For two months, Oldtown endured a siege without being attacked.
No ladders touched the walls. No rams struck the gates. Dravvaxx did not cross above the city, and our archers were forbidden from answering the occasional insults shouted from the battlements. We strengthened the roads, widened the ditches around our camps, and intercepted every cart large enough to matter, but I refused to give Ormund the battle he needed.
Instead, I attempted to take Oldtown from him one conversation at a time.
The first messages went to the Citadel.
I offered formal guarantees that its libraries, ravencotes, observatories, and healers would remain untouched if the city submitted peacefully. The maesters would not be punished for serving whichever lord controlled Oldtown, provided they had taken no direct part in murder or treason. Their archives would remain under their own care, and no soldier would enter the Citadel without permission from its senior maesters.
The first reply was cautious enough to contain almost nothing. The Conclave denied involvement in the succession and insisted the Citadel remained devoted to knowledge rather than kings. It did not acknowledge that its gates, food, and ravens all existed within a city ruled by the Hightowers.
The second reply asked whether my assurances came from Rhaenyra herself. I sent copies bearing the queen’s seal. After that, the Citadel stopped pretending it had no interest in the outcome.
The Faith proved more difficult. The Most Devout feared what would happen if Dravvaxx entered the city, especially with the Starry Sept standing beneath the reach of his fire. I assured them that I would not burn Oldtown merely to remove Ormund, and that every sept would remain protected under the queen’s peace.
Several septons replied that Rhaenyra’s marriage to me, the strange histories surrounding my birth, and the presence of foreign soldiers in the Reach troubled many among the faithful. I answered that uncertainty over a prince consort did not justify supporting the seizure of a throne from the heir King Viserys had named. I also reminded them that my supposedly foreign soldiers had defended Honeyholt while Reachmen marched beneath Hightower banners to destroy it.
Their next letter was shorter.
Merchants were more direct than maesters or septons. They wanted roads opened, tariffs reduced, warehouses protected, and compensation if fighting damaged the riverfront. The guild representatives cared less about which claimant possessed the stronger bloodline than whether ships could unload without soldiers seizing cargo.
I promised protection for property and trade once Oldtown accepted Rhaenyra’s rule. I refused compensation for losses caused by Ormund prolonging the siege. The distinction displeased them, but it placed responsibility where it belonged.
Matthos Tyrell proved useful in ways an army never could.
His name opened conversations that mine could not. The guilds regarded him as the lawful authority of the Reach. Lesser knights inside the city could write to Highgarden without appearing to negotiate directly with the prince besieging them. Even cautious septons found it easier to consider submission when the Lord Paramount assured them that doing so was obedience rather than treachery.
Lord Bulwer served another purpose.
His letters described what Ormund had done in the forest and what Ser Jon Roxton later inflicted upon Bulwer lands. He wrote to men he had once stood beside in Ormund’s host, reminding them that loyalty had not prevented their commander from abandoning two-thirds of his army to save himself.
Some answered. Most did not sign their names.
Information began reaching us through merchants, washerwomen, apprentices, river pilots, and watchmen who carried more fear than courage. Ormund had seized several grain stores under emergency authority.
Hightower soldiers guarded the principal gates, while men considered uncertain were transferred to minor posts or dismissed from the watch. Meetings among guild leaders required permission, and private ravens were inspected before leaving the city.
Ormund was not slaughtering opponents in the streets. He was too capable for that. Open brutality would unite the city against him. Instead, he tightened his control through appointments, shortages, searches, and the constant suggestion that anyone questioning his command might be opening Oldtown to sack.
His argument remained simple.
I was a dragonlord with foreign soldiers outside the walls. Matthos Tyrell had chosen Rhaenyra only after Ormund’s defeat. Lord Bulwer was a turncloak. The queen’s promises meant little because she had already killed one brother and held the family of another within King’s Landing.
The first claim was convenient. The second was bitter. The third ignored that Aegon had come to Honeyholt upon Sunfyre and attempted to burn my army. The final claim was his strongest.
Aegon was dead by my hand. Alicent, Helaena, and the twins remained guarded in the capital. Ormund told the city that surrender would place every Hightower beneath royal judgement, with no assurance that Rhaenyra’s restraint would survive another crisis.
I answered by keeping my army disciplined.
No village was stripped. No captive was paraded beneath the walls. Hightower soldiers who deserted were questioned, fed, and held rather than executed. Merchants caught crossing our lines with ordinary goods were turned back or permitted to trade under supervision. Only weapons, military supplies, and messages intended for Ormund were seized.
The siege remained quiet because quiet served us better than blood. That did not mean it was easy.
The sea and river continued feeding Oldtown. Redwyne ships arrived irregularly from the Arbor, sometimes under darkness and sometimes openly enough to advertise our inability to stop them. Other vessels carried grain from coastal estates or merchants willing to accept greater risk for greater profit.
