127 AC
"And so with this latest recruitment surge, we have around forty-six thousand soldiers, most of them stationed in Essos while the others are in the Stepstones, the Crownlands, the Stormlands, and in Dorne," I reported to the Small Council.
The reason why there had been a hiring surge had been because of an edict passed earlier in the year, that declared to all Hedge Knights, sellswords, and wandering squires in Westeros that they had to either find permanent employment by the end of the year or give up their swords or face death or the Wall. So they took to the Royal Army.
I was the new Master of War, a position made at my behest. The person in charge of the logistics and administration of the Royal Army, and the political overseer of the Army High Command, in other words, I was the Defence Minister except for the Royal Fleet. My old position of Master of Ships has been filled by Tyland on my recommendation. I had done this sort of thing when it came to my position as Master of Ships so this was mostly just a copy-paste of the previous thing.
"And these are Westerosi soldiers are they not? Or have the Essosi auxiliaries been included in this count," Jasper Wylde asked.
"No, this is just the Westerosi soldiers, the auxiliaries are still being counted," I replied as I closed the ledger.
Both the Royal Fleet and the Royal Army were starting to divide alongside faction lines. Fortunately, the Royal Bureaucracy was not divided for it was mostly Green and Purple. Around a thousand bureaucrats were serving the Iron Throne at this point under the direct command of the Small Council, most of them working under the Hand of the King, the Master of Coin, and the Master of Laws while around a fifth of them were serving in the War and Fleet Department.
"Very well, is there anything else?" Alicent asked looking around the table. Viserys were becoming a rare sight at the Small Council with Alicent taking his place. He was dying a slow death of gout and arthritis along with a mild case of obesity.
Criston Cole, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, is always sitting next to her left wearing his enameled white armor while at a Small Council meeting. I wonder if the guy ever perspires to the point of swimming inside that armor. Larys Strong was also here as Master of Whisperers, never saying more than a word or two at any meeting.
Lyman then said, "The Royal Trading Company has requested permission to start issuing currency notes for Silver Stags."
Otto asked him, "Will this be a wise course of action, Lord Lyman?"
"With the success of the currency notes for the Gold Dragon, I see no reason why it won't be the same for the Silver Stag," He replied.
Currency notes of the Gold dragon were now universal across Westeros, and the reason for it was that people believed in the currency that it was backed in gold.
Inflation was now under control, and the value of gold had just begun to recover with the RTC raising interest rates on their loans while Lyman increased taxes on the people with high tariffs on imports to help balance out the gold glut. The consumerism that once engulfed all of Westeros, especially King's Landing has slowed down.
"Very well, bring the representative of the Company next week and we shall talk it over," Otto said to him. The temptation to print more than the gold that you have is always present but Lyman is a man of strong morals and willpower, he won't fall into that trap and hopefully, neither will the others.
Alicent then said, "If that is all, then I believe that we must now turn over to the most important event of the decade, the double weddings between Prince Aegon and Lady Maegelle as well as Ser Gaemon and Princess Helaena."
Ah yes, my children are getting married next week, the day that I have always dreaded. While the Gaemon-Helaena marriage was on schedule, I wanted to wait until Maegelle was sixteen or better yet, eighteen but Otto, Alicent, Viserra, and Shiera were insistent that the marriage occur in a double ceremony that would solidify the alliance between the Purples and the Greens because they were afraid the Viserys would drop dead at any moment.
"Most of the Lords and Ladies from all across the realm, from both sides of the Narrow Sea have arrived while others are on the way," Tyland then said.
"Will the King attend the weddings?" Otto turned to Grand Maester Orwyle.
"I am afraid that he might not be able to attend the weddings at the Grand Sept but he will be able to present himself at the feast in the Throne Room," Orwyle apologetically replied to which Otto and Alicent seemed very disappointed. Which I find to be odd for they were the ones hoping that Viserys would live long enough to get the kids married while at the same time, they wanted to strain him to the point of having him drop dead on the floor during the ceremony.
I waved it off, "That is alright, we needn't burden the king's health any more than it already is."
