RED QUEEN | DAEMON TARGARYEN

CHAPTER THIRTY

Valyria and Cassian raced back home to Sunspear; naturally Valyria won since Ānogara's size gave the she-dragon an advantage. When they soared above the keep, Cyrion descended to land on the courtyard while Valyria continued to fly, intending to land outside the surrounding city. Cyrion was small enough to land on the courtyard without risking any structural damage to the keep.

Upon landing, Valyria slid down the wing and patted her dragon on the neck. When her rider was out of reach, Ānogara spread her wings again and flew away into the night to reunite with the other dragons. A bit away she found Lewyn waiting for her alongside six guardsmen. Over thirteen years later and he still stood there to greet her like he had the first time she visited Dorne.

"Brother," Valyria kissed his cheek in greeting. "You could have sent one of the guards with two horses."

"I could, but I can never pass up on an evening ride," Lewyn responded with a casual grin. "And the Princess of Dorne should always be given a proper welcome home." Then he led her over to the awaiting horses. Soon the two of them were riding towards the castle.

As they rode through the Shadow City, a loud scream rang through the air. Both Valyria and Lewyn instinctively pulled their horses to a halt, assuming it was a woman in distress. By the time they realised it was a trap, it was too late. Hooded figures emerged from the dark alleys surrounding the main road, swords and spears raised.

Out of her peripheral vision, Valyria saw a figure seated on the roof of a nearby home, holding a crossbow that pointed towards herself and Lewyn. Acting on impulse, Valyria threw herself off her horse and knocked Lewyn off his at the same time. They landed on the ground with a thud just as an arrow pierced the air previously occupied by their heads.

Quickly the two scrambled to their feet. Lewyn unsheathed his sword and threw his spear in Valyria's direction. His longsword was too heavy for her to use smoothly and even though a sword was her weapon of choice, Valyria had a better chance defending herself if she could lift her weapon properly.

Orchid eyes scanned the area surrounding them, hoping to get an estimate of how many attackers they faced. The city's labyrinth-like structure gave them a clear disadvantage since the dark and narrow alleys could cloak a dozen attackers. Valyria could not even think about how much this reminded her of the day she lost her second husband.

She counted six assailants on the ground which meant they outnumbered their attackers. Only one of their guardsmen was shot by an arrow coming from the sixth man hiding upon the roof. The hooded figure loaded another arrow into his crossbow, aiming it down against them and this time he hit one of their horses that released a shrill screech as it fell to the ground.

The men fought skillfully yet it seemed like the man holding the crossbow hadn't mastered the weapon. Mastered or not, though, Valyria realised the danger of allowing once enemy to obtain the high ground during a fight. Lewyn pushed her behind him, intending to protect her because even though she was armed, he didn't wish to risk her getting hurt.

Valyria took this opportunity to run. For any onlookers it might have looked like she was fleeing the scene when she in reality searched for a way to get up on the roof. Heavy breathing behind her alerted Valyria to the presence of a man behind her. Thus far, she'd given absolutely no indication of being capable of fighting so she hoped however chased her would fall for the easiest trick in the book.

Turning around a corner sharply, Valyria stopped in her tracks and held her breath, waiting for the man to catch up with her. Heavy steps got louder and when he turned around the corner Valyria only hesitated for the blink of an eye it took for her to make sure it wasn't one of her own men before plunging the spear into his neck, not taking the risk that he might wear a breastplate.