The day arrived for the expedition forces to leave. Raegon had successfully snuck into the crowd by wearing a discrete cloak. All it took was one person to recognize him and his plan would be ruined. Thankfully, the soldiers were preoccupied with finalizing preparations to notice or care. It didn’t take long for him to spot Horacio’s blue coat in the crowd. He carefully snuck up and tapped his shoulder.

“Horacio, it’s me,” Raegon whispered.

His friend gave him a surprised stare but kept his voice to a low whisper. “What are you doing here? There’s no way you can sneak onto the expedition like that.”

“I’m not trying to sneak in, I’m just waiting for my mother to show up.”

Before Horacio could beg for clarification, the crowd’s attention was drawn to the center of the courtyard. The queen, dressed in her signature spear and helmet adorned with wings, raised her hand and watched as the crowd grew still and silent. Raegon stayed hidden in the crowd, waiting for the right opportunity.

“Men and women of Ebonhold! Many of you are partaking in your first expedition into the Scar” she said in a clear, authoritative voice. “I understand for some of you this marks a turning point in your lives. A moment when you test your iron and steel your resolve.”

Frustration began to boil Raegon’s blood. How could his mother give everyone here the opportunity to do so but not her own son? Yet he knew better than to act now. He still needed the right moment.

“However, you must temper your valor with caution. Isin’s Scar is named that way for a reason. Death lurks in every corner, waiting to claim you. But stick together, rely on your training and one another, and you will make it through. ”

The veterans, their faces filled with scars, nodded in agreement. The air became heavier and thicker. Yet this did not dissuade Raegon. When the queen finished her speech, she read a list of names and their respective companies. After several minutes, she was done and began to move to her horse. Raegon stepped out of the crowd and cleared his throat loudly.

“Aren’t you forgetting someone?” he yelled.

The soldiers were astonished to see none other than the prince himself, armed with his battleaxe, addressing the queen. Telecia turned, staring daggers directly into his eyes. She was not amused in the slightest.

“I thought I had made myself clear,” she said.

“You did, but I’m not satisfied.” He turned to face his fellow soldiers, addressing them directly. “How would anyone be satisfied if they were denied an opportunity to truly test themselves?”

None of them made any kind of remark, verbal or otherwise. All of them shared the same fearful look in their eyes in the presence of the queen. Many gave the impression that the prince had become mad to openly challenge the queen. Raegon looked back to his mother, his resolve unshaken.

“This kingdom was founded on sacrifice. We all know the risks and dangers posed to us, yet we still choose to go as a way to prove ourselves. Why deny me this opportunity?”

The queen was taken aback. Behind her stoic expression, something that shifted in her eyes. He knew he had cornered her. All he had to do was keep pressing.

“Why must I be denied a chance to show how far I’ve come?” he continued as his voice grew louder in tone. “What kind of valkyrie denies her son the call of battle? Not an iron one, for sure!”

A loud, collective gasp escaped from the mouth of every observer. Telecia pounded her spear onto the cobblestone ground, her eyes burning with fire. Raegon did his best to hide his fear, realizing that he may have taken his oration too far.

“What is the true meaning of this? It’s clear this speech is nothing more than an attempt to inspire yourself,” she asked.

It was unnerving how much she saw through his words. Then again, his mother was never one to be moved by them. He caught the glimpse of Horacio who stood paralyzed at his actions. He gestured to his friend to come forward, which he did avoiding the gaze of the queen.

“Horacio, I hate to ask this of you. But I want you to be the one to oversee this,” said Raegon.

“Oversee what?” he asked.

Raegon drew his axe, slammed it onto the pavement, and firmly addressed his mother.“I, Raegon of House Ironborn, challenge you to stand your ground and test your iron!”

A large gasp escaped the crowd. Nobody had expected a trial by combat, let alone between royalty, on the day of departure. The queen slammed her spear on the ground and locked eyes with her son. There was something strange about her eyes that he never saw before

“I, Queen Telecia of House Ironborn, accept your challenge,” she said.

The crowd waited with baited breath. Raegon took several deep breaths, knowing he only had one shot to convince his mother. Horacio drew a line on the pavement with his rapier and instructed them to leave their weapons there. They did so and took several steps back. A long moment of silence fell upon them. Raegon tightened his muscles, trying to think of what his mother would do.

“Fight!” yelled Horacio.

