Chapter 14: The Breakbones Harwin Strong

"A boar attacked me and I butchered it."

Rhaenyra rubbed Rhaegar's head, sounding proud as she spoke.

"Wow, such a brave boar hunter lady are."

The words flashed through Rhaegar's mind like a flashback.

Rhaenyra turned pale in an instant.

Just as Rhaegar was about to suffer the wrath of his sister's, a voice broke the intimacy between the siblings.

"Princess, I heard you had to deal with a wild boar all on your own?"

The voice came from the side of the barbecue grill.

The siblings looked simultaneously and saw a burly man with brown curly hair and a thick beard.

The other's features made Rhaegar feel familiar.

But the two parties had never met each other before.

"Just a coincidence, Ser Harwin," Rhaenyra smiled politely, recognizing the other party.

  At the mention of the Strong family name, Rhaegar had an epiphany.

He realized where the familiarity had come from.

The one that made him uneasy, Larys Strong.

Rhaenyra noticed his look and whispered: "He is the eldest son of the Master of Coin Lyonel, a very famous knight known as the Breakbones."

  "The Breakbones? He would break the bones of those he fought?"

Rhaegar questioned half-jokingly.

Harwin laughed as he skinned a pigeon and replied: "That's right, during a sparring match I smashed an unfortunate man's skull with my warhammer, and those who survived gave me the nickname Bone Breaker."

"Impressive, it seems that you are a very powerful warrior indeed."

He replied lightly. It wasn't hard to hear the other's pride in his tone.

A knight with such an intimidating title certainly had the capital to be proud of himself.

Nimbly handling the pigeon, Harwin casually picked up a rag to wipe his hands and went up to joke:

"My roasted meat is good. I just saw the prince eating quite a bit, I wonder if the princess would like some?"

When he spoke, this tall and stocky man spoke in a humorous manner and had an easy-going temperament.

It was hard to imagine him crushing someone's head in battle.  

"No, my father is still waiting for me, no one can say no to the king," Rhaenyra smiled apologetically and politely declined.

"That's fine, I'll be serving in King's Landing for a long time to come. If the princess wants to taste my handiwork, you're always welcome to visit."

Harwin was very reasonable, which meant he was approachable without being overly solicitous.

Rhaegar had a glimpse of something in him.

Respect.

Of course, the older Rhaenyra was able to see it as well.

"Will do, Ser," she said slightly uncomfortably, her hands going behind her back and her smile becoming much more sincere.

Without further interruption, Halwyn smiled and curtsied.

This action further increased Rhaenyra's favor.

Rhaegar was puzzled and bristled as he looked at his somewhat reserved sister.

"I'm going to see Father. You just hang around."

Rhaenyra had to see Viserys, there was no time for more chitchat, and she walked away quickly.

By this time, a number of princes and nobles were in the camp, and the bloodied princess was the focus of attention.

The boisterous scene quieted down for a moment, and remained uncharacteristically silent.

Such measuring gazes disgusted Rhaenyra greatly.

Coldly, she walked past, occasionally stopping to stare at a few.

Mostly, the princess's aura overwhelmed the bystanders.

Forcing those with weak hearts to lower their heads. Not daring to meet her eyes.

Despising those who were cowardly, the corner of Rhaenyra's mouth curled up slightly.

Rhaegar pursed his lips and seemed to experience loneliness as she looked back at the crowd.

...

Kingswood's hunt was over.

Viserys was the first to board a carriage and return to King's Landing.

Considering the misdeeds of the siblings who had gone missing, this father decided to punish each one separately.

The princess was of marriageable age, but she did not like the man the king had chosen for her.  

Viserys risked his blood and arranged for Rhaenyra to visit and tour the continent alone.

On the bright side, as heir to the crown, Rhaenyra can visit lords great and small of the realms, strengthening the bannermen's bond with her.

Demonstration of the majesty of the Targaryen royal family.

In reality, this was indeed the case.

