15 A Moment of Realisation

Night had fallen across Harrenhal and for a select few the night had become grim and sombre. Once Daemon was declared a traitor guards were sent out in every direction to look for both him and the Knight of the Laughing Tree; the King was positively enraged when the guards reported back that they had disappeared. The King was ready to grab a horse and ride down the traitors himself but was convinced by his son to leave it to his soldiers and to instead enjoy the joust.

While this happened Lyanna was finding it difficult to compose herself; the love of her life had just been declared a traitor and had to run away due to her actions. Guilt overwhelmed her and it was a struggle for her to not burst into tears —she wasn't the only one who felt this way. Lysa had joined Lyanna in the Stark seating and held her hand throughout the joust to help her stay strong and not cause any suspicion to be mounted on them. Though as Daemon's fiancé, she was allowed a little more leeway than Lyanna was and could publically grieve; though she was smart not to as in the King's eyes crying over a traitor was just as bad as being a traitor yourself.

Sitting over in the Royal Dais Elia was still in shock —it all happened so fast— she didn't know how it all went so wrong but one moment he was next to her and the other he had disappeared into the forests after being branded a traitor. Elia knew Daemon extremely well and knew that he would never betray the King in such a way; the only way he would betray the King would be for one of his lovers —To help them or protect them.

Elia found her nails scratching the seat of her chair as she remembered that it was Rhaegar who suggested that Daemon be tested, and it was he to said that he was a traitor 'But why? He and Rhaegar have always been good friends, why would my husband betray him in such a way," she wondered to herself as she was still struggling to come around to what happened.

Others who were affected to a lesser extent were some of Daemon's male friends; Brandon Stark didn't believe what the King had said and already dismissed the accusations as nothing more than falsehoods. Barristan Selmy was of the same mind, as if Daemon wished to harm the king he's had ample opportunity for years and yet he never took it. The amount of times the King has invited Daemon to dine with him in his chambers is astronomical; in each of these situations Daemon could've killed him or at least severely injured him but he didn't. Because he was a kind and loyal boy and he didn't deserve to be treated as a traitor.

Rhaegar however quickly initiated the second part of his plan, and left the Royal dais and made his way to the Baratheon section which was quite close by considering the blood ties that the Targaryens and the Baratheons have. Robert was as energetic and loud as ever; to the point where Rhaegar even doubted that he had seen the loud commotion that had happened on the field.

"AH COUSIN!!!" He shouted as he wrapped his large arm around Rhaegar.

"It is good to see you again Robert, but I'm afraid this is not a social visit," he replied as he wiggled out of the larger man's grasp.

Robert frowned "This isn't about that damn traitor business is it? Me and mine had nothing to do with it and no knowledge of how it happened," he replied in a slightly rehearsed manner.

"Not in the way you might think," Rhaegar replied cryptically as he sat down with Robert sitting next to him; unbeknownst to Robert Rhaegar's eyes had changed from a purple colour to a deep crimson colour.

'The King's Voice'

"Daemon Silver is a traitor, he asked me for help in taking away your betrothed; he would've fought you for your rights to marry her and perhaps even killed you," he said much to the shock and anger of the Storm Lord who's aura exploded out of his body nearly making those that were unprepared pass out. Rhaegar's words were laced with his aura ability. While this drained him a considerable amount, it wasn't as bad as when he used it against his father who was a suspicious and paranoid person.

Rhaegar wouldn't be able to directly use his ability for quite a while after this; the vows and restrictions to be able to directly control people were strict, but they did make the ability quite powerful. He also used his crimson eyes as a catalyst; crimson eyes were traits that were steeped in magic, and the abilities that they gave were only loosely tied to aura as they didn't much follow the rules. Rhaegar had kept his hidden for so many years but now the time was approaching where he would step out of the shadows and do what needed to be done. The gods had given this world Rhaegar to save them and lead them towards a better future; only death awaited them in a future without Rhaegar.

