[Chapter Size: 3000 Words.]
Third Person POV
King's Landing, 96 AC.
It was mid-afternoon in King's Landing when the sound of a dragon's roar echoed over the city, making most people immediately look up to the sky as they saw the red dragon.
At the fountain in the center of the city, children pointed excitedly. "It's Meleys! Princess Rhaenys' dragon!" they exclaimed, in a game well known among the boys and girls of King's Landing, guessing the dragons and their riders that appeared with each roar as they came and went from the Dragonpit.
"It's been a year since she last came here," said an adult man carrying some things into the tavern on the Street of Silk.
Even the adults passing by looked with admiration as the dragon began to land in the Dragonpit.
From the window of the Red Keep, Viserys watched, looking upward, as the red mass cast a shadow over the city.
"It seems she arrived even before the Velaryon delegation...", said a young man wearing a noble green cloak with the symbol of House Hightower, Otto Hightower, standing beside the young man with platinum hair and purple eyes, who was none other than Viserys Targaryen himself, son of Baelor, the current heir to the throne.
"Well, it will be grandfather's birthday. It's obvious that Rhaenys would come to see him as soon as possible," Viserys replied in a friendly tone.
The friend was none other than Otto Hightower, the second son of House Hightower who, not inheriting the Hightower — which belonged to his older brother — was sent by his father to court in order to build relations with the Targaryens, something he was doing very well by associating himself and forming a friendship with the eldest son of the heir to the throne.
"Well, she hasn't seemed very happy in recent years... since, well, your father is the new heir," Otto Hightower replied carefully.
The tension had begun when Rhaenys' father, Aemon Targaryen, died. He had been struck by an arrow, shot by a pirate from the Myrish garrison, during a skirmish on the island of Tarth. His dragon was Caraxes.
Instead of passing to her, as his only legitimate daughter, the title of heir to the throne was granted to his older brother still alive after his death.
From then on, questions arose. If something were to happen to Baelor, who would take the throne? Since he had two sons, there was also Vaegon, but he was a maester at the Citadel, while the princesses would not be considered as long as there were male children.
In this scenario of uncertainty, nothing besides the fact that Baelor himself was the new heir was confirmed, and everyone expected that his son, Viserys, would then take the throne. Even so, people speculated about what would happen to the House of the Dragon.
"My cousin is dissatisfied with many things, unfortunately. But she still holds affection for grandfather," Viserys said in a diplomatic tone.
"You know you will be your father's heir. You will wear the crown one day," Otto Hightower insisted.
"Well... that is what we shall see," Viserys replied, without confirming anything.
Many said that he would be king, just as many said that he would not. Most of these opinions came from what happened with his flight on Balerion.
There had been countless attempts to claim the dragon as his own, until he finally managed to ride the Conqueror's dragon. That could have been seen as a sign that he was worthy. But the dragon's death soon after the first flight that day — also brought whispers that he was unworthy of being a dragonrider. Something like bringing death to dragons, even though the example was a dragon on the verge of dying of old age.
On the other hand, there were those who said that Balerion had made an effort to take that final flight precisely to prove that Viserys Targaryen was worthy of being king.
People liked to provoke, but the positive comments were greater than the negative ones.
"Hey, Viserys! Viserys!", he heard the voice of his younger brother at that moment from below the window where he stood.
He leaned out of the window and found him in the courtyard below, holding a wooden sword, training with a member of the Kingsguard. Daemon pointed toward the Dragonpit while shouting to his brother.
"Are you seeing this, Viserys?" he said, leaving his brother confused. Then he opened a mischievous smile. "This is the sign! The sign that I must go to Dragonstone to claim my own dragon!"
He shouted at the top of his lungs, emphasizing this for everyone who could hear in the castle's training yard.
Viserys rolled his eyes. His brother had been inventing excuses to go to Dragonstone to try to claim a dragon since he was ten name-days old. Daemon was now fifteen years old and still had not managed to claim his dragon, seeming increasingly anxious as time passed. He even interpreted the rains in King's Landing as a sign that his dragon was about to be claimed.
"I'm sure it is, brother. As long as you don't run away like last time. Father was very angry with you, and grandfather threatened to mount Vermithor to look for you," Viserys said, while Daemon still displayed a smile, appearing even more arrogant.
"Speaking of which, shouldn't you be preparing to receive your bride? The Royces will be coming to King's Landing," Viserys added.
Daemon's face darkened immediately. "Go away, brother," he simply replied, sharply.
Viserys laughed. He knew how much his brother hated the fact that he was betrothed to Rhea Royce, the heir of Runestone in the main line — something that had been decided by his grandfather.
In any case, Viserys stepped away from the window and returned to his friend, who remained silent when the subject was Daemon. Otto Hightower did not have many favorable opinions about Viserys' younger brother, and the two always ended up clashing. Sometimes making their disputes public, everyone said that they hated each other.