Since becoming heir, Rhaenyra had mostly been just a voice in political affairs. No real power to speak of.

No familiarity with the lords whom had sworn allegiance to her.

Viserys wanted to increase Rhaenyra's presence this time, so that the bannermen would be more accepting of her as heir.

 Have Rhaenyra, as heir apparent, visit the great and small lords of the realms to strengthen the bannermen's bond with her.

  To show the majesty of the Targaryen royal family.

  In fact, that was the case.

  Since becoming the heir, Rhaenyra had mostly been a voice in political affairs.   

  No real power.

  Two with no familiarity with the lords she swore allegiance to.

  Viserys increased Rhaenyra's presence this time so that the bannermen would better accept this heir.

While accomplishing this purpose, there will also be tournaments and wine banquets to be held in each of the cities.

  Taking advantage of the opportunity to help Rhaenyra in her search for a marriage partner.

In Viserys' opinion, Rhaenyra won't be able to accept the candidate he has chosen, so let her choose for herself.

You will be able to choose from all over the kingdom.

I don't think there's no one worth choosing.

You can see how seriously this father took the wedding of his daughter.

With eldest daughter's problem was solved. The eldest son, Rhaegar, was in a better position.

Viserys ordered Rhaegar to continue living in the Red Keep, not allowed to step outside the Red Keep's door, in order to recuperate from his illness.

For this reason, several maesters were sent to check on his health at regular intervals.

They wanted to make sure that his illness was completely cured.

Rhaegar, of course, refused the restrictions on his personal freedom.

After some argument, Viserys was of the opinion that his eldest son was ready for learning.

To teach him to read and write, he sent two Old Maesters.

Every day at six o'clock, he was forced to get out of bed and begin a cycle of eight hours of education, followed the next day by a check of the suffering boy's homework.

Rhaegar went numb.

Viserys was not treating him at all like a child who was recovering from a serious illness.

With a "learn or die" attitude.

Rhaegar's originally pale face improved under this kind of training.

However, the dark circles under his eyes became more pronounced day by day, more so than they had been before.

  "Damned Maesters, damned Citadel, sooner or later I will get back at you!"

Faced with the harsh training of the two Old Maesters, Rhaegar practiced writing while secretly making up his mind.

Rhaegar asked Viserys when he would get his freedom back.

The answer he received was, "When your sister returns to King's Landing, you will be able to walk out of the Red Keep."

So it was that Rhaenyra's thoughts about Rhaenyra were incomparably intense.

He was too much in need of his sister!

I hope you come back soon.

...

Time passed, and half a year went by.

As the leaves turned yellow, King's Landing entered late autumn.

As a seaside city, King's Landing's climate did not change much, except that farmers were busier in the fields.

Good news came to Rhaegar who was in the Red Keep.

His sister, whom he waited for day and night, was returning.

Rhaenyra had finished traveling early and had boarded a ship to leave the Stormlands, and she would be back in King's Landing in a few days.

Regardless of what others thought, Rhaegar was overjoyed.

Every day after classes ended, he sat before the glass window in the Red Castle's attic and gazed out over the sea.

He was expecting to see Rhaenyra's returning ship.

"This is great, my sister is coming back at last, my days of bitterness are finally over."

Rhaegar was brokenhearted about the past six months.

He was fond of reading.

But when he was weak and had no other activities, it was a forced way to pass the time.

It wasn't the same as reading behind closed doors like in a prison.

"Prince, the king was furious when he heard that the princess had returned to her journey without permission, so you'd better keep that to yourself."

There was another voice coming from the attic.

He didn't have to look to know who it was.

A silver-armored and white-robed Erryk was standing in front of another window, his posture as straight as a spear.

"Ser, it's not like you don't know my daily routine, do you have no grief for me?"

Rhaegar scolded.

Erryk couldn't help but laugh: "The King expects you to acquire knowledge, but eight hours of lessons plus homework after school does seem a little too much."

(Word count: 1507)