Hail to the Stag Kings

Chapter 3: The Baratheon Brothers

Red Keep — Maegor's Holdfast...

In the tower room at the heart of Maegor's Holdfast, Daemon paced around his innermost chambers in confinement. Madness! Madness that had quickly deteriorated so fast before his very eyes.

Parliament abruptly disbanded, its members detained and labeled as traitors to the realm, General Gerion shot and killed MP Quentyn Manwoody in front of everyone in less than a heartbeat, one of his brother's enforcers hitting him in the stomach that caused his passing out... but the sight of Sharra and Samson being hauled away by Argilac's men before losing consciousness... what was he thinking? What was Argilac planning on doing to them? The dishes piled up on the table beneath his window until Daemon demanded the servants leave him alone. Sometimes he wondered how long they kept him locked in his room. Multiple servants came and went, bringing meals, but the sight of food was more than he could bear.

He could see from outside his window a large gathering of protestors near the gates of the Red Keep on the streets below already. He had not seen so many gathering in one place. They must have figured out what had happened. This will not end well. These people do not even realize what Argilac's capable of when you get right in his face like that... Brother, what have you done? he wondered.

When they finally came for him, Daemon could hear their clanking footsteps marching in near-perfect unison. Disciplined, fearless... these men were the elites. It was they who opened his door before slamming it behind them and glared at him menacingly. "What do you want?" he demanded.

"The King has demanded your presence. Come with us."

"I can escort myself—"

They then drew their swords and flintlocks at him. "Come with us. Now. We will not say it again," the leading one demanded.

"Do are you're bid, boy," chimed another.

"How dare you talk to me in that manner—" Daemon hissed. One tried to grab him by the arm rather roughly, but the Prince yanked it away. "Don't touch me. Take me to my brother then. I demand an immediate audience with him."

One guard turned to their commander. "Captain," he said. They were itching for a fight. They wanted an excuse to exercise their brutality with no risk of reprisal. It was their mandate granted to them by Argilac himself.

"From the way I see it, Prince Daemon," the captain said, "you have two options: you can either come with us of your own volition... or you can come with us in chains, kicking and screaming the whole way. Which do you prefer?"

"Just take me to Argilac already!"

One by one, the fanatical guards surrounded Daemon and escorted him out of his chambers and down a flight of stairs leading into the castle's main courtyards of the lower bailey before crossing the serpentine steps through the middle bailey into the outer yard before arriving at the doors leading directly into the throne room.

Red Keep — Throne room...

The throne room changed drastically since his ancestors' time: where the vine motifs and candelabra once decorated the immense bronze columns with tall windows depicting stags were quickly replaced when Argilac ascended to monarchy; now, the entire hall was modified to mirror the ancient conquerors of House Targaryen during their reign. The vine motifs and candelabra were removed and replaced with large metallic black braziers constantly ablaze; the stained-glass window depicting the seven-pointed star of the Faith of the Seven was changed to a red stained-glass window. But the most prominent feature was behind the throne: hanging atop the walls were the skulls of Drogon the Winged Shadow and Viserion the Undead—who once fought his ancestors and threatened the realm 800 years ago. Although dragons have been declared legally extinct, the levels of destruction and raw power those majestic beasts displayed were forever recorded in the annals of history.