Chapter 14
JEYNE ARRYN
Jeyne Arryn rushed into her room, her mind whirling with the word she had just received from the capital, and there was only one person she could share such a piece of news with.
"He has a dragon!" she announced with elation as she pushed open the doors to her room and watched as a startled Jessamyn jumped to her feet. The maids around her nearly shrieked as well.
"My La..."
CLACK. CLACK.
"Aegon! He bonded with a dragon," she announced once more, rushing towards her redhead friend as she passed her the letter she had just received.
Jessamyn Redfort seemed to finally gain her bearings as she chided her dear friend.
"You do barge into a room like this, my lady," she said as she gave Jeyne a look, making her chuckle.
"Even if it is my own room?" she asked, and Jessamyn nodded.
"Even so," and with that, she turned towards the letter and began to skim over it.
"The Prince has claimed Silverwing," she repeated, and she nodded.
"He has," she replied as she turned towards the maids.
"Leave us," she ordered, and the maids went away, leaving her alone with her dear Jessamyn once more.
"The Crown does not seem enthused by this," Jessamyn repeated, reading into the lines of Aegon's missive on how he had been called into the council for the whole incidence and had been let go only at night with no call for celebration until the next morning.
"Of course, the Crown is not happy," she replied, understanding the Crown's precarious situation rather well. It was the same situation she would have felt herself in, with a vassal becoming more powerful and influential than herself.
And yet, this was not just a vassal gaining influence or power. No, this was a vassal not directly controlled by the Crown gaining a dragon, a symbol of the Crown's power.
"But I am happy for Aegon, if anyone deserves to be a dragonrider it is him," she said with a smile.
"But this just proves my point," Jessamyn began as she put down the letter and turned towards her, and Jeyne rolled her eyes. Her dear redhead friend was still wary of Aegon, more so for her sake, and that was so lovely but concerning.
"Again," she complained, and Jessamy nodded.
"Jeyne, you offered him your hand in marriage," she balked out scandalously like it was such a big thing and that such a talk was not already in the airs.
"He already has too much power in the Vale. He is both a prince and an heir to significant lordship and now has a dragon in his name," she counted some of his major achievements, strengthening her case for making the offer herself.
"I refuse to believe that all these things simply fell into his lap," Jessamyn added, and she plopped down on the bed and rolled her eyes.
"He worked for most of it. He has a name in the Vale because he did what no one had been able to do in the last hundred years; he sits on my council because he is the best administrator with brilliant ideas, which are years ahead of the times. He has a dragon because he tried to stop one from rampaging," she said, coming to Aegon's defence as she had promised herself she would always.
"You are suspicious of him for no reason," she chided the redhead as she pulled her down by her side.
She could see her mind racing, for Jessamyn knew that everything she had just said was the truth, that Aegon had worked for everything he had today.
"But that is what I am trying to say," Jessamyn began after turning towards her for a second. She looked at her with concerned eyes.
"He may have all of the virtues you speak of. He may be intelligent, fearless, chivalrous, and much more. But anyone with these qualities must have another quality as well, especially a man," Jessamyn added as she held her by the arms.
"And what quality would that be?" she asked.
"Ambition," she answered certainly, and there was truth in those words as well.
"Then why did he deny my offer of marriage?" she asked.
"Because he is smarter and much more ambitious than even I realized," Jessamyn began.
"He is not after the Lordship of the Vale. No, he is after a much greater prize," Jessamyn began.
"Come..."
"Just think about it. The King does not have a legitimate male heir apart from his brother even now. His only child is his daughter, the Princess Rhaenyra. If a son is not born to the King, and Prince Daemon is as unpopular as...."
And it all began to make sense.
"You think Aegon wished to marry his cousin? Princess Rhaenyra," she asked, and Jessamyn nodded.
"He is already in line to the throne and now with the dragon. If the Crown wishes to reinforce the lineage, then there is no better match."
She was appalled by it, appalled by the whole notion of it, though she could see why Jessamyn would think like that. Yet her words were somber and worsened her mood.
"Why do you have to be so negative about him?" she scolded her friend, turning away from her in a huff as she shook her head.
"I just don't think that you should trust him so implicitly. I agree that his behaviour is that of a saint, but he is still the son of the Rogue Prince, and all of Vale knows what that means," and that was the issue.
His blood. His reputation would always be associated with his father, for few would ever look beyond that. Look at the fact that Aegon had never really met him, that he had been raised in the Vale by his mother and grandfather, that she knew him longer than any other person, including his own mother, and understood him like few could.
"He is not his father," she denied as her fists balled up, and her anger must have shown as Jessamyn backed off.
"And you, none of you know him as I do," she said as she turned and looked straight into her eyes.
"It is not what a man is born into or thinks that defines him. It is what he does that defines him, and Aegon has only ever done the best he could for those he called family, sometimes at even a great cost to himself," and with that, she jumped out and began to walk away angry and tired of all these intrigues of court.
Jessamyn seemed hurt by her words, yet at that moment, she did not care enough as she stopped at the door.
"Even when I offered him nearly all of the Vale on the platter, he backed off because he cared for me. For us," she told her as she glanced back at her.
"He asked me to talk to you, to sort out the proposal with you so that his presence in the relationship may not cause strife between us, for he knew how much I care for you. He has only ever sought to bring happiness to those around him, and yet sometimes we must question ourselves: have we ever done the same for him?"