"That damn man!!!" Robert boomed out as he crushed the metal cup in his hands. Robert wouldn't let some fancy little lord take what was rightfully his away from him; Lyanna belonged to him and no one else.

"I'll go and hunt down that man right now!" Robert shouted out as he stood from his seat —his mean cheering for him as he did.

"You shall have some of my men to go with you, I wish I could join you but I have a tournament to win," Rhaegar said with a polite smile on his face as he clapped Robert on the shoulder.

"I don't need them! I will kill Lord Silver with my own two hands!!!" He boomed out for everyone to hear; Lyanna also managed to hear his declaration and had to cover her mouth from the sob that nearly escaped it. Lysa held her and whispered reassurances into her ear "He is stronger than most, do not fear for him he will come back to us," she whispered as she placed her head against Lyanna's own.

'Please be safe,' they both thought.

———————————————————-

The Smiling Knight lived up to his name as he had a large grin stretched across his face; Daemon was standing there in disbelief looking at the sword that he had voluntarily dropped out of his hand.

"You're confused aren't you?" The Smiling Knight asked as he started to approach Daemon.

Daemon's thoughts were running a million miles per minute as he tried to figure out what had just happened. Was it his aura ability, did he use some other sort of trick, or was it something else entirely; he couldn't figure it out, especially as he had never previously met the Smiling Knight he had only met some of his companions. Daemon clenched his fists as he tried to formulate a new plan; he wasn't sure how far this control extended since he'd only used it once so he'd need to be careful.

"I wager you're wondering how I was able to control you?" He said as he started twirling a dagger from his belt between his fingers.

"If you believe it to be my aura ability then I'm sorry to say that you're wrong, this control ability was placed on you way before we ever met," he explained. This explanation only confused Daemon even more —something that was visible on his face. The Smiling Knight looked at Daemon's face and couldn't help but laugh "You really have no idea do you!" He said as he barked out a laugh.

Daemon felt his blood start to boil "If you're just gonna stand there and mock me then we might as well start our fight," he growled out.

"No I don't believe we will, I want to see the despair on your face as I reveal the truth to you," The Smiling Knight said as he took a seat on a large boulder. Daemon itched to move forward and snap the man's damn neck, but he had to be patient and wait for the right moment when his guard was dropped.

"Did you ever wonder who the Kingswood Brotherhood was?" The Smiling Knight asked with his grin still stretched wide across his face.

Though instead of an answer he wasn't only met with silence. However this didn't deter him "We are all Rhaegar's men, he recognised our talent and gathered us under his command," He continued.

Daemon barked out a laugh at this "You expect me to believe that the Kingswood brotherhood used to personally serve Rhaegar?" He asked disbelief apparent on his face.

The Smiling Knight shrugged his shoulders "Believe it or not it is the truth, but I wager by the end of our little conversation you will believe me," he said his grin stretching even wider.

"Rhaegar had us under his complete control, and it was only an encounter with a Braavosi water dancer that allowed us to be free of him," he explained.

"The Braavosi had the ability to exorcise aura, though even he struggled to remove Rhaegar's ability as it was so deeply implanted within us that we all needed to be consciously aware of it." he continued. 

Daemon was starting to get bored and annoyed at this story; Rhaegar was a good man and his friend so he wouldn't continue to hear these lies about him "Is there a point to these stories or are you finished?" Daemon asked with a toneless voice.

The Smiling Knights smile dropped for the first time since their conversation started. Though a moment later it quickly reappeared "Would you please turn around," he instructed.

Daemon did so without hesitation much to his own surprise.

"Would you please sit down!" The Smiling Knight continued.

"Would you please stand up!"

"Would you please walk straight!"

"Would you please walk backwards!"

"Would you please remember the last time someone said that phrase to you," the Smiling Knight said as he started to laugh manically.

*

"Would you please call me Rhaegar."

"Would you please save my father."

"Would you please do as I ask..."

"Would you please be patient."

