Hugh Hammer (ASOIF/SI)

 "Quite a sight, is it not?" asked Prince Jacaerys, nodding his head

 towards the assemblage of ships gathered in the huge natural

 harbour of Dragonstone, and even spilling out from it, for there was

 not enough space for all the shipping assembled.

 "Indeed, your Grace, indeed" he replied, he had been silently

 counting the ships in his head, he had given up somewhere around

 three hundred and fifty, and he was sure he had only counted less

 than half of the ships in sight.

 "Ser Hugh?" the Prince asked, as usual keen to do the ex

Blacksmith the honour of including him in their deliberations.

 "Aye, enough to transport our Vale allies to Kings Landing and

 secure the city and its environs, while leaving enough troops on

 Dragonstone to keep it secure. And with air superiority guaranteed

 by our dragons, the capital will fall to us."

 'Us' pondered Addam, Hugh was definitely pinning all his hopes on

 this, unlike Ulf, who seemed to have little interest beyond drinking

 and whoring, and Nettles, who seemed to have no interests' beyond

 riding Sheepstealer and bringing the dragon dead sheep and goats

 to eat. Along with being reluctant in the extreme to abandon her old

 ways of acting and speaking. Unlike Hugh, who, while retaining his

 smallfolk accent, seemed to have adopted well to his situation as a

 freshly minted knight.

 The planning for the assault on Kings Landing had begun several

 moons ago, in fact the attack itself would have probably been

 launched soon after Prince Daemon had returned atop Caraxes, but

 for the dogged determination of Hugh to have his opinions on the

 matter heard and addressed.

But Hugh had been indirect about this matter, first enlisting the

 assistance of his grandfather and Prince Jacaerys and explaining his

 concerns and why he believed that an immediate attack on Kings

 Landing was a bad idea. Lord Corlys had been very strong in

 clamouring for the protection of Driftmark, especially after the

 interrogation of some of the prisoners from the battle of the Gullet

 had revealed that the sacking of Spicetown had been the ultimate

 objective of the fleet of the Three Daughters.

 The plan to take Kings Landing 'on the bounce' as Hugh had referred

 to it were too fraught with danger according to Hugh, and he made a

 well-reasoned and logical case for delaying the assault. Hugh had

 pointed out the paucity of soldiers to secure the city and its

 surroundings available on Dragonstone, and of the dangers of

 leaving Driftmark and Dragonstone poorly defended by stripping their

 garrisons to invade the capital. Hugh had asked that the forces of the

 Vale be moved to assist in the capturing of the capital and that the

 defenders of both Driftmark and Dragonstone not be significantly

 weakened.

 Lord Corlys and Prince Jacaerys had argued this point with Prince

 Daemon and her Grace the Queen until they had finally come

 around to this way of thinking. Even the fool Mushroom, who no

 longer dressed in motley and who had assumed something of an

 advisory role to her Grace, agreeing that waiting for the forces of the

 Vale was the better option. Prince Daemon had mentioned that it

 would also give him 'more time to prepare' for the assault on Kings

 Landing, by which Addam understood that he was talking of the Gold

 Cloaks and various others in the city that still owed him allegiance.

 Addam tuned at the sound of approaching footsteps, the fused stone

 of the castle of Dragonstone rang differently from ordinary stone

 when you trod upon it. They and their guards were atop one of the

 towers that gave a view out over the harbour and town of

 Dragonstone, a slightly blustery breeze was blowing, the white

 clouds above racing past driven by the wind.

Prince Daemon and a coterie of guards were approaching them,

 Hugh turned, and Addam noticed the slightest of narrowing of Hugh's

 eyes, and a slight stiffening of his posture as the rogue Prince halted

 before them.

 "Well lads, your Grace, a fine sight, eh? A fine sight indeed!"

 A chorus of agreement greeted this statement before Prince Daemon

 continued "the last of the ships requested will be arriving on the

 morrow, Baela atop Moondancer spotted them a few hours ago."

 That was another thing that Hugh had insisted on, every day the

 dragons flew out on patrol over the bay, covering Driftmark also. It

 gave them more practice in riding and kept a keen eye out for any

 approaching ships, friendly or hostile. Though the chance of any

 hostiles appearing were slim, given that the Iron Born were keeping

 the naval strength of the Westerlands and the Reach more than busy

 of the other side of Westeros. And the Three Daughters were

 apparently in the process of dissolving their alliance and falling to

 infighting.

 "Ser Hugh?" asked Prince Daemon.

