Breakbones and the Dragonrider

Chapter 11

Everything was a blur for the next half hour. Rhaenyra was sitting in Harwin's saddle in front of him, his arms very nearly around her as he held Baron's reins. Rhaenyra gently helt Baron's mane as they galloped toward Harrenhal.

When they cleared the forest, Harrenhal cast an impressive print on the horizon. It was, after all, the largest castle in Westeros. Rhaenyra stared at it in an oddly detached manner, and it seemed no time at all before they were at its gates, which opened for them upon seeing their approach. All eleven horses slowed to a stop on the cobblestone of the courtyard, and Harwin dismounted first to help Rhaenyra down.

A party of people all stood on the steps to the central entrance to Harrenhal, ready to receive the royal party. A very elegantly dressed older woman, and two girls Rhaenyra assumed were Harwin's sisters. Several maesters and various members of the household also stood ready to receive them. The mistress's face fell when she saw how frenzied they approached.

"Harwin, what's happened?" the woman asked.

"We were attacked on the road. They nearly took her highness," he said, and looked back at Rhaenyra. He reevaluated the cut on her neck, and looked to one of the Maesters. "Maester Gillis, please see to the princess's injuries. Ser Tomas, Ser Filip, please see the princess to the safety of the west tower. My mother will show you the way."

---

In the hours since Rhaenyra's arrival to Harrenhal, she had been spirited away to the safety of one of the towers, she had been tended by a Maester who put a salve on her cut. He told her it would heal quickly, and that her wrists may be sore for a few days, but they were not broken.

Now she sat with Laenor on the bed in her chambers, trembling in shock. Laenor smoothed her hair back, and put one arm around her midsection, holding her to him.

Laenor told Rhaenyra about the chaos that followed after her horse raced back to the caravan, and he was kept from riding with the Goldcloaks and Kingsguard. No one knew what the threat was.

Rhaenyra breathed shakily a moment. "The man... the man who had me. What happened to him? Has he said why they attacked us?"

"Rhaenyra, you've been through so much already," Laenor said. "Ser Harwin and his men have this handled. Let them do what they do best."

"I need to know what's happening, Laenor," Rhaenyra reasoned. "I won't sit here like some frightened bird in a cage..." she stood suddenly, not thinking. She opened the door, and found the stairwell that had led her up to the tower. When she got to the bottom of it, Ser Tomas stood in her way.

"Where do they have the prisoner?" Rhaenyra asked.

"The dungeons, your highness, but I've been ordered to—"

"Ser Tomas," Rhaenyra said calmly. "I am the daughter of the king, and I am commanding you to take me to the prisoner."

Ser Tomas nodded, and led Rhaenyra through the interior of Harrenal. Rhaenyra would have taken a moment to appreciate the sheer scale of the interior chamber. It shamed even the Throne Room in the Red Keep.

When Tomas had finally brought Rhaenyra to the gate that led down into the dungeon, she paused a moment. She had an idea of what she might find down there, but she would never be ready to face it. Just as Tomas spoke to the man holding the keys at the entrance, Laenor caught up with her.

"Rhaenyra," Laenor pleaded, his hand at her elbow. "You don't have to do any of this. Let us handle it."

Rhaenyra bristled at the implied meaning. Men. Let us men handle this.

She set her shoulders back. "I am the blood of the dragon, Laenor, and the heir to the Iron Throne. I will handle my own crisis."

No man resisted her from then on, and as Rhaenyra walked down the corridor of cells, lit by torchlight, her heart dropped when she saw Harwin stepping out of one cell. His sweat drenched hair hung around his face, and when he saw Rhaenyra approaching him, his eyes went straight to Laenor behind her.