Meleys could have threatened them, but Rhaenys remained at Driftmark. Dravvaxx was healing, and I would not send him diving toward ships while scorpions watched from every river tower. Without a fleet, the harbour belonged to Ormund more securely than the roads belonged to us.
The standoff settled across the land.
Our twelve thousand men drilled, patrolled, repaired equipment, and waited. Oldtown’s bells marked the hours beyond walls that seemed no closer to opening than on the day of our arrival.
The city did not starve. My army did not assault. Every week brought another secret letter, another rumour of disagreement, and another polite refusal from men unwilling to become the first to move openly against Ormund.
By the end of the second month, I had begun to understand the danger of a siege that produced no visible change. Waiting could weaken Ormund. It could also teach the city that our encirclement was merely another part of the landscape.
The morning that altered the siege began with a dragon’s shadow approaching from the east.
I was standing beside Matthos Tyrell beyond the northern command pavilion when horns sounded from the outer patrols. The call travelled quickly through the camps, repeated by Unsullied companies and Dread Legion watch posts until every man looking toward Oldtown turned instead toward the sky.
The first shape emerged through thin cloud above the Honeywine. Large wings. Red scales. A long neck glinting like dark copper beneath the sun. Meleys. Relief lasted only until a second dragon appeared behind her.
The newcomer was smaller, pale silver-grey against the morning sky, with wings that caught the light like smoke over water. He flew differently from Meleys. Faster in the turn, less powerful in the climb, but with the confidence of a dragon no longer searching for a rider.
Seasmoke. For several breaths, no one around me spoke. Laenor’s dragon had remained riderless since his disappearance. There had been rumours from Driftmark, but no reliable message had reached Oldtown before the dragons themselves arrived. The figure upon Seasmoke’s back wore sea-green and silver rather than Targaryen black.
Matthos narrowed his eyes. "Is that Addam Velaryon?"
"It appears Driftmark has made its choice."
The dragons crossed above our eastern camp but remained well beyond the city’s scorpion range. Meleys descended first, circling the open ground near Dravvaxx’s ridge before landing with enough force to scatter dust through the nearest lines. Seasmoke followed more cautiously, touching down behind her with his wings spread for balance.
Dravvaxx rose at once.
His injured wing opened fully, the long scar visible through the membrane. A growl travelled through his chest as he regarded both arrivals. He knew Meleys, though friendship between dragons had always depended upon distance and mood. Seasmoke was a new rider’s mount approaching territory Dravvaxx had claimed as his resting ground.
I went to him before the growl became a challenge. "They have come to help," I said, placing a hand against the scales of his forelimb. "You have already fought enough allies for one war."
Dravvaxx’s silver eyes remained upon Seasmoke, but the smoke around his jaws thinned. Rhaenys dismounted from Meleys without waiting for attendants. She wore red-and-black riding leathers beneath a dark cloak fastened with the three-headed dragon.
Grief had changed her since Corlys and Baela were taken from her. It showed not as frailty but as a harder stillness around the eyes, as though every word now passed through the memory of what speaking too freely had once cost.
Addam descended from Seasmoke after her. He had Corlys’s colouring more than Laenor’s: pale skin, pale hair cut short enough not to whip across his eyes, and the broad shoulders of a young man accustomed to ships rather than court. Dragonriding leathers sat strangely upon him, too new to have formed naturally around his body. The way he looked back at Seasmoke revealed both pride and disbelief.
He bowed when they reached me. "Prince Othorion, I come in service to Queen Rhaenyra and House Velaryon."
"You have crossed half the realm upon a dragon that rejected every rider offered since Laenor," I said. "A bow is less important than telling me how that happened."
A nervousness passed through Addam before he steadied himself. "Seasmoke came to me upon the dunes east of High Tide. I thought he meant to kill me. Instead, he lowered his head and allowed me to approach."
Rhaenys looked towards the pale dragon. "He did not merely allow it. Seasmoke sought him."
That distinction would matter to every lord who questioned Addam’s birth or legitimacy. Dragons did not settle disputes of inheritance through law. They did, however, possess a way of silencing men who claimed the blood was too thin.
Matthos bowed to Rhaenys before greeting Addam more formally than I expected. News of Corlys’s legitimised sons had spread through the realm, but many lords still viewed them as useful bastards rather than heirs.
Seasmoke had changed the shape of that judgement before Addam spoke another word.
We entered the command pavilion while the dragons settled upon the ridge. Black Rat, Dick, Jasper, Landrey, Lord Bulwer, and the senior Tyrell officers joined us. Men outside continued watching Seasmoke, and Oldtown’s bells began sounding from the walls.
The city had seen him. Ormund would understand what another dragon meant before we explained it. Rhaenys remained standing until a sealed packet was placed upon the table. The first parchment bore Rhaenyra’s seal. The second carried the sea horse of House Velaryon.