*

Daemon felt his knees start to go weak as he collapsed to the floor 'This whole time...' he thought to himself as he was overwhelmed with so many feelings he couldn't identify what they were. This whole time Rhaegar had been controlling him; the man he considered to be his friend was just using him for his own goals. Daemon felt like he was going to be sick, as he started to realise that the Smiling Knight must've been sent by Rhaegar in order to kill him which meant that he was the reason he was branded a traitor.

The Smiling Knight's grin stretched far across his face as he looked at the utter despair that Daemon seemed to be falling into "Don't feel too bad Lord Silver, this is Rhaegar's world and we are just living in it," he said as he stood up with his dagger in hand as he started to approach Daemon "You'll be put out of your misery soon enough, sadly I'll have to keep living under his thumb," he added before walking behind Daemon and grabbing his hair and lifting his head.

However before he could place his dagger on the man's neck his instincts warned him of danger, and he quickly flared his aura and jumped out of the way barely avoiding a trident that seemed to be composed of water. The Smiling Knight focused on the tree line for a moment before several more tridents composed of water were flung at him; though was able to parry them all with his dagger that he had enhanced with his aura.

"Come out, you won't defeat me hiding in the trees like a coward!" He shouted to the would-be ambusher.

Not having much choice the ambusher revealed himself; none other than Howland Reed stepped out from the bushes with his trident in hand and a look of determination etched across his face. The Smiling Knight took one look at Howland and started laughing "You've crawled far from your mother's tit boy!" He taunted before laughing once more. 

Howland was used to being insulted by people so he ignored the Smiling Knights taunts —only looking to Daemon whom he had come here for. Howland needed Daemon despite his status as a traitor; he would happily live as an enemy of the kingdom as long as he was able to get the proper care for his sister. He was also a man of his word and he had made an agreement with Daemon, as such he must serve as the man's squire.

"Leave now... I do not wish to fight," Howland said in a low voice that despite his determination showed his low confidence.

The Smiling Knight shook his head. "It's a shame you had to come across us, boy. I am to leave no witnesses..." he said before rushing towards Howland in a burst of speed, slashing his dagger against the boy—intent on ending his life. Howland barely even saw the Smiling Knight move until he was right in front of him. Fortunately, he was able to bring his trident up in time to block the slash from the Smiling Knight—though the force of it managed to send him flying back, straight into a tree.

Howland crashed through the tree and rolled across the forest ground, but he couldn't relax as the Smiling Knight was on him again slamming his foot down where he lay. Howland pushed himself out of the way but was unable to defend himself from the slash that immediately followed.

'Water Form'

The dagger slashed through Howland's body but due to his ability, he was able to prevent any injuries from taking place. Howland then took advantage of the Smiling Knight's confusion and stabbed at him with his aura-infused trident; while the Smiling Knight was distracted he was still one of the best warriors in the kingdom and he grabbed Howland's trident with a single hand preventing it from piercing his skin.

"An interesting ability boy..." the Smiling Knight said before whipping his hand around and throwing the trident along with Howland into the air. Howland was tossed back into Daemons camp landing roughly but despite the pain, he still got up and held his trident towards where the Smiling Knight was.

"Where are you looking?" He heard from behind him, though before he could turn around the dagger was already plunged into his body. Luckily for Howland, he hadn't deactivated his ability so he was able to avoid grievous injury again.

The Smiling Knight was starting to get annoyed at the boy and so sent a punch directly at his face; the punch managed to hit him and send him tumbling backwards much to the Smiling Knight's surprise. He was now starting to form an idea of how Howland's ability worked, and once he did that he'd be able to get passed it and kill him. Howland himself was trying to formulate a plan that would get both him and Daemon out of this situation, but as things were looking they were pretty dire. The Smiling Knight knew he could kill this boy eventually if he kept on tiring him out but he was quite impatient and wanted to get this over with so he decided to activate his ability.

