Beside the two of them sat two other boys, back to back, neither looking at the other, yet Aegon had deliberately assigned them to the same duty rotation.
Rosso Bracken, Earl Humfrey Bracken's second son, had grown taller than he had been five years ago, and his shoulders had broadened considerably.
He had House Bracken's distinctive reddish-brown hair and an angular jaw. A sword hung at his waist, its hilt wrapped with his house's golden Horsehead Sigil.
At the moment, he was whittling a piece of wood with a dagger, sending shavings flying everywhere. His lips were pressed tightly together, and an unmistakable aggression radiated from him.
Sitting back to back with him was William Blackwood, Earl Royce Blackwood's youngest son, who was an entirely different sort-black-haired, slender, and as quiet as a stone.
He was whittling too, but his movements were far gentler than Rosso's, as though he were carving something delicate.
His sword rested against his knee, its hilt wrapped with House Blackwood's black Raven's Claw Sigil.
Five years ago, these were the two who had drawn blades at the banquet for Rhaenyra's "matchmaking gathering" in Riverrun, in the Riverlands.
It had started with nothing more than Aegon whispering in Rhaenyra's ear, "That William looks about my age. He's rather cute." Rhaenyra had followed his lead and mentioned the boy, whereupon Rosso and a group of young Riverlands nobles had surrounded William and mocked him for trying to court the princess when he was still a babe at his mother's breast.
In a fit of anger, William had drawn his sword and wounded Rosso, sparking a bloody clash of no small consequence.
The incident had left Rhaenyra and Aegon so mortified that they had wished the ground would swallow them-even Daemon, far away in the Stepstones, had heard