"He must be desperate, to, to do something like this?" Cole barked
out with an ironic laugh.
"Desperate my dear Cole, whatever do you mean?" he asked,
interested to see what Cole's reasoning was, and to present his own
counter arguments as necessary.
"To, to give that bastard his name, to sully the Targaryen name with
some smallfolk bastard, and on top of everything to marry his own
daughter to the man!"
"And you think this is a sign of desperation on Daemon's part?"
"I do, for what else can it be? The Lords will never accept this,
never….."
"The girls grandfather made a fuss apparently but in the end
acquiesced without too much noise. And maybe the Lords not
accepting this Hugh fellow is all part of the Rogue Prince's plan, did
you ever consider that my dear Cole?"
Confusion washed across Cole's face before something of a
realization dawned across it "Ah, you think that this is a…..'poisoned
goblet' then?"
"Maybe, it could very well be, this bastard Hugh is apparently to be
given extensive lands, away from Kings Landing you will note. This
is likely to keep him more than busy and away from the levers of
power in Kings Landing. He rides the second largest dragon
available to the Blacks and is a threat to Daemon's power, even if we
have no reports of the bastard being interested in playing politics.
The very fact that he is a bastard will mean he will have trouble with
gaining any following and will likely spend all his time dealing with
truculent vassals. Hugh's line will be tainted by his bastardry and will
not be a viable competitor to Daemon's sons through Rhaenyra."
"But he does have a dragon…."
"So? You cannot use a dragon if a vassal back talks you now can
you? Well, maybe once or twice, but after that they will resist you in
more subtle ways. Dragons are superb weapons for winning a war,
they are not so good at keeping the peace, especially if you confront
in ways that negate the advantages of dragons. Hell's, we have
almost totally cancelled out the advantages that the Blacks have in
dragons, thousands of crossbows and hundreds of scorpions make
dragons less willing to come in low and thus lessen the effect their
fries can have. We have not fallen to any 'field of fire' as of yet, and
nor will we!"
"Still, wasting his daughter's hand like that, a foolish move by
Daemon" replied Cole, not fully willing to concede his point.
"Oh, and speaking of crossbows, the latest shipment for the
Stromlands from Braavos was intercepted off Massey's Hook by
Velaryon ships, Lord Borros's forces will lack the required number of
crossbows versus our forces."
"We could ship them some of ours?" asked Cole in a somewhat
hopeful voice.
"We could, but the advances of the Blacks on the upper Mander has
closed off the fastest routes to supply Lord Borros's forces, we would
not be able to get the necessary crossbows to them in time."
"A pity, let's hope it's not too big a disadvantage….."
"From what I have heard Lord Borros has been less than active in
distributing the crossbows he already has among his forces, he and
a vocal number of his Lords are against the distribution of crossbows
to their smallfolk levies, preferring to train their Men-at-Arms instead.
So even if we shipped them some of ours, they would likely have no
use for them."
"Hrmmm" replied Cole.
"Anyway, the girl will be wedded and bedded soon to all accounts,
and as to Daemon's true motives for sullying his daughter so, I don't
really care one way or the other. Daemon's mind was always
something I never wished to delve too deeply into, for that way lies
madness."
"Can we turn this to our advantage in some way? I would assume
that we can?"
"Of course we can, and we will, when the opportunity presents itself.
'Prince Hugh' will have to be dealt with once we win, as will his pretty
little wife."
"Tragic accidents will befall them no doubt?"
"No doubt" he replied with a tight smile "but I will at least make sure
that the girl is kept away from Prince Aemond, I can at least see to
that."
"Speaking of which…."
"Yes I know, but he will be on the move soon, he and his mount have
healed sufficiently, and the mummery with him and Vhagar will come
to a close, he will fly to Bronzegate and from them to the front lines
opposite Kings Landing. The moment he arrives is the signal for Lord
Borros to launch his attack."
"Hopefully he does not dawdle on his way…."
"He better fucking not!" he snarled in return "I have impressed upon
our good Prince the importance of his participation and that he does
not fuck this up….."
"For all our sakes…." Sighed Cole.
"Aye, and maybe not for Prince Aemond's sake….."
"Your still think?"
"No, I hope more than anything else, but should it become
necessary we will have to act, if only for our own skins, you know
that…."
"And, and afterwards?"
"Well, depending on how things work out, Aegon is still alive, but the
lad is crippled and burned, requires milk of the poppy to function at
all, is barely able to walk and unable to father any more children. It
would be a mercy should our King pass, a necessary mercy Ser
Cole…."
The Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and Hand of the King
pondered this for a mere second or two before he dipped his head in
the tiniest of agreements.
"Prince Maelor will be crowned King after the sad and untimely death
of both of his elder brother's and a long Regency can be expected,
long enough for us to consolidate our power and secure things to our
satisfaction."
"We are risking a lot you know…."
"Of course we are, but I am counting on Daemon to act as Daemon,
and he won't kill his hostages unless things are beyond hope for him.
And with Vhagar appearing over Kings Landing he will have to
mount Caraxes to answer the challenge."
"But Dowager Queen Alicent and her children?"
"Lord Strong has gained access to the secret passageways under
the Red Keep, and we have been smuggling in loyal men in small
numbers via Duskendale into Kings Landing, they will strike to
secure the Red Keep and the royal family."
"And I assume….?"
"Yes, sadly Deamon's sons will alas die in the confusion, you know
how these things can happen, regrettable and all that they are…"
"And Corlys, what of him in all of this?"
"The Sea Snake is proving as slippery as his namesake and refusing
to commit really, he has indicated that he will not support us unless
his demands are met."
"And I imagine his demands are, problematical?"
"You imagine correct, that his granddaughter is not harmed, that one
Daenaera Velaryon be betrothed to Prince Maelor, that Prince
Aemond be 'removed' as he put it. Also, that he be allowed to retain
a seat on the Small Council and that all concessions granted to
House Velaryon by Queen Rhaenyra be honored."
"Quite the ask, and in return what have we asked of the Sea
Snake?"
"That his men turn their cloak at the appointed time, and that he
secures his son, sorry I mean his grandson's loyalty to our cause,
the lad after all has a dragon."
"So?"
"As you well know Ser Criston, things can go awry in the best laid of
plans, people can misinterpret their orders, or flat out disobey them.
Chaos and confusion can reign, with the best will in the world things
can go wrong, mistakes can be made…"
"And, and afterwards, if Lord Corlys has agreed to turn his cloak and
is still alive?"
"Lord Corlys is an old man, old men tend to die suddenly all the time,
they fall down flights of stairs, die in their sleep, for at that age the
Stranger is soon to call you to his halls."