Author note at the end.
“It seems he is asleep,” I said, rising slowly from the edge of the bed.
“We should let the man rest.”
I turned away and walked past her without looking, without blinking, already calculating the distance to the door but a hand caught the back of my tunic and held on.
“He is dead,” Alicent whispered.
Tears had already begun to gather in her eyes and fear threaded through her voice, not just grief, but something else held her tone.
I glanced back at the still form on the bed and shook my head once.
“No. No, I’m sure he’s only sleeping, let us leave.”
“His final words were to name Aegon king,” she whispered, the conviction in her tone already hardening.
I bit the inside of my lip and my eyes narrowed.
“Did he now?” I asked carefully.
“He was mumbling in pain, Mother. I’m sure it was the wind.”
Her grip only tightened when I tried to step away again.
‘Bitch, let me go.
I do not want to be here.’ I cried internally as my gaze flicked once more to Viserys’s body.
The man had clearly seen the light and decided to check out at the worst possible moment.
‘He can’t keep getting away with this shit.
Gods, if any of you are real, send that bastard to the deepest layer of hell.’
If anyone heard the prayer, they gave no sign, the gods, as usual, were not on my side.
And now I had to deal with this shit.
“No,” Alicent said, louder this time, a near-fanatic light had entered her eyes.
“I’m sure of it, Daeron, he wanted Aegon to ascend the throne, it was his last will.”
I turned fully toward her, took her by the shoulders, and spoke as carefully as I could manage.
“Mother.” I gave her a firm shake, trying to pull her out of whatever trance she was slipping into.
“He was in agony, he could have meant anything with those words.”
She looked back at the bed, then slowly turned her face to mine.
“You heard them as clearly as I did,” she said, fingers digging into my arms.
“I will not oppose the King’s dying will, that would be treachery against his memory and his wishes.”
“Mother-!” I shook her again.
“By naming Aegon king we will tear the realm in two. Rhaenyra will never simply accept this.”
Alicent shook her head as though the idea itself was too large to hold.
“She must see reason,” she murmured.
“She must, we can persuade her to follow her father’s wishes.”
Bitch, you had better be joking.
“Mother.” I shook her harder this time.
“Are you hearing yourself? You are talking about making the named heir surrender the throne on the strength of words spoken by a dying man, words that only the two of us heard.”
For a brief moment something like clarity flickered across her face, then it vanished, she nodded once, resolved.
“His words were absolute,” she said, pulling free of my hands.
“As his wife, I will not go against them.”
She stepped back, already turning toward the door.
“Aegon must be king.”
“Mother, the man who spoke those words is dead,” I said, making one last attempt.
“We cannot in good conscience march thousands to their graves on the account of one man’s final delirium.”
She stopped, when she looked back at me, tears were sliding freely down her cheeks, but her eyes had gone hard as steel.
“The man who spoke those words was the King,” she answered.
“Good men will flock to our cause, for the cause is righteous, the Seven will guide us.”
I watched her leave, each step was deliberate and the door closed behind her with a soft, final sound.
I stood alone in the silent chamber, the cooling body of my father behind me, and exhaled a long, exhausted breath.
“This bitch is delulu.”
It did not take long.
Alicent sat at the head of the table, spine straight, face composed into something that hovered between grief and resolve.
Otto beside her, twisting the heavy ring on his finger with slow, deliberate turns and lord Jasper sat to his left, fingers tapping a restless rhythm against the wood.
The rest of the council waited in varying degrees of patience for the two missing members.
The doors opened and Tyland entered looking half-asleep and fully resentful, his golden hair a wild mess.
He acknowledged no one, not me, not the Hand and slumped into his seat with a muttered curse.
“What in the seven hells requires us at the hour of the owl?” he demanded, still rubbing sleep from his eyes.
“Could it not have waited until morning? Has Dorne invaded? Has the Wall come down?”
Otto rose slowly, he cleared his throat once.
“The King is dead.”
Silence settled over the table and no one gasped, none cried out.
They simply looked at one another, the knowledge settling into place with the weight of something long expected.
Tyland combed a hand through his disordered hair and exhaled.
“That is… indeed dire.”
The doors opened again and Orwyle entered with his head bowed.
“Preparations are already under way,” he reported as he took his seat.
“The silent sisters will arrive within the hour.”
Otto nodded and continued, voice steady.
“We grieve for Viserys the Peaceful, our sovereign, our friend, yet he has left us a gift. With his final breath he impressed upon Prince Daeron, and the Queen herself bore witness: his last wish was that his son Aegon should succeed him as Lord of the Seven Kingdoms.”
As if on cue, thunder rolled outside the Red Keep and lightning flashed white against the high windows.
