Chapter 772: Solar Eclipse

Within the Red Keep, Grand Maester Marwyn clasped a letter from the Citadel and strode briskly toward Maegor's Holdfast from the Archmaester's Tower.

He had heard Princess Daenerys and His Grace seemed to have quarreled before she left in a huff, though nobody knew the specifics as the Holdfast was already cleared out then.

"Little Daenerys threw a tantrum?"

Hearing of it, Marwyn couldn't help a wry laugh.

Having accepted Viserys' invitation to be the imperial Grand Maester, one of his duties was overseeing the royal family's education. He had been Daenerys' teacher previously and knew well that while the girl looked delicate externally, her temper and personality were stronger than anyone's.

Yet Daenerys was exceptionally close to His Grace. Why would they suddenly argue?

The bull maester shook his head. But there were more pressing issues. He still had to report the celestial anomalies to His Imperial Majesty.

According to observations from the Citadel, many abnormal phenomena had occurred in the skies recently, perhaps heralding earth-shattering changes to the world.

Just as Marwyn the maester was about to stride toward Maegor's Holdfast again though, he suddenly sensed the daylight around dimming slightly.

"Hmm?"

Marwyn halted in surprise, then immediately heard the shrieks of palace handmaidens beside him.

Marwyn quickly raised his head skyward, and the handmaidens, manservants, stableboys and even the stoic Unsullied guards on duty in the Red Keep uniformly craned their necks up to gaze at the King's Landing skies.

The afternoon skies overhead were azure, yet the sun resembled a chunk bitten out by a dog, leaving a pitch black hollow. Thus the ground below had abruptly lost a significant amount of sunlight too.

"What's going on?"

"What is this?"

With the sun partially vanished, panic spread through King's Landing. The city watch struggled to keep order as frightened cries resounded in the Red Keep as well—the palace handmaidens were scarcely more well-informed than the common masses outside, reacting in frightened shouts and screams.

Even the normally unflappable Unsullied guards couldn't help quickened breaths, gripping shields and spears tightly.

For the unknown was humanity's greatest fear.

If ghosts were visible and tangible rather than invisible, perhaps they would not be as frightening.

"This is..."

In front of Maegor's Holdfast, the stocky maester stood clutching the letter from the Citadel, head raised to gaze at the darkening skies above. His heart chilled to the bone.

The sun was disappearing.

Why? What would happen if the sun vanished completely?

Thoughts racing, Marwyn lowered his eyes to the letter in hand again, expression unsightly.

Atop Maegor's Holdfast in the Red Keep, Viserys had dressed himself, as had his lover Miss Margaery Tyrell of House Tyrell.

She had wrapped up her bodice, pulled on white stockings over slim legs and donned her gown, seated quietly at bedside.

After Princess Daenerys charged in earlier and quarreled fiercely with Viserys, Margaery felt rather awkward and ashamed. After all the little rose was not so sage as the Queen of Thorns, especially over cheating with a childhood friend's brother.

Yet the crux of Daenerys' grievance was not Viserys and Margaery's affair, but the continuation of their lineage by blood.

Daenerys deemed herself the most fitting candidate for empress. Words she had always harbored in her heart.

Viserys and Arianne's union was a political marriage. Rhaenys too lacked pure Targaryen lineage, bearing Viserys a firstborn son without prominent Targaryen features.

Daenerys felt that by marrying Viserys, she could fulfil their duty of continuing the ancestral line. This was her obligation and responsibility. Yet Viserys could not quite accept Daenerys' mindset, finding her somewhat obsessive.

And so the two parted unhappily, Daenerys flying to Dragonstone in anger while Viserys was left vexed.

There were flaws in Daenerys' personality that others might not realize, but Viserys understood perfectly well.

After all, she was the Mad King's daughter.

Moreover Queen Rhaella had consumed considerable hallucinogens before birthing Daenerys, indirectly causing the queen's excruciating labor and death.

What worried Viserys most was whether this had impacted Daenerys. Fortunately over the years he noticed no 'madness' in Daenerys stemming from it.

But her personality did tend toward obsessiveness, struggling to think straight and prone to extremes, balancing between good and evil.

"Daenerys, she..."

The brown-haired girl looked uneasy, asking softly.

She did not know where Daenerys had flown off to after their fight.

"I'll handle Daenerys' matter."

Yet Viserys shook his head.

"Margaery, you should head back first."

"Men, escort Miss Tyrell away!"

Viserys stated bluntly, his tone brooking no dissent.

As his voice fell, the bedchamber doors opened. Two whisperers masked stood outside awaiting her departure.

Left with no choice, Margaery Tyrell gave a slight curtsey and took her leave.

"Yes, Your Grace."

Then the whisperers escorted Margaery away via the underground passages direct to the outside world.

Left alone in his room, Viserys sat feeling somewhat troubled by the obsessive aspect hidden within Daenerys' personality.

"This is really vexing."

It would be simple enough to directly take Daenerys as wife. Yet the flaws in her personality could not be remedied. Her prior actions over favoritism were trivial, but later could involve contention over Viserys' line of succession.

Yet just as Viserys was debating whether to immediately fly over on dragonback to fetch Daenerys back from Dragonstone, the skies overhead abruptly darkened.

Like everyone else, frightened cries sounded from outside. Viserys' gaze concentrated slightly too.

"Oh?"

He left his seat and strode quickly out to the balcony, raising his head to look skyward.

The sun had a pitch black hollow, seemingly bitten by a heavenly dog.

"A tian gou eating the moon?"

"Oh no, a heavenly dog eating the sun."

"Could it be a solar eclipse?"

Sea winds blew through his hair above the Narrow Sea. One hand on the frigid stone balcony, Viserys' first thought was of the solar eclipse phenomenon.

Yet carefully recalling the astrology he knew of this world, it seemed there were never any records of solar eclipses.