Scions of the Cruel King

Maron Blacktyde

King's Landing was back in the hands of the blacks; King Valarr had killed King Aegon and taken the city. Those who had been loyal to King Aegon and had not had the sense to flee the city had been killed or stripped of their lands and titles, it seemed King Valarr was to be much more ruthless in dealing with traitors than either of his brothers Lucerys and Aemon would have been. Maron himself, had not taken part in the war so far, listening to his uncle's advise and deciding to keep his fleet docked in port, to wait and see what the outcome of the battles would be. "Let the dragons kill each other, and at the end we can rise stronger and harder than before." Had been the words Maron's uncle Rodrik had spoken. And it seemed his advice had proven correct for whilst the mainland had been burnt to ash and dust as the dragons danced, the Arbor and its surrounding islands had remained untouched by the fighting. If only Dalton had had the same sense to remain neutral. But not Maron's cousin had always been a bloodthirsty lad, hungry for the sense of glory and power, and he had died on the Sunset Sea burnt to ash by the Lannisters.

For most of the war Maron had thought that the blacks and the greens had forgotten about them, the blacks had the Velaryon Fleet to do their bidding, and as such the Gullet had been closed off for some time, the greens had the Lannister Fleet and then the Royal Fleet to do their bidding as well. Now though, now that the city was lost, the prize with which the Greens had sought to stake their empire on, now was when the summons came. A poisoned summons Maron's uncle decreed it, Prince Aemond One Eye, the Kinslayer had sent a raven from the Rock demanding that Maron mobilise the full force of the Arbor fleet and set sail for King's Landing at once where he was to work with the fleet of the Three Daughters and burn the Velaryon Fleet and take King's Landing. Maron's uncle declared the mission "Suicide. We have no dragons to support us in this matter, and you can be guaranteed that King Valarr will bring the full force of his dragons to the battle should we invade."

Balon Flowers the Bastard of Longshield spoke next. "We have 200 warships my lord. And the triarchy knows how to bring down the dragons if that is what one fears. After all they were the ones who brought down Ser Laenor and Lady Laena and her dragon. We must do as Prince Aemond says unless we wish to bring his wrath down upon us."

Maron looked at the man who had been a childhood companion and then said. "Is it his wrath you fear or that of Ser Aenar Rivers Balon? Besides even if we do bring our ships to aid the Triarchy there is nothing to guarantee that we shall not burn as well, and I would rather live than die fighting for the Greenlanders."

Balon argued against that saying. "We will be victorious if we fight for the Greens, Prince Aemond would not ask us to do something unless he was certain we could win. 200 Warships plus the ninety warships he writes the Triarchy will have, certainly victory will be high on the list of probabilities."

"As will death Balon," Rodrik Blacktyde argued. "Should we set sail for King's Landing and find the Triarchy fleet burnt and scattered, King Valarr will turn his attention toward us, and we shall all burn and the islands shall suffer. They have suffered enough already because of Dalton's folly why make them suffer more?"

Maron knew his uncle spoke of Alyssa, his cousin, now the lady of Pyke and Lady of the Iron Islands following Dalton's death. Maron felt something pang within him at the thought of Alyssa, sweet Alyssa suffering because of the mistakes her brother made, and then suddenly he remembered what he had learnt of the taking of King's Landing. "Uncle you say that even if we were to remain neutral King Valarr would not threaten us and yet he burnt Duskendale to ash and Rook's Rest fell to foul means. It is said he poisoned his own cousin to better secure his claim to the throne. What is there to say that he will not come and bring down dragonfire on us for not aiding him? No I say we must aid Prince Aemond. Maester Gregor send the ravens out, the ships shall set sail soon enough."

