Frozen Flames: The Saga of the Ice Dragon (Completed)

"He wanted to see your face when you stepped into the Small Council Chamber, that's all, wanted to see how you would react," Arianne murmured, her head laying on his chest as they rested in bed, those soft breasts pressing against his side. "The rest was all for Connington."

Oberyn had given Connington his blessing to hatch a plot against Jaehaerys then turned on him the moment it came to fruition. A master stroke worthy of a snake. In one move, the Martells had proven themselves friends to all those who withered under Connington's rule, shown that crimes against Jaehaerys would not go unpunished, and demonstrated that the realm would be a different place under Aegon. Jae had been little more than a side amusement for Oberyn. But if Jae had been consulted on the plan, he'd have objected to Connington dying from suicide in his cell. The bastard had deserved to have his head chopped off where Jae could see it roll over the ground. Instead, he had to look for pleasure in his imagination.

The city below the Red Keep sat enveloped in darkness, the ever-present hum of its citizens dulled for the night."I suppose this was all Oberyn's idea." Jae idly twirled a strand of her hair around his finger.

"What makes you think I didn't do it?" Arianne asked.

Jaehaerys shrugged nonchalantly. "Instinct."

She raised herself up, glaring at him. "I'll have you know, I set the entire thing in motion when I gave Oberyn the idea, you ungrateful shit."

She got ready to go on a rant but the smirk on Jae's face must've alerted her to the trap.

"You infuriating bastard." She slapped his chest even as she laughed. "You're going to pay for that." 

"Will I?" Jae breathed.

"Mhmm." She straddled him. "We both know you want to. And if I wanted to take you back to Dorne, making sure we were caught right now would be enough to do it."

"It would," Jaehaerys said. "But you told me you have a scheme of your own in play." He grabbed her around her torso and flipped her over, her legs wrapping around him. "Maybe you want a little dragon of your own, hmm?"

"I never should have mentioned that."

"No, you really shouldn't have," Jae said. He rolled off of her and she sidled next to him, burying her face in the crook of his neck. And without thinking about it, Jae spent the first night with her in bed.

They woke up in the same position, a ray of sunlight coming through the balcony door.

"You know, if you fucked me I might've said no man had ever brought me so much pleasure. Men like to hear that, don't they?"

Jaehaerys laughed. The games never stopped with Arianne. "It gladdens my heart to hear I don't even need to use my cock to compete with the rest of them."

She laid her head on his chest, watching him with a smile on her face. Having her so close to him, the morning light falling on her face, it was the first time he noticed her brown eyes looked almost golden, and the dark spots stood out as clearly as the stars in the night sky.

He'd seen her body before he'd seen her beauty and though he knew the existence of such thoughts to be a sure sign of her seduction, he could not help but admire her. He'd only met the chaste, supposedly-innocent Ladies of the Crownlands before and they could not match Arianne's wit if they'd all worked together to try and come up with a funny reply.

So before she could get the better of him, Jaehaerys raised himself from the bed. It was the hour of the nightingale, and it was time for him to visit the city. "My sincerest thanks for your words, Princess," he said, pulling his tunic on, and following up with his breeches.

"You wound me, my Prince," she replied, stretching on the bed like a cat, giving him a prime view of her body. "I am but an innocent maid wishing to win your love."

Jaehaerys buttoned up his black doublet. "If I were just another knight, I would have bedded you a dozen times. Alas, you will have to satisfy yourself with dreaming."

"Afraid you wouldn't measure up?"

Her comment could sum up their fledgling relationship; her pricking Jae's pride and him doing his best not to rise to the provocation. And the other way around.

"You should be grateful," he said, looking over his shoulder as he strapped Dark Sister to his waist. "It will make it easy to forget all about me." And with that, he disappeared through the door, running straight into Ser Jaime.

"I heard muffled sounds," Ser Jaime said. "I hope your cries for help were not muffled by certain obstacles."

"You're asking for a beating, Jaime." Now that he'd shaken the cobwebs from his mind, the anxiety began to kick in.