"The day of the Weddings is certainly auspicious, the seventh day of the seventh month, surely the Gods will look upon this day with great favor," Larys smoothly replied before continuing, "After all, the High Septon gave this date and he has already arrived to conduct the weddings, so we shouldn't let the King's ill health take away from this."
Alicent nodded, "Yes, we shouldn't. This is a great moment for our families, for our house, and for the realm. We must not let slight inconveniences ruin this great day." That's the spirit.
"Will the Princess attend the weddings?" Lyman then asked to which I nodded. I noticed that everyone else tightened their features upon hearing Lyman ask about them. The Dragonstone Targaryens were an untouched topic of the Small Council which at this point was the Green Council in all but name.
"She will be arriving with her entire family," I replied. And I will be the one stuck with welcoming them.
"I would have hoped to wait till my baby girl is fifty or until I am dead for her to get married," I groused as my wife and mother looked over the dress that Maegelle was to wear for the wedding. Maegelle had gone flying with Aegon, should I be worried I think I should but at this point, I am too tired to care. For a whole month, this has been the only thing that they have been obsessing over.
"Oh shut up, Maekar, you got the Stepstones as the dowry for Helaena so this is a small price to pay," My mother admonished me. She was right, I did get the Stepstones, for good this time. That was the concession I took out of them for agreeing to such an early wedding.
Shiera came to me, "Our baby girl is getting married, so learn to be good and stop being so grouchy. You need to greet the prestigious attendees and it will not do for you to do so as a dour man."
"Wait what? Why should I greet the other attendees? I am just stuck with welcoming our kin from Dragonstone," I replied.
"You have to greet the Great Houses, not to mention my father and my cousin who are coming as well as the Rogares. You are the father of the bride, it is expected of you, especially with Viserys too sick to do anything. Not to mention the Rogares will soon become family to us as well," Shiera reminded me.
The Rogares, to cement an alliance between Lys and Cape Maekar, I betrothed Haegon to Larra Rogare. She was sent to serve as Shiera's handmaiden. Now there was another Triarchy in the Narrow Sea, it was between Tyrosh, Lys, and Cape Maekar and tied by blood and powered by dragons.
Unlike in the OTL where Larra could get away with talking only in High Valyrian this time she was forced to learn the Common Tongue and wear clothes in the fashion of Westeros, she didn't make much of a fuss to the best of my knowledge because my mother and my wife can be very scary, especially to a girl who thinks that she can just throw her weight around, then again we are not the broken House Targaryen that Aegon III inherited.
"Is the Cannibal tamed enough to be placed in front of large crowds?" My mother then asked. She wanted all four dragons arrive to at the Grand Sept in a stunning display of the power of dragons.
I shook my head, "No, I have tried my best and so has Gaemon but that dragon is still wild at heart. It has only been seven years." In the seven years since my son has bonded with the Cannibal, he has graduated from eating his kind to being ill-tempered and vicious to anyone who is not Gaemon, me, or his favorite Dragonkeepers. Unlike Vermithor who is accustomed to the presence of men, the same cannot be said about him. He is still kept in an isolated cave of the Dragonpit for safety reasons. Especially since Shrykos and Morghul hatched a couple of years back.
"That is unfortunate." My mother said with a frown.
"Maekar, can you go and see if Gaemon is not doing anything crazy before his wedding? I fear that he might do something like that with Aemond," Shiera asked me.
"That is just wonderful." I groused before leaving the room. I wonder what crazy things can Gaemon and Aemond possibly do for their bachelor party. The crazy thing I did before marrying Shiera would be capturing Tyrosh, I doubt that anyone can beat that.
This time there were many changes that I did not account for, like when Arnold Arryn tried to overthrow Jeyne Arryn, she sent a raven to Dragonstone asking for help. Rhaenyra sent Daemon who promptly killed Arnold Arryn and his son before establishing Jeyne Arryn as the undisputed ruler of the Vale. I did not see that part coming, nor did I foresee what would have happened in the North.
Unlike before when it took two years before Cregan Stark retook power in Winterfell, this time it was sudden and brutal. Bennard Stark and his sons were killed in the countercoup that Cregan led despite having just gained his majority. For some reason, it looks like Bennard made more enemies than he should have.