Sure enough, four days later the Lords sworn to the arbor turned up at the Port with their ships, Orkmont, Blackheart and Rooston, proud lords all of them, Ironborn the lot of them. They were all fierce warriors, men who had fought alongside the Targaryen kings of old against the Tarlings and the Three Sisters when they had sought to invade Westeros. Lord Derys Orkmont a proud man and fierce warrior in his day speaks the same words of caution that Maron's uncle had. "What we plan to do here is risky business my lords. I remember the fighting against the Triarchy, their ships burnt just as easily as any other under dragon fire. And that too was with fewer dragons than the Blacks have now. Does Prince Aemond say that we shall have the aid of his and Ser Aenar's dragons should we attack the city?"

"No my lord." Maron replies. "Prince Aemond writes that his dragon and that of Ser Aenar are needed to ensure that their plans to bring the Westerlands in full force for the retaking of King's Landing are able to happen. We are to serve as the first line of breaking Valarr's hold on the city."

"It is a suicide mission we go on then." Ser Gormon Blackheart the last of his house says- claiming descent through the female line to House Hoare- "Very well then, we shall give it our all then my lord. And we shall show these Essosi bastards just how to break down the defence of the dragons."

Maron sees his uncle snort at that, Gormon Blackheart a fierce warrior but with more pride than sense most of the time. That he recognises that this mission is suicidal but not without hope, gives Maron cause to hope. "The fleet of the Triarchy will be commanded by Sharko Con Lys. We shall be meeting them on the narrow sea close to Lys. From there we shall sail for King's Landing." None of the lords present voice any dissent at that and so the next day, with their men in tow, the 200 warships of the Arbor set sail filled with hardened warriors and green boys alike, all of sharing a common goal in wishing to become dragonslayers.

It took them a good month to reach the fleet of the Three Sisters where it was docked in on the sea outside Lys. They brought 90 warships to the table, and all the men Maron saw on those ships judging by their commanders were battle hardened men, and those who were ready to write their names into song. Their commander Sharko Con Lys, was a big giant of a man with an eye patch covering one eye and a hook in place of his right hand. He spoke the common tongue with a thick accent suggesting he was from one of the Slaver cities originally. "So you are the ones, the Dragon Prince has sent us to take King's Landing eh. The lot of you thinking to become dragonslayers?" The man spat onto the floor of his ship. "I tell you it is no easy thing to slay a dragon when one is airborne, my ancestors fought against the dragonlords of old Valryia and their ilk were bigger than the dragons that the Targaryens have here. Difficult business, but to kill a rider, now that is the easiest thing to do."

Maron spoke then. "So you have experience then my lord in defeating Dragonriders?"

The man snorts at that. "More than just experience boy. I brought down Ser Laenor Velaryon and killed his sister and her dragon. My command saw to their deaths, and made it so that our lives will be easier now. I tell you Lady Laena's dragon was a fierce thing, one of the biggest of the beasts I have ever seen, bigger than her husband's that's for sure."

Maron nods and then asks. "So how would you recommend we bring about the dragons downfall?"

The man, the captain of the Triarchy Fleet takes a big swig of wine and then says. "Aim for the eyes of the dragon. Once you strike the eyes, the dragon is blinded by its preoccupation with trying to get away from the threat to its sight. The rider will panic unless skilled in the arts of warfare and will try and get the beast to come back and attack, aim at the rider, have archers stationed to attack the rider when the beast they are on dives down toward the sea, do that and both dragon and rider shall die."

"That is all there is to it?" Maron asks feeling slightly disappointed.

Lys laughs and says. "Aye boy it is. My ancestors used that method to bring down dragons during the Freehold, when we fought for our independence. And the Dornish used a similar method to bring down Meraxes."

With that discussion then turns to how they should use their ships. With Rodrik saying. "We should split our ships up with half of each force combining and leading the dragons and their riders away from the port, and a small contingent of the ships remaining sailing men up onto the city docks to give fight to the soldiers on the ground."

