Jaehaerys did not panic at the boy's warning. He could not let anyone see that he knew something. He went in search of his men, keeping alert for any ambush. He did not expect R'hllor to play fair.
"Tomorrow, my prince," a voice said in the corridor.
The prince tensed. He had heard no footsteps. He turned slowly to look at the man. The septon greeted him with a smile. Jae looked over his robes. Nothing about him suggested he was anything more than a simple septon.
"Was Lord Wode in too much of a hurry?" the prince asked, trying to sound sarcastic.
"What troubles the prince?" His poor acting skills had not fooled the septon.
"Have I been given back the title of prince, Septon?" Jaehaerys asked. He walked toward the man. "You seemed so interested in calling me lord," he added. The two men began walking together.
"It is a courtesy. Stroking a man's ego always makes him more agreeable," the septon said naturally.
"Telling me your intentions rather spoils the courtesy," said the prince. "Though I appreciate the honesty. May I ask you something, Septon?" The septon nodded. "Why attack my lands? My beliefs and those of my people?" He was direct. "There are others in the south who believe in the Old Gods."
"Old gods. They are not gods at all, merely creatures that dwell in the woods," the septon said, offended. "There are others, yes. But they do not have dragons. It is my duty to defend the Faith." He looked at the prince. "You seem a good man, my prince, but you have allowed yourself to be corrupted by outside influences… Return to the embrace of the Seven. They will welcome you," he finished in a whisper.
He certainly seemed a fanatic. He was an incredible actor. Yet when Jaehaerys looked at him, he could see none of the magic he sensed in R'hllor. He was good at hiding that too.
"I have already decided which gods I will pray to. Do not confuse the gods I believe in with the gods I respect. I do not care what people believe. I have no desire to make my people believe in the Old Gods. Forced faith is no faith at all, only obligation," the prince explained. He hoped to build a secular state.
"You say that, yet you favor the Old Gods. There is only one sept in your lands, and it is about to be blown down by the wind. I have seen it," the septon complained. The prince might have believed his anger had he not spoken with Eldric first.
"They are the least troublesome," he said with a shrug. "Septons of the Seven do not ask, they demand. Build a new Sept of Baelor, burn the trees, return to the New Gods, always the same… You are almost as troublesome as the followers of R'hllor." The prince cast out the bait.
"Pah." The man spat on the floor. "Do not compare us. Do not compare us. The Seven may ask you to give your life for the Faith, but they will never ask you to burn an innocent alive to prove it." The septon seemed horrified by the comparison.
Definitely a good actor, the prince thought.
At last they reached Brandon and Tohrren, who were watching the training yard. A man was fighting four others at once. He wielded a training greatsword against them. Just as Eldric had said, his face was covered. At that moment he wore a helm.
"A true champion of the Seven," said the septon.
"I can see why Wode has so much faith in his champion." The prince was not exaggerating.
The man in the training yard was magnificent. He was… Jaehaerys had seen Ser Barristan and Lord Jaime, but the man in the training yard could have beaten them with the greatsword in one hand while using the other to hold his cock as he pissed.
He was the best Jaehaerys had ever seen. It was not as though he feared losing to him. He held too great an advantage in strength and experience for that. But it would not be easy. Not in the slightest. Brandon and Tohrren would die against him even if they fought together.
"Then you have no desire to displace the Seven?" the septon asked.
"That is what concerns you?" the prince asked.
"I only defend my faith, my prince," the septon told him. "Then you would permit the Faith to build a new sept in your lands?"
"So long as they do not try to burn the weirwoods or come into conflict with other faiths, I will allow it." The prince wondered how much of the old man's behavior was theater meant to preserve his disguise. His promise, however, was genuine.
"Mhm… I wish you luck tomorrow, my prince." The septon seemed thoughtful.
"I wish to speak with Lord Wode first, Septon," the prince said.
"I will take you to him." He neither refused nor asked why.
They exchanged no more words on the way to the lord's solar. The septon's brow remained furrowed, as though he were turning over the prince's words. When they arrived, both men entered the solar.
"What have you come for?" Lord Wode was as unfriendly as ever.
"To set the terms of the combat," the prince said. Wode did seem to give off that strange energy that could be associated with R'hllor. There was no visible wound that might suggest he had been resurrected.
"Terms?" the man asked, confused. "What terms?"
"If I win, I want the copper mine. It will be mine, entirely mine." The prince said nothing more.
"If I win, I want your daughter's hand," the man said with a shrug. Jaehaerys suppressed the urge to slap him, but accepted. His mind could not conceive of defeat as a possibility. Then Wode's face twisted. "And your head, if my champion does not kill you," he added.
How strange, the prince thought. The way he had asked for his head felt unnatural, as though the thought had been planted in his mind without warning.
"Since you have added my head, I will add yours as well. That is hardly unreasonable, is it?" The prince did not back down from the terms.
"My lords, I believe there are better ways to resolve this." The septon stepped between them. "Eldric, I no longer believe the trial is necessary. I think we can reach an agreement without it." He seemed genuinely concerned.
"Enough, enough. The terms are set. We will not back out now. Tomorrow you will see my champion, or you may go to the training yard now, I do not care. Now leave me alone." He dismissed them with a gesture.
"No. Not yet. Words are no use to me. I want a parchment. No, three parchments. Call your maester as well." The man obeyed after grumbling for quite some time.
The maester arrived and listened to the prince's instructions. Soon he was drafting a document containing the clauses agreed upon by both men. It included the cause of the duel and the consequences of either outcome.
The prince was denying Ser Wode any chance to back out. In the end the maester produced three copies: one for Jaehaerys, one for Wode, and one for King's Landing. The last was sent to the capital at once.
When Jaehaerys left Wode's solar carrying the parchment, he felt slightly better. Everything was still strange, but his opponent was a man. A human.
The duel would end with Wode's death, freeing him from R'hllor's control. As for the septon, Jaehaerys would deal with him afterward. For now, he only needed to rest and prepare. Tomorrow would be difficult.