While Otto and Alicent were shocked at the brutality when news reached King's Landing, Rhaenyra and Daemon from Dragonstone voiced their support for Cregan's actions which was a taunt straight at our faces. It also gained them a favorable Lord in Winterfell.
The only thing that went according to OTL, was Vaemond Velaryon who tried to press his claim to Driftmark claiming publically that Rhaenyra's sons were bastards, Rhaenyra dispatched Daemon who beheaded him and then his corpse was fed to Syrax. His cousins, sons, and widow came to court to fight this, they continued to voice that Rhaenyra's sons were bastards, and though at that point there was no tongue removal decree, there came to be one after that when Viserys had their tongues removed with hot pincers for slander and their insolence.
I found both Gaemon and Aemond sparring in the training yards. Gaemon earned his Knighthood from Ser Arryk Cargyll two months ago and with it, I gave him the Adjudicator and it seems that my choice was not wrong. The way that Gaemon wielded the Adjudicator was as if it was an extension of his limbs smoothly dancing across the yard. Aemond on the other hand was a prodigy when it came to swordplay and this time with both eyes, he was far more proficient.
They danced around each other, their steel screeching as they traded blows in a flurry of strikes, thrusts, slashes, and parries. Gaemon had better footwork while Aemond was stronger and faster. As they danced one of the guards came to me, "My Prince, Princess Rhaenyra has arrived with her family. Their ship has arrived and Prince Daemon's dragon has been spotted." And as if on cue, I heard a roar from Caraxes.
I turn my eyes away from the training yards and sigh, why did I have to greet them?
I walk out to the outer courtyard and wait until they arrive by carriage.
Ser Lorent Marbrand serves as the herald, "All Hail, Princess Rhaenyra of House Targaryen, Princess of Dragonstone, and Heir to the Iron Throne. And her consort, the Prince Daemon Targaryen. With their family."
Rhaenyra steps out of the carriage, it looks like the four pregnancies have taken a toll on her.
Daemon looks the same as always, with just a few lines on his face to show that he is starting to age. As for me, I started to grow a beard ever since I came to King's Landing five years ago to take a new seat in the Small Council. We have all started to age. Except for my wife who still looks the same as before we got married, maybe those rumors of witchcraft and dark arts were true.
Their eight collective children soon come out of the next carriage. Jacaerys, Lucerys, Baela, Rhaena, Alyssa, Aegon, and then the twins that I haven't seen before Viserys and Visenya. All of them were bonded to a dragon, even the last two, Stormfyre and Starfyre, it looks like the absence of the Cannibal has done good in saving hatchlings from being eaten.
"Welcome back to King's Landing," I greeted them on the steps leading to the inner yard. "I must say that I didn't expect to see the entire family here even the little ones."
Daemon answered, "Not every day when there is a double wedding in our family. And we believe that it is time for Viserys and Visenya to be presented before their grandfather." And uncle, that part went unsaid. The Targaryen family tree has always been weird.
"True enough I guess," I said with a shrug.
"Where is my father?" Rhaenyra asks before Daemon can speak further.
"Inside," I replied, "He has been suffering from gout and aching of the joints for the past four years. How nice of you to finally visit your ailing father." Daemon and the older kids recognized the jibe but it seems that Rhaenyra is too preoccupied with her father's health to care.
"So who has been ruling the Seven Kingdoms?" Daemon then asked a question to which he already knew the answer.
"The Small Council has taken up the additional duties that have been placed upon it by the King's absence." I diplomatically answer.
"In other words, you and Otto," Daemon finishes.
I shrug, "Someone has to do it, especially since the two of you have found yourself something more important to do in Dragonstone than ruling the Seven Kingdoms."
Then Rhaenyra asks, "Where are the kids about to be married?"
I answer, "Gaemon is training while Helaena is trying on her final gown. As for Maegelle and Aegon," Before I can continue, Sunfyre and Ghost fly over us, "Are flying," I finish.