Lys nods his head in agreement. "Aye that should work well enough." And so the plans are made, and 20 of the Lys' ships come with one hundred ships of the Arbor fleet which Maron's uncle Rodrik commands, 20 of Lys ships then join with ninety ships commanded by Ser Gormon Blackheart and the remaining ten ships of the arbor fleet are left under Maron's command for him to sail up the bend and through the shattered defences of the Velaryon fleet and onto shore for the battle for King's Landing. They set sail from the shores of Lys that night and it takes them three weeks to reach the outermost of where the Velaryon fleet holds the breakage of the Gullet. Maron brings the horn to his lips and sounds it, beginning the attack.

The battle itself seems to be going so very quickly from where Maron and his men are positioned near the left of their fleet, close to where Maron's uncle Rodrik leads his part of the fleet. He can hear the sound of men fighting on the ships, the sound of steel on steel, and the sound of balls of fire being unleashed on the Velaryon ships, the Triarchy having perfected such methods during the fighting that often goes on in Essos. It appears as if they are winning, Maron's uncle own flagship the Bastion of Brightflame, has not had to leave the defensive ring they have around Maron's own group of ships, any of the Velaryon ships which have come close to the ring have been thrown back.

It seems as if all will be going well, when a mighty roar from somewhere up in the sky alerts Maron to reality of where they are and whom they are attacking. The dragons have come into play, above where his uncle's ship is docked there flies a bronze dragon, as big as anything Maron has ever seen, and the flames that engulf Rodrik Blacktyde's ship come so quickly Maron has not a chance to scream before the dragon has moved onto destroying more of his uncle's ships. "Fire the arrows!" Maron shouts at his own men not caring about giving away where he is now his uncle is dead and that the men he is the Lord of are dying by the hundreds trapped in their armour as an angry dragon breathes fire down upon them. The arrows fall short of the Bronze Fury, but the beast does not seem content with that and continues burning through the ships that had been part of Rodrik Blacktyde's command, when suddenly another dragon roars and there flying in the sky above them is a yellow dragon, the Queen Dowager's dragon Syrax. "Fire!" Maron screams with all his might, picking up his own bow and firing arrow after arrow at the dragon.

A hundred different arrows are up in the air flying towards the Queen Dowager's dragon, and by the sound of the roar that comes from the dragon, most of them have struck true. "Keep firing." Maron shouts, drawing his bow and firing once more, he keeps firing at the dragon until he is out of arrows, and by that point he looks up into the sky to see the dragon littered with arrows coming crashing down toward them. "Turn round, turn round!" Maron shouts and though his own ship and roughly three others under his command manage to escape, the rest of the ships under his command are crushed under the weight of the dead dragon, and her rider, Maron sees the wreckage floating to the bottom of the sea dragon, rider and the wood and corpses of the men under his command. "My lord," Denys Toll says to Maron. "There are more of the dragons coming towards us." Maron looks to the sky and sees the dragons, a black as night one and a pale grey one approaching them. "Turn the ships around we must get back from their flames. Have the men on the outer ship fire at them." Maron says, drawing his own bow as the ships recede from the outline. A roar from the dragons alerts him to the fact that they know what he is doing. Thankfully another ship, or group of ships bearing the coat of arms of the Three Daughters comes into the way, and though most of the ships burn under the dragonfire, they succeed in bringing down the black as night dragon that Maron will later learn is the dragon of Princess Visenya, the princess drowns in the Blackwater her body dragged down by armour and her dragon.

The fighting continues, and now that the encirclement that had been protecting them has been broken, Maron can clearly see the damage that the battle has inflicted upon both sides. The wreckage of multiple ships is plain to see, men are drowning in their armour, swords and other such weapons are drifting to the surface, and still Maron looks out for his uncle's ship or even his body hoping against hope that his uncle lives despite having seen his uncle burn before his eyes. He is brought back to attention when Denys Toll says to him. "My lord look, in the sky is that, is that the Black Dread?" Maron looks to the sky, impossible he thinks, the Black dread has been dead for decades everyone knows that, and yet the dragon that he sees burning through ships and men and tearing into any dragon to have gotten in its way is bigger than even Vermithor the king's dragon or any dragon including Quicksilver, bearing the likeness of the Dread well enough. When the beast roars a terrifying roar, Maron knows it for sure.