The two sprinted toward their weapons. Telecia reached hers first and swung her spear overhead. Raegon dodged out of the way as it slammed into the dirt. He grabbed his axe and used the momentum of his sprint to swing upward. With resounding speed, the queen pivoted to the left and smacked him against the arm. A sharp pain flared followed by a red mark. As she followed with another attack, Raegon parried and pushed her back. He smashed against her left pauldron with enough force to send her stumbling back.

What started as a tense moment became a spectacle for the soldiers. Gasps, exclamations, and cheers filled the courtyard. Raegon wasn’t sure if they were for him or his mother. Either way, it gave him a surge of confidence as his mother quickly charged forward. A barrage of thrusts forced Raegon to defend. Sweat began to drip from his forehead. He had thought all the time defending against Horacio would prepare him for this. But his mother attacked faster and more unpredictably. She quickly wore out Raegon’s stamina as she batted away his axe and hit him with the blunt end of her spear. The impact forced all the air out of his lungs and sent him kneeling on the ground.

“Yield,” she said.

Taking several deep breaths, Raegon swung his axe upward and deflected her weapon away. The crowd cheered his name with glee, but rather than feel uplifted, anger boiled in his chest. The way she fought made it clear she was holding back.

“Are you trying to mock me?!” he yelled.

The queen remained still, but something changed in her eyes. They glistened with something other than the heat of battle. “Raegon, stop this at once,” she ordered.

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He gripped his axe tighter and shook his head. “Not until you let me on this expedition!”

There was a moment of hesitation as she muttered her words. “I…can’t do that.”

The raging inferno ignited his body on fire. He charged and angrily swung at his mother. The technique he had built over the years was completely disregarded for pure force. The queen blocked his strikes with ease. Now she didn’t bother to attack back. This only made him even more furious.

“FIGHT BACK!” he cried.

Telecia deflected his last attack and thrust her spear into his side. The sharp tip punctured through his chainmail and forced him back. A modest amount of blood trickled to the ground. The crowd gasped, seeing the queen draw the blood of her own son. Raegon attacked again only to get stabbed on his other side.

“Stop it, yield!” she yelled.

Raegon shook his head fiercely and attacked yet again. Despite being shallow, his wounds made his attacks sluggish and predictable. But despite this, he wouldn’t give in to the pain. The queen finally hooked her spear underneath his axe and pulled it out of his hands. With his mother’s spear pointed at his face, the crowd fell silent once more.

“You’ve been disarmed. You’ve lost,” the queen declared.

Once more, he shook his head in defiance. “No, I haven’t.”

“Yes, you have! Now cease this fight and yield!”

Raegon gripped the spear with both hands and began to pull. The blood from his wounds began to pour out faster as he struggled against his mother’s strength. He couldn’t let his mother win, not like this. Not after she humiliated him by holding back. After a long struggle, he heard his mother speak. This time, there was no trace of the Iron Valkyrie in her voice.

“Raegon, dear, please forgive me.”

For a moment, his grip loosened. That moment was enough for Telecia to twist the spear and coil it around his right arm. She gripped both ends and pulled towards her. A distinct crack was heard throughout the courtyard. Raegon felt the bone in his right arm snap in two. No amount of training or teeth gritting could stop him from unleashing a deafening cry of pain. His cry echoed throughout the entire courtyard, perhaps into the city itself. He collapsed, tears streamed down his cheeks. But before he could process the words, the world went black.

***

When he opened his eyes, he was lying in his own bed with a light blanket draped over him. His arm was supported by a wooden splint wrapped in cloth. The last bits of sunlight peeked through his window, filling the room with an orange glow. The memories of what happened earlier flooded back. With his arm broken, there was no way he could join the expedition now. His mother had found a way to make him stay here for good.

“Oh, I was wondering when you’d wake up,” said an exhausted, female voice.

He turned to see none other than Nyna, the resident druid, sitting in a chair next to him. She was a half-elven woman with red hair and brown eyes who wore a cloak fashioned out of leaves and grass. A set of twigs stuck in her hair kept it braided, but somehow still messy. Sleeping atop her lap was a large black rabbit that nibbled on a carrot. Her expression was always drowsy, as if she would fall asleep at any moment.

Raegon fell back on his pillow and sighed. “How long have I been asleep?”

Nyna shrugged. “I don’t know. Five hours, maybe six? I changed your bandages a few times so it must have been at least four. I passed out a few times.”