 "Yes your Grace" Hugh replied, managing to keep any hint of the

 wariness Addam knew his friend held for the Rogue Prince out of his

 voice.

 "You seem enamored of that armor you sport, why I will wager that I

 have scarce seen you out of it since I arrived on Dragonstone! Do

 you not feel secure here Ser, do you feel threatened in any way?"

 Addam shucked in a breath, a smile was plastered across the Rogue

 Prince's face, but it did not reach his eyes, which were cold and

 hard.

 Hugh did seem to be favoring his armor, Addam had to admit that,

 ever since the battle of the Gullet Hugh had rarely been seen outside

of the armor, he had started sporting, it becoming something of a

 hallmark of Hugh.

 The armor was not a well-made set, it sported no heraldry or fancy

 scroll work, it did not look like it was individually fitted to Hugh, nor

 that it was even made as a set. In truth the ex-Blacksmith's armor

 looked exactly like it was, a mish mash of different sets thrown

 together either because they fitted him or to some weird pattern that

 only Hugh knew or cared about.

 Hugh wore a gorget around his neck, over a long, padded gambeson

 studded with overlapping lamellar plates, his shoulders and upper

 arms were protected by puldrons and overlapping lamellar plates

 down his elbow. The rest of his arms were protected by chainmail,

 and he wore chainmail trousers, with greaves to protect his lower

 legs. The helmet with this was a simple Barbute style helm, though

 of course he was not wearing his helmet. A dagger and a sword were

 always on his person, if he was in armor or not and Hugh often gave

 the impression of a man expecting to have to fight for his very life at

 any second.

 "I wear this to get used to it your Grace" Hugh replied smoothly "I am

 not long elevated a knight and I have not worn armor before, I need

 to get to know how to walk and move in it, for it to become as a

 second skin."

 "Hah! Good answer Ser Hugh!" chortled Prince Daemon in

 response.

 "And we are at war your Grace, it is best to be always prepared for

 the unexpected."

 "No flies on you Ser Hugh" replied the Rogue Prince, his voice

 deadpan. "But you must learn not to be so serious young Hugh, life

 is for living, the very fact that we are at war should sharpen a man's

 appetites, not dull them. You spend all your time either training,

 reading or flying your dragon lad, if you are not careful life might just

 pass you by!"

"There will be plenty of time to enjoy life once this is all over your

 Grace" replied Hugh, his face serious and solemn.

 "You see! That's exactly what I mean!" retorted Prince Daemon,

 laughing mightily "far too serious by far! Anyway enough japing, I did

 not come up here just to jape and tug at Ser Hugh's tail…..Come,

 walk with me."

 Addam and the others followed Daemon out of earshot of their

 respective guards until the Lord Protector of the Realm lent against

 the crenelations of the battlements and said in a low voice "All is

 prepared - the Red Keep is riddled with them, Maegor was indeed a

 paranoid fucker….My men in the City Watch and in the Red Keep

 guards are ready, and the most important thing is that Alicent and

 her brood do not escape the attack. It will be tricky, but I have been

 sending more men I trust into the city by clandestine means and

 recruiting more inside the city."

 "And the Master of Whispers. He is not to be underestimated, from

 what I have heard?" asked Hugh, Addam unsurprised by his friends'

 words, Hugh was calm and confident on certain matters and utterly

 unafraid to speak his mind, on matters that Addam thought trivial his

 friend was often tongue tied and totally reticent.

 "I am working to neutralise the man, he will hopefully not be of any

 concern to us" was all that Prince Daemon said in response, the look

 upon his face and the hard set of his eyes discouraging any further

 enquiry into this matter.

 "Will mother be joining us on Syrax?" asked Prince Jacaerys, a

 hopeful note in his voice.

 "Aye she will, your mother would not miss this for the world, to be as,

 what was it you described it as Ser Hugh?"

 "In at the kill" your Grace Hugh replied to the question posed by the

 Rogue Prince.

"Yes 'in at the kill', I like that phrase Ser Hugh, an apt description for

 what we are about to do."

 The Lord Protector of the Realm's smile was far too wide and

 showed far too many teeth for Addam's liking and he suspected that

 the Red Keep would run with blood after its capture.

 "And once Kings Landing is secured and Alicent and her brood and

 supporters are dealt with, we can then turn our attentions to ridding

 ourselves of Aemond and Daeron. The antics of that pair have gone

 on for far too long, especially Aemond, that mad dog needs to be put

 down for good!" declared the Lord Protector, a savage glee alight in

 his eyes at this.

 "The news from the Riverlands and the Reach is not good for our

 supporters, the sooner we act the better" Jacaerys added to the

 conversation, worry evident in his voice.

