Since Rhaenyra had settled in her territory on Dragonstone, her former rooms located in the royal quarters at the top of Maegor's Holdfast had long since been reclaimed by Queen Alicent under various pretexts.
Now, she could only stay with Daemon in the common guest room area on the lower levels of Maegor's Holdfast.
With the emotional rollercoaster of the day, Rhaenyra naturally wasn't in the mood to explore the origins of life with Daemon.
Rustle rustle!
The sound of light footsteps echoed outside the door, and Daemon, who had been feigning sleep with his eyes closed, instantly sprang from the bed and slowly drew dark sister.
After all, they were in the enemy's malicious stronghold, and he hadn't even taken off his clothes or sword.
Bang bang bang!
After a muffled discussion that was hard to distinguish, a knock sounded on the door.
This time, even Rhaenyra woke up at the sound.
She glanced at Daemon standing by the door, quickly dressed, and asked, "Who is it? What do you want at this late hour?"
"Princess Rhaenyra, it is Ser Harold."
"The King commands me to invite you and Prince Daemon to see him."
The White Knight Captain's deep voice rang out, and Rhaenyra let out a soft sigh of relief.
She knew that Ser Harold didn't favor either side, only loyal to her father.
Creak!
Rhaenyra glanced at Daemon, who was holding his sword hidden behind the door, and directly opened the door.
To her surprise, she saw Criston and a group of royal guards behind Ser Harold.
"Hmm? Where is Prince Daemon?"
Criston tilted his head, looked into the room, and asked.
Before Rhaenyra could answer, Daemon, straightening his clothes, appeared from behind the door and teased with a half-smile, "Just getting dressed!"
What, do you want to see my robust physique?"
"Heh, if you were truly that robust, you wouldn't have been defeated by my chain-mace back then!"
"Don't just talk about back then, want to try now?"
"Alright!"
"Ahem, the King is still waiting!"
Ser Harold coughed heavily, interrupting the tense exchange between Daemon and the other person.
"Daemon, let's go!"
Rhaenyra didn't spare Criston another glance, leading the way towards the stairs.
Ser Harold followed closely behind.
Daemon and Criston stood in place, staring at each other for half a minute, before the latter, realizing the situation, quickly strode after Rhaenyra and the other person.
Daemon looked at the chain-mace tucked at his waist and the royal guards positioned around, then thoughtfully stepped forward to follow.
At the front, Rhaenyra and Ser Harold had reached the turn in the stairs.
Taking advantage of the moment when the wall at the turn blocked the view from behind, Ser Harold whispered quickly, "Find a chance to escape!"
Rhaenyra's steps paused, and Criston also reached the turn at this moment.
She gave Ser Harold a deep look and continued stepping up the stairs.
Regarding the conflict between the Blacks and the Green Party, Ser Harold truly didn't favor either side, only loyal to Viserys I.
It was precisely because of this that he spoke up to warn Rhaenyra.
Standing guard at the door of the King's bedchamber, he had vaguely heard Viserys I's words and Rhaenyra's heartfelt weeping.
She had no reason whatsoever to kill her own father.
Even if the two of them were truly the culprits, why would Daemon be so foolish as to use his own dagger?
Therefore, Ser Harold felt that the matter of Viserys I's death was not that simple.
He spoke to remind Rhaenyra to escape the Red Keep, hoping she would uncover the truth of this matter.
"Oh oh!"
Just after going up one floor, Rhaenyra suddenly covered her belly with a pained expression and squatted down.
"Princess Rhaenyra, what is wrong?"
Ser Harold, cooperating fully, asked with a frown.
And Criston and Daemon also arrived beside Rhaenyra, one after the other.
Moaning softly with a hint of pain, Rhaenyra reached out to Daemon and said, "Quickly take me to the privy (toilet), my moon blood is coming!"
Daemon's eyebrow twitched upon hearing this, and he immediately stepped forward to help Rhaenyra find an empty room on this floor and enter it.
