hotmtlnovel Chapter 12: A Song of Ice and Fire
Chapter 12: A Song of Ice and Fire
Chapter 12: A Song of Ice and Fire
Arryk did not keep the king waiting, eager to save his brother.
It took only ten minutes for a large group of people to be brought up to the main tent.
Viserys ordered them to examine Rhaegar, calming the anxious maesters and healers.
A complete examination of his body, from top to bottom, without missing a single strand of hair.
The Maesters who were familiar with Rhaegar were no strangers to this sort of thing.
Some assisted the Grand Maester in examining the frail prince from time to time.
Once the equipment was in place, the maesters were in charge of the procedure.
It was a simple, rudimentary procedure.
The first step was to draw his blood and observe the color and consistency of the sample.
There was even a leech that was put in there to taste the blood and see if there were any toxins in it.
As for the rest of it, there were all kinds of tricks.
Large hands rubbing the body, examining skin, teeth, scalp...
You'd be surprised. There's nothing this group of physicians can't do.
What's more, a dry and skinny old man has offered to take off Rhaegar's pants and break open his buttocks in order to examine his anus.
Viserys also condoned this behavior as a father.
Rhaegar was horrified and regretted the rash decision he had made to allow his body to be inspected.
Fortunately, after Rhaegar resisted, Erryk stepped in.
With a punch that broke the dry, thin old man's nose, he begged the king not to let anyone haunt the prince's mind.
"Even if you are going to hang me, please do not allow the prince to be humiliated!"
Rhaegar nearly pissed himself as he hid behind Erryk, shaking with fear.
Viserys did not reprimand Erryk and waved a few healers with little skill out of the way.
A few decent maesters were left alone to do a unified report on Rhaegar's physical condition.
"Your Majesty, the prince's health has indeed improved greatly, and his blood activity is far greater than usual," a maester dedicated to the royal family said first, with words of undisguised amazement.
The rest of the maesters were in agreement as well.
"The prince was suffering from shortness of breath, now the deep breathing test is very normal, there is no sound coming from the chest cavity."
"The urine is of a normal color, pale yellow but not cloudy, the smell only has a slight foul odor, the kidneys are recovering quickly..."
"......"
It was a good report, and Viserys listened to it.
They were all rewarded with gold coins and the guards were ordered to take these Maesters to their quarters.
For a time, only father and son and the Cargyll brothers remained.
Rhaegar was the first to speak, "As the Maesters said, I have recovered thanks to Ser Erryk's help."
"He helped you, I shall do the same for him."
"I'm glad you're healthy, and I won't be speechless when I see your mother in heaven in the future," lamented Viserys, genuinely happy for his eldest son.
Viserys was not ready to give up on the hope of a cure.
Unwilling to betray his friend, Rhaegar bit out, "The White Hart is auspicious, and those close to it will be blessed."
"On the other hand, those who dare to harm it will definitely be cursed."
Viserys tried to read Rhaegar's expression for clues and stared at him skeptically.
Rhaegar's face was as usual, meeting his stare calmly.
Viserys gave up after half a second.
Sighing, he said, "You're right, I went hunting for the white hart yesterday and didn't see even a shadow of it."
Rhaegar was very surprised, not knowing such a thing had happened.
"You're luckier than I am to have won the friendship of the white hart," Viserys stroked the top of his head.
He was at a loss for words. The hart was his friend, he couldn't betray it.
Besides, the fruit was a reward from the Explorer System, not the White Hart's property.
Even if he helped his father catch it, there was no fruit to heal him.
Viserys was pleased in his eyes, and there was a verdict in his heart.
The white hart symbolized kingship, and as king he had no chance of meeting it.
It was more than a stroke of luck for Rhaegar to be able to see it.
In spite of a thousand words in his heart, Viserys found himself admonishing himself.
His son having a strange encounter was a rare and good thing!
As he thought about it, a thought rose in Viserys' heart.
He took Rhaegar's hand and walked over to the fire pit in the center of the tent.
He drew the dragonhorn dagger from his waist and placed the blade in the fire to Rhaegar's puzzled eyes.
When the blade, forged of Valyrian steel, was completely reddened by the heat, he grabbed the dragon horn handle and pulled it out.
He held it up in front of Rhaegar's eyes.
"Have a good look, what do you see?"
Viserys asked in an encouraging tone.
Rhaegar looked at the reddish dagger. He saw many small words in the form of flies emerging from the searing flame.
"It's written in Old Valyrian?"
He quickly recognized the meaning, having some knowledge of Ancient Valyrian.
Thinking he had not yet studied Ancient Valyrian yet, Rhaegar dared not reveal too much.
Stumbling, he read, "Prophecy of...Bloodline, Song of Ice and Fire..."
As he went on, Rhaegar pretended to be speechless and looked helplessly at Viserys.
Viserys was not surprised, but rather pleasantly surprised that he was able to recognize a part of the ancient Valyrian language.
It seemed that the information he had received was correct, Rhaegar was indeed a child who loved to read.