Chapter 3
In the city, the guards searched far and wide for the lost Princess, and as a few of them stumbled upon the Bay of Blackwater, they saw a man carrying someone out of the river before he laid them on the ground and began to push at their chest.
It was a woman they noted, and the stranger pushing the chest was a man dressed in drenched white robes.
They saw him lean down and kiss the woman's face, and their honor stirred as they rushed towards him to stop him.
"Hey! Look, someone is assaulting a dead woman!" someone added, as the guards rushed towards him, their anger growing as they recognized those silvery locks.
"It's the Princess! The man is assaulting the Princess..."
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JAEHAERYS TARGARYEN
Jaehaerys knew that he had entered the twilight years of his life. While once the people of his kingdoms had called him "Young", "Brave", or "Conciliator". Now, they had a different name for him.
"Old."
Jaehaerys the Conciliator had now become Jaehaerys, the Old King. And with each passing year, he could feel the years catch up to him. While once he was young and could fight his own battles, now he needed a cane to climb the stairs of his own throne.
Yet, despite the years, he had never felt as old as today, as he found himself helpless in front of the love of his life when she came to him crying and screaming as the maids realised that Alysanne's most precious treasure could not be found in the castle.
And though unlike him, the Good Queen remained the Good Queen, Alysanne herself had become old and if she had been a few years younger she would have rushed out of the castle on her own, and taken her dragon to the skies so that she may scour each and every street for her precious Winter Child.
But age and injuries had robbed them of much, and they could do little but rely on others to bring her back.
"How could you let this happen?" he screamed at his Hand, and just as he missed his youth, Jaehaerys missed the calming presence of Barth as well. His oldest friend had passed away a year ago, and he was forced to choose a new Hand.
In the end, he had decided upon Ser Ryam Redwyne, the Captain of the Kingsguard, yet the man proved to be ineffective at his new post, as he failed him and Gael not once but twice.
"We are not sure, your grace. The men are searching for her as we speak...." The aged man tried to defend himself, but Jaehaerys had heard enough.
"I thought I was clear in my instructions! You were supposed to keep a watch on her at all times, and yet you not only failed to do that you let her leave the castle on her own!" and the man had nothing to say in his defence, and just the shouting was enough to trouble his breaths, as his son and heir joined in.
"We cannot change the past, father," and as he glanced towards his eldest living child, he felt some solace and relief that the future of the realm was in safe hands. That his legacy would not be destroyed by another Maegor, but would only be added upon by Baelon the Brave.
In his forties now, looking at him reminded him of his own youth. He was broad and large with a squarish face and was as dutiful a son as a father could hope to have.
"I will find the Princess, your grace. I promise," Ser Ryam Redwyne added, and Jaehaerys prayed for the same, and not just for himself but for his wife as well, who was bedridden with grief at the news.
"Go! Announce a reward! Do whatever you must!" he ordered as the knight gave him a bow.
"Find me my daughter!" he ordered, as the knight fled the solar, leaving him alone with his son and heir.
"You do know that if you do this, the whole realm will know of Gael's secret," and indeed, he knew.
Jaehaerys had served the realm for over four decades, and he had served it well. Yet he had failed his daughters, and as mighty as he was, he could not save any of them from their own fates.
The shivers took the lovely Daenerys from him, childbirth took Daella and Alyssa, vanity brought the end of Viserra and Saera—No. He had no daughter by that name.
And he had even failed Gael, as he let that scum singer steal her heart, purity and if that was not enough, the Gods chose to punish him once more as they allowed his seed to impregnate her.
But in the end, the child in her womb was stillborn, and its birth had robbed his precious daughter of both hope and a possible future.
"I do," he answered Baelon, and they had gone to quite some lengths to keep the whole affair a secret to protect the honor of both Gael and the Royal family, but with this, the secret would come out and destroy all their efforts.
"But we must find her, my son," he added weakly as he was reminded of Alysanne's wails and screams.
"If not for herself, then for your mother," and Baelon's expression turned grim at the mention of her.
"Your mother is a strong woman," and he would dare anyone to argue against that. She had stood by him against his uncle Maegor and had helped him rule over these treacherous lords and ladies.
But age and death had robbed Alysanne of her strength, and he feared that she did not have it in her to stomach the loss of another child—especially Gael.
"Gael is her life. If anything were to happen to your sister, she might not...." and he did not have the heart to say those words as Baelon nodded.