"Vaemond has been arrested," she said. "So have the men who supported his seizure of the Driftwood Throne and those involved in Corlys’s murder."
The words brought the pavilion into complete silence. We had suspected Vaemond from the beginning. He possessed motive, opportunity, and enough arrogance to believe Driftmark’s disorder could be turned into legitimacy. Suspicion was not proof, and Rhaenys had flown home under my instruction to question him rather than burn judgement into High Tide before facts emerged.
"What evidence was found?" I asked.
"A servant recognised one of the men leaving Corlys’s chambers on the night of the murder. He denied everything until Addam claimed Seasmoke. Once the castle saw which way power had turned, several others became willing to speak." Rhaenys’s expression tightened as she continued. "Vaemond paid the killers through a factor in Hull. He intended Corlys’s death to create enough uncertainty that Addam and Alyn could be declared unlawful before the queen’s legitimisation took full effect."
"He expected Driftmark to accept him before Rhaenyra could answer."
"He expected fear to do the work quickly. Addam held High Tide, Alyn held the ships and harbour, and I arrived upon Meleys before Vaemond secured either. He tried to call the arrests tyranny. Then Seasmoke landed beside Addam in front of half the castle."
Addam looked uncomfortable with the reverence implied by the account. "The dragon did not prove who murdered Lord Corlys."
"No," Rhaenys said. "He proved Vaemond had lost the last argument keeping uncertain men beside him. After that, the truth became less dangerous to tell."
The conspirators had been confined beneath High Tide. Vaemond remained alive for Rhaenyra’s judgement, though Rhaenys’s tone suggested little affection for delay. The assassins had confessed under questioning and named intermediaries tied directly to Vaemond.
Driftmark had not fallen. Its ships remained under Alyn’s control. The harbour watch answered to captains loyal to Corlys’s recognised heirs. The household knights had sworn to Addam after Seasmoke accepted him, and even those who disliked the elevation of a legitimised bastard understood that defiance would divide the island while enemies watched from every coast.
"Addam will rule Driftmark," Rhaenys said. "The queen has confirmed Corlys’s choice and the legitimisation. Alyn remains his brother and principal captain. Whatever disputes remain among the cousins and lesser branches will be decided after the war, not through knives in private chambers."
Addam inclined his head, but the weight of the declaration was visible in the way his shoulders stiffened. He had come to Oldtown not merely as a new dragonrider but as the future Lord of the Tides.
"You left soon after taking command," I said.
"I left because Driftmark now needs the war ended," Addam replied. "Alyn understands the ships better than I do, and most captains already know him. Seasmoke gives me more use here than sitting in High Tide while others fight."
"He is not alone upon the island," Rhaenys added. "Rhaegar has been sent to Driftmark."
I looked at her more sharply. Before marching south, I had written to Rhaenyra asking that one of our sons be sent if Driftmark required royal support. At the time, I had imagined Vaeron might handle the matter through law while Rhaenys restored order through presence. Events had moved faster than the reply.
"Rhaenyra agreed to send him?"
"She did, though she disliked placing another son away from King’s Landing. Rhaegar flew upon Vhalalor two days before we departed. He reached Driftmark safely and now remains with Alyn."
At thirteen, Rhaegar had already inherited enough confidence to treat responsibility as an invitation rather than a burden. He was younger than Addam and Alyn but royal, dragon-bonded, and capable of making every ambitious cousin understand that High Tide remained under the queen’s direct protection.
"He is not to involve himself in Vaemond’s questioning," I said.
Rhaenys’s mouth moved faintly, almost becoming a smile. "That instruction arrived in your letter before he did. Alyn has him inspecting harbour watches, visiting the wounded, and listening to captains complain about one another. It should cure him of believing command consists mainly of riding Vhalalor."
"Nothing cures a boy of that belief permanently."
"Then Driftmark may at least weaken it."
Relief settled gradually rather than all at once.
Rhaegar was safe. Alyn held the ships. Addam’s claim had been strengthened beyond what any decree could accomplish alone. Vaemond and the conspirators responsible for Corlys’s murder were imprisoned.
Rhaenys had recovered her home without burning it. The achievement did not restore Corlys or Baela. Nothing could. Yet it denied their deaths the power to destroy the house they belonged to.
Dick turned his attention towards the map. "Seasmoke and Meleys alter the siege, though not enough to close the river without ships."
"We brought ships," Addam said.
He placed a short list beside the Velaryon seal.
Twenty-four war galleys had sailed from Driftmark under experienced captains. More might follow once Alyn completed the reorganisation of the harbour and judged which vessels could leave without weakening the island’s defence. The fleet remained several weeks behind the dragons, moving along the coast with orders to join loyal ships near the mouth of the Honeywine.
Matthos studied the numbers. "That will not defeat the whole Redwyne fleet."
