Bringing the Dawn

LX.

Jaeron Targaryen

Kings Landing, 301AC

The air was crisp that morning. Incredibly crisp. To the point it was almost like it were the air in the North. That is, if it weren't for the lingering stench of shit that was coming from within the high walls surrounding the city. Hearing the city stunk, knowing the city stunk, and reading that the city stunk was no preparation for how bad it truly was. At Rosby, no one could smell it but the moment they were halfway between there and Kings Landing it was noticeable. The closer they got, the stronger it got until it was practically all anyone could think about and had resulted in many people emptying what they had eaten that day.

He could count himself lucky though, for he could easily escape it unlike his men by jumping on Rhaegon's back. Which is what he was doing right now and remaining right where the clouds split into clear sky. Trusting the white and grey clouds would act as a disguise for his mount so he could scout the defences from above. Along the walls there were a few thousand men and noticing with irritation they also had scorpions. The very weapon that had been used to take down his own ancestor Queen Rhaenys when she swooped in on Hellholt trying to force Dorne join the Kingdom's.

They would have to be dealt with first, Jaeron knew that much. Once they were out there were no more weapons out in the open that could harm either of his dragons. Behind the walls there were even more lines of troops, estimating perhaps ten thousand. Not a small number by any means but he had the Reach behind him now, and the Reach had much more men than that. The streets of the city had a few soldiers dotted around but not many, the reasoning being clear and that angered him even more. They cared nought for those who would lose oh so much this day. For one cannot win a war without mass murder, and they would be the ones committing said mass murder getting closer to the Blackwater where the Red Keep stood in all its glory.

To say he had been disappointed was an understatement. Everything he read about the castle Aegon the Conqueror had begun building but was not completed until Maegor the Cruel usurped his nephew to become the King seemed to make it incredible. Everyone said it was hundreds of feet tall with dozens of towers and castles built within castles built within another castle. But that wasn't the case. Granted, there was a castle within the castle itself, deducing this must be Maegor's Holdfast, but other than this? Nothing. There weren't dozens of towers, the castle itself perhaps stood at most one hundred and fifty feet. Whilst impressive, it wasn't what he had expected. The only thing that appeared to be correct was the colour of the castle with the red sandstone bricks and the sprawling gardens.

Within the walls of the Keep was where the most men were, he noticed. Clearly splitting their army up by weakest to strongest or perhaps mixing a few of their strongest in with their weakest to make it not be so obvious so that when they reached the Keep they were hoping they would be tired out enough to be easily stamped out. Once confident he had gotten a good guess at the initial defences, he flew back down towards the army and walking directly into the war council that had been called, confirming everything he had seen. Robb being the first to speak.

"We have the final count of our army and it is already confirmed that the Blackwater has been blockaded so there will be no escape across the Narrow Sea for them. They're surrounded- "

"Explain the defences again, your Grace?"

Arthur cut in, Robb stiffening for barely a second but managing to compose himself. Once again, Jaeron confirmed what he had spotted but the Knight's eyebrows creased worriedly as he pulled out the map of the city they had gotten from the town outside of Rosby. Writing down everything with some ink so they could see it all themselves and not simply imagine it all.

"Why are there so many openings?"

Robb asked again, seemingly catching on to whatever it was Arthur had clearly spotted.