"But what of Gael's honor, her marriage," and he waved away his concerns.
"I do not care for that. Not now," he whispered as he began to cough, as Baelon quickly rose and pushed the glass towards him.
"I just want her to be safe," he added, leaving the next words unsaid, for Alysanne.
"So do I," Baelon said, and despite his words, he had no doubt about that. Baelon loved his siblings, despite their misgivings, but his duties went beyond the duties of a son or a brother.
No, he was his heir, and so he had to think of the Seven Kingdoms and much more.
"I will go and search for her as well," and Jaehaerys nodded, and as Baelon was about to leave, he called after his son.
"Baelon," and he stopped to glance back at him, as Jaehaerys cursed himself as he uttered those words.
"If you find her dead, do not speak of it to your mother," he whispered, and saw his son still, yet he nodded.
"As you wish, father..."
And so, the mighty Vhagar took to the skies, and the most powerful man in the Seven Kingdoms could do nothing but sit in his solar as his waited for any word from the search party, and a few hours passed in desperate waiting until the door of his solar swung open as Ser Ryam Redwyne entered the room.
"We have found the Princess...."
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As the relief from the news washed away, the anger began to bubble inside him. And it was because of this rage that he refused to see her, even as he stood outside her room while old Elysar told him about Gael and her injuries.
"What happened?" he asked, relieved that she was alive but worried and enraged at her actions.
"The Gods were merciful," and he did not really believe that, but he kept his thoughts to himself as the old Grand Maester continued.
"The Princess nearly drowned to death, and if it were not for the stranger who pulled her out and pushed the water out of her chest, she would not be alive right now," and Jaehaerys gasped as he realised just how close he had come to losing not only a daughter, but his wife as well.
"Where is that man?" he turned towards his Hand, and the man hesitated before he answered.
"In the Black Cells," and it took him a few seconds to understand, before he nearly screamed again, and he truly began to realise that he had erred in the choice of his and needed to rectify that mistake soon enough.
Sensing his rage, the man quickly explained himself.
"We found the Princess on the shore of the Blackwater Bay," the knight began to clarify hastily.
"The guards reported that they saw him assaulting the Princess. They also said that he was trying to rob her," and the knight reached into his pocket and took out an earring.
"They even found this on him when they captured him," and he turned towards Elysar angrily.
"Is it true?" he asked.
"What exactly did the men say they saw him do?" questioned Elysar, and the Maester's calm made him question his rage, as the Lord Commander of the Kingsguards hesitated, as he glanced towards him.
"Answer the question," he ordered, and the man nodded and began.
"They saw him pushing on her chest repeatedly, and they even saw him kissing her forcibly while she was unconscious," and his blood boiled with rage, though Elysar was rubbing his chin.
"I want his hea..."
"Please, wait your grace," Elysar said, stopping him.
"The man did not assault the Princess," the old Grand Maester decalred much to his surprise.
"He was trying to save her," he added, and he frowned, his anger simmering down.
"How?" he asked.
"It's called resuscitation. It is a rather new technique, where a healer uses the force from his hands to aide the heart in pushing blood in the body, while blowing air into the mouth to aid the person in breathing," and this was the first time he was hearing of this.
"I have never heard of this," he argued, and the old Maester nodded.
"Neither had I until a few moons ago when one of my newer acolytes told me about the procedure. Apparently, it was always a debate, but a promising acolyte proved its effectiveness and used it to forge his chain," and that was impressive.
"So, this person saved my daughter's life?" and the old Maester nodded, and the chain around his neck rattled with his movements.
"Yes, I shall ask the Princess myself, but from what I can tell, this stranger did not assault her. Rather, he saved his life," and perhaps it was a blessing that Elysar had been here by his side, otherwise he might have condemned an innocent man to death.
"But what of the earring?" asked the Lord Commander, and indeed that was a question.
"There has to be an explanation for that. We should question the Princess when she wakes up," and that was true, but if this stranger had indeed saved Gael's life, then it would be remiss of him as a father and a King to let him rot in the Black cells.
"Ser Ryam," he called out to his hand.
"Take the man out of the Black cells and move him to one of the rooms, but do not let him leave the room until we have the truth of this matter," and the man in white armor nodded, and walked away to bring his order to fruition.
"Though I do wonder," Elysar whispered to himself as the aged man continued to murmur.
"The technique is quite new, and even many of the Maesters have yet to know of it. How did a commoner from the city know it already..."
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