“Is Daemon meeting Alicent because he wants to stop me from taming a dragon?”
Baelon closed the journal and lowered his head, carefully considering the information contained in the message.
…
The Red Keep
The servants had temporarily withdrawn the Kingsguard stationed outside Queen Alicent’s chambers, using the queen’s supposed illness as an excuse.
“Did Her Grace summon me here in the middle of the night because she could no longer bear the loneliness?”
Daemon emerged from the secret passage, his gaze openly roaming over her without the slightest restraint.
One had to admit that even after giving birth to three children, Alicent’s beauty and voluptuous figure were still enough to make Daemon feast his eyes.
“Daemon, watch your tongue!”
“I am your brother’s wife and the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.
You will show me the respect I deserve!”
Alicent had long heard about Daemon’s shamelessness, but she had never imagined that he would be bold enough to openly tease the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.
“Very well, Your Grace.
What does the dear Queen want from her beloved brother-in-law?”
Daemon casually picked up an apple and sat down in a nearby chair.
“Daemon, I know you don’t want Baelon to tame a dragon either.
I feel exactly the same way.
Or perhaps I should say that our interests are perfectly aligned—we are allies.”
“You have no idea how much Baelon targets Aegon in private.
He won’t even let him go to the Dragonpit!”
“If someone this selfish and ruthless ascends the throne, you and I both know what our fate will be.”
The thought of Aegon being bullied made Alicent increasingly agitated.
Her expression was almost as though Baelon and her family had been locked in some ancient blood feud.
Daemon had not expected Baelon to have returned to King’s Landing for barely two months and already frightened Alicent to this degree.
He immediately became interested.
Daemon crossed one leg over the other.
“Your Grace, what exactly do you intend to do?”
“He wants to go to Dragonstone to tame a dragon, doesn’t he?”
“You only need to give me some false information.
Leave the rest to me.”
Alicent had already obtained information concerning the wild dragon known as Cannibal.
As long as Baelon went to the Dragonmont, she was confident she could manufacture an accident.
Daemon looked at Alicent’s triumphant expression and couldn’t help offering a warning.
“Your Grace, I advise you not to become too confident.”
“Baelon is the ‘Baelon Blessed by the Gods’ in my brother’s eyes.
He is the eldest son upon whom Viserys has placed his greatest hopes.”
“Unless you have a flawless plan, you’d better abandon that maggot-brained scheme of yours.”
Alicent merely found his words amusing.
She deliberately imitated the tone her father, Otto, had used countless times before.
“Daemon, you have already come to my chambers.
Whether you participate in the plot against Baelon or not, Viserys will never forgive either of us.”
In other words, Alicent was indirectly telling Daemon that they were now in the same boat.
Daemon understood perfectly.
His expression remained an insincere smile, but his eyes gradually turned colder.
Because in Alicent, he saw the very person he hated most.
Otto.
That old bastard who could not even produce a son for the realm’s king.
…
The Following Noon
The ship departed from Blackwater Bay.
Viserys and Alicent brought the children aboard and set sail for Dragonstone.
To ensure that his eldest son’s attempt at taming a dragon went smoothly, Viserys had specifically permitted both Rhaenyra and Daemon to travel on dragonback.
At the same time, he hoped his perpetually immature younger brother would finally act like a proper uncle.
For once, Daemon did not refuse.
Instead, he proposed an idea to Viserys.
“If Caraxes assists us, my great-nephew could try to tame Vermithor.”
It was one of the most powerful dragons on Dragonstone, a beast whose strength was in no way inferior to Vhagar’s.
If the royal family could gain such a dragon, surely the bastards of the Triarchy and Dorne would think twice before repeatedly harassing the Stepstones.
Viserys was pleased to see his brother seemingly becoming more responsible, but he waved the suggestion away.
“You should understand that, in my eyes, Baelon’s safety is more important than anything else!”
“He is your eldest son.
He should eventually bear the responsibility of defending our family and fighting our enemies.
Vermithor’s reputation resounds throughout Westeros.
His very existence would serve as a powerful deterrent.”
Whether because of his secret agreement with Alicent or because of some unspoken sense of guilt, Daemon—sitting atop Caraxes—rarely offered such a reasonable opinion.
“Yes, Father.
Let Baelon try.”
Rhaenyra’s eyes brightened.
“With me and Uncle Daemon watching over him, nothing will happen.”
She genuinely wanted to ride a dragon alongside Baelon, just as Aegon the Conqueror and his sisters had once taken to the skies together.
“Brother Baelon is amazing!”
Helaena suddenly ran over to Viserys, raising her small, pale hand as she eagerly voiced her opinion.
“I saw it!
Brother Baelon is a true dragon.
He isn’t afraid of fire!”
“Helaena, this is not your decision to make.
Your father is the one who decides whether Baelon may tame a dragon!”
Viserys looked around.
No one seemed willing to support him.
At last, he turned toward his eldest son, who was leaning against the side of the ship and reading.
“Baelon, what do you think?”
Baelon calmly answered, “I agree with my sister.
Compared with the gentle Silverwing, I prefer Vermithor.”
Of course, taming Vermithor was merely an excuse.
Baelon’s true target was the far more dangerous wild dragon, Cannibal.
After spending so many days studying the Dragonpit’s records, Baelon had learned one fundamental truth about taming dragons.
A rider had to find a dragon whose temperament and nature resembled their own.
That greatly increased the compatibility between rider and dragon.
“Baelon, have you started ignoring your father’s words as well?”
Viserys stared at his eldest son, hoping that the boy would obediently accept his decision.
Unfortunately, Viserys had badly misjudged him.
Baelon was not only an extremely rebellious child; he was also exceptionally bold and possessed a mind of his own.
“No, Father.”
Baelon smiled as he answered.
“I’m thinking about what is best for our family.
Please don’t oppose me.
With Uncle Daemon here, I won’t be in danger.”
“You!”
Viserys was left speechless.
He had wanted to argue with Baelon, but the majority supported the boy’s proposal.
And, irritatingly, their reasoning was perfectly sound.
In a fit of anger, Viserys glared fiercely at the children who supported Baelon before storming back into his cabin.
Once Viserys had disappeared, Baelon, Rhaenyra, Daemon, and Helaena—who had all narrowly avoided being pointed at and scolded—looked at one another.
The smiles in their eyes were impossible to suppress.
“Sister, Father will be all right, won’t he?
Should I go apologize to him?”
Baelon was genuinely concerned about his father’s health.
“No need.”
Rhaenyra waved her hand dismissively.
“Your father gets like this all the time.
Especially when he’s angry with me.
Sometimes you’d think he wanted to shove my entire backside down my throat.”
Daemon and Viserys were full brothers, born to the same mother, and they had been extremely close during their childhood.
In fact, when they first began indulging in adult pleasures, Viserys himself had taken his beloved younger brother to a brothel on Dragonstone.
Later, during Daemon’s rivalry with their cousin Rhaenys over the succession, Daemon personally gathered hundreds of soldiers willing to follow him loyally and used their support to ensure that Viserys was chosen as Prince of Dragonstone.
That was why, no matter how many mistakes Daemon made, Viserys continued to love his younger brother—the eternally immature man who stubbornly refused to bow his head and admit when he was wrong.