Chapter 27
OTTO HIGHTOWER
Marriages were perhaps the greatest weapon in the aspects of political warfare. It allowed one to turn enemies into friends or, better yet, shackle enemies into your friends.
When the King had refused to remove Daemon from the line of succession, Otto had known that he had to act, for if he did not know the political vacuum left by the Queen's death. Initially, he had hoped that Alicent could placate the King, hopefully catching the King's gaze, so he had encouraged her to go and meet the King to share in his grief after the Queen's funeral.
Yet his plans had been foiled by none other than Daemon as he intercepted her on her way to the King's chambers seeing through his intentions. And yet the action was unlike Daemon's, who was impulsive and crass, and so he had looked into it and had found the realm mind behind Daemon's ploy.
Aegon Targaryen, Daemon's estranged son. And as he learned of the incident from the brothel about the little skirmish between Aegon and Daemon, the picture became clearer. The boy finally showed his true nature, showing the political acumen drilled into him by his grandfather, as he used Daemon as a pawn in his own grand schemes.
The son and father due of Aegon and Daemon may pretend to be estranged and antagonistic, but he saw the truth, the inevitable truth that when it came to power and the throne, both of them would join hands, presenting a combined front against him and his people.
And with the boy's political acumen at his beck and call, Daemon would only grow in power, given he now was the Iron Throne's sole heir, one whose position was steadied further by already having a male heir of his own. He half suspected that Lord Beesbury's idea of a potential match between Aegon and Rhaenyra was another one of the boy's machinations, who was moving behind the scenes to secure both his and his father's position.
And Otto could not let that happen. If not for himself, then for the realm itself. He, alongside many others, saw Daemon for what he was. A tyrant. He was a ruthless, honorless, mindless tyrant who would undo all the work of his ancestors, throwing the realm back into the dark times of Maegor the Cruel.
And so, they had to act, and they had to it now to stop him from gathering even more power than he already had, and for that, they needed to neutralize his most valuable asset and weapon—Aegon.
Aegon Targaryen was a young lord, and Prince set to inherit his own lands with a whole Kingdom at his beck and call. He was a warrior of great renown, with a rather favourable impression in the public. He knew firsthand that many Houses, including the Velaryons and several Great Houses, were eyeing the Prince for a match, and any such match would only strengthen Daemon and Aegon further.
And so, he had to act, and it broke his heart to use his own daughter like this. To discredit her with rumors, and whispers that he knew might follow her for years, but he had to and so he concocted a lie about what had truly transpired between Daemon and Alicent that night, an ugly lie but a necessary one and as retribution for the damage done to his daughter he demanded a match between her and Daemon's son.
The King was hesitant at first, and yet he was the King, and Daemon was his brother. Regardless of whether the King believed his words or not, he had to act for Alicent's reputation had been affected, and given that the King had a daughter of his own, one who was friends with Alicent, he could not sweep it all under the rug.
And then there was the fact that Prince Aegon and Alicent were rather close, or so it was believed by the Princess whom the King asked about their relationship rather subtlety before he agreed to his terms and called them both to make the announcement.
And yet all this, everything that he had done, all the great shame and burden that he had borne, had been made meaningless by Alicent's refusal, and the look of betrayal that she had given him at that moment had cut him deep. But he had done what was necessary for the realm and his House.
What had happened afterward was now known to all in the city, which had yet to settle down after the abduction of Lady Alicent Hightower, a dear friend of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen.
It had been more than half a day since she had been rescued, the details of which were still rather obscure, and ever since then she had refused to meet him, but that would last no longer.
He had gone to her room earlier in the day, only to learn that she had not spent the night in her own room and had left earlier to go to another room. One belonging to Aegon Targaryen.
And as he entered the Prince's room, he was greeted with the sight of his daughter, who glanced at him for a second, and he saw those eyes narrow as she turned away just as quickly, turning her eyes to the bed beside which she sat.
There was rage in those eyes. Rage and betrayal, and perhaps he deserved some of it, using his own daughter like this, but he had only done what was necessary.
