The arrest

The scene descended into utter chaos.

Viserys clutched his heart and roared, "Seal the city gates!"

"Bring them all back!"

"Especially Criston Cole!"

He had defiled his daughter?!

Forsaken his vows as a white knight?!

And he still expected to escape unscathed?!

If he were left at large, would Rhaenyra's reputation not be at his mercy?!

Humiliation and fury surged through the Kingsguard's chests!

A knight who had forsaken the king and fled had emerged from among the Kingsguard?!

The Cargyll twins volunteered to hunt down and arrest Criston Cole.

Their sworn brother!

Their disgrace!

Cole had stained the noble, glorious white cloak of the Kingsguard!

"There's no need. Leave Cole alone."

"The Dragon Egg is our most urgent concern," Baelon said calmly.

Had the timing not been wrong, Baelon would have applauded in admiration.

First, Rhaenyra's affair had been exposed.

Then he had learned of Viserys's ambitions from Lyonel.

Finally, Daemon had taken the Dragon Egg, and Cole had fled.

All the drama had come together at once.

Baelon urged Rhaenyra to set off on her dragon. "No wall is high enough to keep a dragon in."

Rhaenyra closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, they were filled with resolve. "All right!"

Rhaenyra knew she had to understand what mattered more.

Compared with the Dragon Egg, what did Cole amount to?

On another continent, the Free Cities had far too many ways to take a tiny Dragon Egg from Daemon's grasp.

What if that Dragon Egg hatched into a young dragon?!

Dragons placed the Targaryens above everyone else. They could never allow the Free Cities a chance to obtain one.

"No," Viserys said hoarsely.

"That fallen knight who forsook his vows!"

"He could cause a scandal throughout the city. People will whisper about Rhaenyra..."

"Even if he flees across the Narrow Sea, I will kill him!"

Rhaenyra raised her chin and loudly interrupted him. "Let them talk all they like!"

Her eyes were bright, her voice firm. "I don't care!"

"I don't think I did anything wrong."

"I hate those customs of Westeros!" she said, enunciating every word.

"A man's affairs are something to boast of, but the moment a woman follows desire and love, she is condemned by everyone."

Rhaenyra turned briskly and promised, "I will bring the Dragon Egg back!"

Rhaenyra turned briskly, her back straight.

"Uh..."

Baelon finally spoke.

He sounded somewhat puzzled. "So Criston Cole is that important?"

"Not one of you thought to keep an eye on him?"

"Of course," he added, "except me."

Viserys abruptly raised his head to look at Baelon, and Rhaenyra turned back.

Baelon shrugged at their reaction. "Apparently so."

"Good, good, good!" Viserys exclaimed in delighted surprise.

"You sent someone to follow him?"

"Where is he now?!"

"Father, I had a little bird with a lame leg land on Ser Cole's head," Baelon said evenly.

"My guards will bring Ser Cole back."

He smiled at Rhaenyra. "We'll see Ser Cole again very soon."

Baelon watched her walk away and said quietly, "Father, there is no need to send the Gold Cloaks or the Kingsguard."

"We'll see Ser Cole again very soon."

Viserys let out a long sigh of relief.

Rhaenyra nodded to Baelon. After asking which way Daemon had gone, she hurried toward the stables.

The Master of Horse led out a fine horse, and Rhaenyra suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Rhaenyra!"

She looked back.

It was Baelon. Her brother had followed her.

She gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. Uncle won't attack me."

"Go back and keep Father company."

She bent down and stroked Baelon's silver hair. "Wait for me. I'll bring the Dragon Egg back!"

Baelon lowered his eyes.

He had never quite understood Daemon. Daemon openly scorned his elder brother, Viserys.

Yet he would not permit anyone else to speak provocatively to Viserys.

If he loved his brother, then for a third of the past six years, Daemon had devoted himself to angering Viserys, never tiring of it.

He sighed. "Rhaenyra, Daemon left some time ago. You might not catch him."

A thirteen-year-old girl, riding a dragon alone across the Narrow Sea to another continent.

In his previous life, children her age were still in primary school.

"Don't land in the Free Cities," Baelon cautioned her. "If you can't catch him, come back."

"To Father, you matter more than any number of Dragon Eggs."

Rhaenyra's tension eased, and she smiled.

"I know."

"Do you think so too?" she asked, watching Baelon with a smile.

Baelon nodded without reservation. "Syrax is much more precious than a Dragon Egg."

Rhaenyra pulled on the reins. "If you catch Cole, don't let Father agree to his Trial by Combat."

"Father isn't Jaehaerys."

She raised her whip, and the chestnut horse broke into a run.

At her words, Baelon suddenly had an idea.

He shouted, "Rhaenyra, if you meet Daemon, ask him something!"

"Does he have the courage to serve as Father's champion and fight Ser Cole, who defeated him once before?!"

Rhaenyra's laughter answered him. "Got it!"

What fate awaited him?

Ser Cole knew very well.

The best outcome was taking the black. Perhaps even the Night's Watch would mock him.

Everyone would judge him a knight without honor!

The worst outcome was immediate death, with his head mounted on the city walls.

Ser Cole refused to sit and wait for death. He had powerful arms and strong legs!

He could decide his own fate.

As long as he went to the Free Cities, somewhere beyond the laws of Westeros, no one would point fingers at him.

He could wear gold and silver, drink fine wine to his heart's content, and enjoy whores.

He could even use his prowess to join a sellsword company and make something of himself!

Forsaking vows he had already broken was easier than Cole had imagined.

He took off his conspicuous white armor and quickly packed up the valuables in his bedchamber.

He stamped flat the gold bracelet Rhaenyra had given him and tossed it into his bundle.

The dagger the king had bestowed on him, the enamel and gemstones on his armor-he knocked them off and packed them away.

Finally, Cole took Rhaenyra's favor.

For the past six years, he had always worn Rhaenyra's favor and fought for her.

He left the Red Keep without trouble. No one stopped him.

Cole walked down the street, nervous and excited. The gate nearest the Red Keep was the Mud Gate.

Once he passed through the gate and boarded a merchant ship at the harbor, he could reach the Free Cities!

Pentos, Tyrosh, Lys-any of them would do!

He would buy a very large house and many slaves, and live a life of freedom and wealth.

The closer he came to the gate, the more excited and anxious Cole became.

He could not help glancing about, looking in every direction.

Old men chatted against the foot of a wall, and barefoot children ran about. Everything was ordinary.

With every step, Cole's heart pounded harder.

He did not know when a group of knights might come chasing after him, seize him, and turn his wonderful future to dust.

But the Seven watched over him.

His journey went smoothly all the way to the Mud Gate.

The broad city gate was within reach!

Cole cautiously observed it from a distance for a while. The Gold Cloaks were searching carts and goods as usual, questioning those entering and leaving the city.

Nothing was amiss.

He walked toward the gate, step by step.

A column of knights in gleaming armor suddenly poured out of an alley, blocking his path completely.

"Even thinking with your toes, you'd know not to use this gate."

"I never imagined Ser Cole really would be this stupid."

Tap, tap-

Accompanied by the sound of a wooden stick striking the paving stones, the newcomer sighed. "What a waste of the little birds' and little mice's time."