Viserys spun toward the sound, furious, and found Aegon’s fist still pressed against the table.
The room went still.
Everyone stared.
No one had expected Aegon to defy Viserys so openly.
Even Alicent was stunned.
She had known her son would push back, but not like this.
“Helaena is not a tool.
She will marry who she chooses.
If anyone tries to force her into a match she does not want, they can try it.”
Aegon’s voice was ice.
Aemond had claimed Vhagar.
The greens’ strength had surged.
Aegon was done playing the obedient son.
The mask was off.
Play the pig long enough, and you become one.
A low growl rolled through the hall.
Sunfyre’s golden eye filled the window, pressed against the glass, unblinking.
The torchlight caught it, and the slit pupil burned with killing intent.
A threat, naked and unashamed.
Hugh had already moved behind Aegon.
Criston Cole drifted to Alicent’s side without a sound.
The two Kingsguard assigned to Viserys, Ser Rickard and Ser Steffon, watched Hugh with open tension.
Their hands had crept to their sword hilts.
They knew Hugh’s story.
Everyone did.
Years ago, Hugh’s son had been born premature.
Aegon had paid for the care and fought to save the boy’s life.
Three months later, the child fell gravely ill with a lung sickness.
Hugh had given up hope.
Aegon flew to Oldtown himself and brought back the finest maester he could find.
After two and a half months, the boy survived.
So Hugh was not only monstrously strong and skilled with a blade.
He carried out orders with a devotion that bordered on obsession.
If Aegon ordered Hugh to cut off Viserys’s head, Hugh would not hesitate.
And from their past sparring, the two knights knew that even together, they might not beat him.
They did not think Aegon would order his own father killed.
But what if?
Viserys’s face reddened.
He held his expression together by force and reached for a father’s authority.
“Do you know what you are saying?
Are you threatening your father and your sister?”
He looked genuinely shocked.
He had known this proposal might fail.
He had never imagined his greatest obstacle would be his own eldest son, the one who had always been so dutiful.
Aegon did not care about Viserys’s dignity now.
He knew the old saying about the squeaky wheel.
He rarely went to Viserys to complain.
When he did, it was always about Rhaenyra.
And in Viserys’s mind, Rhaenyra and Aegon had never been a choice.
Aegon did not need to complain.
He only needed to hold his ground until 120 AC.
Their strength had collapsed.
What Aegon had never expected was that Viserys had somehow convinced himself that Aegon would sacrifice anything for his father and older sister.
It did not matter that Helaena did not want to marry Jacaerys.
Even if she did, Aegon would never allow it.
Dreamfyre, eighty-eight years old, was one of the greens’ core weapons.
And Helaena was a dreamer besides.
He would have to be mad to hand her to the blacks.
The moment Viserys proposed the match, the last scrap of respect Aegon held for him died.
He would not yield an inch today.
If that meant open war with his father, so be it.
Rhaenyra rose with practiced concern.
“Don’t be angry, Father.
Aegon, you are old enough to understand our duty as royal blood.
Affection can grow with time, can it not?”
Corlys shot her a glance, displeasure plain in his eyes.
He said nothing.
He was enjoying the show.
Now he understood why Alicent had sat back down.
And he wanted to see how far Aegon would go.
“Your Grace should not accuse me unfairly.
First, I have threatened no one.
Second, I am simply stating my position.
There are lines that cannot be crossed.”
Aegon’s face was blank, but he was ready to flip the table if it came to that.
Viserys heard the word “Your Grace” from his son’s mouth and fell silent.
Rhaenyra tried to smooth things over without giving up the prize.
“Father, please sit.”
She turned to Erryk.
“Ser Erryk, add a seat beside Helaena.
Let the two children become acquainted.”
Erryk had been assigned to Rhaenyra’s guard by Viserys.
He moved to fetch a chair.
“Ser Erryk, if you touch that chair, I will add you to Sunfyre’s dinner.”
Erryk froze mid-step.
With the greens’ current strength, if Aegon wanted him dead, no one could stop it.
“Aegon, threatening a Kingsguard is treason.
Don’t be difficult.”
Rhaenyra was delighted inside.
Her gentle warning was meant for Viserys.
Look at what your son just did.
But the greens now held four dragons and half the court.
Aegon was not playing her game.
“Ser Erryk, I suggest you give that chair to my sister.
Then watch and see if I let Sunfyre tear Syrax apart.”
“Syrax belongs to our house.
Attacking her is high treason.
Caraxes and I will never allow it.”
Daemon leaned back in his chair, a lazy smile on his lips.
There was admiration in his eyes when he looked at Aegon, but far more killing intent.
Aegon opened his mouth to mock him.
Daemon had committed plenty of treason himself.
Before he could speak, Aemond turned to Daemon with open challenge.
“Is that so?
Then try it, dear uncle.
But first, I hope Caraxes can protect himself.”
“This is a farce.
But Daemon is right.
True dragons must not kill each other.”
Rhaenys finally spoke.
To her, this was a farce from start to finish.
And Viserys, who had started it, still did not grasp how serious it had become.
King of the Seven Kingdoms, breaking his own word, changing decrees on a whim.
Still believing he controlled everything, including the son who had been scheming since childhood.
Viserys did not realize his cousin had just lowered her opinion of him again.
He was furious, ready to unleash his dragon’s wrath and crush both sides.
Helaena cut him off.
“Aunt, if Sunfyre wished it, he would tear Syrax apart.
I promise you.”
The hall went silent.
No one had expected those words from gentle, quiet Helaena.
Rhaenyra’s polished smile cracked.
Daemon and Rhaenys both went still.
If Sunfyre truly attacked Syrax, Caraxes and Meleys might hold off Sunfyre and Vhagar.
They could never stop Sunfyre, Vhagar, and Dreamfyre together.
As for Vermax, Arrax, and the other young dragons, they would be lucky if Daeron’s Tessarion did not tie them all up.
Aegon had said his piece.
He was done talking.
He rose and walked out, throwing one last line over his shoulder.
“I am tired.
Enjoy your meal.
Father, drink less wine.
It is bad for your health.”
As Aegon left, Alicent, Helaena, and the rest of the greens rose and followed.
Half the guards who had come from King’s Landing left with them.
All Hightower men.
Only then did Viserys understand.
The greens had slipped beyond his control long ago.
Aegon was not afraid of what Viserys might do to him.
First, Viserys valued family above all.
Second, the greens now controlled half the court and held real power.
Viserys would make a show of anger, then let the matter drop.
But if Viserys truly chose to break with him for Rhaenyra’s sake, Aegon was ready to join his allies and purge the court of bad counsel.
In truth, he did not think it would come to that.
Few dragons in the Seven Kingdoms were both battle-ready and ridden.
Rhaenyra had Syrax, Caraxes, and Meleys.
Aegon had Sunfyre, Vhagar, Dreamfyre, and Tessarion.
Four dragons, and even the smallest, Tessarion, was the size of Seasmoke.
Neither side could crush the other outright.
If it came to open conflict, the best outcome was mutual ruin.
That was the last thing Viserys wanted.
And Aegon did not want a purge either, not unless he had no choice.
To move against the king’s counselors while Viserys still lived would be to wear the name of traitor.
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