"How are you, Alicent?" he asked softly as he walked to her side. Yet she did not answer, nor did she face him, as she kept on looking at the unconscious form of the Prince lying on the bed.
"Alicent?" he began again, his voice a bit sharp and forced as he continued.
"How are you?" he finished, but she did not answer again, and his anger flared at her behaviour as he turned towards her.
"Stop this at once! I am your father, and I will not have you behaving like a petulant child!" he thundered and saw her flinch before she finally faced him and looked him in the eye, something that she had not ever done before.
"You have no right to call me that!" she nearly snarled, and the vehemence took him aback at those words.
"Not after what you have done," she raged.
"And what have I done? You blame me for this. You and I both know that the men that kidnapped you were the Gold Cloaks. This was another one of Daem..." he asked with a scoff.
"Do not!" she cut in.
"Do not try to turn this around," she added shakily.
"You and I both know that I am not talking about this," she asked, and he indeed knew that. Though he had hoped that she would have moved on from this, after all, the King had already given his decree.
"I only did what I thought best for you and for the realm," he explained, and she chuckled as her eyes reddened.
"No, you only did what you thought was best for you and alone. And in doing so, you turned me into a wh..."
"Do not utter those words about yourself," he cut in as her lips thinned. She looked to the ground before he sighed, trying to calm himself down, knowing that anger would get him nowhere.
"You do not understand the burden that I bear, Alicent," he added softly.
"Daemon is a parasite, one who cannot be allowed to reign free. And as the King's hand, it is my duty to see to it that his success..."
"Daemon! Daemon! Daemon," she chuckled as she cut in.
"You are no better than him," she cut in scathingly.
"How dare..."
"No, I would say you are even worse than him. " She did not let him finish as she looked him in the eye and insulted him. In a fit of rage his hand moved before he could think, and he only noticed it too late as a loud snap rang out across the room.
THWACK!
He watched as her face reddened; the force of his hand had left an imprint as she held her face. And yet she did not back down as she looked him in the eye.
"No, I think you are even worse than him. Much worse," she finished. He realized his mistake and understood that no matter what he said, no matter what excuse or reason he presented, she would not listen.
But it did not matter now, did it? She would marry Aegon, for the King had decreed it so, and he would have achieved his purpose.
"Think of me what you will, but you will do your duty to the House and marry him, for the King had decreed it so. We will talk again when you regain some semblance of your senses," he finished and turned away from her, and began to walk out of the room. He was about to step out only to be stopped by a whisper.
"You may have been able to force Aegon into this, but I will never let your dreams come to fruition," she whispered as she looked him in the eye.
"I will never become your shackles around him. Never!"
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ARNOLD ARRYN
Arnold Arryn hated his cousin for taking what was his, taking his birthright but there was one person he hated more than Jeyne Arryn. The one who had made it all possible, the person who had brought upon his demise when he had first risen up to claim what was rightfully his.
Aegon Targaryen. Prince Aegon Targaryen, son of Daemon Targaryen and Lady Rhea Royce, he was a demon hiding in a boy's skin, for no young lad should ever have been able to do what he had done all those years ago, foiling each of their plans, knowing secrets and plots made in the cover of darkness.
The boy was the lynchpin behind Jeyne, keeping her on the throne.
And now as he tried once again to reclaim what was rightfully his, he knew that his greatest problem would be that boy again. Yet this time, he would win, for he knew that while blades and assassins may not be able to stop the young Prince, there was one person who could still his blade.
Jeyne Arryn.
And to get to Jeyne, they had to get to someone close to her, and who better than her oldest friend and so-called 'dearest companion' Jessamyn Redfort? When the plan to take the Eyrie had been made, it was obvious that the Eyrie would not be easy to conquer, given its terrain and location.
The only way to win this war was through either a swift attack that killed Jeyne or through a forced siege, by taking control of the Gates of the Moon, the larger castle below the Eyrie which was once the ancestral seat of House Arryn.