"Apologies, my Prince," Jaime got the message. "Though you can see why I couldn't help myself."

Jaehaerys snorted at that. "You will have to give me some ammunition to return fire someday."

"Never!" Jaime cried. "I am but a virtuous knight!"

"Sure, sure," Jae rolled his eyes, as they reached the courtyard. King Aegon had begun his journey to the capital and Jae had to acquire an appropriate gift. The stableboy handed them the reins of their horses and they mounted up, riding through the gates into the city below, hoping to find a gift worthy of a King.

He had ordered a Crown for Aegon moons ago. He wanted it to carry the insignia of the Old Gods, the Seven, and the Rhoynar Mother, to show that Aegon would be the King of all the people, not only the Dornish. He could only hope Aegon didn't turn out to be a provincial twat.

They arrived at the Street of Steel and the workshop of Tobho Mott.

"My Prince," the master smith said as Jaehaerys walked into his workshop, bowing. "It is an honor to have you grace me with my presence."

"As long as you grace me with your work in return, Master Mott," Jaehaerys replied.

"Indeed I shall, my Prince," Mott said, snapping his fingers and his apprentice scurried to the back of the shop. "I am not one to hold back on completing my work, so I finished Your Grace's order the moment I heard of it."

The apprentice returned, holding a package wrapped in leather, and handed it to his Master. Even Mott did not dare touch the finished product, handing it straight to Jaehaerys, who unfurled the leathers to reveal a crown made of Valyrian Steel. The front of the crown carried three treasures; a gold piece with a seven-pointed star engraved in the middle, a silver piece with the visage of the Rhoynish Mother to the left, and a bronze piece with the weeping face of the Old Gods. The three metals ran around the band of the crown, the spikes adorned with rubies – a crown worthy of a great King.

"This is exceptional work," Jaehaerys commented.

"I thank you for your praise." Mott bowed low. Jae wrapped the crown back into its leather bindings and handed it to Ser Jaime.

Jaehaerys looked Mott right in the eyes and said, "Expect me to come to ask for your services once more, Master Mott, you certainly have proven yourself worthy of royal patronage."

Again, Mott bowed and said, "You honor me, my Prince."

Jae wanted to inquire about the possibility of commissioning a suit of armor, but that's when he heard the sound of a man running and turned to find one of his spies sprinting towards him.

The boy ran up to him and leaned closer to whisper in his ear, "It is happening. On the Street of Silk." 

Resolve filled his being. A lot of things could go wrong, but he had committed to this scheme. Ser Jaime sent him a questioning look, but Jae had already sprung into action. "Mount up!" he commanded, rushing towards his horse. "Prince Oberyn is in danger."

The two of them galloped down the Street of Steel, made a right, and continued their charge down the Street of Silk, shouting for the people to get out of the way.

Jae began to panic as he rode down the Stree of Silk. He spotted a lone man with a sword in his hands, holding back five opponents. There was no question about his identity. He unsheathed Dark Sister, loving the way it sang as it slid from its scabbard before he raised it high in the air and slashed downwards, taking the head of one of the attackers.

He vaulted off the horse and joined Prince Oberyn in fighting back. Ser Jaime appeared at Oberyn's right, having taken care of another assassin, leaving only three to deal with.

"Shall we?" Ser Jaime asked with a quicksilver smile, and the three of them launched themselves against their opponents.

Dark Sister proved irresistible. Jae's first strike clipped the sword of the attacker, the second broke it and the third opened his throat to the bone.

Ser Jaime and Prince Oberyn did not have the same weapons at their disposal as Jaehaerys had, but they took care of the threat as quickly as he did. It almost made him feel ashamed for feeing so confident with the Dark Sister in his hands.

There came a moment of silence as his eyes looked at the dead attackers at their feet. That had been far too close, and they weren't even in the clear yet. Oberyn fought for breath but had no wounds. The Prince of Dorne was about to say something when a quarrel flew out of nowhere. The next stage.

