The Red Keep's banquet hall was already ablaze with light.
Hundreds of candles burned in golden holders, lighting the entire hall as brightly as day.
The long tables were laden with beef and lamb roasted golden brown, plump roast geese and chickens, fresh fish, prawns, and shellfish, and barrel after barrel of Arbor Gold and ale chilled with ice.
On this summer night, the minstrels invited to perform plucked their lutes in a corner, their lilting music mingling with laughter and cheerful voices as it echoed through the hall.
Originally, the banquet had been intended to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Viserys and Alicent's marriage, as well as the successful conclusion of that day's jousting.
But ever since Daemon had stepped into the hall...
No, ever since Daemon had returned astride Caraxes, the theme of tonight's banquet had quietly changed.
Viserys took Daemon by the hand and seated him beside himself.
The two brothers leaned their heads together, engrossed in conversation, as though all their past conflicts and estrangement had never existed.
Viserys kept filling Daemon's cup, listening as he described the war in the Stepstones, how he had led his fleet to defeat the armies of the Kingdom of the Three Daughters, and how he had built his own "kingdom" through blood and fire.
Daemon's voice was low and rich. He spoke lightly of the dangers he had faced in battle, yet still drew gasps from the nobles around him.
At the sight of their expressions, Viserys grinned from ear to ear, his gaze brimming with pride as he looked at Daemon.
He seemed to have forgotten how furious he had been when Daemon proclaimed himself king without permission, and how he had personally banished his younger brother from King's Landing. In his heart, Daemon still seemed to be