A combined attack by him with the Corbyn forces, reinforced by an attack from the inside by the Corbyn men that had gone to the Eyrie, had allowed them to take control of the Castle within a few days, and now they sat in its halls, waiting for the Eyrie to lay down their arms.
Yet, there was still one person who could unravel everything. The Prince now rode a dragon, and in its history, the Eyrie had never fallen except to a dragon. As long as he remained alive, he knew his rule would never be secure.
But then again, it was as if the Gods were smiling down on him, showing their support for his rightful cause as he read the missive from Lord Corbyn.
"The boy has gone and gotten himself injured," he smiled as he read, once again smirking.
"It seems that the Gods themselves favor me and my cause, Rodrik," he said as he passed him the missive, and the boy had shown himself to be his successor and heir, leading the charge and killing six guards single-handedly.
"They say he has not woken up for days," Rodrik smiled, and he nodded.
"Yes, and now we have an opportunity to end this whole farce once and for all," and with that, he stood up from his chair and began making his way through the Halls.
Loathed as he was to admit it, the years of captivity had lessened his support considerably in the Vale, and half the Houses which had once joined him in making his claim had refused his offer and had chosen to remain neutral.
And in comparison to that, his little cousin had only gotten stronger, and he knew that if one message about what was happening here got out, more than half the Vale would march towards them laden with armor to tear himself to pieces.
Traitors. All of them, but there was little he could do about them right now.
And so, he had made sure no such thing would happen. That was why the rookeries had been their first target as they slew all the acolytes and the maesters and their damned crows to make sure that no missive flew out of the Eyrie or this castle. And no man alive knew these mountains better than him, and so any rider sent forth by the Eyrie had been caught.
He had slain three such men by his own hands just in the night.
But this would go on no more. They had to use the opportunity that had been presented to them to get rid of Jeyne, and yet, despite their numbers, an attack on the Eyrie was nearly impossible, given the climb.
But if his little plot came to fruition, they would need not rely on an attack, for they could make someone else do the ultimate deed for them.
And as he entered the dungeons, he smirked as he saw the three people tied down there, all of them red of hair just like their names. The Redforts were an ancient House of the Vale, one closely related to his cousin, all for one reason.
Jessamyn Redfort and the woman in question lay tied in chains in the corner of the room, watching him with those fearful brown eyes of his as tears slipped down her face.
"It is the fourth day, my lady, and yet no word of surrender has come," he spoke softly as he walked towards the other red-haired girl in the dungeon; Ilya Redfort, the girl, was her younger sister.
"Perhaps my dear cousin doesn't love you as much as you thought," he taunted as he took out a small dagger and spun it in his hand.
"And now your little sister is going to pray the price for that," and with that, he grabbed the girl's hand as she woke up with a thud, but before she could move, he cut off two of her fingers as she screamed through the gag.
"GUGHHHHHH!" the young girl's horrified screams filled the dungeon as both her older sister and brother writhed in their chains, helpless to help her out as he laughed.
The little girl fell to her side, tears falling down her eyes, writhing on the ground as she lay there while he made his way towards the elder sister, the one person who could end this war.
"This was just a prelude, my lady," he said as he caressed her face, watching as her eyes widened in horror.
"In three days, if your dear Lady Jeyne does not bend the knee, I will peel off the skin the skin off of your siblings' bones and make you hear their screams," and he saw her shiver at those words as she began to gasp, her body stilling at his words.
"They will die in front of your eyes, only because of you, and Jeyne" he laughed as tears slipped down her face, which was covered with dirt.
"And no one is coming to help you. That little bastard, my cousin, so loves has landed himself into quite some trouble back at the capital and cannot come to her aid," he chuckled as he continued before he reached for the gag around her face.
"And now I am going to tell you one way in which you can save your siblings, Lady Jessamyn. The one and only way," and as the cloth fell away, the girl asked in a raspy voice.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"It's simple, really," he began as he smiled at her.
"I want you to kill Jeyne Arryn."
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