Any other day he could tolerate her drowsy, if not lazy, demeanor. But the pain from his arm was forcing his patience to run thin. “Now that I’m awake, could I have a bit of privacy?”

She yawned and got up from her chair. “If that’s what you want. Just make sure to take the medicine I put on your nightstand before you go to bed. Otherwise your arm is going to stay like that for a while.”

The second she left the room, he turned his head to stare out the window. The sky glowed with summer hues as the first stars of the night appeared. On any normal day, he would venture into town to enjoy the summer festivals with Horacio. Perhaps he would take a walk in the garden with his sister and listen to her talk about court politics. Those things he had taken for granted were now out of reach. All he could do was stay in his bed and watch as life went on without him.

Not long after, he heard the door open once again. Thinking it was Nyna, he let out a frustrated groan. “I’m going to take the medicine, just not now.”

There was no response. He shifted his body to see it wasn’t Nyna at the door but his mother. His mood soured further. The last thing he wanted was a lecture from his mother.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

He flashed her a scowl as he sat up on the bed. “What do you think?”

“Your arm will heal in due time. I made sure it wouldn’t be long.”

“Oh, how considerate of you,” he said, sarcastically. “I can’t believe you’d rather break my arm than let me come along.”

She placed a hand on his shoulder, rubbing it gently. Her eyes were filled with regret, something he never saw in his mother before.

“I want to apologize. I should have told you my reasons but I feared how you would react,” she said.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

She placed her spear against the wall and took a deep breath. “When I forbid you from joining the expedition, I anticipated you to be upset but oblige. I realize now that was very naive of me. You take after me in more ways than I thought.”

He said nothing in reply. The way his mother was talking was completely alien to him. Never before did she admit to being wrong.

“Who came up with the idea of a trial by combat? Was it you? Aleria?”” she asked.

“We both did, I suppose. She mentioned the way you acted was similar to what she saw while in court.”

“I see she’s very observant…” A look of shame formed on her face. “I should’ve been honest with you from the very beginning. It was my fault for not explaining.”

“So, what’s the reason?” he asked.

“All of your life, I treated you like any other soldier. I saw so much potential in you that I pushed you to aspire for greatness. I knew you were ready for the expedition, but I still didn’t want you to go because…”

The truth was so close, he needed to hear it now. “Because what?”

“Because you’re my son, Raegon. I couldn’t stand the idea of losing you the same way I lost my father.”

A long, painful silence ensued. Telecia’s eyes began to water, showing the faintest hint of a tear. It was clear that this was too much even for her.

“What I am trying to say is that I cannot ignore this side of me. I am the Iron Valkyrie, but most importantly, I am your mother. And no parent should ever outlive their child.”

Raegon’s heart sank to the floor. Of all the reasons for her actions, this was not one he anticipated. He reached over to grab his mother’s arm despite the burning pain in his sides. “I’m sorry for what I said back in the throne room.”

She gave him a warm, but frail smile and held his hand tightly. “I know you want to prove yourself but there is nothing to prove. You are my son and nothing will change that. You don’t need to earn my approval or anyone else's. I love you for who you are.”

Tears began to well in his eyes. Unable to wipe them himself, his mother did so before gently embracing him. He couldn’t remember the last time she did. Either way, he did his best to embrace her back. To hear his mother care was more than satisfying of an answer.

A loud horn blared from outside his window. The last call for departures had begun. Raegon wished the moment would last longer, but he knew that wasn’t possible.

“It seems I have to go. I’ve delayed as much as I could,” she said.

“I understand,” he said with a disappointed tone.

“Your arm should heal in a few weeks as long as you take the druid’s medicine. As foul as it might taste, it will make you better.”

As his mother picked up her spear to rush out the door, a thought ran through Raegon’s mind. “Mother, wait!”

Telecia stopped and quickly turned to her son. “Yes?”

“When you get back… Do you think we can go for a walk in the garden? Maybe discuss when I could go on my first expedition?”

She gave him a warm, caring smile and nodded. “As the queen - no, as your mother - I promise you will be allowed on the next expedition.”

He returned the smile as she left the room. Watching from the window, he saw her march out of the castle along with several other soldiers into her war carriage. She looked up to his window, locking eyes, before giving him one final wave and setting off. Raegon rested on his bed with small content bottled in his mind. All he had to do was wait for her to come back. Then, he could prove himself.