"We must lead the men away from here the cause is doomed, we must retreat!" Maron shouts and soon enough the orders are passed down the ships remaining to him, and they begin turning east from King's Landing, the city going further from Maron's sight, and yet still he can hear the sound of the dragons bathing the ships in flame, and the Black Dread's roar is the most pressing thing on his mind, anything that the beast does will be hundred times worse than whatever any of the other dragons could inflict.

When he hears the beating of wings above the ship he begins to pray, and he braces himself for the end, when the flames hit, he is surprised by their brief nature, and dares to look up to see King Valarr mounted on Vermithor and Prince Daemon on Caraxes there leading the Black dread away from their ship, the king shouts down to them. "Wait here, I shall return." Though the King's intentions are noble it does not stop Ser Addam Velaryon on his dragon Seasmoke for arriving and trying to burn them to dust, only another big dragon, Maron will later know as Crimson Fury- that has been untamed since the days of King Aenys and King Maegor's childhood- kills both rider and dragon in a fury befitting her name that they are spared. Eventually King Valarr returns with his uncle Prince Daemon and they guide Maron and his crew back to King's Landing, where they are then brought to the ground by members of the City Watch and the Kingsguard.

Lord Corlys Velaryon the Hand of the King takes one look at Maron and his crew and then says to the members of the city watch present. "Take them to the Red Keep and show them to their rooms in the Keep, make sure they are provided for." That is the last Maron sees of either the king or the hand for a week until he is summoned before the King who sits atop the Iron Throne, a court session.

The King, Valarr noticed seemed older than his years, his face looked haggard and worn down by grief, unsurprising considering the toll this war would have had on him and his family. When he spoke though his voice was hard and cold, his eyes fixed directly on Maron. "Lord Maron, welcome to King's Landing. You fought bravely during the Battle of the Blackwater, but for the wrong side. My councillors would have me feed you to Vermithor for your treason, but I believe you have suffered enough. You watched my dragon burn your uncle and his men to dust, you have seen the carnage that the dragons can unleash on humankind. Your fleet was destroyed, even the ship you came on was so wrecked it fell apart, and though the Velaryon fleet was all but destroyed, it still remains, not so for the fleet of the Three Daughters. Now I shall offer you one chance to right the wrongs that have been committed by the Ironborn during this war. Bend the knee my lord, and you shall be pardoned and all past crimes forgotten, and you shall become Lord of Pyke and Lord Paramount of the Iron Islands, you shall wed your cousin Alyssa."

Maron stands there before the King and the Iron throne feeling speechless, though he has committed treason and lost his family for it, the King is offering him the chance to be forgiven and to become Lord of the Iron Islands and wed to Alyssa, his sweetheart. His voice is hoarse when he answers. "Then I shall bend the knee Your Grace." He gets down on one knee and says as loudly and confidently as he can. "I Maron of House Blacktyde, Lord of the Arbor do hereby solemnly swear my allegiance to his Grace King Valarr of House Targaryen, First of his name King of the Andals and the First name and Lord Protector of the Realm. And do hereby swear to defend his realm and uphold his laws to the best of my ability, I swear it by the Drowned God, the Old Gods and the Seven."

Maron looks up to see the King smiling down at him, when the King gets up off the throne and advances toward him, Maron still half expects the man to order his death. Still he gets a shiver when the King helps him stand, a smile still on his face and says in that deep voice of his. "Good my lord, I knew you would come round. I would have hated to have had to kill you. After all you were the last person my uncle had correspondence with, and I would use your experience on the Westerlands and of the Three Daughters to my advantage."

Maron is slightly confused by this. "Your Grace?"

The King turns to him then and says. "Oh yes, sorry I forgot to mention. Mine nuncle is marching for King's Landing with a host of men, intent on bringing the city back for my cousin. You shall be serving as a distraction from the main body of his forces."