And with that, she walked away, out of her own room, leaving behind a contemplative Jessamyn resort behind. The strife between the two would last for weeks and would end only when a very dangerous detail would come to light a moon later.
Arnold Arryn had managed to escape from his cell.
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RHAENYRA TARGARYEN
Rhaenyra Targaryen felt foul as she sat on a wooden stool, her gaze focused on the book infront of her, even as her mind drifted away. She believed her predicament to be nothing but a grave error of judgment on her parent's part. In her mind, she had done nothing to deserve this punishment despite her mother's and father's beliefs that were contrary.
Even now bound to this room, she could hear the bustle of the castle as it prepared for a celebration, a simple prelude to the main celebrations set to begin in a few days for the heir's tourney, and contrary to enjoying and taking part in these celebrations she was stuck here in a room with a growling and menacing Septa Marlow pacing behind her, destroying her day.
"You have been staring at that page for a rather long time," the Septa's sheep-like groan rang out from behind, making her perk up as she coughed and gently turned to the next page.
"I was just too engrossed in the history," she rebutted, and the old woman tutted.
"Then you would not object to me testing you about this," and she watched as the septa reached for the book. She cried bloody murder on the inside, promising retribution in pranks and unsolicited rumors that would make whatever she had suffered before a trifling matter.
"Now, would you please tell me, Princess, who was the Lor...."
"What is going on here?" Her heart lept up at that familiar sound as the door to the room was opened, and in walked a rather familiar face.
"Daemon," she called out and sprang to her feet as she saw her uncle walking in with a big smile.
She ran upto him, thanking the Seven that he was here.
"My dear niece," he greeted her as the septa gave him a small greeting.
"My Prince, this is the time for the princess's lessons," and she raised a brow.
"While the whole castle celebrates. I believe she had enough lessons for the day," he said, and she watched as the septa's lips thinned.
"But, my prince..."
"You forget yourself!" Daemon roared, reminding the septa of just why he was famous as the Rogue Prince.
"Leave us," he ordered, and the septa's lips thinned, yet she knew better than to argue with a Prince and left the room with a huff, making her smile.
"Thank you for saving me from that dreadful woman," she said, and he laughed as he messed with her hair.
"Don't worry about it."
"So, are you here for the Council meeting?" she asked, immediately seeing his expression shift.
"What Council Meeting?" he seemed surprised.
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WILLAM ROYCE
Willam Had always known that his cousin was special. It was just something in him; the way he carried himself, even as a child, was something he had never seen.
And now, as he found himself outside the dragon pit and watched as Aegon sang to the beast that lay there, wrapping itself around his cousin, he realized just how special his cousin was. Aegon knew how to sing. He had sung for them during the campaign a few times, and even now, as he played his harp, his mastery was on full display as all the dragon keepers and the dragons alike hung at every note and chord.
He heard a few dragon keepers speak in High Valyrian, a language he had not really bothered to learn, as a few others nodded along, talking to one another.
"What is he saying?" he asked the man standing beside him.
"They are saying that it is just like the Good Queen," he replied, and seeing his frown, he pointed at Aegon and his harp.
"The music. They are saying it is the same melody that the Good Queen Alyssane sang to her dragon," he elaborated, and he nodded as he understood the point.
"It must be a popular melody then," he guessed, and the man shook his head.
"No, it is one she made for Silverwing herself, we had all thought it lost after her death," he elaborated as the music came to end, and he watched as Aegon stood up and after rubbing his dragon's face began to walk towards them.
"So, do you still want to go flying with me?" he asked, and Willam backed off with a small chuckle.
Which man had not thought about flying one day, about taking to the skies, and it was that very desire that had made him force Aegon to bring him to the Drgaonpit so that he may accompany him on a flight.
Yet, after seeing the dragon for himself, he was not quite sure of that.
"I am fine for the day. After all, we do have that celebration in the evening, don't we?" he made an excuse as Aegon chuckled and passed on his harp to a servant.
"As you wish," and at that, the older Dragon Keeper stepped forward and began to talk to Aegon in High Valyrian again.
"What is he saying?" he asked again and watched as Aegon began to smirk and retort.
"The Dragonkeeper is warning the Prince about riding a dragon without any training. He is saying that the Prince needs to train for it," the young boy replied.
"And the Prince is saying that the man can decide whether or not he needs training after letting him fly once," and with that, he watched as Aegon walked towards the beast, which opened its eyes, raised its head, and growled at the older dragon-keeper making him chuckle.
"Tell the old man never to doubt, Aegon," he said to the younger boy, who did the same as Silverwing, who roared and lowered itself as if a domesticated horse to let Aegon get on the saddle.
And then, with a loud, 'Soves, ' Aegon took to the skies, and he stood there alongside the dragon keepers, watching in awe alongside nearly half the city as the beast danced around in the skies above, as Aegon showcased his mastery at dragon-riding only to land back nearly an hour later with a thud, jumping of the beast as he looked at the older dragon keeper.
"You still think I need lessons."
0000
And in the night, as the castle began its celebrations, back in the city, a Prince Daemon clad in full armor with a gold cloak hanging off his back walked through an assembled line of men, all dressed in fine armor, with golden cloaks at their back.
This was his army, his men.
"Beginning tonight, Kingslanding will learn to fear the color GOLD!!"
"YEAHHHHH!"
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