'A Thousand Swords'

He reached behind him into his large quiver of low-quality swords and picked one at random. His ability bestowed a random effect on each sword; whether it was good or bad he wouldn't know until he drew it, and he couldn't draw another sword until this one was broken. This was why he only kept low-quality swords on the verge of breaking, as a few times in his life he'd been stuck with sword effects that were useless.

The Smiling Knight grinned maliciously as he held his sword up in the air. Howland prepared himself as he picked himself up from the muddy ground and focused as much aura as he could on defending himself. The Smiling Knight brought his sword down in a quick and smooth motion releasing a slash of wind that was headed straight for Howland; the young lad spun his trident releasing a slash of his own —only his was composed of water— both their techniques met and the Smiling Knight's slash quickly overpowered Howland's. But the young crannogman had already jumped out of the way; the Smiling Knight however wasn't finished and he pointed his sword behind him releasing a gust of wind and sending him flying towards Howland who he kicked in the side of his stomach before he could activate his ability.

'I was right, his ability must be too draining to maintain constantly so he has to consciously use it,' the Smiling Knight thought to himself as he watched the young boy roll across the ground once more. Howland was breathing heavily as he stood up once more 'This man is overwhelmingly strong... but this should be enough,' he thought to himself as he felt his body protest as he held up his trident once more.

'Water Trap'

Howland had not been idle while he was being tossed around like a rag doll; he took the opportunity to lay pieces of his aura down in certain locations eventually forming a trap around the Smiling Knight. Much to the Knight's surprise a sphere of water emerged from around him and engulfed his body, and he started to drown.

Howland couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief as he now assumed the fight was over; he placed the butt of his trident on the ground and leaned on it as his body was still racked with pain.

*BOOM*

Howland felt himself once again get thrown backwards only this time he smashed against a large boulder cracking the rock and severely hurting Howland who had let his guard down. The Smiling Knight rolled his shoulders as he looked at the handle of his sword that no longer had a blade attached to it —he had released a large explosion of wind to escape from the sphere of water, but the sword couldn't handle the stress of such a thing and gave out.

"A shame it was a good effect," he said to himself. He then looked towards Howland who was barely able to lean himself against the rock let alone use aura to defend himself "You did better than most would've done boy, but in the end, it wasn't enough," the Knight said as he reequipped his dagger and approached him. Howland tried to flare his aura but he couldn't; he barely had any left and if he tried to force it then he would probably pass out —all he could do was wait to be killed.

However, as the Knight approached him and went to bring the dagger down on his head he was swiftly stopped. Daemon whose eyes were blazing red had the Smiling Knight's wrist in his grip, as he looked at the man with a grin "I'm sorry I took so long Howland, removing the ability from my body took longer than I thought," he said apologetically.

The Smiling Knight looked sat Daemon with utter shock "Impossible..." he commented. He was then surprised once more as Daemon's fist connected with his face launching him back a dozen feet —though he was able to remain standing despite the force of the punch. "You made the mistake of talking too much, and for that, you will die," Daemon said before his aura exploded out of him and he rushed towards the Smiling Knight.

The Knight tried to stab at Daemon with his dagger, but the silver-haired man deftly parried it off to the side with his arm before swinging his elbow across the man's jaw knocking him into a daze. He then kicked the man's leg from underneath him and grabbed him by the throat slamming him to the ground —though he didn't let go of him— he then brought him back up and lifted his free arm to the knight's stomach. A large sphere of aura started growing from a single point in his palm; Daemon shot the sphere straight into the Smiling Knight's stomach which sent him flying backwards once more crashing through multiple trees as he did.

Daemon kicked up his Valyrian steel sword to his hand and flourished it. He then channelled some aura into it and started swinging it and sending various large aura slashes into the forest where the Smiling Knight was —all while laughing. However much to Daemon's surprise, he found himself defending against a thrust from the Smiling Knight who moved too fast for Daemon to see. Daemon frowned before lifting his blade and ending their clash by kicking him in the chest; the Smiling Knight seemed to want this as he then held his sword in a thrusting motion before the tip of it started to shine. Once again Daemon had barely a second to defend himself against a thrust from the Smiling Knight who moved too fast for him to see; he'd be been a less skilled swordsman then he would've most likely already been skewered by his opponent's sword.

