Fire And Gold

chapter 9

Kings landing

The journey back to the capital feels long. Rhaenyra supposes that her desperation to get there makes it seem longer than it is, but she can't help but feel impatient given the circumstances.

Rhaenyra practically runs to the Red Keep when she finally does reach land. Not caring about her appearance, Rhaenyra only pauses for a moment to catch her breath before She retires back to her rooms for the evening, realising she has missed the comforts of home quite a lot. The lords who hosted her on her tour had accommodated her well enough, but none of their castles compare to the home she grew up in.

After having the servants draw her a bath, she rids herself of her clothes and lowers herself into the scorching hot water -- just as she likes it. Dragons like heat, after all. She relaxes there for a long time, closing her eyes and emptying her mind.

The sun has set by the time she opens her eyes again. She notices that her skin has started to wrinkle from the bath water, so she stands up and dries herself off, slipping on a robe before moving over to the mirror to brush her hair.

A knock on the door interrupts her. She calls on whoever it is to come in, and a servant she doesn't recognise ducks in only long enough to deposit a package onto one of her tables. "From Prince Daemon," she says before leaving just as quickly as she arrived.

Rhaenyra immediately goes to open the package, wondering what it could be. She's surprised to find it filled with page's clothes and a note directing her to push a panel on one of the walls in her room.

She tests the panel first, gasping when it gives way and opens up into a tunnel. One of Maegor's tunnels, she theorises, having grown up hearing about Maegor the Cruel's secret additions to the Red Keep. She thought they were just stories until now.

Next, she returns to the package and pulls out the clothes to inspect them properly. They look like a good fit for her, but they otherwise aren't much to behold. The fabric looks rough and discoloured, but she supposes that's the point. Fine robes would make her stand out, and she assumes that Daemon means to take her out into the city.

She puts the clothes on, making sure to tuck all of her hair into the cap Daemon provided. Only then does she enter the secret tunnel and navigate her way through the darkness. After a few steps, she turns back to obtain a candle so that she's able to see better.

Had she known this was here all along, she might have been inclined to post a guard here, but clearly its existence is a well-kept secret. She wouldn't be surprised if Daemon is the only living soul who knows of all the Red Keep's myriad of hidden passages.

After a few minutes of going through the tunnel, Rhaenyra can feel the breeze coming from in front of her. The air is sticky and humid as it often gets in the capital on summer nights, and her sweat makes the clothes stick uncomfortably to her skin.

She soon forgets her discomfort when her uncle comes into view. He is leaning on the edge of a wall that overlooks the city, and is similarly dressed to her. Excitement overwhelms Rhaenyra as she anticipates what he has planned for them.

"Are you going to show me the city?" she asks, grabbing onto Daemon's arm with enthusiasm.

Yes, Princess," he laughs, "come on."

He leads them down a narrow path which slips them onto a relatively empty alley. When she looks back, she swears that she isn't able to see the path they just came from.

"It's an optical illusion," Daemon tells her when he notices where she's looking, "you have to approach it from a certain direction."

"An optical illusion, you say? How?" she inquires.