 "You may blame this one" and here Prince Daemon gestured to

 Hugh "for the delay, and you supported him" the grinning Lord

 Protector announced, "but in truth I think Hugh had the right of it, we

 need to be secure when we take Kings Landing."

 "Dragons can take, but they cannot hold" Hugh said, repeating an oft

 told phrase of his.

 "Aye, Ser Hugh has the right of it I'm afraid" Daemon quipped back

 "we need swords to hold what dragons take. And I know that Ser

 Hugh here has the ear of you young Addam and of your grandfather,

 our ex-Blacksmith seems to be quite the font of knowledge, and

 dragon dreams…"

 When an awkward silence greeted this the Rogue Prince just

 grinned and left them, if his intention was to unsettle them, then he

 had succeeded mused Addam.

 Prince Jacaerys was the first to speak, stating that he had to pay a

 visit to his betrothed Princess Baela, and with that he strolled off with

his contingent of guards.

 This left him and Hugh standing on the battlements, and Addam

 stuttered a little as he spoke "speaking, speaking of betrothals, erh,

 ummm, my grandfather has told me that, erh, that there has been

 some interest in me, in er, betrothing me…."

 "Congratulation" replied Hugh deadpan, his face trying and failing to

 hide his mirth.

 "Don't laugh!" he barked out "I don't want to be betrothed, at least

 not yet…."

 "You are a dragon rider and you have been knighted for your service

 to our Queen, and now a Velaryon, that offers have been made

 should be expected, you know that."

 "Aye, but I don't know…."

 "I know, maybe talk to Lord Corlys about this hrmmm? Explain any

 reservations you might have; I know it's not a lack of experience…."

 Addam's face grew bright hot at this, he had dipped his pillar for the

 first time into a cunny after the celebrations of the victory in the battle

 of the Gullet. The first time had been a rushed and overwhelming

 affair, but the second, third and fourth times had been much more

 enjoyable.

 Hugh had discovered him rather wrapped up and enjoying his fifth

 time that next morning, when he had come to collect him for training

 in the yard of High Tide. The serving girl had been not in the slightest

 bit embarrassed, but he had been mortified to be caught so.

 "And you, Hugh, have, have there been any offers for your hand?"

 Addam rushed the words out of his mouth, keen to divert attention

 from the subject of his nuptials.

"A few, some minor knights, a merchant in Spicetown and even

 some lesser Lords have offered their daughters for my

 consideration."

 "Ah, and?"

 "You have your grandfather to arrange this for you and to make sure

 any choice is made with the correct considerations due to your

 status, your prospective brides' status and how the match would be

 viewed by the Iron Throne. I on the other hand do not, have anyone

 to assist me in this. I am also a former smallfolk bastard with no

 name, and my exact status and standing, despite being a dragon

 rider, is something of an unknown."

 "So no then, I mean, you, you won't be accepting any offers for

 marriage then?"

 "Nope, not for now my friend."

 "Well, there are always serving wenches or whores?" Addam

 laughed, trying to sound more mature than his years.

 "Aye, you would know, would you not?" smirked Hugh.

 Addam felt his face reddening again "erhhhh….I, I cannot help it if

 serving wenches keep on turning up naked in my bed now can I?"

 "No I suppose you cannot" his huge friend replied with a barking

 laugh "but in all seriousness Addam, be careful, you are a Lord and

 an Heir to a great Lordship, plenty are the slatterns who would

 gratefully allow you to fill their bellies with a bastard. And beware of

 highborn girls also, not a few of them, or their ambitious mothers,

 would not mind finding themselves into your bed."

 Addam's face went an even deeper shade of red at this "Truly?" he

 stammered out, unbelieving of what his friend had just said.

"Aye, unfortunately that is the world we live in, the Game of Thrones

 is played for keeps lad, never forget that."

 "The, the 'game of thrones'?"

 "This, this war, the constant maneuvering for position between the

 Lords, great and small. Ser Criston Cole, the Lord Commander of

 the Kingsguard is a Knight and to hear the tales told of him before

 this war, a paragon of knightly virtues. But he slit the throat of a Lord

 who stuck to his oaths and refused to deny the will and testament of

 his King. That is the 'game of thrones' lad, and never you forget that.

 Your grandfather will teach you in time, and make sure that he does."

 "You have nobody to teach you the game of thrones Hugh, what,

 what will you do?"

 "Good question Addam, good question."

 With that his friend turned to stare out over the assembled ships, and

 Addam was left deep in thought at what they had just discussed.