Chapter Summaries

Daemon watched House Bracken and House Blackwood resume their feud beneath High Heart, while memories of the Red Grassland haunted him. He ordered the fighting stopped and threatened to burn High Heart if the houses refused mediation with him and Lord Tully.

• Daemon and his companions saw House Bracken and House Blackwood gathering allies and fighting beneath High Heart.
• Daemon recalled the rebellion and the deaths of Aegon and himself on the Red Grassland, seeing echoes of Aegor Rivers and Brynden Rivers in the rival houses.
• House Bracken charged House Blackwood, whose archers answered with a volley, while House Tully's messenger was pushed aside.
• Larys urged Daemon to intervene before the clash became a slaughter, and Daemon ordered Gael to bring House Tully's messenger to him.
• Daemon used Glutton's roar to halt the battle and demanded that both houses lay down their swords and await mediation or face a sea of fire and ash.

Daemon stopped a battle between House Bracken and House Blackwood at High Heart, then discovered their feud had begun over a confused marriage arrangement at Pinkmaiden. He led the nobles toward Pinkmaiden to settle the matter, while the Dragon Mark and Blackfyre stirred as he rode.

• Daemon and Daemon Targaryen charged into the Bracken-Blackwood fight, disarmed the combatants, and subdued both companies without killing anyone.
• A Piper knight explained that Ser Henrik and Ser Torrhen had fought after misunderstanding Earl Piper’s plans for his daughters’ marriages.
• Daemon ordered Lyonel Corbray and Corlys Celtigar to take the bound leaders to Pinkmaiden, where Earl Piper could resolve the dispute.
• Daemon and his companions set out for Pinkmaiden as Daemon Targaryen joked about the Piper daughter and Alys Rivers.
• Daemon felt the Dragon Mark on his shoulder and Blackfyre’s hilt grow warm as he rode onward.

Daemon's party stopped at Acorn Hall for Joseth's Name Day before continuing toward Pinkmaiden to arbitrate between House Bracken and House Blackwood. The celebration eased tensions between the two forces, and Earl Barring ton sent the party on with acorn wine.

• Edmund Smallwood invited Daemon, Gael, and their party to Acorn Hall for his son Joseth's first Name Day.
• Earl Barring ton welcomed the party and introduced Lord Armistead Vance, Lord Robert Vance, and Ser Clayton Goodbrook, who had gathered at the hall.
• Daemon gave Joseth a dragonglass pendant as a blessing, and the Bracken and Blackwood men raised their cups together.
• Daemon entertained the Vance ladies while the guests celebrated, and Earl Barring ton reflected on his father's lessons about surviving Riverlands politics.
• The next morning, Earl Barring ton gave Daemon's party a cartload of acorn wine as they departed for Pinkmaiden, with the Bracken and Blackwood forces less tense than before.

At Pinkmaiden, Daemon Targaryen watched a dispute over Lord Piper’s daughters’ marriages turn into a contest between Ser Torrhen and Ser Henrik. Henrik ultimately left with Lord Piper’s eldest daughter, while Daemon departed for Riverrun grieving that his own marriage to Rhea kept him from pursuing her.

• Lord Piper explained that he had planned to marry his daughters to Ser Torrhen and Ser Henrik, and his younger daughter admitted she favored Torrhen.
• Ser Henrik challenged Ser Torrhen to three contests for the younger daughter’s hand, and Lord Piper agreed to the arrangement.
• Torrhen won the archery contest, but Henrik unhorsed him in the joust; seeing the younger daughter comfort Torrhen, Henrik conceded and withdrew from the marriage.
• Lord Piper’s eldest daughter later offered to marry Henrik, and the two rode away from Pinkmaiden together.
• Daemon Targaryen learned the eldest daughter would not defy the marriage arranged for him with Rhea, then left for Riverrun on Caraxes, heartbroken.

Daemon's fleet reached Riverrun, where Lord Grover Tully welcomed the party and hosted them at a lively feast. Daemon agreed to stay several more days, leaving the tour paused as he settled in to explore the castle and its history.

• Daemon's fleet traveled down the Red Fork, passed Mummer's Ford, and reached Riverrun at the rivers' confluence.
• Lord Grover Tully welcomed Daemon, Gael, Mysaria, and their party, while his daughter Leia gave Daemon a wooden trout.
• Daemon inspected Riverrun's defenses before joining Grover and the Tully family for a feast of local dishes.
• Leia and the other children asked Daemon for stories about Glutton, while Daemon Targaryen quietly worried over his romantic appeal.
• Grover invited the party to remain in Riverrun, and Daemon accepted the offer to stay for a few days.