"No," Rhaenys said. "It will make every captain supplying Oldtown decide whether the cargo is worth meeting dragonfire beyond the river."
Meleys and Seasmoke could not safely descend into the Honeywine beneath Oldtown’s scorpions. Outside the city’s immediate defences, the calculation changed. Ships sailing from the Arbor would need to pass through waters where two dragons and Velaryon galleys might intercept them.
For two months, Ormund had endured because the landward siege could not close the sea. Now the sea was beginning to close.
I looked towards Addam. "How well can you control Seasmoke?"
"Well enough to fly here."
"That is not the same as fighting above ships."
"I know. Rhaenys has begun teaching me."
Rhaenys rested one hand against the table. "He will not be sent against the Redwyne fleet alone. Seasmoke is experienced, but Addam is not. We will begin with patrols beyond scorpion range and strikes against ships that refuse warning. He needs discipline before courage teaches him the wrong lesson."
Her words reminded me of Jace above the Riverlands.
"Then he will learn beside you," I said. "No attack begins until the Velaryon galleys arrive and we understand the river approaches. Ormund has waited two months. He can wait several more weeks while we ensure the blockade is more than an angry flight over water."
Addam accepted the limitation without complaint. That alone made me more confident in him than a display of boldness would have.
The council continued into the afternoon.
Rhaenys would command the dragons over the coastal approaches, with Addam remaining under her direction. Landrey would extend patrols towards the outer river roads and establish signals with the arriving Velaryon captains. Matthos would send Tyrell representatives to the merchant guilds with new terms, making clear that shipping could no longer be assumed safe.
The Citadel and Faith would receive another message.
The city had spent two months believing time favoured its defenders. That belief now depended upon Redwyne sails reaching the river without challenge. I intended to show them the siege had entered a new stage without throwing a single stone against the walls.
When the council ended, Rhaenys remained behind.
For several moments she stood opposite me in silence. We had not spoken alone since Baela’s body left Honeyholt for Driftmark.
"I brought her home," she said. The words did not require a name.
"I am glad."
"She rests near Laena."
I lowered my gaze. "Ormund should never have been allowed to keep her as long as he did."
"No. He should not."
There was no forgiveness in her voice, but neither was there the fury that had threatened to consume everything when Moondancer fell.
"I understand why you refused him," she continued. "I hated you for it when I saw what remained of her. Part of me may always hate the choice, even while knowing he would have escaped with thousands if you accepted."
"I do not expect you to make peace with it for my sake."
"I have made peace with nothing. I have merely learned that grief does not command armies well."
Her eyes moved towards the ridge where Meleys rested near Dravvaxx and Seasmoke.
"Addam claimed Laenor’s dragon. Corlys’s killers are imprisoned. Alyn holds the harbour, and your son has arrived to help keep every ambitious fool from testing him. Driftmark still stands."
"It stands because you returned when it needed you."
"It stands because enough people chose not to let Vaemond turn murder into succession."
She looked back at me. "Do not waste what has been preserved by storming Oldtown."
"I have no intention of doing so."
"Good. Meleys has burned enough men for one lifetime."
That evening, three dragons rested beyond Oldtown’s walls.
Dravvaxx remained upon the northern ridge, dark scales absorbing the last light. Meleys lay farther east, red wings folded beside the Tyrell camp. Seasmoke settled between them, pale against the deepening fields.
The city watched. Men crowded the walls while bells rang from tower to tower. Scorpion crews shifted their machines, uncertain which direction mattered most. The great beacon above Battle Isle burned brighter as darkness spread, but its light no longer dominated the horizon alone.
Our campfires surrounded Oldtown by land. Beyond the Honeywine, Velaryon sails were coming.
For two months, I had tried to persuade the Citadel, Faith, merchants, and watchmen that Ormund could not save them. He had answered every promise with silence and every doubt with another guard upon the streets.
Now Addam Velaryon had arrived upon Seasmoke, with Rhaenys and Meleys beside him. Vaemond’s conspiracy had failed. Corlys’s murder had not broken Driftmark, and the Velaryon fleet remained loyal to Rhaenyra.
A new dragonrider stood outside Oldtown. Another of my sons guarded the island he had left behind.
I sent one final message to the city before midnight.
It informed the guilds that ships entering the Honeywine would soon be stopped. It reminded the Citadel and Faith that no assault had taken place during two months of encirclement. It offered the city watch full pardons if the gates opened peacefully and promised protection for every citizen who remained inside his home when our army entered.
The message ended with words intended for Ormund.
Driftmark stands. The Velaryon fleet sails. Seasmoke has chosen Addam Velaryon, and Meleys waits beside him. You no longer possess the river, and no dragon is coming to rescue you.
Oldtown gave no answer that night.
For the first time since the siege began, I no longer believed silence meant confidence.