Lord Kennet gave a slow, considering nod.
“The King himself has blessed the plans we have long discussed. We may proceed with haste.”
“Yes,”
Wait.
What?
No fucking way.
“There is much to be done,” Alicent continued, already moving past grief into action.
“As we have discussed.”
She was not merely delusional, she had been part of this from the beginning.
Otto resumed his seat.
“Two captains of the City Watch remain loyal to Daemon. They must be replaced at once, Lord Lannister.”
Tyland straightened, suddenly more awake.
“The treasury is well in hand. The gold will be divided and secured.”
“Ravens must fly to our allies, Storm’s End and Casterly Rock.”
No one spoke against them.
I sat in silence and watched the machinery turn.
Lyman Beesbury should have been here, the one consistent loyalist to Rhaenyra but under suggestion from myself and Ormund, Otto had whispered to Viserys that the old man deserved to spend his remaining years with his grandchildren in Honeyholt.
The King had seen kindness in it.
So Beesbury had been replaced by Tyland and Redwyne had been brought in as Master of Ships.
I had not realized how thoroughly the board had already been cleared.
‘Have I been assisting extremely well for The Greens unintended this whole time?’
…
..
.
‘Okay.
All right, alright.” A slow, internal grin formed.
‘I can work with this.
I just have to Severus Snape the entire ordeal.’
“I will not have this.” Ser Harrold’s voice cut cleanly through the quiet.
“To hear you plot the replacement of the King’s chosen heir,” he said, “when hundreds of lords and landed knights swore fealty to the Princess-”
“That was twenty years ago, Lord Commander,” Alicent replied.
The mourning wife was gone.
In her place sat a cold queen.
“Most of them are worm food now.”
“The gods changed my husband’s mind,” she continued.
“Viserys, with his final breath, told Prince Daeron that his son must be king.”
“Put your hand away from your blade, Ser Harrold,” I said quietly as I watched his hand drift toward the hilt of his sword.
Cole’s sword cleared its scabbard in the same breath that Harrold’s did.
Steel pointed at steel across the table.
Tyland immediately slid his chair farther from the potential bloodshed.
“I will not believe these words,” Harrold said, voice hard.
“Put down your sword, Ser Harrold,” I ordered.
“You are surrounded by guards and by your own sworn brothers. Raise that steel against the Small Council and you raise it against me as well.”
He scoffed and turned his gaze on me.
“All I am surrounded by are traitors.”
The distraction was all Criston needed.
His blade moved in a single arc.
The blade punched through the side of Harrold’s neck and withdrew in the same motion.
The Lord Commander’s eyes widened and his body slid down the wall in a slow, heavy collapse, white cloak darkening rapidly with blood.
The council sat in stunned silence for several heartbeats while I took my seat again
“Now that is finished,” I said, turning my attention to Alicent.
“What of Rhaenyra?”
It was Otto who answered.
“The former heir cannot, of course, be allowed to remain free and draw support to her false claim.”
“You mean to imprison her.” I asked.
“She and her family will be given the opportunity to publicly swear obeisance to the new king,” Alicent said, then, almost immediately, she corrected herself.
“She will never bend the knee. Neither will Daemon.”
I offered a thin smile.
“If your plan is to kill them, it will not be so simple. Daemon alone will smell this coming from leagues away.”
Criston stepped forward.
“I could put him to the blade.”
“Be careful, Ser Criston,” Alicent said sharply.
“You are still speaking of a prince of royal blood. Whatever his stance, he remains the blood of the dragon.”
Otto’s voice cut across the tension.
“We shall send Rhaenyra terms, that she renounce her claim and accept Aegon as the one true king. When she refuses, we will take further measures.”
Lord Jasper leaned forward.
“You are speaking of dragons sitting leagues away. We have one in the Keep. What is to be done about that?”
“Princess Rhaenys is to be held in her chambers until we understand where her loyalty lies,” Alicent ordered.
Otto nodded once.
“On the morrow we crown Aegon before the masses, so they may see him as their rightful king.”
Alicent’s gaze swept the table.
“On the morrow,” she said, “a new dawn awaits us all.”
A/N: What the hell was that last episode?
Since when did Aemond want to bone Alicent?
Why is Rhaenyra letting Daemon walk away from the biggest treason?
Why the hell is Mysaria and Rhaenyra a thing?
[Kinda liked it cause I’m a degenerate but story wise made no sense.]
I knew Rhaenyra was dumb, [Don’t come after me, I’m not Team black or Team Green, they both suck.] But I did not know she was this desperate for validation.
And Aegon… meh, I don’t really feel like there was really even any redemption.