Daemon Targaryen toured Riverrun while Larys Strong secretly surveyed its defenses, and Daemon grew closer to Lysa Tully at the smithy. After the feast, Larys reported what he had learned and implied that he had pledged himself to Daemon; Daemon recognized the value of the shadowy alliance.

• Daemon Targaryen asked Hoster Tully to take him to Riverrun’s smithy so he could have a new lance forged, while Jarman Waters led Mys Rivers and House Hunter’s second son to a bowyer.
• Lysa Tully slipped away from the tour, and Larys Strong vanished from the group as Daemon signaled the others to continue.
• Daemon had a lance forged with Colin Celtigar, while Lysa joined them at the smithy; Jarman later reported that she had wiped Daemon’s sweat three times.
• Hoster showed the group Riverrun’s godswood, and Duke Grover described House Tully’s history and its willingness to change sides to survive.
• After the feast, Larys told Daemon about Riverrun’s defenses and supplies, and Daemon understood that Larys had brought both intelligence and a pledge of allegiance.

Daemon and his companions spent their last days at Riverrun before setting out toward the Inn at the Kneeling Man. Daemon Targaryen’s growing attachment to Lysa Tully worried both Daemon and the Tullys as the company departed.

• Daemon watched the group train and study at Riverrun while helping Gael practice archery.
• Daemon Targaryen arrived on Caraxes with Lysa Tully, who brought honey cakes, and his obvious affection for her concerned Daemon.
• Lord Grover and Hoster noticed Daemon Targaryen’s closeness to Lysa and decided to watch the situation rather than warn her.
• At the farewell, Lysa gave Daemon Targaryen an embroidered trout ornament, and he gave her a ruby accessory, troubling Daemon and upsetting the watching Royce knights.
• Daemon and his companions left Riverrun by dragon and carriage, heading toward the Inn at the Kneeling Man while Daemon Targaryen looked back at Lysa.

Daemon and his party stopped at the Inn at the Kneeling Man on their way to Fairmarket, where Daemon Targaryen spent the night in indulgence. In the morning, a Bracken invitation drew them off course to Stone Hedge, and Daemon decided to attend the wedding despite the risk of worsening the Riverlands’ feuds.

• Daemon and Gael arrived at the Inn at the Kneeling Man with their companions and dragons, and Daemon Targaryen requested wine and women from the innkeeper.
• At supper, Alys Rivers and Larys Strong discussed the inn’s history and House Bracken’s recent submission to Targaryen power.
• Daemon Targaryen spent the night with women while Daemon, Gael, and the rest of the party prepared to travel toward Fairmarket by river.
• At dawn, a Bracken knight invited Daemon and Gael to Ser Henrick Bracken’s wedding at Stone Hedge.
• Daemon and Gael chose to accept the invitation and changed their course for Stone Hedge, despite the unresolved Bracken-Blackwood feud.

Daemon Targaryen attended the Bracken and Blackwood weddings, balancing the rival houses after their mediation at Pinkmaiden. The party left for the Inn at the Kneeling Man and planned to continue to Fairmarket, with their balancing act in the Riverlands still ahead.

• Daemon Targaryen congratulated Ser Hendry and House Piper's elder daughter at Stone Hedge, then left before the Brackens could claim his favor.
• Daemon Targaryen revealed that the bride had secretly signaled him about the Blackwood wedding, prompting him to attend both feasts and avoid favoring either house.
• Daemon and his party traveled to Raventree Hall, where Ser Torrhen Blackwood welcomed them and showed them the dead weirwood tree.
• Daemon Targaryen toasted Torrhen and House Piper's younger daughter, while Daemon and Gael also celebrated the newlyweds.
• The party returned toward the Inn at the Kneeling Man, and Daemon asked whether they would leave for Fairmarket the next day.

Daemon and his company explored Fairmarket before Larys mapped out their northbound route through the Riverlands. Daemon chose the route and ordered them to leave the next morning, while Larys lingered over the map with an unexplained scheme.

• Daemon and his companions arrived in Fairmarket and toured its busy market, where Gael browsed cloth, Alys bought herbs, and Corlys Celtigar acquired a sword.
• Mys Rivers and the others practiced archery while Daemon disappeared into a tavern and returned drunk.
• At the evening feast, Larys explained a route north through Oldstones, Seagard, the Twins, and the Neck.
• Daemon approved Larys's route and ordered the company to depart at first light.
• Larys studied the map alone after the feast while Daemon snored in the next room.

