Back in King’s Landing, the next item on Rhaenyra’s fact-finding mission is asking Orwyle about the relationship between the Hightowers and the Faith of the Seven. He says the two are deeply tied — “The Seven are as intrinsic to the Hightower fabric as, well, dragons are to House Targaryen” — but the Faith is too proud to allow the family to influence its actions. She’s still irked that the High Septon won’t anoint her, but Orwyle wonders if the formality even matters.
Daemon goes to The Vale for the gold Rhaenyra bid him get from Lady Arryn; he secures it. But Caraxes won’t do as Daemon says on the flight home, bringing him instead to a cave nearby. Yep, it’s where Rhaena and Sheepstealer have been hiding out, and the girl is much worse for wear, post-Gullet. “Rhaenyra believes this dragon and his rider are the reason Jace is dead,” Daemon says, stunned. “I wanted only to help,” she replies, confirming his worst fear.
She states that she won’t abandon Sheepstealer, because he’s part of her and a legitimizing factor for her as a Targaryen. She also won’t return to King’s Landing, because how could she be in Rhaenyra’s presence, after everything that’s happened? She wants, instead, to live out her days in the cave while everyone thinks she’s dead. “I have asked you nothing, Father, in all my life. I ask this one thing,” she pleads, then takes her leave of him. After Sheepstealer flies away, Daemon sees a shepherd on the rocks below and Has An Idea.
Next thing we know, he’s marching into Rhaenyra’s Small Council meeting and plopping a severed head onto the table. “I bring justice. I bring vengeance. I also bring gold,” he announces. He tells them that the head belongs to the person who rode Sheepstealer during the Battle of the Gullet. Rhaenyra quickly has the room cleared until only she and Daemon remain. “Who is he? And how did he come to claim a wild dragon?” she wonders, kicking off the list of about 300 follow-ups she (rightly) has. He’s all, “No worries, the dragon fled, nothing more to see here!” and then sweeps away her desire to look in the eye the person who killed Jacaerys. Defeated, she tells him that the money he brought back must go to the small folk, and not the City Watch, like he wants. As he sulks afterward, he blames Mysaria for the queen’s current directive. “Whose head is that?” the Mistress of Whisperers quips in return.
