House of The Dragon-A God Amongst Men-Chapter 203: Blood in The Rivers

(Drakken's POV)

[Harrenhal, A Few Days Later...]

After I met with the Princes and told Baelon what had happened with his wife, I returned to Harrenhal to check in on my women. Jon had successfully moved over to the Twins and established Duskguard presence there.

There are Houses all over the Riverlands that are reluctantly protesting the rise of the Trinity, whose Lords defied me at Oldstones. But it does not matter to me, they can rise up and rally their men to try and do something about it. Those who knelt to me and joined the Trinity will rally their own men to do something about it.

I walked inside Mya's chambers, "Mya." I said, "Send a letter to your Father, tell him to set Stone Hedge under siege at once. House Bracken will-.....Maegelle..."

Mya was sitting down on a couch, Maegelle was next to her with a look of surprise on her face.

"My Lord." Mya stood up, "I will do that at once. Maegelle here had come to me and voiced some concerns."

"What concerns?" I asked, "There is nothing to worry about."

"Drakken...." Maegelle stood up, "What is this I hear about another conflict?"

I nodded, "That's right." I said, "It appears the Riverlords have stated their dislike of the Trinity and I gave them all an ultimatum. Right now, House Tully is starving with no way of escaping their fate. Lord Tully will meet his fate, that is all I can say."

She walked over to me, "Is it really necessary?" She asked as she grabbed my hand, "To do this now? C-Can it not wait?"

"Resistance and rebellion never wait." I told her, "They do not want The Trinity to thrive, the Faith wishes to be rid of it. I don't intend to allow them to do what they want. If the Realm wishes to wage war against me, then so be it. That is precisely what I want."

She looked down, "I....I am with child." She said, "Your child. Can you not do this? Please?"

I patted her cheek, "It is for you that I do this." I told her, "For all of you. Do you truly think you will not be targeted? You, a former Septa.....the zealots will do everything in their power to take me down. And guess what? They can try. I will crush them."

"I see...." She said

"My beautiful Maegelle." I said as I caressed her cheek, "The day will come when all the warring and killing will result in something greater than you can ever hope to comprehend. Just know that I do this for a reason."

"To spread your chaos." she said softly

"That...." I leaned closer to her, "And to ensure a future for my Family. That is what it's always about."

"You're soft, sister." I heard Saera's voice behind me

I turned to see her walking up to us, a slight smirk on her face.

"Saera...." Maegelle said

"My Love knows what he wants." She said as she hugged my arm, "And that is bloodshed. You cannot cure this affliction, the madness, the chaos in his mind. You can only stave it, yes...but it will never go away. Drakken is a god. War and Death. That is all he represents. The power that he has, you misuse it..."

"Saera, do not think that way." Maegelle frowned, "Drakken is much more than tha-"

"I know he is." Saera said, "He is Power. The Power that not even The Conqueror could oppose. Aegon Targaryen would grovel at Drakken's feet should they have ever met in the battlefield. My Love would have ripped him apart and took his wives for himself. Right, Lover~?"

I blinked, "Sure. I guess."

Mya cleared her throat, "I will go and inform House Blackwood of our next move." she said as she walked past us, "House Bracken will not be allowed to mobilize."

"I will go." I said, "Blood will stain their halls."

"Drakken...." Maegelle said

"Leave him be, Maegelle." Saera told her, "He needs to do this. He needs to bathe in the blood of his enemies. That way, he can remind himself of what he truly is...."

"He is not a Monster." Maegelle said, "He is...."

"You can deny it all you want." Saera chuckled, "But My Love is the pinnacle of Chaos. He is the one true god, after all."

I held Maegelle by the waist and pulled her in, "I want you to stay here....safe." I told her, "Look after our boys."

She nodded, "I will." She said softly, "Will Lady Mya stay?"

"Yes." I told her, "She is in charge of the defense should something happen."

She patted my chest, "I....fine..." she said as she looked at me, "That is fine...."

"B-Be careful."

********************

[Stone Hedge, The Following Day]

"This didn't take long," I muttered

Lord Blackwood and his sons approached me as they sheathed their blades, "My Lord." He said, "There was no opportunity for a siege, these heathens met us head-on. They wasted no time."

I nodded as I looked at the field riddled with corpses and flames, "How many casualties?" I asked, "This happened rather quick."

"Around a hundred of our men." He said, "And around six hundred of theirs. Most of them surrendered and laid down their arms. What should we do?"

"We shoul-" I started

"Kill them." I heard Saera say behind us

I stopped and looked at her, "Quiet." I told her, "What are you even doing here? I told you to stay in the carriage."

"No, I want to see this." She said as she walked up to us

"Respectfully, Princess, there is still a chance for another fight to break out." Lord Blackwood said, "It is wise to stay back with our men, to keep you safe."

"I am the safest by My Love's side." She said as she hugged my arm, "He would never let anything happen to me."

"Hm." I said as we kept walking and made our way to the castle

As we walked, I looked over to the side and saw that several Blackwood soldiers were dragging corpses down the field.

We then reached the castle's entrance; the entrance was toppled down and some Blackwood soldiers were pulling some surrendered Bracken soldiers out of the way.

"Our guess is the rest of the Bracken army has scattered." Lord Blackwood said, "To form some sort of resistance."

"Hm." I said, "The Duskguard will hunt them down."

Then, two young men were pulled over and thrown to their knees in front of us. I noticed that some women who were in binds were also dragged over, shoved down as well.

"Who are they?" Saera asked

"Bracken had three sons and four daughters." Lord Blackwood said, "One of the sons escaped. He must be on the run with the scattered soldiers."

"Hm." I said, "And the girls?"

"They are no older than ten and six." He said, "Worry not, they have not been touched in any way. The Mother killed herself by jumping off the top of the castle walls."

"Shame." I said as I walked over to the young men

"Hey, can we keep the daughters?" Saera asked

"What for?" I asked her

"I don't know, I will figure something out." She said with a chuckle, "But hostages, obviously."

"Sounds fair." I said

As I reached the heirs to Lord Bracken, they both glared at me.

"Fucking scum." He spat at my leg

"You are quite the nasty one, huh?" I said as I shook my leg, "Did your imbecile father show you any manners?"

"Fuck you." He said with anger

"Throw this one to the dogs." Saera said, "He does not deserve to die."

He spat at Saera's leg, "Shut up. Whore."

"You filthy mongrel!!" Saera shouted, "How dare you!!"

I swooped my hand down at the imbecile's stomach, piercing his flesh and clutching his spine, causing him to widen his eyes.

I peered into his eyes, "Who do you think you are?" I said as his body began to burn up, "Bracken filth?"

In a swift motion, I ripped off his spine, his skull still connected to it as his entire body burst into flames. The rest of his body immediately crumpled to the ground as his sisters yelled out in horror while I held the spine and his skull in my hand, dangling down in the wind as smoke emitted from it.

I glared at the other Bracken son, who was looking at me with pure shock, "You." I said,

"You also die."