[Fleabottom, King's Landing]
(Aerion's POV)
"What the hell are we doing here, Daemon?" I said as I walked behind him down the street
"There's something I want to show you." He said as we walked
I felt the gazes of the smallfolk as we walked, they were surprised to see us. I doubt that they'd heard of what had happened. Daemon insisted for me to follow him and promised to leave us alone after. Rhaenyra frustratingly agreed to whatever he wanted to do and went to check on the children.
"You interrupted my wife and me for a walk in Fleabottom?" I said with an annoyed tone
"Relax, there's always tonight." He said, "Not like you've taken your clothes off yet."
"Careful." I warned
"Loosen up." He chuckled as we reached a door, "This will be worth it."
"I doubt it." I said, "I don't know why I even came with you."
He glanced back and smirked, "Father and son moment." He said, "I feel good, now that Vaemond is dead."
I sighed, "Yea, I bet."
"Don't lie to yourself, Aerion, you feel good about killing him." He said before knocking on the door, "To cut down those who insult your wife, for someone like you, it's a bitter-sweet feeling."
I was going to say something when I felt someone bump into me.
"Ah, mate! Watch where you're goi-" I heard someone say as I looked at him, "Oh shit...."
It was a man with dirty white hair, wearing rags as he stumbled away.
"You lost?" I raised my eyebrow as he patted his rags
"I am drunk, alright." He said as he squinted his eyes, "But that lad Aerion Targaryen is standing before me..."
"I suggest you fuck off, friend." Daemon said
The man looked past me, "Oh fuck, it's Prince Daemon." he said as he stumbled
"Ulf!" I heard a man said, "Get yer ass over here!"
I saw a dark-skinned man run up to him and pull him away, bowing slightly.
"Hm." I said
"Sorry, milord, my friend has no manners." He said apologetically
I heard the door open behind me, "Let's go." Daemon told me
I turned back around to walk inside, "What is this, Daemon, it best not be a brothel." I said
"It's not." He said, "This is one of my Fence's locations."
"Fence?" I said, "You're involved with that shit?"
"Take it easy." Daemon said as we walked down the hall
Suddenly, from one of the rooms, a tall man with dirty white hair and a thick beard appeared, almost bumping into Daemon.
"Oh." He said as he scooted against the wall, "My apologies."
"Look at this one, almost as huge as you, Aerion." Daemon chuckled
As we walked past, the man was looking down humbly.
I stopped, frowning, "Hm." I said glancing back at him, "Why does he look familiar?"
The man bowed slightly, not saying a word, and walked down the hall towards the exit.
"Who knows." Daemon said, "He could be some guy that works in the markets or something."
I followed Daemon as he entered through a door that was opened by a woman.
"Hello, My Prince..." she said with a smile
"Is he in?" Daemon said
She nodded, "The Grey Snake awaits you." she said
She gestured to another door at the back of the room.
Daemon looked at me, "Come." He gestured over
I sighed, "Okay." I said holding onto Lady Rhea's handle
"Take it easy, Bronze Dragonlord." the woman said, "We won't dare hurt the Prince's son."
I raised an eyebrow, "What did you call me?"
"Bronze Dragonlord?" She frowned
"Hm." I said eyeing her up and down, "You come up with that? That's not a bad sounding name."
"No, many of us smallfolk call you that." She said with a smile
"I like it." I said
"Come on." Daemon called
I walked up to him as he opened the door.
"Who's this Grey Snake?" I asked
"Some Fence who likes the shady title that's passed onto him, I don't know his real name." He said as I followed him in there
Inside the room, full of shelves that contained weird containers and jewelry, I saw a man sitting behind a desk, writing on what looked like a ledger. He had long grey hair and dark eyes, and wore noble clothes. He didn't seem familiar, but there was something off about him.
He looked up, "Oh." He said stopping his writing, "Prince Daemon.....and Lord Aerion Targaryen? Prince-Consort?"
"Well, he was born when I was Heir to the Throne, so he'd also be a Prince." Daemon said as he stood in front of me, "Call him as such. Grey Snake."
