-Chapter 21-
-3rd POV-
The small reception to welcome Prince Daemon and his two sons finally ended a little before noon. Everyone moved to the arena where the tournament would take place and took their seats.
The noblest sat with the royal family, while Prince Aemon Targaryen sat with his mother, the members of his House, and the vassals of House Royce.
Although the king did not seem pleased with this, he could do nothing since he had just dismissed Prince Aemon's mother in front of the entire court, meaning she no longer had her place beside the royal family.
Contrary to the rest of her family, Laena Velaryon, to everyone's great surprise, chose to sit beside Prince Aemon, which did not fail to cause gossip among all present.
Everyone wondered what was going on between them, and judging by the satisfied smile of Lord Corlys Velaryon and his wife, a union between the two would not displease them.
And why would the union between the rider of Vhagar, the largest known dragon to date, and the rider of Urrax, a dragon with phenomenal growth potential expected to become the largest dragon in Westeros in ten years, displease the Lord and Lady of Driftmark?
With the recent political maneuvers of King Viserys and Princess Heir Rhaenyra, they had alienated, of their own accord, the Lord of House Royce, which in the event of armed conflict could allow them to completely crush House Targaryen with 4 dragons on the Velaryon side against 2 on the Targaryen side, instead of 3 against 2.
Once everyone was settled, the King stood up and said: "It is with immense joy that I wish to celebrate with all of you, people and nobles of the Seven Kingdoms, the fifth anniversary of my fruitful marriage to Queen Alicent, who has given me three magnificent children."
Everyone warmly applauded their king, then he gave the signal for the tournament to begin.
---
-1 hour later-
-POV MC-
"You don't seem to be enjoying yourself," Laena whispered in my ear, as one of the archers stepped forward to shoot an arrow.
'How could I enjoy myself when I could be fortifying my positions in the Vale, finding new economic resources, and continuing to increase the profitability of my businesses?' I thought.
"In the Vale, I am always busy with something, doing nothing makes me tense."
Laena smiled and then said: "This is only the archery contest. If you wish, I think we could do something much more interesting."
I raised my eyebrows, ready to hear her proposal, then she suddenly stood up and headed for the exit, signaling for me to follow her.
I turned my head towards my mother, who gave me a small smile, then I followed Laena who was waiting for me. She intertwined our arms and then said:
"Let's take a ride on our dragons, it's much more fun than sitting around doing nothing while these incompetents strut in this arena as if it were a barnyard."
I smiled and then said: "You are really full of surprises, my lady."
"And you haven't seen half of what I can do," she said before leading me towards the stables.
---
-10 minutes later-
-POV Viserys Targaryen-
DRAGON ROAR
DRAGON ROAR
As I watched an archer named Artos, or Arstan, or maybe Arthur, try to aim at a target placed a few dozen meters away, two distinct dragon roars sounded a few seconds apart, prompting me to look towards the skies to see Vhagar and Urrax flying out of the capital.
I frowned, unhappy to see this happen, because I knew that Aemon's arrival at King's Landing was far from trivial. He came here to find a wife and I wanted it to be Rhaenyra.
'That fool certainly ruined most of my efforts by trying to insult Aemon and provoking him in front of everyone present at the reception earlier today,' I thought, looking at my daughter who was doing her best to ignore the piercing gaze she surely felt.
"Your Majesty, you should punish Prince Aemon for this disrespect to the crown on the day of your wedding anniversary," said the aging lord of House Hightower, brother of the former Hand of the King, who had come to King's Landing especially for the event and was unhappy to see the attention diverted from his niece and grand-nephews.
"It's nothing, Aemon still needs to discover the feminine pleasures of life, he is at that age," I said in a slightly petty tone, if I had to admit.
Daemon smiled and said: "I remember I visited my first brothel at the age of 12, it was you who showed it to me."
I said nothing more and treated Daemon's words as air, while I risked a quick glance in the direction of my cousin and her arrogant and ambitious husband, the sea snake.
'Those two are trying to get their hands on the entire royalty, they are trying to absorb and subvert House Targaryen through House Velaryon, and that will never happen in my lifetime,' I thought as I refocused on the tournament, relieved of a weight.