dragons were back in the world of the living.
