Amid the crowd of onlookers, an unremarkable carriage stood in a corner.
Through a gap in its window, Margaery Tyrell watched everything unfolding on the distant ruins.
Her fingertips clenched the hem of her clothes, and turmoil surged through her heart.
She had thought Aegon Targaryen relied on nothing more than that terrifying three-headed dragon, crushing everything beneath its dragon aura.
Only today did she truly realize that the young monarch's terrifying power extended far beyond the strength of the beast.
The armies under his command swept all before them, reclaiming the Crownlands with frightening speed.
The castles holding out against him might as well have been made of paper. They could not even hold until reinforcements arrived, falling in moments.
He remained in King's Landing, yet directed the war from afar, effortlessly defeating twenty thousand Lannister soldiers, capturing a man like Jaime Lannister alive, putting him on public trial, and then... cutting off his head without hesitation.
His ruthlessness and decisiveness surpassed those of anyone she had ever known.
Margaery could almost foresee how the old lion would rage when Tywin Lannister saw his son's head and the broken hilt of his family's sword.
A bloodbath that would sweep across Westeros was already close at hand.
Guards stepped forward, wrapped Jaime's head in cloth, and carefully put away the broken hilt of Bright-Roar.
Aegon gave Blackfyre a gentle flick. Not a trace of blood stained the smooth blade of the Valyrian steel sword.
He instructed an attendant to put away the remaining blade of Bright-Roar, then mounted his horse and led his party back to the Red Keep without lingering or paying any heed to the frightened and awestruck gazes around him.
Oberyn Martell took one last look at the Lannister's headless corpse. Satisfaction flashed in his eyes before