After Aegon left, Rhaenyra went to Viserys alone.
“Father,” she said softly.
Viserys sat with a dark face, lost in thought.
When he did not answer, Rhaenyra sat beside him, looking defeated.
“Father, I cannot hold on much longer.
Perhaps you should never have named me heir to the Iron Throne.”
Tears gathered in her eyes.
Viserys softened.
He sighed.
“I was rash today.
But Aegon has said he will not take your throne.
Stay quietly on Dragonstone.
As long as I live, no one can shake your succession.
When I return, I will find a way to settle Aegon, grant him lands far from King’s Landing.
Do not cry.”
He wiped the tears from her face.
His eyes hardened with resolve.
He had underestimated Aegon’s bond with Helaena, and Alicent’s prejudice against Jacaerys.
So he would remove Aegon from the center of power, slowly erode his influence among the smallfolk and the lords.
Then, when Viserys died, Rhaenyra could take the Seven Kingdoms in peace.
Half a month passed.
Seven days ago, Viserys made a royal proclamation.
Aegon and Helaena would be betrothed on the seventh day of the seventh month of this year.
They would marry on the seventh day of the seventh month of the next.
The council chamber.
Jasper Wylde set down the jade ball that marked his office as Master of Laws.
“Ser Harwin Strong’s duties have been fully transferred.
As the prince requested, Ser Gwayne Hightower will be appointed Commander of the City Watch.”
Aegon nodded with satisfaction.
“Good.
Ser Gwayne is highly capable.
He will do excellent work.”
“Setting aside Ser Gwayne’s relation to you, my prince, this appointment violates procedure.”
Lyman Beesbury spoke in opposition.
He was Viserys’s Master of Coin and Lord Treasurer, and a supporter of Rhaenyra.
The small council had only seven seats.
The Hand of the King, the Grand Maester, the Master of Coin, the Master of Laws, the Master of Ships, the Master of Whisperers, and the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
The Hand, Lord Lyonel Strong, had long supported the blacks.
But lately, for reasons unknown, he had stopped attending council meetings.
Beyond that, Grand Maester Mellos took no side, serving only Viserys himself.
The Master of Laws, the Master of Ships, and the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard were all greens.
Raising Gwayne was only the beginning.
The position of Master of Whisperers was still vacant.
Aegon intended to raise Larys into it.
“I support Prince Aegon.
The City Watch falls under the Master of Laws, and Lord Jasper has already given the order.”
Tyland Lannister spoke first, cutting down Lyman Beesbury without mercy.
He was the younger brother of the Lord of Casterly Rock and Warden of the West, representing House Lannister in the Red Keep.
The Westerlands ruled by House Lannister were not the largest, most populous, or most fertile region.
But they were unquestionably the richest.
The land was mountainous, and its gold and silver mines produced staggering wealth.
In the old days, Aegon the Conqueror defeated the Lannisters at the Field of Fire.
Loren Lannister gave up his crown and bent the knee, keeping Casterly Rock and ruling as Warden of the West for generations.
House Lannister was too proud to seek closeness with the crown, and held little influence in the early dynasty.
Relations improved under Jaehaerys I.
Lord Lyman Lannister had sheltered Jaehaerys’s siblings, Aegon and Rhaena, from Maegor’s pursuit.
Later he supported Jaehaerys against Maegor, though his influence remained slight.
That changed completely when Viserys took the throne.
Lord Tymond Lannister had supported Viserys at the Great Council of 101.
So after Viserys I was crowned, Ser Tyland Lannister, the twin brother of Lord Jason Lannister, was named Master of Ships.
He had held the post ever since.
After consulting his brother, Tyland chose to follow tradition and support Viserys’s eldest son, Aegon Targaryen.
As Aegon’s power grew, so did the strength of the greens.
And Tyland grew bolder with it.
At times he did not even respect the Hand of the King, let alone Lyman Beesbury of Honeyholt.
What made it worse was that House Beesbury was one of the five chief vassal houses of House Hightower.
Later, Lyman Beesbury threw in with the blacks.
Backed by Viserys and the blacks, House Beesbury gradually slipped free of Hightower control.
As for Jasper, whom Tyland called “my lord,” he was a count from Rain House in the Stormlands. The source of this chapter is novelping.com.
His family was weaker than the Beesburys of Honeyholt.
But thanks to Aegon’s current strength, he paid Lyman’s words no mind.
“Lord Lyman, I am the Master of Laws.
Would you like to trade seats with me and go count coins?”
“Ha ha ha.”
Tyland burst out laughing the moment Jasper finished.
Lyman’s face reddened with anger.
He shot back, “The City Watch serves the crown alone.
It is only theoretically under the Master of Laws!”
Bang, bang, bang.
Aegon rapped the table for silence, then turned his gaze on Lyman.
“What exactly do you mean by that, Lord Lyman?
Are you suggesting I am not of royal blood?”
The words had barely left his mouth.
Shing.
In the next instant, Criston, as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, drew his sword and leveled it at Lyman.
“Lord Lyman Beesbury, questioning royal blood is treason,” Criston said coldly.
“Put the sword away, Ser Criston.
This is a council meeting, not a battle.”
Aegon waved a hand, and Criston sheathed his blade.
“Lord Lyman, you are seventy-one years old, but surely your eyes can still make out my silver hair and violet eyes.
Look closely.
Silver hair, violet eyes.
Not brown hair and brown eyes.”
Aegon smiled, but the mockery beneath it was plain.
Lyman Beesbury had not spent decades at court for nothing.
He answered at once.
“I have never questioned your noble blood, my prince.”
“But I still believe the choice of City Watch commander deserves careful thought.
At the very least, the king should approve it.”
“If the king does not make a direct appointment, then by custom the chief officer should succeed to the command.”
“Yet you had Lord Jasper reassign Ser Luthor Largent to guard the prison gate, and then put forward Ser Gwayne as Commander of the City Watch.”
“Ser Luthor Largent served as chief officer for years without a single mistake, and you sent him to watch a gate.
This is nothing but self-dealing and abuse of power.”
15-30+ chapters are available now and daily updates!