Daemon’s party reached Oldstones and rescued its villagers from Walder Frey and his armed men. After learning the attackers were disguised as bandits, Daemon had them killed and their deaths staged, then prepared to leave for Ramsford.

• Daemon’s party found Walder Frey and his men assaulting the villagers of Oldstones, and Jarman Waters killed Walder with an arrow.
• Daemon and his companions defeated the attackers, while Gael and Dreamfyre kept the remaining men from resisting.
• Boren Lychester identified himself as Oldstones’ lord, and Ala revealed that Walder had tried to seize their land after they refused his marriage proposal.
• Daemon ordered the prisoners taken to a secluded river valley and killed, then Larys Strong and Jarman Waters staged the scene to conceal their involvement.
• Daemon returned to Oldstones as the villagers tended the wounded and cleaned up, then ordered the party to leave for Ramsford the next morning.

Daemon compensated the villagers of Oldstones and sent his dragons to hunt for food before his party continued to Ramsford. There, they saw Seagard burning and flew toward the blaze to investigate.

• Daemon ordered Larys to compensate Ser Lychester and the villagers for their losses and provide for the children’s winter clothes.
• Daemon sent Glutton, Dreamfyre, and Caraxes to hunt, and they returned with fish, rabbits, and a deer to feed the villagers and the party.
• Ala gave Jarman Waters a handmade eyepatch, and the others teased him as the party left Oldstones.
• At Ramsford, Rayford Rosby spotted a vast fire and smoke rising from the direction of Seagard, and Larys recognized it as House Mallister’s lands.
• Daemon flew toward the burning castle on Glutton, with Gael following on Dreamfyre and Daemon Targaryen on Caraxes, while Rayford ordered the party to follow.

Daemon, Daemon Targaryen, and Gael arrived at Seagard as Ironborn raiders attacked Eagle Cape, then used their dragons to burn the longships and rout the invaders. After the battle, Daemon warned Earl Lymond Mallister to repair Seagard’s defenses, knowing the Ironborn would return.

• Daemon and Gael saw the Ironborn raiding Eagle Cape and attacking Seagard while Earl Lymond Mallister fought to hold the western breach.
• Daemon ordered Gael and Daemon Targaryen to burn the longships as he attacked the Ironborn besieging the walls with Glutton’s fire.
• Rayford Rosby and Daemon’s followers cut off the raiders’ retreat, and Lymond led his soldiers out through the breach to fight them.
• Daemon, Daemon Targaryen, and Gael helped defeat the Ironborn by burning their ships and driving them from Eagle Cape.
• After the fighting ended, Daemon thanked Lymond, urged him to treat the wounded and repair Seagard’s defenses, and warned that more raids would come.

Daemon oversaw Seagard’s recovery after the Ironborn raid, learned that Uragon Greyjoy’s men were competing to win their dying king’s succession, and executed the prisoners. The company then departed by dragon for the upper reaches of the Blue Fork, while Gael and Mysaria showed concern for Daemon’s wound.

• Daemon gave Larys Strong the captured Ironborn prisoners to question after Lymond Mallister reported that they would not talk.
• Daemon ordered Seagard’s gates and breaches repaired and watched Mysaria, Alys Rivers, and the maester tend the wounded.
• Larys revealed that the raiders served Uragon Greyjoy, one of High King Alton Greyjoy’s sons competing to become heir by plundering the most.
• At dawn, Daemon sentenced the prisoners to death and beheaded them with Blackfyre; Daemon Targaryen took the sword to execute the last prisoner.
• Gael and Mysaria asked Daemon about the arrow wound on his arm, and the company flew from Seagard on Glutton, Caraxes, and Dreamfyre toward the upper reaches of the Blue Fork.

Daemon and his party confronted House Haigh’s extortion at the Sevenstreams checkpoint, where Glutton’s dragonfire forced the guards to let travelers pass. Afterward, Rodrik Dustin joined them as they continued through Witch’s Mire, while Gael and Larys discussed House Frey’s suspicions about Walder Frey’s disappearance.

• Daemon saw House Haigh’s guards extort merchants and stop Rodrik Dustin at the Sevenstreams checkpoint.
• Awood Haigh claimed the tightened inspections were due to banditry and the disappearance of Walder the Thin.
• Daemon used Glutton’s dragonfire to stop a guard from harassing a merchant’s wife and warned Awood to follow the rules.
• Daemon’s party passed through the checkpoint, and Gael suspected House Frey had noticed what happened at Oldstones.
• Larys assured Daemon and Gael that House Frey would find neither Walder alive nor his corpse.
• Rodrik Dustin thanked Daemon and explained he was traveling south for fur deals and winter grain as the party entered Witch’s Mire.

