-Chapter 189-
-The Next Day-
-POV Ormund Hightower-
Knock… Knock… Knock…
"Who is it?" I grumbled, emerging from my sleep as I had been sleeping peacefully.
I was slightly annoyed that someone had made it all the way here without being stopped by my personal guard beforehand.
Still, I wasn't blind — if this person hadn't been stopped by the handful of knights granted permission to enter the Red Keep and tasked with protecting me and my family, then they clearly had authority far above mine.
'At least within this castle,' I thought, hastily throwing on a nightshirt.
The door suddenly opened, not giving me time to finish dressing properly.
I was about to complain when I saw my nephew at the door — Prince Aegon.
I said to him, frowning as I continued getting dressed:
"Did your mother not—"
The Prince didn't even have the courtesy to let me finish my sentence before he abruptly interrupted.
"The Queen requests your presence in her quarters immediately," he said urgently.
Glancing behind him, I saw he was accompanied by a few of his new companions, all significantly older than him.
'And far more skilled too,' I thought, envious of the aura Prince Aegon had gained after the tournament, making him a beacon for the new generation of knights emerging on the scene.
He was skilled with a sword, knocking grown men to the ground during training sessions, just as he was skilled with his tongue when convincing nobles he was the right choice to back.
'I'd seen him in action, and for a kid, he'd impressed me.'
He was undoubtedly intelligent and mature for his age.
He had his own dragon, one he had hatched himself.
He was perfect in everything he did.
'And he is the oldest male born of our king's seed — the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.'
'He reminded me somewhat of Prince Aemon when his talents first began to blossom.'
What bothered me about him, however, was that he was far more a Targaryen than a Hightower.
He too often forgot half of his lineage for my taste… No, he didn't forget — he tried to bury it, so that the rest of his family would forget he wasn't born of that repulsive and disgusting incestuous tradition the Targaryens worshipped in the name of keeping their blood so… pure.
'A shame normal people can't wield all that power,' I thought as I finished dressing in silence, recognizing the solemn tone he had used with me.
"What's going on?" I asked once I stepped out of my room.
"Bryndon has…"
The Prince began to speak, but then sighed heavily — not out of weariness, but frustration — before shaking his head and saying:
"Mother will tell you herself what crime that idiot has committed."
The difficulty the Prince had speaking about my cousin's supposed crime deeply troubled me.
It couldn't be a small matter if it had warranted waking me so forcefully.
The entire way to the Queen's private chambers, no one spoke a word, and I could feel the tension among everyone.
The nervousness of those escorting me made it impossible to stay calm.
I couldn't stop my mind from wandering in every direction, imagining all kinds of scenarios that filled me with dread.
Once in front of the Queen's private chambers, everyone stopped and watched the surroundings, and only the Prince moved forward, nodding to the two Royal Guard twins, Ser Erryk and Ser Arryk Cargyll, who stood vigilant.
Aegon pushed open the door, and what I saw froze me… Alicent — but not the Alicent I knew.
She was no longer the radiant queen I had seen glowing in the royal gardens just yesterday afternoon.
Nooo, far from it — my cousin was a wreck.
Dark circles underlined her eyes as she stared blankly ahead. Her hair was a mess, uncombed and wild, she wore only a robe and was sitting in a corner of the room, biting her nails and the skin around them until she bled.
"What's going on here?" I asked, worried by my cousin's state. And in Aegon's eyes, I could see deep sadness and anger.
He said nothing, forcing me to return my gaze to my cousin.
Alicent stirred when she heard me and stood up, in a state I could only describe as trance-like.
As if she wasn't really there.
She stared at me for a few seconds before looking away into the void, then said in a detached tone:
"I have to kill Bryndon."
My brow furrowed at the tone she used while speaking so casually of killing her own brother.
Then I said, angry now as her condition seriously worried me:
"What are you talking about? That's your brother, Alicent!"
"I know," she said in the same tone, then added, "Bryndon must die anyway."
I turned away from this woman who now seemed completely insane and looked at my nephew again — I shouldn't have.
He was watching his mother in this state and seemed to completely agree with her words.
He even looked like he wanted to do it himself.
'They're both mad,' I thought, beginning to feel the Stranger's scythe and the chill of his breath on the back of my neck.
"Did you put this absurd idea in her head?" I asked furiously, forgetting all the polite words I usually used when addressing my nephew, because I was beginning to wonder what on earth they were thinking to go after a member of our own family.