"Anyway, I want to see Aemma. She needs me, the queen would be with her, but she asked me to stay there as well.", he said.
"I'm sure of it, my prince. Do you think that now she will be able to give birth to a son?", Otto asked carefully.
"Of course. She will succeed this time. She will bear an heir for me."
"And for the realm, my prince", Otto added.
Viserys smiled. "Yes, my friend... an heir for the realm."
"Did you know that at this moment, a meeting is taking place in the Council?", Viserys said as Otto followed him through the corridors, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Indeed. You are here, have you lost your function as royal cupbearer?", he asked curiously.
"No! My grandfather, in his benevolence, knows that I need to be taking care of Aemma and her pregnancy... I do not want her to have the miscarriages and failed pregnancies from before, that is why I asked this of him. He accepted... Even the king expects a healthy great-grandson", Viserys replied.
"Ah, certainly he does, my prince", Otto said with a certain calculation.
They continued further into the castle.
Shortly after Viserys had mentioned the Royces coming to King's Landing, Daemon immediately returned to training, now in a bad mood.
He launched a fierce attack on his opponent, before receiving a blow and stumbling, falling to the ground.
"You are fighting with anger, my prince", said the Kingsguard who was training in the courtyard, analyzing as Daemon got up.
"That gives me more energy... So let us continue, Ser. Still a fight to be had and less talk", Daemon said stubbornly.
The Kingsguard merely sighed, and once again they fought. And, once again, Daemon fell.
"My prince, I think you should rest for today. Training with a hot head will be of no use", the Kingsguard said.
Daemon nodded and merely scoffed. He was too arrogant to acknowledge his mistakes, but he accepted the suggestion.
"I know that you are not very happy with this marriage, my prince. But remember: you have a duty to your house. That is what they expect of you", the Kingsguard advised.
"They say that because I still cannot ride a dragon. But you will see. I heard that Caraxes has been on the island lately. I will claim him!"
"A dangerous dragon, I must say, prince", the man replied, studying him.
"Dangerous! That is exactly what I need. That way I will show that I am a true Targaryen prince. When I claim the dragon, I will also have possession of Dark Sister. I will show everyone that I am worthy of the sword. As for that damned Royce... I could get rid of her", he said.
The man merely sighed.
When Daemon and Rhea Royce met, they did not get along. In fact, they hated each other. Daemon wanted the marriage to be canceled several times, but that was never allowed. The Kingsguard knew that, even with all of this, Jaehaerys would not go back on his word, as he was uniting House Targaryen with House Royce, an important house of the Vale.
Daemon argued that Aemma was already Viserys' wife, and that there was no need to further strengthen ties with the Vale, but Jaehaerys did not agree with him. That only increased the prince's frustration.
At the same time, in the council, while Rhaenys' dragon was still landing in the Dragonpit, everyone looked up upon hearing the roar echoing through King's Landing. Some turned to the window, watching the beast as it descended to land.
"Meleys! Princess Rhaenys has always liked to do that", said Septon Barth, the Hand of the King, with a smile.
"She has always liked to show off with her dragon. Aemon taught her to be that way", commented Prince Baelor, referring to Rhaenys' father.
"I see that my granddaughter has arrived, we shall greet her later." Jaehaerys himself, seated at the head of the table, said while looking toward the window with his purple eyes and aged appearance. "Now, let us return to discussing matters of state."
He paused before continuing. "Well, at least let us stop discussing Lord Beesbury's complaint about the North not having bought all the winter harvests, and now they are left with full stores without knowing what to do...", Jaehaerys said, already tired.
The discussion revolved around a lord from the Reach who was complaining about not being able to sell all of his production to the North, which had taken advantage of a cheaper harvest sold in Braavos, which Lord Stark himself had bought, and which was now rotting in the warehouses.
"Tell him to simply sell it cheaper or distribute it. If the North does not want it, it is not as if we can force them to buy", replied the Master of Coin, mockingly.
"Well, let us move on to the next matter then...", Jaehaerys said quickly.
The master took another scroll from the pile on the table.
"My king, there is a certain unrest happening in the Riverlands today. Blackwood and Bracken are about to enter into conflict once again, threats are being made and Lord Tully is about to intervene..."
Jaehaerys heard this and closed his eyes, showing how tired he was of all of that. He knew he did not have many years of life left, and there were few things he could remember with pride in his life... and any happiness.
He had Alysanne as his wife, someone better than he could ever have asked for. She gave him many children — some brought him pride, others, pain — and Jaehaerys knew that he was not a good father.