I lead Daemon and Rhaenyra into Maegor's Holdfast to Viserys' bedchamber while the older kids wander off to the training yards and the younger kids are taken by their nurses to the Royal Apartments. Viserys and Visenya were brought along to see their grandfather/uncle.
After I let the couple enter Viserys' room I wandered off before finding myself in front of Larys, "My Prince how may I help you."
For a moment I was tempted to back off but I have been searching for this bitch for a long time and she still hasn't come up on my radar, "I need a favor Larys." I reply.
"Anything that you wish for, My Prince," He said bowing deeply. Making a deal with Larys was like making a Faustian deal and I would regret this one day but not so much as I would regret not making this deal in the first place.
"I need you to find someone for me, I find that this person is escaping my grasp," I tell him.
He bows, "And who is this person that you need, My Prince?"
"The White Worm," I replied.
I walk back to one of the rooms that has been set aside for Daemon and Rhaenyra for their stay in the capital and I find them talking amongst each other. Daemon was sitting while Rhaenyra was the one standing. What a gentleman indeed.
"I believe that Maester Gerardys must take a look at Father, he looks so dreadful, it is like you have done nothing to help him," Rhaenyra declares to me.
"I am no Maester and neither am I well versed in the arts of healing. If you believe that Maester Gerardys can help him then by all means bring him," I said to her.
I knew that gout was treated with iodized foods like seaweed, cod, oysters, and eggs. In a way it worked and reduced his gout and to a degree reduced the arthritis but it immediately flared back whenever Viserys ate other rich and heavy food that he craved. In essence, it was a cycle of pain, relief, and recovery and back. I tried to limit his unhealthy food but Viserys even in his state demanded that he be given the food that he wanted.
I sat down on one of the chairs while offering Rhaenyra the other and then Alicent arrived.
"Princess Rhaenyra, Prince Daemon. It has been so long since we were granted the joy of your presence," Alicent said in a proper noblewoman tone. Yes, what a great joy was the last time! These two were on the verge of starting a war then and there over Vhagar. Never before had the old bitch been in such demand.
"Yes, indeed," Daemon drawled. "Yet, not long enough to offer us a proper greeting upon our arrival." Last time I checked, I was there to greet these dumbfucks but it seems that Daemon wanted the entire family and Small Council out to greet them. "My poor brother had to do it all on his own." How touching.
"I am sure the Queen must have had pressing matters to attend to, my love," Rhaenyra sniped by placing a hand on Daemon. "After all, what can either of us know about ruling a kingdom." She got that part right. Honesty and true inner reflection from Rhaenyra followed by concern by Daemon about me, will wonders ever cease.
Alicent primly replied, "I do not rule, as you well know. My father and I are mere stewards of the King's will and wisdom alongside the Small Council." Yes, the King's will and wisdom when it comes to matters regarding his health and diet certainly. When it comes to governance not so much. Alicent wanted to redecorate the Red Keep in the image of the Seven, in stars and statues but I stopped that from happening.
"And how exactly is that wisdom expressed?" Daemon snarked back, "By blinks and wheezes."
I follow up on that, "Along with grunts of pain and fits of coughing, not to mention tantrums regarding his food."
The three of them are not impressed, Alicent then answers Daemon, "King Viserys' condition has worsened since you saw him last. He is in considerable pain, it is on the advice of the Maesters attending the King that-"
"The Maesters, Yes, it is on their advice that you keep him addled on the milk of the poppy while Hightowers warm his throne" Rhaenyra accuses.
Before Alicent can reply, I answer for her, "If you want to blame anyone for your father's condition then blame him for it. He was given a proper set of food meant to help him recover and it showed great promise if it weren't for him demanding otherwise. The last time your father sat on the Iron Throne, it was when Vaemond's cousins brought their complaints against you and despite all the incredible pain that he was suffering he showed up at the Great Hall and sat on the Iron Throne and judged that day for you. And all he got for it was the loss of two of his fingers when he cut himself on the Iron Throne. And those fingers would have become his entire arm if I didn't tell Orwyle to amputate the fingers before it was too late."
