Honey and Blood

Blue Hair Dye

The sky was filled with dragons.

It had been a while since Daerion had seen so many dragon in the same place. The Targeryans rarely visited their seat of power and it was the first time that the whole family made their way to Dragonstone together. It was the weeding of one of the King's daughters, Princess Daella, to one of the member of the family of House Arryn. The town of Dragonstone had been instructed to clean the streets, to prepare hearty fish pies and for the whore to get pretty as visits after the wedding from the Lords will be inevitable. It was an unusually small wedding for the royal family because apparently Princess Daella had a crippling fear of big crowds and noice.

Daerion had heard that besides the small ceremony at the castle, there would be a small tournament and a little feast as well. People of the village had been hired to bake the food, to make the swords and the needed armor and provide the needed cup bearers and squires. Gidden and many of the other boys had been enlisted to be squires but Daerion's mother had forbidden him. She had told him that they would cut off his head if they saw his silver hair and purple eyes.

He was helping Gidden and his father to prepare the commissioned swords for the tourney that was happening that day. It was a warm summer days and the heat was making everybody sweat, especially if you were standing near the burning furnaces of the blacksmith's house.

"-You are really missing out on the festivities? - Gidden asked as they loaded the fresh sword in a charette to be taken to the castle. Gidden was short and stout but of kind character and dirty mind. He was sweating from the heat. - I've heard that there are gonna be young maidens there, desperate to try on some common folk. This might be my chance to score a noble maid.

-Mother forbade it. - Daerion answered. Daerion was helping him sharpen the brand new sword with a wet stone. - She thinks that if the King seems me that he'll feed me to his dragons.

-Cause you are a bastard? - Gidden asked with a little laughter as he let some sword on the cart. - You are not the first Targeryan seed in the town. Do you remember your great grandfather and his brother? They had silver hair too, even my uncle's uncle had purple eyes. Targaryen bastards are pretty common in Dragonstone.

- Perhaps, but they are definitely rare outside of this Island. - Daerion answered as he carefully passed the wet stone on the sharp sword. - Mother thinks that the lords who are coming with the royal family might do an uproar if they found out that there is a Targareyan bastard running around. She is terrified of the Queen.

-Well, I think that she is quite stupid. - Gidden replied, struggling to hold on to all of the swords that he was carrying. - Wouldn't you like to participate in a joust?

Daerion stopped on his tracks. The truth was that he dreamed of it. He had heard the tales of Ser Merrwin of the Mirror Shield and of the great knights of long past. Men that were once the dirt of society, claiming their glory and power thought the noble art of chivalry. He had to admit that it was kind of embarrassing the way he secretly practiced combat in the back of the house of the Whore house or the way he tried to say in shape by eating as much meat pies as he could.

-Of course, I would like to. - Daerion admitted, continuing his work. - I'll be no good however and I don't think I have the courage I need.

- That is a lie. There is no better swordsman in Dragonstone than you. - Gidden said to him. - I say, sneak in. We have a extra set of armor in the smithery, you grab it and participate in that little tourney as an anonymous knight.

-How would I sneak in? - Daerion asked. - They'll execute me right on the spot if they see me.

-You do not have to sneak into the festivities at all. - Gidden argued. - You just have to walk in with me, say that you are one of the hired squires of one of the houses invited to the wedding. Then you just sneak into the jousting contest, they won't ask any questions.

-What about my Targeryan blood? - Daerion asked. - The guard will lose their mind when they'll see me.

- I may have an idea. - Gidden answered."

Gidden entered the blacksmith's house and came back with a little vail of blue liquid. He handed it to Daerion who took it carefully and was kind of surprized. He opened it and it smelled like one of those perfumes that the whores used. It didn't smell that good.

"- What is this? - Daerion asked with curiosity as he wrinkled his nose at the gross smell.

-It's hair paint. - Gidden said.

-Hair paint? - Daerion asked with a smile.

-Why is it blue?

-Cause it paints your hair blue. - Gidden clarified with a smile. - You hair will be deeply dye blue and nobody will be able to recognize.

-So you would argue that someone with blue hair is less suspicious than someone with silver hair? - Daerion asked.

-Just shut up and dye your hair, Daerion. - Gidden answered."

Gidden continued loading the swords on the cart. Daerion took a second look at the bottle of hair dye. It could be fun, nobody would know that he left to see what the little tourney was about and his mother wouldn't mind if he was missing a couple of hours. The real question was if he would dare to sneak into the jousting tournament and go against a few opponents. Was he really that reckless?

The thought of being on a horse and fighting someone excited him. He wanted that heroic glory, he wanted song about him and he wanted for the world to cheer him. The truth was that he wanted to be beloved just for a few seconds. He had the skills, that much was true, the real question was if he had the nerves to do it.