Ser Harold and Criston stood guard outside the room with the royal guards.
After nearly ten minutes, Criston, realizing something was wrong, immediately went forward and knocked on the door, but there was no answer from inside.
He kicked the door open violently, and the royal guards behind him swarmed in, only to find that the room was already empty.
"They couldn't have jumped down from here; they must have escaped to other rooms through the window.
Form teams of three and thoroughly search all rooms on these floors."
"As you command!"
The very decisive Criston immediately issued the command, and the royal guards immediately began a thorough search of Maegor's Holdfast.
Criston walked out of the room with two royal guards, and upon seeing Ser Harold standing in the corridor,
He said in a low voice, "Captain Ser Harold, I wanted to break down the door and arrest them directly before, but you suggested luring them to the top floor before acting."
But now they have escaped!"
"Your method would certainly cause a commotion throughout the Red Keep, and the command Queen Alicent gave us was for a secret arrest.
You don't need to worry, I will explain it to her myself."
Upon hearing this, Ser Harold replied with a calm expression.
"I personally led the team to break down the door and arrest them, how could that cause a commotion?"
"That was Daemon Targaryen!"
"So what? I defeated him back then!"
"Of course, but the premise was that he had his back to you at the time, celebrating victory."
Ser Harold's last sentence immediately ignited Criston's fury; attacking Daemon from behind was a sore point he had been criticized for over the years.
Hmph!
Criston snorted coldly at the White Knight Captain and led his team away from here.
He didn't search on this floor but went straight to the rooms Rhaenyra used to live in.
As soon as he arrived at his destination, Criston stopped.
He tilted his head and ordered the two royal guards behind him, "This area is mine. The two of you search from the left and right directions respectively."
"As you command!"
Creak!
After the two left, Criston, wearing a suit of silver-white armor, took off the chain-mace from his waist.
After pushing open the door and walking in, he said softly to the empty room, "Since you infiltrated the Red Keep and attempted assassination last time,"
The secret passage here has been sealed. Come out!"
Daemon, holding dark sister, walked out from the corner openly, while Rhaenyra poked her head out from the corner.
"Since you know we're here, why didn't you bring people and just rush in?"
Upon hearing this, Criston raised his right hand, pointed his chain-mace at Daemon, and replied, "Come! This time I will defeat you face-to-face!"
Although he kept saying he would defeat Daemon face-to-face, he was wearing fine White Knight armor, while Daemon was only in noble casual clothes.
This fight was actually not fair at all.
But facing Criston's provocation, Daemon didn't waste any words and charged forward with his sword.
Whoosh!
Criston swung his right hand forward forcefully, and the spiky hammerhead, whistling, went straight for Daemon's left cheek.
Swish!
Daemon, who had already judged the attack motion by the opponent's shoulder, suddenly bent down and lowered his head to dodge the attack.
dark sister in his hand also thrust straight towards Criston's abdomen.
If it were an ordinary longsword, Criston, wearing White Knight armor, wouldn't need to dodge at all.
He could just swing his chain-mace with the momentum and attack Daemon's unguarded back.
But dark sister was not ordinary; it was forged from Valyrian Steel, which is light yet hard and incredibly sharp.
Criston was forced to step back, and Daemon, pressing his advantage, continuously chopped and slashed with the longsword in his hand,
Specifically targeting areas not protected by armor, such as his face, throat, and wrists.
Clang clang clang!
Criston's combat prowess was not just for show either.
He was seen agilely swinging his chain-mace towards dark sister's blade, attempting to bind it with the chain.
Vertical chop, horizontal slash, diagonal cut.
Daemon, in turn, used his unarmored agility to constantly change positions and attack Criston.
Suddenly, Daemon used his right leg as an axis and sharply turned his body to the left.
The longsword in his hand, using the strong momentum of the left turn, swept horizontally towards Criston's right cheek.
Snap!
Criston, who had been waiting for a long time, seized this opportunity and swung his chain-mace, firmly locking onto dark sister's blade.