Rhaenyra had the decency to look ashamed but Daemon then snorted and said, "Yes, all the while these sheep run around at your command. You are the shepherd of this flock of sheep that has taken over the Red Keep now that our brother is unable to do anything. Tell me, there are rumors that you are poisoning Viserys for your gain, and I find myself inclined to believe such rumors because it is very much in your nature not to mention your wife."
For a moment, nobody said anything before I chuckled and I got up and stalked over to him, he rose as well, "Carefully now Daemon, there are many people in this fucking world who would love to see you die an agonizing death for all the trouble you have caused them and I happen the sole man under the fucking sky who wants it and can do it. So do me a favor and shut the fuck up before I make you. And you know full well that if I wanted to kill Viserys I would have done it way back when."
"I would love to see you try," Daemon snarled, placing his hand on Dark Sister's pommel while I gripped my rondel.
Alicent and Rhaenyra came in between us, "That's enough. No one shall spill blood here."
Alicent turns on me, "Our children are getting married and you are going about starting fights."
I retreat from the room before an actual fight begins but as I leave I turn around, "Ah, I can't believe I forgot something so important. Daemon your forty and sixth nameday is coming in a month is it not? I have arranged the perfect gift for you, it will arrive in Dragonstone by then. Be sure to enjoy it."
I left before a puzzled Daemon could ask further about it.
It was a lavish ceremony in the Grand Sept, no less than what Rhaenyra had with Laenor as my children married my other children. There were a thousand people from all over the realm who arrived for the weddings but only two hundred were allowed inside the Grand Sept.
The High Septon officiated both weddings at the same time, pretty impressive for the old man.
"Our children are getting married," Shiera said trying to hold back tears as were Viserra and Alicent.
"Yes," I nodded. I must have hit the incest lottery for some reason I think. Four of my kids are marrying each other. Viserys may have been the sire for Aegon, Helaena, Aemond, and Daeron but I was their father. Best exemplified when I walked both Maegelle and Helaena down the aisle.
I changed Aegon from the man he was before, he was no longer the gluttonous and lazy womanizer. He even shaved off that ridiculous wispy mustache, he resembled Viserys but now he looked like a warrior and he held himself up accordingly. He used to be a boy with a tendency to sulk whenever things did not go his way, his time in Fort Hell purged him of that. And he knew better than to be a promiscuous womanizer in front of me especially when he was to marry my daughter.
Then there was Maegelle, a girl who was wild almost from birth. A Targaryen to the Bone, strong like me, beautiful like her mother, and wilful like her grandmother. This girl of mine was a natural dragonrider better than her brothers and cousins. After the Dornish conquest, I gave her a Dornish recurve bow and she turned out to be a natural archer with it. A good horserider and an expert hunter, this girl went about breaking all the norms meant for girls, all thanks to both Shiera and myself as we indulged her interests.
Gaemon, my oldest son and heir, was a born warrior, all that could be wished in a knight, lord, or heir though he had a temper similar to Aemond and his dragon, he was smart enough not to lose his temper while I was around but I knew that it was only a matter of time before the boy did something stupid that come back to bite him in the ass. It was the overconfidence that came from the Cannibal. Hopefully, he will learn his lesson sooner rather than later.
And then there was Helaena, a sweet girl. Pleasant and happy nearly all the time if at times prone to speak in riddles for what I assume are her dreams. She was the perfect foil to Gaemon's hotheadedness and hopefully, he would calm down after being married to her and she would have a better life than OTL.
Tyland stood with Jason and Johanna in the second line as they watched the two couples exchange their vows. It was a lavish wedding enough to impress a Lannister. And this was yet again, the second Royal Wedding not to include the Velaryons. All the other nobility was present from the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch to the vassals of the East.
"So, this means that the alliance between them is now set in stone," Jason muttered as they kissed.
Tyland nodded, "Indeed, I have arranged a meeting with both Ser Otto and Prince Maekar during the feast."
Jason slightly nodded, "Good. Though I do fear that the Leffords might be a problem."
Johanna hissed from the side, "Can you both keep your plotting after the wedding, don't ruin it for me." Johanna could be fiery when needed, no wonder their mother arranged the match. She was the person to keep Jason from riding off a cliff, though he repaid it with having a mistress and bastard daughters.
