AT THE SMALL COUNCIL

King Viserys attends a meeting of his small council, with Rhaenyra no longer serving
as cupbearer but having a full seat on the council. Tyland Lannister, who replaced Corlys
Velaryon as Master of Ships after he resigned in protest, brings troubling news: it seems
they have traded the Crabfeeder for the Sea Snake, as now that the Velaryon fleet holds
the Stepstones, Lord Corlys can control the vital sea lanes going through it, giving him
considerable leverage over the crown. Viserys is surprised that Corlys would still be
upset about his spurning a marriage alliance with young Laena Velaryon years ago, but
Grand Maester Mellos says that Lord Corlys is a prideful man and that pride has been
wounded, and they must seek to salve it.

Otto Hightower, however, reveals the situation is worse than that: he has received a
disturbing report from his brother in Oldtown that Corlys Velaryon has entered into
negotiations with the Sealord of Braavos. The report says that Corlys intends to secure a
marriage alliance with Braavos by wedding his daughter Laena to the Sealord's son. Otto
notes the obvious: if Corlys succeeds, it will add even more pressure for Viserys to
quickly force Rhaenyra into a marriage pact, to secure new allies of their own to
counterbalance the Velaryons. Rhaenyra hears this out in silence.

A LONG NIGHT IN KING'S LANDING

Rhaenyra finds an encrypted letter from Daemon.

Rhaenyra returns to her chambers for the night, but finds a sack has been left on her
table. Opening it, she finds a common page-boy's clothes to change into, and a note
written in High Valyrian glyphs along with a map, indicating that one of the painted panels
next to her bed conceals a hidden passageway to a secret staircase. Rhaenyra changes
clothes and heads down the spiral staircase, leading through the shrine of Balerion's
skull to the outer wall of the Red Keep, where she meets her uncle Daemon. He leads
her out for a night on the town, both of them hiding their recognizable Targaryen silver-
white hair, Daemon with a hood and Rhaenyra wearing a large boy's hat.