Thud crunch!
Just as Criston, who thought he had victory in hand, showed a hint of a smile on his face, his right ankle suddenly received a heavy blow.
His entire body instantly lost balance, and he fell sideways through the air, crashing heavily onto the ground.
It turned out that when Daemon turned left and swept horizontally just now, his left leg also swept out with the momentum.
Criston, whose attention was entirely focused on dark sister, completely neglected his lower body and was swept to the ground by Daemon's left leg.
The concussion to the brain caused by this kind of aerial side fall is not something that can be simply shaken off.
Criston, in a dizzy state, had not yet struggled to get up from the ground when Daemon, having freed dark sister from the chain-mace, had already placed it against his throat.
"Wait, don't kill him!"
Rhaenyra, who had been watching the fight nervously from behind, suddenly spoke up, dissuading Daemon, who was preparing to thrust forward.
Criston was Rhaenyra's first man.
Although he had joined the Green Party out of love turned to hatred, he had not caused her harm currently.
Furthermore, the other party had deliberately sent away the royal guards just now, so being kind-hearted by nature, she did not wish to see Criston lose his life.
Daemon immediately understood her meaning; he raised the longsword, then heavily struck Criston's back of the head with the pommel of dark sister.
Criston, who was already somewhat dizzy, fell to the ground unconscious without a sound.
The crisis was temporarily averted, but without the escape secret passage, Rhaenyra and the other person could only return to the lower levels of Maegor's Holdfast.
Click!
On a certain floor of Maegor's Holdfast, after Rhaenyra and the other person evaded the searching royal guards, they unexpectedly ran into a maid holding a broom head-on.
Daemon immediately wanted to slit her throat with dark sister.
But the maid quickly spoke, saying, "The 'White Worm' wants me to take you out of the Red Keep. Hurry and follow me!"
Hearing this, Daemon's movements paused.
Then, without hesitation, he pulled Rhaenyra and followed behind the maid, the three of them disappearing together into the darkness.
After about twenty minutes, Criston was found and woken up by the two royal guards.
Knowing that he had made a big mistake due to his arrogance, he immediately went to report the situation to Queen Alicent.
At this moment, the Queen's bedchamber was filled with key figures of the Green Party.
Compared to Queen Alicent, who was furious upon hearing the news that Daemon might have escaped the Red Keep, Ser Otto was much calmer and more rational.
After a moment of contemplation, he issued commands in an orderly manner: "It's no longer possible to make a secret arrest! Criston, you continue to search the Red Keep with your men."
"As you command, Lord Hand!"
After Criston left, Ser Otto turned to Queen Alicent and said, "Alicent, many officers in the City Watch (Gold Cloaks) are former subordinates of Daemon."
I need you, in the King's name, to promote Gwayne Hightower (the Queen's brother) to Commander of the City Watch, and have him responsible for searching the entire King's Landing."
Queen Alicent, whose emotions had calmed, understood that her father's suggestion was the best option currently, and immediately nodded in agreement.
"As for the place Daemon and Rhaenyra would want to go, there is only one, and that is the Dragonpit."
Aegon, you take men to strengthen the defenses around the Dragonpit and prohibit anyone from approaching."
"Order the Dragon Guard to securely chain Syrax and Caraxes."
Then you are to patrol the area around the Dragonpit on Sunfyre at irregular intervals."
"Alright, I'll go now!"
Aegon was very unreliable before, but he changed after Helaena was stabbed and his youngest son Maelor died because of it.
At crucial times like this, he could still be relied upon.
Aemond watched Criston and Aegon leave one after another and asked with a frown, "Grandfather, what should I do?"
Ser Otto looked at him with a serious expression and replied in a deep voice, "You have to complete the most important task!"
On the first day of 128 AC, King's Landing underwent earth-shattering changes.
Under the influence of Jacaerys, this giant butterfly, the Blood Dragon Dance erupted more than a year earlier!