Since it was a double wedding, Tyland expected the two couples to wear the same clothes but he was wrong. Both couples wore rich but different clothes to make them stand out. Prince Aegon's clothing consisted of mostly elaborate gold tracery on black with a cape and large open sleeves. Gaemon on the other hand, did not have the cape or the open sleeves but he did have the gold tracery on his purple with a marron silk sash.
Tyland noticed that for the past year, Maegelle was wearing clothes in the same fashion as that of her mother, sleeves, backless with a neckline that would make a Speta faint. Her wedding dress of snow-white silk was no different with red dragons woven into it with a train of embroidered dragons, with metal dragons running along her dress with subtle spikes. Princess Helaena on the other hand wore a less flaunting and a more regal and heavy ivory white gown. They did however have the same upswept waterfall hairstyle that Lady Shiera had popularised at court.
Tyland wondered if this would be the last ever great moment for the Seven Kingdoms before the inevitable war began.
After the wedding, the feasts began. The prestigious attendees were placed in the Throne room, while lesser nobles gathered in the yards and the small halls. The King even made an appearance to bless the Royal couples. With seventy-seven courses of food with feasting and jousts to be held for over a week after this, this was going to be the party of the decade until the next big party was thrown.
There will be days of jousts along with mounted and foot combat, archery, horse racing, chariot racing, and axe throwing. The smiths, the merchants, the tavern owners, the innkeepers, and all the whores of the city will be extremely pleased with this week. With the recent drop in purchasing after Lyman's increases in taxes, this might restart the consumerism that gripped King's Landing after the RTC was founded.
This wedding was the decadent of the decadent, extravagant was its middle name and nothing said it more than the wine fountains. And it is most likely going to be the last big hurrah before the war.
The main star of the show was the food with rich dishes, fine wines and beers, and delicacies of every imaginable variety. I worked with Otto and Lyman to procure nearly two hundred thousand liters of wine with another sixty thousand liters of beer. The entire city is going to be super drunk by the end of this.
"Sometimes, I wonder if we should also have had such a massive and extravagant wedding," Shiera says to me as we sit down to eat. The tasters made sure to taste everything before anyone ate anything at the High Table.
"I conquered a city and killed everyone that disagreed with it for you," I said to her, "I think that counts for all the extravagance in the world."
"How romantic," Shiera chuckles before she kisses me.
Then the most important moment of the day was when Viserys made an appearance to bless the married couples and he did not look good. He had to be carried in a litter, I do not recollect this happening in the books before, his wrists and ankles were swollen, and his large girth was a problem, to say the least. The problems with obesity were rearing its ugly head. Viserys was always plump and a foodie but I have a feeling that all the drama between Alicent and Rhaenyra has led to his stress-eating which increased his corpulence and obesity.
He attempted to act like it was all good but it was obvious that this was a difficult act for him. He sat in the center of the table while everyone sat around him with clear-cut faction lines drawn. There were ten blacks and twelve greens on the table with one Viserys in the middle.
I must say that this is a big table, reminds me of the time when we used a similar table during Rhaenys' wedding, one of the few moments in my childhood where I was shown in public mostly because of Aunt Maegelle's intervention. She was my favorite aunt who didn't judge me for my birth which is why I named my daughter after her.
As we ate and danced in harmony people danced, they laughed, and the musicians played their part all the while the servants kept bringing more food.
Halfway through the meal, Viserys then turned to me and Otto and asked, "I have something to say for the entire family, the rest of them should not hear it." He was referring to the nobles attending down below the High Table.
I turned to Otto and whispered, "Get everyone out of here and move the rest of the feast outside."
He nodded before rising to leave and escort most of the inebriated nobles out with the guards. The ones who weren't drunk understood that something private was about to happen and the gossip mongers got to work as they left the Great Hall. Within ten minutes, the Great Hall would have been empty if not for us, the Kingsguard, and a couple of servants.
