The Dragon & The Wolf

The Rulers of the Red Keep

Chapter 14 : 'The Queen and the Hand'

Chapter 15 : 'The Shadow of Arthur Stark

Chapter 16 : 'The Nastiest Viper'

Chapter 17 : ' A Game of Pain & Passion'

Chapter 18 : 'A Tale of Waters and Snow'

Chapter 19 : 'The Northern Fist'

Chapter 20: 'Double Dual'

Chapter 21: 'Dragon against Wolf'

Chapter 22: 'The Tournament of Pretenders'

Chapter 23: "The divided Pack"

Chapter 24: "Too far, too late"

Chapter 25: "The Ghosts of Guilt"

Chapter 26 : "How time and blood flow"

Chapter 27: "Those who rule over Winter"

Chapter 28: "Clinging to hope"

are available here =

w w w . p a t r(e)on (slash) MonsieurLAH

Enjoy reading!

Chapter XIII : The Rulers of the Red Keep
It was a disastrous day for Otto Hightower, one he was sure was just as disastrous for the Realm itself. It was as if the Gods themselves had wanted to underline the seriousness of the situation by bringing down a downpour of the likes that had not been seen in King's landing for years. The former Hand of the King, who had ruled over the Red Keep and the Seven Kingdoms for fifteen years, had been stripped of all the dignity and respect he had accumulated over the years. Now, he was nothing more than an old knight over forty years old, without a sword, an armor, or a piece of land. The only things he had left was the fortune he had accumulated over the years, and his Taargaryen grandchildren whose creation he had orchestrated. He had been robbed and brutalized like a common farmer by a northern barbarian of eighteen namedays. Everything that had been stored in his trailer was what his replacement had deigned to let him take. A reminder that whatever Otto had, Arthur Stark could now take it.

"A moment."

Otto, who was about to mount his horse, stopped himself. His greatest achievement had not been as ungrateful as he could have had expected her to be; his daughter Alicent, Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.

"I do not wish to see you go." She said once in front of her father, her voice trembling.

"Such is the King's decision." Her father reminded her. "He chose a new Hand."

"A decision I most bitterly regret."

Otto failed to suppress the angry scowl that adorn his face.

"Do you, now?Yet, you made it possible. You stabbed me in the back at a crucial moment."

Alicent froze in shame and lowered her head.

"I..."

"You're not going to make me believe that using septas was your friend's idea.I know it was you who summoned them to the Red Keep to exculpate Arthur Stark." He accused her, yet this time, Alicent refused to suffer her father's remonstrances.

"You were wrong! Your spy lied to you and put you in this position!" She countered as tears were running down her cheeks. "I only did what was right, I prevented an innocent man from being punished for a crime that never existed, and I prevented Rhaenyra's virtue from being soiled!"