They attacked by sea, because the Capital was on an island. They attacked by night, because the tides favored them. They attacked silently, because they hoped for an ambush.
King Ellyn stood at the battlements, tall, slender, and determined. Flanking her stood her cousin Renon, commander of the King's Guard, and her Knight Master Helden. A messenger knelt in front of her, breathless.
When he had done, she spoke softly to Renon: "The fires have been lit?"
"Yes, my king," he answered.
"And the fiendfyre. It is ready?"
He turned to another who stood behind him. "Is the fiendfyre--"
"It is in the water, sir," said the man.
Renon turned back. "Ready, my king."
"Archers nock," she said, still softly.
"Archers nock!" shouted Helden.
"Loose," she said, and watched as the flaming arrows sped down toward the water, which was colored with a strange purple tint: fiendfyre. At the moment when the first arrow hit the waves, they rose up in purple flames and engulfed the first of the ships that were slowly appearing out of the night.
When all the fiendfyre was spent, she turned back from the battlements and began walking down to the gate.
"Where are you going?" asked Renon.
"They aren't all dead," she said. "They'll be wanting to storm the gates. I should be there to lead the force that repels them."
Helden said, "My king, they have landed and are approaching the gates."
She paused, shooting Renon a look. Then, "Tell the archers to keep firing at will. Renon, bring me the guards from Castle Iron."
"Who will guard the ladies of the court?" he protested.
"You will stay there and do so if you believe they need your assistance. Otherwise, we could use you here." She turned and ran down the remaining steps to the gates.
He shook his head and ran off toward Castle Iron.
When she arrived at the gates, the captain of the gate guards saluted her. "My king. They appear to be raising siege ladders."
"Should we start dropping rocks?" asked Helden.
"Ladders are made of wood, aren't they? Set fire to them," she said. [Author's note: this always bothers me in books or movies when the attacking army puts ladders up and the defense drops rocks or some other shit but never thinks to set fire to the ladders. I'm looking at you, Game of Thrones season 2 episode 9.]
Helden grinned. "Brilliant, my king."
She began to climb the steps again and called over her shoulder, "When the men from Castle Iron arrive, send half of them up to the battlements, and Renon if he accompanies them. You can stay down there in case they do storm the gates."
As she reached the battlements, she heard a cry from below: "Bring the battering rams!"
She turned to the first man she saw and said, "Quickly--" and hesitated. But hesitation meant death, so she forged on, "Tell the archers to tie stones to the ends of their arrows and to make sure every one is dipped in pitch and then fire."
The man nodded and ran along the battlements, shouting her orders as he went.
"I come back to find you resting in the middle of a siege?" said Renon from behind her. "What is the world coming to?"
She turned. "Good, you have men. This was in case they got up here, but as you can see my plan to burn the ladders worked quite well. Renon, I officially name you my heir."
"What? Why does that matter?" he demanded.
She ignored his questions and said to the men behind him, "You will bear witness to this, that Renon Karth is my one true heir?"
"Yes," they answered.
"And that if he dies, Helden Jonfrey will take his place?"
"Yes," they repeated.
"Good." She began stripping herself of her armor.
Renon watched, confused. "What are you doing?"
She pulled a packet of fiendfyre dust out from under her shirt. "Unless you'd rather do this, I have to."
"Do what?"
She opened the packet and emptied it all over herself. "What do you think I'm doing?"
He caught her arm. "No, my king, don't do this."
"I already have," she said. "And I'd like you to call me Ellyn once before you're king." She tore her arm out of his grasp and strode over to one of the fire pits.
Helden appeared at the top of the steps. "My king, they are too many. Without a distraction, we'll never--" He stopped.
Renon gestured, unable to look. "There's your distraction."
"Has she named an heir?"
"Me," said Renon. "Those men will bear witness."
"Not if I have anything to say about it," laughed Helden. "Go, die with your lady love. No one will ever know that she chose you and not me to be king after her suicide mission."
The younger man paused, then called, "My king!"
She turned her eyes from the battle below and said, "Yes?"
"If you're going to do this, you shouldn't do it alone." He discarded his armor as he walked toward her.
With a shrug, she answered, "I already have."
"Not yet." He wrapped his arms around her, savoring the moment, as it was the first and last time he would ever hold her. Then he stepped back. His clothes now held a dusting of fiendfyre.
"If this is your choice," she said, "so be it." She lowered her sleeve toward the flame.
He nodded. "My choice is to die beside the love of my life... Ellyn."
The flame rose, twisted, danced, licked at the edge of her sleeve. Her eyes rose to meet his, and they spoke of eternities of love and infinities of exhaustion. She grasped his forearm and flung herself backward over the edge of the battlements as the flames reached the fiendfyre on her clothes and engulfed them and their enemies both.
