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1. The Long Road to Ruin by asuvias

   Fandoms: House of the Dragon (TV), A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms  

   • Mature
   • Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
   • M/M, F/M
   • Work in Progress

   18 Aug 2026

   Tags

   • Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
   • Criston Cole/Gwayne Hightower
   • Alicent Hightower & Gwayne Hightower
   • Gwayne Hightower & Ormund Hightower
   • Gwayne Hightower
   • Criston Cole
   • Alicent Hightower
   • Ormund Hightower
   • Otto Hightower
   • House Hightower Characters (A Song of Ice and Fire)
   • Daemon Targaryen
   • Rhaenyra Targaryen
   • Viserys I Targaryen
   • Original Male Character(s)
   • Original Female Character(s)
   • Period Typical Attitudes
   • Period-Typical Homophobia
   • Period-Typical Sexism
   • Pre-The Dance of the Dragons | Aegon II Targaryen v. Rhaenyra Targaryen Era
   • The Dance of the Dragons | Aegon II Targaryen v. Rhaenyra Targaryen Era
   • POV Gwayne Hightower
   • Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
   • Internalized Homophobia
   • Internal Conflict
   • Internal Monologue
   • Canon-Typical Violence
   • Blood and Violence
   • Blood and Injury
   • Verbal Abuse
   • Verbal Humiliation
   • Jealousy
   • Angst
   • Denial of Feelings
   • Hurt/Comfort
   • Emotional Hurt/Comfort
   • Knight & Squire Dynamics
   • Political Intrigue
   • Slow Burn
   • House Hightower (A Song of Ice and Fire)
   • War
   • Trauma
   • Morally Ambiguous Character
   • Protective Gwayne Hightower
   • Gay Gwayne Hightower

   Summary

   Gwayne had had hoped to see him. Why? He could not have said. They were near strangers still.

   Cole stopped a few paces short of the stable door. His dark eyes flicked from Gwayne to the horse and back again. “Only fools and lonely men talk to their horses, you know,” he said.

   Gwayne’s mouth curved. “Then I am both.”

   ~

   Ser Gwayne Hightower rides into King’s Landing a summer knight.

   Through the long years that follow, he watches the realm split along the lines of succession. Gwayne learns that the hardest war is one fought inside a man’s own skin.

   Language:

   English

   Words:

   17,211

   Chapters:

   3/?

   Comments:

   37

   Kudos:

   151

   Bookmarks:

   12

   Hits:

   1,313