𝐖𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐘 | 𝐝𝐚𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐲𝐞𝐧

4 - a wreath

A few days passed and Aruna felt sorry for herself. She had had a lot of time to think about what had happened and had decided to forget everything.

She was embarrassed by the evening with Daemon and the worst proposal ever. Aruna had acted out of the effect. At that moment, the thought had felt right. But now she had realised that there could be no future between her and Daemon. The Targaryen was an experienced man with expectations and Aruna was just a young woman who had no idea how to live her life.

She hadn't told anyone about the evening and she wasn't planning to anytime soon. Daemon stayed out of her way and didn't talk to her anymore either. Aruna had truly messed it up, and they had gotten along so well.

King Viserys had cancelled almost all the celebrations surrounding his daughter's marriage. But he could no longer cancel the tournament. Many knights and young men eager for fame and fortune had travelled to King's Landing. To cancel the tournament now would only have caused tumult and trouble.

Viserys had spared no expense or effort for this tournament. From a puppet show to archery, there was everything. But the most popular event was still the jousting, where men sometimes fought for their lives.

Aruna thought this event was overrated. It wasn't too exciting, everyone thought, and far too dangerous. She planned not to come. She would have preferred to pretend to be sick or play with the children at the puppet theatre, but her brother would also be competing today.

She had tried to convince him not to come for hours. Aruna just didn't want to watch him put himself in danger for such nonsense. But it was her friend Rhaenyra who had ruined her plans by inviting her to the Royal Lodge. She was the only one from House Tyrell who was allowed to sit here.

The morning after the eventful evening, there was a big argument between the Tyrell members. Estella had literally gone berserk and spilled all the tea. She had lectured Aruna, although it wasn't even her fault. Rhaenyra had made her her lady without asking Aruna first! She didn't regret it, but it certainly would have saved her trouble.

She had only received a pitying look from her uncle when her aunt had slapped her in the face at the end of her speech. Neither he nor Elio had helped her and Adrik couldn't because he wasn't there. Aruna hadn't told him about the argument either. He should not worry or cause trouble unnecessarily before the tournament.

Disappointed with herself, Aruna sighed. Before they had travelled to King's Landing, the two siblings had never kept secrets from each other and now they had hundreds of them. she wondered if Adrik had secrets from her too?

Rhaenyra put a hand on her friend's leg and looked at her encouragingly. "Your brother is a good fighter. Nothing will happen to him" Her husband Laenor, who was sitting next to her, agreed. He would have liked to compete too, but as Prince Consort it was no longer his place. There was a high chance that he would get hurt.

Aruna's guilty conscience continued to grow. She had not told Rhaenyra about the evening with Daemon. The fear of her friend's reaction was too big. After all, Daemon was Rhaenyra's uncle and they were close.

In the royal lodge, apart from the three of them, sat the king and queen, Laenor's parents and sister, and some advisors whom Aruna did not know. She did not know most of the people here and it made her uncomfortable.

Princess Rhaenyra opened the tournament with a short speech. Then the first fights started.

Two armoured riders stood on the field. Between them was a barrier and a few metres. The warriors usually competed in pairs and the loser often had to leave his horse and expensive armour to the winner. Mostly, however, the loser was eliminated by being killed and the winner was allowed to compete again in the next round.