'After Bryndon, am I next?' I thought, now feeling Aegon's hostility toward us Hightowers more clearly than I ever had before.
'Without me, he'd be nothing,' I thought.
Without the name of my House to shield him, Aegon would have died with his mouth open in some gutter of the capital like all the little bastards trying to claim a place that was never theirs.
It was my blood that made this little prince a living little prince — and not a dead one.
'Even now that he has his own dragon.'
"Aegon had nothing to do with it," said Alicent, turning toward me — and I could see a flicker of lucidity in her eyes before she looked back into the void again, which made me want to scream with rage and frustration.
"What happened to you?" I asked, not really expecting an answer, but I got one.
"What happened is that I started losing every single member of my family, and I will NEVER EVER LET ANY OF YOU TAKE MY CHILDREN FROM ME," said Alicent, screaming hysterically at the end.
'What is she talking about?' I wondered, unable to make sense of this madness.
"What did he do?" I asked, trying to put myself in their shoes to understand what Bryndon could possibly have done to make them want to get rid of him.
"He killed Laenor," said Aegon simply, but it felt like a thunderclap struck my ears and ripped through my entire body.
'What?' I thought as I said it aloud, then stammered furiously, unable to believe what I had just heard:
"Wha… What… What did that idiot do?"
Aegon said, "He had Laenor killed and—"
"And?" I asked, abruptly cutting him off.
'As if that wasn't already enough?' I thought as I still listened to what my nephew had to add.
"My cousin figured it out," he finished.
"Which cousin?" I asked, my guts twisting in fear, praying to the gods that it was anyone… anyone except…
"Who do you think I'm talking about? Aemon, of course," said Aegon, looking at me like I was an idiot. But I didn't have the strength to put him in his place — I collapsed… literally.
I dropped to my knees and held my head in my hands, because all our efforts… all our efforts to help that idiot preserve his father's life were now coming back to hit us like a boomerang.
'To kill us all.'
The crowds we had stirred were only just beginning to show signs of calming down.
'And that, by some miracle.'
'And this idiot… this moron… this fool had found the worst… THE WORST POSSIBLE WAY TO BLOW EVERYTHING UP.'
"He's going to have him killed," I whispered, sealing his fate — because Aemon would never forgive that idiot.
'I wouldn't either.'
"Without a doubt," said Aegon, rolling his eyes as I stated the obvious — but I didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore. Bryndon had made sure of that.
"We're ruined," I said in terror. I could hear my heart pounding in my temples and chest like war drums. I continued:
"The crowds will rise against a tyrant and we'll be caught in the middle of all this mess. We'll lose the King's favor, Rhaenyra will be crowned Queen without even lifting a finger, and we—if we're lucky enough to survive—will be nothing."
"Aemon was here earlier," said Alicent, once again finding a trace of lucidity, before saying, "He told me that if he had to suppress the uprising, he… he would root it out entirely. Everything and everyone. If the dragon must rise, he'll burn it all to ash."
I was breathing hard, furious, with nowhere to direct this anger, because everything was pointless now.
Bryndon had ruined us — destroyed us completely in a single day.
'Thousands of generations building a legacy for the next, all for NOTHING,' I thought, wanting to scream and cry at the same time.
I clenched my fist, then began pounding the floor as hard as I could, again and again, silently cursing the day that idiot Bryndon was born.
'YOUR MOTHER SHOULD'VE SWALLOWED YOU,' I screamed inside.
"But he gave us a chance," said Aegon, forcing me to stop my self-destruction and look up at him, filled with hope. "He's letting us judge and execute Bryndon ourselves."
I closed my eyes, feeling a relief I could never put into words, suddenly wash over me the moment I heard my nephew's words.
'This allows Bryndon to be judged for his actions without anyone raising objections,' I thought, instantly understanding what Prince Aemon had in mind.
"As his lord, will you oppose it?" my nephew asked — and the look I gave him was answer enough. But I added coldly:
"House Hightower will neither commit nor support such an act of treason, and I will gladly prove it before the court by taking Bryndon's head myself."
It might have been cold, it might have been heartless, but it was necessary.
In a few generations — or even a few hours — people may call me a kinslayer, but… at least my family and I will still be alive.
'You chose your path, cousin — you can't blame me for choosing to stay alive to protect ours.'