Heir of Shadows, Rhaenyra x Alicent

Chapter 7. Revenge

Rhaenyra was finally facing her uncle. This was her chance to show him that she was not to be underestimated. For years she had longed for this opportunity and now it had finally arrived. Under the eyes of the crowd, her father, and Alicent, she would defeat her uncle and win the tourney.

As the joust began, Rhaenyra whipped her reigns, and her horse sped forward. She raised her lance and aimed it at Daemon's chest. They both ended up missing each other, so they went around again. On her second attempt, she managed to hit her uncle's arm, which most likely hurt him but did not cause him to fall.

They went around a few more times, landing small but ineffective blows on each other before Daemon finally hit her square in the chest. Rhaenyra had to grip onto her reigns to avoid being thrown off, she felt a bit dizzy and for a moment she could not breathe but still managed to stay on her horse.

They went around again and as she rode past the royal box she glanced up and met Alicent's eye.

Alicent looked terrified, staring down at her with a worried expression. She was scared for her.  Rhaenyra had never felt more motivated to win before. She needed to win so Alicent would see how much Rhaenyra cared about her and not feel the need to fear anymore. 

Rhaenyra turned her attention back to Daemon and noticed he was aiming for her head. She was in the moment, everything felt like it was happening in slow motion. Just before he made contact she ducked down and brought her lance up to hit hard him in the stomach.

Just as she had hoped he doubled over, winded from the blow, and as his grip on his reign weakened he was thrown off his horse.

He landed heavily on the floor with a bang and the crowd erupted into cheers. Rhaenyra raised her fist in victory, barely able to stay upright on her horse but victorious nonetheless.

She watched as Daemon got up from the ground and unsheathed his sword. Rhaenyra had expected as much, her uncle would not go down without a fight. 

"Prince Daemon Targaryen wishes to continue in a contest of arms!"

Rhaenyra slid off her horse, grabbed a shield, and unsheathed her sword. She eyed Daemon as he walked towards her. "Uncle, are you sure about this?"

"I have never been so certain about something in my life." He spat, attacking her first. She met his sword head-on, dodging and blocking his flurry of attacks.

She managed to get a few swings in herself but mainly focused on defence. Daemon was a lot stronger than her and far more aggressive, but she was faster. If she let him use up all this energy she should be able to win.

She was slightly too slow with one of her dodges and Daemon's sword made contact with her arm, getting stuck in her armour. Daemon struggled for a moment to get his sword out of the metal and she used this distraction to swing at him with her shield.

The shield hit him across the head, causing him to stumble a bit. She managed to get free of his sword and move away from him. She stayed at a distance, watching him carefully.

When he recovered he started to laugh at her. "Yes, run boy. Show your kingdom what a coward you are."

Rage fuelled through her and she launched at him, swinging her sword wildly. Daemon blocked all of her attacks and used her outburst to thump her in the chest with the dull side of the sword, causing her to stumble and fall backwards.

She hit the floor hard and barely had time to roll out of the way before Daemon swung at her again. She kicked his leg, causing him to fall with her.

At some point in the fight, her helmet had fallen off so she was trying to protect her face as much as possible, covering herself with her hands every time Daemon got too close.