The Realm's Delight

Chapter 12

Neither of us repeated the events of that day afterwards. Both of us acknowledged what had occurred between us, accepted the events for what they were and moved on still as friends. We both knew that there was no use pining for it to happen again or dreaming about a future between us from that point on.

From that point on Alicent was whisked away to be taught about the duties of a Queen. Father wanted to make sure Alicent had a good grasp of her duties before they were married and she was thrust into them. The Grand Maester, Septa and Hand of The King personally saw to this education.

I on the other hand went on doing what I usually did. My father's marriage did not affect me in a big way, my duties would remain the same so I did not need to be taught anything new. But without Alicent around to hang out with, I found a lot more free time on my hands.

Most of the time this free time was spent either riding Vhagar or training with Ser Criston. The man was impressed with how much I knew about the sword since he did not know another woman who could properly hold a sword or consecutively hit a weak spot more than once. It was his way of saying I was good for a girl, a grating assessment of the skills I picked up many years ago. But one sparring session with the man and I knew that I had so much more to learn, that what I knew was disgustingly little.

Every morning before or after the Council Meeting, depending on when I was being called to them, Ser Criston and I would hit the training grounds. It was decided that it would be better if we started from scratch rather than pick up from how much I learned, starting with getting me a sword that I would be able to wield easier than what I was using till now. I had grown kind of attached to my shortsword, so with the littlest sadness did I relinquish it.

Ser Criston and I spend days first designing the kind of sword that would fit me, a blade made purely for me. We sat after supper and sometimes after dinner to flesh out the kind of weapon I wanted to forge. We trained in the meantime with a wooden sword, relearning the basics the correct way, learning my stances, the way I swung my sword and the best way to hack a man's head off. The process was slow but I was having more fun than I did when I first learned to wield a sword. Ser Criston was a hard taskmaster, drilling me and not shying away from pointing out what mistakes I was doing, something the now-deceased Master at Arms of Dragonstone did not do. It occurred to me that maybe the man did not really train me, or that my Great Grandfather pulled the wool over my eyes and I was only led to believe I was learning something. It made me furious, and was the topic of one of my lessons, to never lose your cool during combat.

The training was not remotely done by the time Ser Criston and I finally found the perfect weapon for me. The forge master only took a day to complete the weapon, since it was a request by the Princess and he wanted to have an impression on me. Or at least I thought that was why the weapon was forged in a single day.

The weapon in question was a sword. Much like Dark Sister it was a sword forged to be wielded by a woman. But unlike the other ancestral sword of House Targaryen, this one was a bastard sword. The blade forged was slender and silver in colour, forged to be wielded by a woman. The cross guard was a simple one, coloured a dark bronze with a green stone stuck where the blade met the cross guard. The hilt of the blade was black and the pommel was carved to look like the head of a roaring dragon with emerald eyes. I decided to call the blade Dragon Fang since the blade reminded me of Vhagar's teeth.

I did not use this new sword yet. Ser Criston informed me that I would be required to build some muscle and get better with a sword before I was to use the blade. I respected my teacher's wishes but still carried the blade around with me with a hint of pride. Father loved the blade when I showed it to him.

As for things with Mysaria, things were progressing smoothly. The first thing that I needed to make sure of was that she should believe that she could trust me. It was the pillar on which I was building my relationship with her. I had given her the freedom she desired, given her a business she could work on so her days as a whore was over. She was thankful to me for those things but I needed more than just her gratitude.