Viserys then got up from his chair, painfully, and refused Rhaenyra and Alicent's help, he looked at us all before saying, "It gladdens my heart to see you all. It has been so long that as a family we were together. But it also fills me with sorrow to see all of you so distant from each other. All of you are the dearest in the world yet so distant."
"We all know that I am dying and I have accepted it, valar morghulis, all men must die, valar dohaeris, all men must serve and I consider this to be the last time that I can ever serve our family in any way at all. I am not just your king, but also your brother, your father, your grandfather, your nephew, your goodbrother, and your uncle."
"Let us no longer hold ill feelings towards each other in our hearts. The Iron Throne is weak if the House of the Dragon remains divided. A divided house means that the Crown is divided and the realm that we rule will burn."
"But if that is not enough, then set aside your grievances if not for the sake of the Crown but for the sake of this old man who all of you so dearly," He pleaded at the end with tears in his eyes as he began to wheeze.
He then turned to me, "Maekar, I know that I haven't been a true brother as I should have, I know that I have failed as a brother to you. You were loyal to me, all these years despite all those lickspittles whispering in your ear to steal the crown you did not bend to their whims you stood true. You have served me more than well, more than what any brother could expect, more than what an ingrate brother like me should have expected you did and I have not acknowledged it nor have I been grateful to you."
"No amount of words can express my sorrow and my apologies for my disgraceful behavior to you." He wept before turning to Daemon, "And you Daemon, you and Maekar have made Essos your footstool, you have broken the Dornish and finished what the Conqueror did, it was never me, it was always the two of you. Can't you see what a united House of the Dragon can do? Those Essosi lords from Pentos, Myr, Tyrosh, and Lys, they bent the knee to the Iron Throne but because of you, not me."
"So leave your childhood grudges for we are better than that. We don't blame children for the faults of their parents yet we blamed Maekar, we must make amends," He implored Daemon before he collapsed back into his chair.
Before his condition could worsen because of the strain, he was carried back on his litter while the rest of us were left with an uncomfortable dinner where we had to bring out all our feelings.
Jacaerys began by giving a toast to Aegon and Maegelle and Gaemon and Helaena followed by Rhaenyra giving a toast to Alicent and both were reciprocated all the while Daemon and I sat stiffly not moving a muscle.
More servants arrived with more food and so too did a couple of musicians who started to play.
I then got up to take a breath of the fresh air of the night on the balcony. With so much gold to spend, Viserys did spend some on the sewers of the city by having them expanded, the city did not smell as bad as before. With my previous real estate experience I managed to get communal housing for the poor of the city when I returned with Alicent agreeing to set up soup kitchens and orphanages for the poor. While with the Hightower influence the Faith stepped in to establish hospices and other hospital-like establishments.
As I walked back, I found Daemon in the deserted hallways, "What do you want Daemon? And if you are here because of Viserys then forget it."
Daemon looks relieved because that means he doesn't have to make the uncomfortable apology, "I would have figured that Viserys' plea would have moved you."
I scoffed, "If there is one thing I can say about you Daemon it is that you are a fucking cunt who will only do anything that Viserys tells you. Not because you want to do it but because you want to suck Viserys' cock. You haven't come to apologize because you genuinely feel sorry for how you treated me, no you just want to do it so that you can tell Viserys that you did the thing that they wanted you to do. In case you didn't realize, apologies need to be genuine and whatever bullshit comes out of your mouth in the form of an apology will be worth less than what Alicent and Rhaenyra say to each other after every fight whenever Viserys forces them to make amends."
"See that is why you are the cunt," Daemon counters, "Viserys tried many times to befriend you, to make you a part of the family and I would have followed suit but you decided to play the brooding and sulking bastard who does not give a shit about his family and now you act embittered over the fact that you were not treated as family."
"Family! What bullshit? If there is anything you and your father have taught me it is that you can be selective about your family." I snorted.
"He is your father too," Daemon angrily replied. "The very fact you don't consider him as your father and thereby our brother justified any reason not to trust you. Most of mine and Viserys' suspicion towards you had nothing to do with you but rather your mother."
