Harlan was utterly petrified.
His lips trembled, and he began to stammer incoherently. "Y-you-you can't do this! I'm the son of the Former Sealord of Braavos! I'm the son of this island's owner..."
Before he could finish, Aegon already knew what he meant to say. He roared, the Sleeping Dragon's Wrath he had suppressed for so long finally erupting in full. "Then who am I? Do you think a Dragonlord can't kill unless he's on dragonback? You should be grateful that today I rode only my 'gentle' 'Solar Flame,' Sunfyre, rather than the savage 'King of Wild Dragons,' Cannibal. Otherwise, a dragon would be chewing you to pieces, bite by bite, right now!"
Harlan was terrified. His legs no longer obeyed him, and he collapsed to his knees in the muddy water. Yet his mouth kept fighting. "Y-you... stop trying to scare me!"
"I'll give you a way to live." Seeing him like this, Aegon suddenly put away his anger, his voice calm again. "We'll follow our Westerosi tradition and settle this with a trial by combat. Though I doubt you could find seven men for a trial of seven. I'll give you another chance-we'll fight one-on-one. If you win, I'll spare your life." He paused, a mocking smile curling his lips. "Don't tell me you're afraid."
Harlan did not immediately look delighted. Kneeling in the muddy water, he stared with complex, unreadable emotions churning in his brown eyes.
But a wary gleam soon appeared-
He had clearly remembered last night's so-called "one-on-one duel." The painful lesson of Aegon surrounding him with five others and beating him had taught him a little wisdom.
He spoke cautiously, his voice probing and guarded. "By one-on-one, do you mean all of you against me, or me against all of you?"
Aegon was speechless.