The Grey Snake stood up and set his quill down, "Before you got disinherited, huh, Prince Daemon?" He said
"You don't have to call me Prince." I said as I walked by the shelves, "Who are you?"
"What your Father called me." He said
"Hm..." I said
"I have committed no crimes that require your blade, My Lord." He said
I looked at him, "You best hope not." I said
"Easy, Aerion." Daemon said, "Do you have it, Snake?"
I saw as the man reach down behind his desk and pull out a black box, with gold engravings.
"Oh, yes." He said, "Do you have any idea how many bribes I had to do to get ahold of this? How many Nobles' daughters I had to fuck? Too many for my liking, Prince Daemon."
Daemon rubbed his hands, "Let me see it then."
He opened the box and pulled out what looked like a necklace made out of black iron chains, holding what looked like a jade orb.
"Here it is...." He said, "Without a doubt, my most valuable possession, My Prince."
Daemon walked up to him, taking it in his hands, "Ah..." He said with a smile, "Look at that....so it's real..."
"It's real alright." The Grey Snake said, "Straight from YiTi itself. According to the stories, there are plenty of these things over there."
Daemon turned to me, "Look." He said with a smile, "Come here and look."
I walked over to him, "What is it?"
He raised the chain up as the jade orb slowly spun, "Do you know what this is?"
I shook my head, "No." I said, "Should I?"
"That, My Lord, is what they call a Jade Dragon Eye." The Snake said
I raised an eyebrow, "What?"
I squinted and noticed that the orb looked more like a small dragon's eye.
"The YiTish apparently harvested eyes from young dragons back in the days of Old Valyria." The Snake said, "They used their magic to turn them into stones....it is said that the Jade Dragon Eyes bring good fortune to those who wear it. I don't know about that, but they're extremely rare. The chains are made from Valyrian Steel and the Jade itself is worth an entire keep."
I gently touched the stone with my finger, "Hm..."
"Here." Daemon handed it to me
"What?" I asked
"It's yours." He said
"Why?" I said
"You're my son." He said
"How am I sure it's not cursed?" I asked
"I don't believe in magic. Bunch of shite." He said, "I just think it's a nice gift for my son."
"Rather suspicious," I said
"Take the fucking thing, Aerion." he said
I grabbed it with my hand and the moment it came into contact with my palm, I felt an odd jolt in my arm. It was weird.
"What's your deal." I said, "You don't typically do this."
He glanced at my sword, "Oh, I don't?"
"That was Lady Laena's suggestion." I told him
"Well, I was going to sell it and I changed my mind." He said
"Because Lady Laena-" I started
"But I gave it to you." Daemon said, "Our differences aside, Aerion, you are my son."
The Grey Snake cleared his throat, "Uhm....are we done? I have work to do."
"Yes yes, let's go, Aerion." Daemon walked past me
I looked at the Jade Dragon Eye, "Hm."
********************************
"It's....." Rhaenyra said as she looked at the Jade, "It's awfully beautiful."
I shrugged, "I think it's alright." I said
We were sitting on the couch later that night. She was still wearing that beautiful dress, by the gods, I wanted her to wear it every single day.
"He just gave it to you?" She asked me
I nodded, "Yea."
"How nice of him." She said, "Maybe he is trying to mend things with you. In his own way at least."
"I won't let him see the kids, though," I said as I leaned back
"Oh no, not yet at least." She said with a chuckle, "It'll take more than scheming for our favor and jewelry to get to that point."
"Yea." I said
She set the dragon eye on the table in front of us and scooted over to me, placing her hand on my lap, "So..." She said with a smile, "What now?"
I looked at her, "What do you mean?"
She blushed, "Where were we, Aerion?" She asked
"Oh." I said with a smile, "Yes. That."
I looked at her chest, naughty thoughts filling my head.
"The kids are asleep, the young ones at least." She said with a smile, "We can do it tonight..."
"Alright.." I said as she leaned closer to me,
"That was the plan...."