Daemon deflected the man's blade off to the side before arcing it around and aiming to decapitate him, but the Smiling Knight was able to duck and push himself backwards where he took the thrusting stance once again; the familiar spec of light that appeared last time once again shone on the end of his sword 'The light must mean he's about to move,' Daemon thought to himself.

Deciding to test the theory Daemon sidestepped just before the light was at its brightest and a moment later the Smiling Knight appeared where he was just standing with his sword thrust out. Daemon quickly swung his sword at the Knight who hastily tried to defend himself; however, due to the difference between the quality of swords as well as their aura the Smiling Knight's sword shattered and Daemon was able to slash through his armour carving a large gash in the man's skin.

The Smiling knight grunted before jumping back and quickly drawing another sword —just in time to defend himself against another slash from Daemon. The Smiling Knight kicked at Daemon to get some space he then rushed at him and swung his sword down which Daemon naturally blocked. However, Daemon found himself being flung back at the force of the blow 'What in seven hells!' He thought to himself before he flipped and landed on his feet —skidding across the mud.

The Smiling Knight only laughed as he rushed towards Daemon once more slashing at him with his sword. Daemon dodged the blow time and time and was surprised to see a crater form where the Smiling Knight had hit the ground with his sword. Daemon quickly started to understand what the Knights ability was 'Every sword he pulls out has a different ability... quite versatile,' he thought to himself.

Aura Mimicry: Aerys Targaryen

Daemon decided to stop playing around as his aura exploded out of his body in hot orange flames. He took advantage of the Smiling Knight's surprise and rushed towards him swinging his sword as he did —which sent a slash of fire straight towards him. The Smiling knight avoided the hit but wasn't able to avoid Daemon who grabbed him and started tackling him through various trees in the forest before slamming him down to the ground.

"I am truly sorry that Rhaegar did this to you, rest easy knowing that you will be avenged..." Daemon said with sincerity before slamming his foot down on his chest which prevented him from standing. He then intensified his flames until they started to turn from orange into yellow and from yellow into a greenish colour —though still nowhere near the same level as Aerys himself.

The Smiling Knight went to stab Daemon with his sword but found his sword melting before it even made contact with his skin. He then just started chuckling to himself "Kill that bastard for me..." he said before he stopped struggling. Daemon nodded before directing the entirety of his aura down at the Smiling Knight turning him into ash.

Daemon sighed as he looked at the ashes being blown away by the wind 'We were all just puppets in his game,' he thought to himself. Though one thing Daemon couldn't understand was why Rhaegar had chosen now to betray him; he considered the cause to be what he and Elia had done, but he knew Rhaegar better than that and he was prepared to let his wife die without even seeing her.

Daemon cast these thoughts away and walked back to his camp. He approached Howland who was still leant by the boulder breathing heavily; he crouched next to the boy and released the aura from his body once more.

'Poppy's Embrace'

Howland felt his injuries and pain melt away and he couldn't help but sigh in relief "You did well Howland, though I must admit that I didn't expect you to follow me out here," Daemon stated.

"We struck an accord, it would not be honourable for me to not follow it, plus you are the only one willing to help my sister so I had little choice in the matter," he replied, which made Daemon chuckle in amusement.

"Don't worry I'll keep my promise, I'll help your sister as much as I can," he told the boy.

"But first I must gather some help for the situation I now find myself in..." Daemon said as he stood back up.

"Who will be willing to go against the king for you?" Howland asked. Daemon looked down at the boy who was only picking himself up now.

"I have friends in Essos..."

(AN: This is the last chapter the next one will start Robert's Rebellion. I've been dreaming about getting to this point for so long and I'm glad it'll happen.