In the eyes of the realm, he was the ideal king: just, a reign without wars and great conflicts, always reconciling men who were on the verge of killing each other, kingdoms on the brink of rebellion. He managed to resolve all of this through conversation, at least most of the time, sometimes he needed to show Vermithor to calm tempers.
There were also other things that he kept in his heart. Things he never told anyone, not even Alysanne. He hoped to die with that.
Jaehaerys turned his attention back to the table after hearing the report and looked at the Master. "Then tell me: what information do you have about this?"
"I like to believe that I have received some information from the contacts I have within both houses. They are quite agitated about the situation. They wish, in some way, to dispute the lands in the middle of the border between the two houses. There are at least five villages and a large valley there, House Bracken believes there is a large vein of gold."
"The Brackens want to exploit it, while the Blackwoods say it is a sacred area, with two heart trees, like those in the North, and that they do not wish to destroy that small valley for possible mines that no one has even proven exist."
"So the Brackens want to become richer, and the Blackwoods want to preserve trees... may the gods forgive me", commented the Master of Laws, laughing softly.
Seeing everyone looking at him seriously, no one liked the joke, he immediately composed himself, lowering his shoulders. "My apologies, Your Grace", he said quickly.
The king directly showed that he had not liked the joke.
"If they wish to dispute...", Jaehaerys began, taking a nut and cracking it with a utensil on the table, eating before continuing. "Tell them to come to King's Landing with Lord Tully. Were they already planning to come for my birthday?"
"We were already expecting the Brackens. Only the Blackwoods had not confirmed anything.", replied the spymaster.
"Summon them as well. We will discuss this here. I will not allow any of my realms to bleed over foolishness...", Jaehaerys replied. Everyone nodded. They knew the king's temperament.
"Anything else we need to know, maester?" Jaehaerys asked the old grey rat.
"Well, the news remains the same, my king. Aside from that, I have not received any other scrolls", said Grand Maester Elysar, looking at all the correspondence read around the table.
"I see. Well then, and the Master of Whisperers? Can you add anything? How are my realms?", Jaehaerys asked.
Even Baelor, beside his father, looked curiously at the man. "My king, the realms are quite peaceful, as is expected of your reign. Most will come for the tournament of your birthday."
"And yet, not all will come?"
"No, my king. Not all will come."
"How is the Vale, the Westerlands, the Iron Islands, the North?", Jaehaerys insisted.
"Well, I am certain you have already heard about the conflicts of the mountain clans in the Vale. In the Westerlands, there are rumors that House Reyne of Castamere has found new veins of gold.
In the Iron Islands... well, there are some reports that they are raiding the Reach and the south of the Westerlands. The greatest conflict in the Riverlands is the dispute between Blackwood and Bracken. The Stormlands have nothing of note, and the Reach is simply migrating in mass to the tournament in your honor, Your Majesty."
"And the North?", Baelor asked, noticing that the Master of Whisperers had said nothing about the northernmost kingdom of all.
"Well... the only house that will come is the Manderlys of White Harbor. The rest of the North will remain. The Night's Watch has been suffering some attacks — groups of wildlings are trying to cross through some breaches in the Wall, but the Lord Commander is managing his men well. There are also some rumors about the return of direwolves to the North."
"Direwolves?", the Master of Ships, uncle of the lord commander in the room, Ser Ryam Redwyne. His name was Lucef Redwyne, raised an eyebrow, curious upon hearing that.
"We can send some supplies to the Night's Watch. What do you think, father?", Baelor asked, ignoring the rest.
But when he looked at his father, Jaehaerys seemed somewhat surprised. His attention turned once again to the kingdom's informant.
"You mentioned direwolves... those giant wolves, are they not? The Starks used to have them in the past, before the conquest, just as we use dragons", Jaehaerys asked, curious — but there was something in his gaze that no one could decipher.
"Yes, my king. That is why the news spread quickly. Most cannot say exactly where, but according to some sources, it is in the south of the North. A small boy from the common folk has raised the wolf since it was young. He lives with his family. We do not have much information about them, but Lord Stark himself has already seen the boy personally and did not interfere. He even declared the boy as... exceptional in the halls of Winterfell.."
Jaehaerys fell into thought. Everyone in the room remained silent, realizing that the king had fixated on that rumor. Deep down, all of them would like to see a direwolf, like in the legends — even if from a safe distance.
"Can you tell me what color the wolf was?", he asked suddenly. Even the maester seemed surprised by the question.
"Well... from what I heard, it is white, with red eyes", replied the Master of Whisperers.
Everyone saw Jaehaerys widen his eyes. "A white wolf...", escaped from his lips.
He closed his eyes automatically.
The white wolf.
The words echoed in his mind, as old memories began to haunt him in that instant.
Raccoon Here:
I named those I could, but I didn't do it for all of them because I don't know if I will mention these characters again in Jaehaerys' council.
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