I shook my head with a scoff, "Oh, no, he is not my father. Because if there is something both your father and Viserys don't know it is that there is more to being a father than just siring a child. You need to raise the child as well and I made sure to ensure that none of those children ever grew up the way I did."
I followed up, "And you know what is the funny part? You were the one who was pushing for my arrest. Yes, you cunt I know that you were whispering into Viserys' ear that I was about to usurp him. After the tourney in Maidenpool, you told Viserys that I intended to crown myself within the month and that the tourney was a cover to gain support against him. You even tried to command the Kingsguard to go and arrest me, fortunately, Lord Commander Redwyne was not your dog. That cunt Corlys and his bitch Boremund tried to convince me to rebel against Viserys but I told them to fuck off, if that is not doing your duty to your family then I don't know what is. And now guess what? You are now in bed with Corlys the same man whom you hated with passion."
Daemon didn't have a counter to that but I wasn't done, "My whole childhood you tormented me for my birth calling me a bastard to my face and in public, and yet here now you stand as fucking father to those children of Rhaenyra's when anyone with eyes can say what the truth is. I don't blame those boys for their birth when most of the blame goes to their stupid as fuck mother who did not have the common sense that any dumb bitch ought to have."
Daemon snarls as he takes a menacing step, "Don't you dare say a word about Rhaenyra?"
I smirked, "You have always lusted after Rhaenyra, the very day she was born you asked your father for her hand to save your place in the succession and escape your marriage to your Bronze Bitch. Something like what Visenya asked about Rhaena and Maegor. Not that the bitch Laena was any better but if accepting Rhaenyra's bastards meant getting into her cunny you jumped headfirst into it." I taunted him with the last part with the idea to get him to lash out and it worked.
'Why you little-" He growled with a right hook coming at my face. I closed the distance between us and I kneed him in the stomach as he heaved I elbowed him in the neck, and he staggered sideways in pain before I swept his legs out from underneath him. As he fell with a thud I knelt and I placed my knee on his neck before grabbing his flailing arm and twisting his fingers to the point of almost breaking them before I realized that appearances had to be maintained. He whined in pain but I increased the pain with every groan. I am lucky that Daemon was drunk while I didn't drink anything through the day in the paranoia of being poisoned.
As I slowly choked him, I looked around to see that no one had arrived at the scene yet, I bent down and whispered, "There will come a day Daemon when I will kill you, it may not be today but it will come because your days are numbered and I am the one who is numbering it. When I send you to the Seven Hells, be sure to tell 'our' father, grandfather, and grandmother that I was the one to send you there."
I leave a groaning Daemon in the hallway after giving a final kick in the stomach before heading back to the Great Hall. When I arrive, Aegon, Aemond, Gaemon, and Maegelle are being restrained by the Kingsguard while the same goes for Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Baela. Looks like a fight broke out while I was gone and I have a feeling that someone made a 'Strong' toast.
The Third Day of the Third Month of 129 AC
Shiera remarked as the children were sleeping, "There are two dragons in the Dragonpit, Shrykos, and Morghul maybe the children can bond with them."
It was the hour of the owl.
Both Maegelle and Helaena became pregnant within half a year of their weddings. Aegon and Maegelle had a son whom they named after me, Maekar the Younger. While Gaemon and Helaena had a daughter Jaenara Targaryen. Mercifully, both births were hassle-free. I was now a grandfather and I am just forty years old while Shiera is thirty-six.
"We can decide on the dragons later, Shiera," I said to her as the chilly autumn night brought a cold breeze into the room.
"I honestly thought that Viserys would die within a week of the wedding," She remarked.
"Viserys can be remarkably resilient at times, though I would not call living bedridden and in pain that much of a living," I replied.
"I could have eased his passing and his pain," Shiera pointed out.
"Don't, it is bad enough that people whisper that you are a sorceress, the last thing we need is Kingslayer," I shook my head.
Before Shiera could reply, Ser Criston Cole entered the room, his face and mannerisms betraying a certain jumpiness, "My Prince, my Lady. I apologize for the interruption."
I turned to him, one look at his tense face told me all that I needed to know, "He is dead isn't he." I asked and Criston gave the barest of nods.