Oberyn spotted it and shifted his torso, but it still clipped his shoulder. Jaehaerys looked up in a feigned panic and found four crossbowmen leaning out of the windows, aiming straight at Oberyn.

Jaehaerys threw himself at the Prince of Dorne and not a moment too late, for three quarrels embedded themselves in the ground where they stood.

"In here!" Ser Jaime shouted, having kicked open a door of one of the houses, before lifting his shield over their heads, saving them from the second volley of quarrels.

They staggered into the house, and Jaehaerys only briefly noticed the frightened family inside, but they had bigger problems – more men would show up at any moment.

"Stay back, my Prince," Jaime said, stepping in front of him as four men appeared at the door.

"If I stay back, we're all dead."

"We's only her' for the snake," one of the attackers said with a savage smile. "We'll leave you be."

"If he dies, I'll be dead before the week is out." Jaehaerys launched into an attack. They could not be allowed to come into the room. If they kept the attackers in the doorway, they maintained an advantage.

Ser Jaime and Oberyn recognized his plan and moved to his flanks, standing on each side of the door. Jae attacked head-on, Jaime from the left, Oberyn from the right. Three men fought back while the doorway rendered the fourth one useless.

Jae's dueling partner went for a side-swing, but Jae lunged forward, hitting his blade just above the cross-guard, ripping it from his hands. His next swing took his head. He only meant to open his throat, but the Dark Sister had other ideas.

The fourth man, finding an opening, charged him but found only death when Jaime dispatched his opponent and thrust at his back.

Oberyn took care of the final attacker moments later. Jae looked out the window to find the four crossbowmen approaching the entrance. Jaime and Oberyn saw the same and charged out the door – the protection of the house had turned into a trap.

Jae followed right behind them but he didn't get the chance to attack anyone, since the Red Viper and the Golden Lion took them all down without him having to raise his sword.

Oberyn turned to him, his sword covered in blood. "Am I supposed to believe this wasn't done on your orders? Some desperate attempt to get me to trust you?" he shouted.

"He saved your life!" Ser Jaime returned furiously.

Jae wanted to defend himself but he caught movement from the corner of his eye. Oberyn hadn't killed one of them, merely slashed at his shoulder. The mercenary lifted his crossbow and aimed it straight at the Red Viper. Jae spotted him too late and had only one option. He couldn't let his ploy go so horribly wrong. Arianne had won him neutrality from the Viper, but he had to earn trust for himself. So he threw himself in front of Oberyn as the mercenary pulled the trigger. He hit the ground with a groan, a stinging pain in his left shoulder. He looked down to find a quarrel had hit him right in the arm. Gods, tell me it didn't break the bone.

He heard a cry of rage followed by a grunt of pain when Ser Jaime plunged his sword through the mercenary's heart. Oberyn appeared at his side then, pulling him on his back.

"Jaehaerys!" Jaime shouted, looking down at the quarrel embedded below his shoulder. "Why'd you do that?!"

"Because I don't want to die just yet," Jae replied, trying to make light of the situation because he hated the look of sheer panic in Jaime's eyes. "Am I going to die?" he groaned in pain as he tried to shift in place.

"Doesn't look like it," Oberyn said, observing the place the quarrel hit. "I don't think it hit broke the bone, but I could be wrong." He looked up at Jaime. "We have to get him to a Maester." 

Jaehaerys gritted his teeth, but he wouldn't cry out in pain, wouldn't scream. Oberyn placed his left arm over his chest, which made things marginally better.

The Gold Cloaks arrived soon after and placed Jae on a cart and took him back to the Red Keep. He saw people straining to get a glimpse of him, only to retreat in the face of Jaime's sword. He even thought he saw Arianne but she did not say anything. She must've been more concerned with her uncle.

They took him to the Grand Maester's chambers and, laying in a bed as Pycelle shuffled around him, examining the wound and muttering under his breath, Jae wanted nothing more than to strangle the man.

In the end, the man declared Jae would have to be given the Milk of the Poppy so Pycelle could remove the quarrel. Jae drank it down greedily, surrendering to blissful rest.