Daemon Targaryen's party crossed Witch's Mire and repeatedly fought masked men robbing caravans, discovering that the attackers were soldiers from House Frey's vassal houses. After escaping the marsh, Daemon set course for the Twins to confront Lord Frey.

• Daemon ordered his party to investigate a scream and clash of weapons in the reeds while Gael guarded the carriage.
• Daemon, Rodrik Dustin, and their men defeated masked attackers who were robbing a caravan, and the survivors killed themselves rather than be captured.
• Rupert, Jarman Waters, and Lyonel Corbray found badges and cloth identifying the attackers as men from House Haigh, House Charlton, and House Erenford, all Frey vassals.
• Daemon's party encountered and defeated three more groups of disguised bandits, and Larys Strong suspected the Freys were using Walder Frey's disappearance as a pretext for a larger plan.
• Daemon's party emerged from Witch's Mire, and Daemon declared that they would go to the Twins and meet Lord Frey.

As the party camped beside the Green Fork, Daemon Targaryen prepared to return to King's Landing and agreed to carry letters home on Caraxes. Daemon reflected on his uncertain origins and Jocelyn's concern as the group wrote to their loved ones, while the journey north awaited them at dawn.

• Daemon Targaryen told Daemon that he needed to return to King's Landing after they passed through the Riverlands.
• Daemon gave Daemon Targaryen letters from himself and Gael to carry back on Caraxes.
• Gael suggested that the other travelers write letters too, and Daemon Targaryen eagerly went to summon the squires.
• Gael told Daemon to write to Jocelyn, prompting him to consider her care for him and his uncertain parentage.
• Rayford, Lubert Crabb, and Mys Rivers wrote to their families while Daemon Targaryen helped them with their letters.
• The party prepared to pass through The Twins and travel north the next morning.

Daemon confronted Lord Frey at the Twins over the crimes committed by Walder Frey and his allies, then left for the North after Lord Frey died in a fire that destroyed the evidence. The chapter ended with Daemon suspecting the fire had been deliberately set to protect the Freys and erase their crimes.

• Lord Frey welcomed Daemon, Gael, Daemon Targaryen, and Rodrik Dustin to the Twins and introduced his family during a feast.
• Daemon Targaryen accused Lord Frey of enabling the attacks and extortion carried out by Walder Frey and his vassals; Daemon warned that he would report the crimes to King Jaehaerys.
• The next morning, Daemon Targaryen departed for King's Landing on Caraxes while Daemon and the others prepared to continue north.
• A servant raised the alarm that Lord Frey's study was on fire, and the blaze consumed the room before the guards could extinguish it.
• Daemon concluded that Lord Frey had likely died in the fire and destroyed the evidence, then led the party toward the Kingsroad and the North.

Daemon and Gael crossed the dangerous Neck and reached Greywater Watch, where Lyman Reed welcomed them and arranged a guide for their journey north. With Joren leading them through the marsh, they returned to the Kingsroad near Moat Cailin and continued toward Winterfell.

• Daemon's company encountered marsh lizards on the causeway through the Neck and escaped under cover of dragonfire.
• Rodrik Dustin reunited with Lyman Reed at Greywater Watch, and Lyman invited Daemon and Gael to stay for the night.
• Lyman told Daemon that Lord Frey had died in a fire and revealed that his family had once stopped Frey from building a causeway through the Neck.
• Lyman sent his son Joren to guide the company through the marsh toward Moat Cailin.
• Joren led the company back to the Kingsroad, then vanished into the reeds as Daemon and Gael continued north toward Winterfell.

At Moat Cailin, Daemon and his companions camped among the ruins as Rodrik and a guard taught northern fighting techniques, while Daemon demonstrated his skill with twin swords. The group prepared to enter the North the next morning, and Daemon took the first watch.

• Rodrik agreed to teach Rupert northern swordsmanship, while his guard showed Mys Rivers how to use a battle-axe.
• Daemon challenged Colin, Rayford, and Lyonel to fight him with House Royce’s runic greatswords, and defeated their coordinated attacks without using Blackfyre.
• The three knights stopped the bout and praised Daemon’s skill, then learned he was only thirteen.
• Gael gave Daemon warming broth, and he told the others to rest before their journey north the next morning.
• Daemon took watch at Moat Cailin, touched the burning brand on his shoulder, and gripped Blackfyre when a lizard-lion called from the swamp.