The Rogue Prince

Chapter 2

Thankfully they're interrupted. A raven has arrived from King's Landing with a message for Daemon. He takes the scroll from the servant and breaks open the seal. While he's distracted reading, Myranda slips away, hurrying back to her room.

Perhaps the King has finally summoned him. That would be fortunate. Daemon doesn't belong in the Vale, and his words have Myranda fearing for the safety of her cousin.

She resolves to warn Rhea as soon as she returns from her ride. It will be a difficult conversation to have, but it must be done. She owes it to her cousin and her conscience.

...But Rhea never returns from her ride. The hour grows late, darkness falls, but there is no sign of her or Daemon.

A search party is sent out.

The message for Prince Daemon is found -he must have tossed it aside after he'd read it. A friend wrote to inform him that his niece, the Princess Rhaenyra, would be married in a weeks' time to Ser Laenor Velaryon, and that a welcome feast was to take place in the Red Keep the very next evening.

That explained his absence then. Daemon must have taken Caraxes and flown back to King's Landing to celebrate with his family. But where was Rhea?

***

Myranda is awoken from an uneasy doze some hours later by a distressed servant.

"Lady Rhea is dead."

Myranda stares at her, too horrified to speak. She feels nauseous. She thinks she might burst into tears. Oh Gods! She's too late!

"A hunting mishap," the servant continues. "She was thrown from her horse. Her neck and skull both crushed in the fall."

Myranda blinks rapidly. She doesn't know what to make of that. Maybe Daemon didn't kill her then... it could just be an incredible coincidence; a dreadful, dreadful accident.

But no. She knows the truth, in her blood and in her bones. Lady Rhea's skill as both a rider and hunter were well-known. And Daemon... was he using the excuse of the wedding to flee the scene of the crime? That was possible. He probably left the scroll behind on purpose.

Myranda is not the only one who's suspicious. Her cousin, Ser Gerold Royce, announces that he will travel to King's Landing at once, and confront the Rogue Prince himself.

"In the Vale, men are made to answer for their crimes. Even Targaryens!" he declares.

Myranda doesn't think that will end well, but no argument will dissuade Ser Gerold from going. He sets sail, along with their household guard, at dawn for King's Landing, and Myranda is left to grieve alone.

She busies herself with making arrangements for Rhea's burial, sick with guilt and trepidation. If only she had been able to go to Rhea at once, perhaps she might have prevented her death!

She is terrified of what will happen next. Will the Prince kill Ser Gerold too? Will he return to the Vale?

She's not left in suspense for long.

Two days after Rhea's death, she's in the field collecting wildflowers, when she hears the tell-tale whistle of Daemon's dragon Caraxes. She looks up at the sky just as the Blood Wyrm breaks through the clouds overhead.

Myranda freezes, ice trickling down her spine. Then she drops her basket and bolts for the castle. Caraxes shadow passes over her. She runs faster, faster than she ever has in her life. But a dragon is faster.

Caraxes lands in the empty courtyard just as she reaches it, blocking her way. Myranda doesn't stop. Perhaps it's irrational, but all she can think is that Daemon killed her cousin, perhaps both her cousins, and now he's come to kill her too.