New chapter is live.
Settle in, take your time, and let’s see what waits in the dark 🖤 ✦ The next day.
The first light of morning spilled over the Red Keep, and the servants began their daily bustle.
After his usual breakfast of milk and bread, Aelor went straight to the council chamber with Rhaenyra.
Servants and knights made no move to stop them along the way.
When they entered the grand chamber, it was already lively.
King Viserys, still in his thirties, wore a broad smile as he spoke warmly with several lords.
Everyone knew Viserys as a forgiving and merciful king.
He met nearly everyone with a smile.
“Rhaenyra,” he said as soon as he noticed her poised entrance.
“We are discussing the Kingswood hunt.
Your timing is excellent.” “Father, do you remember me?” Aelor held his sister’s hand and looked at his father with melancholy eyes.
“Oh.
Aelor.” Viserys stared at the small figure by the door.
In the next heartbeat, he stood at once.
“Why has your sister brought you out of your rooms?” “Your Highness.” As the king left his seat, the other lords quickly rose and greeted Aelor.
After all, Aelor was the king’s eldest son.
By birth, he enjoyed the respect owed to a prince.
If the frail little prince had not fallen into a deathlike sleep at birth, the position of heir would never have passed to Rhaenyra.
Aelor glanced around the room, raised one hand to spare the lords any further ceremony, and offered a gentle smile.
The gesture made several of them pause.
In looks alone, Prince Aelor seemed carved from the same stone as King Viserys.
Calm.
Warm.
Amiable.
Rhaenyra led her brother forward and said, “Yesterday was Aelor’s nameday.
Father and I were both absent.
He wanted to see you.” Viserys was visibly moved.
He strode toward them, went down on one knee, and said, “Forgive me, son.
A king’s work never seems to end.
I hope you will not blame me.” Aelor met his father’s eyes, still smiling.
He stole a glance at Rhaenyra, who was making a fine show of anger, then said softly, “It is all right.
How could I blame my king?
I only came as a son who wished to see his father.” ‘If you shelter behind the crown, I can still reach you as your son.’ Sure enough, Viserys froze for a moment, guilt creeping across his face.
He lowered his head slightly and touched Aelor’s pale cheek with a complicated expression.
“You have grown.
You look so much like your mother.” “Perhaps.
I only hope Father will not forget me while I am still alive.” Aelor let his voice fall, pressing once more on Viserys’s guilt.
He was not a three-year-old anymore.
A few kind words were no longer enough to soothe him.
He was six, and he knew what words could do.
Viserys felt his hand tremble.
When he looked at his eldest son’s thin, bloodless face, it was as though a hammer had struck his chest.
He took a deep breath, rose, lifted Aelor into his arms, and returned to the king’s seat with the boy on his lap.
Stroking Aelor’s silver hair, Viserys asked, “You have never come to see me of your own will before.
As a father who has failed you, may I do something to make amends?” As he spoke, he cast Rhaenyra a quiet glance.
He wanted to know what these two children were hiding.
Aelor shook his head gently and leaned into his father’s arms.
“No.” ‘Say too much and invite mistakes.
A hunter who moves too soon becomes the prey.’ Viserys smiled and looked to Rhaenyra.
“How did I fail to notice that the two of you had grown so close?” “He is my brother,” Rhaenyra replied without the slightest courtesy.
“Closer to me than Aegon.” Viserys’s smile stiffened.
He decided not to argue with a daughter covered in thorns.
Instead, he looked back to the lords and resumed the bearing of a king.
“Aelor has my permission to listen to the business of the realm today.
Where were we?” “Only small matters, Your Grace.
There is no harm in the prince listening.” Lord Lyman Beesbury, Master of Coin, spoke in approval.
Aelor looked at him.
He was an elderly man with black-and-white hair and a kindly face.
Noticing the prince’s gaze, Lord Lyman gave him a friendly nod.
Aelor returned the smile.
The small exchange soon passed, and Lord Lyonel Strong, the Hand of the King, brought the discussion back to its course.
“Your Grace, the Kingswood hunt is set for two days from now.
The route and expenses are as follows…” The heavyset Hand looked unremarkable at first glance, but when he reported his work, his manner was exacting and meticulous.
He laid out every need and cost of the royal hunt without missing a point.
When he finished, Viserys considered it briefly and approved the arrangement.
Since Queen Alicent’s father, Otto Hightower, had stepped down as Hand of the King, Lord Lyonel had become King Viserys’s most trusted adviser.
He was strict with himself, rigorous in his duties, and untainted by obvious self-interest.
Viserys valued him deeply.
Aelor listened in silence until their discussion ended.
Then he tugged at Viserys’s sleeve and asked in a small voice, “A hunt in the Kingswood sounds wonderful.
May I go?” Since the day he was born, he had never left the Red Keep.
He wanted badly to go outside and see the world beyond its walls.
Viserys thought of the same thing, and difficulty clouded his eyes.
His eldest son was too weak.
The journey to the Kingswood alone might cost him his life.
Viserys turned his gaze toward Rhaenyra, asking silently for help.
“I think Lord Lyonel’s plan is sound,” Rhaenyra said, pretending not to see.
“I have no objection.” She was heir to the Iron Throne.
Even if Father gave her no real power to decide, agreement and praise were still part of the required ceremony.
Denied his daughter’s help, Viserys looked faintly embarrassed.
“I would like to bring you to the Kingswood, but…” “Aegon will go.
Why can I not?” Aelor made his voice innocent and confused.
“Because of your body.
I do not want misfortune to find you.” “No.
I want to go.
My body is improving, and nothing will happen.” Aelor’s resolve was clear.
“Even if there is some danger, I should see the world outside.
I cannot live like a little bird shut in a cage.” “It is protection.” Viserys’s face turned serious.
He did not yield.
Rhaenyra spoke at the right moment.
“The whole family will be at the Kingswood hunt.
We cannot leave Aelor alone in the Red Keep.” Viserys looked at her in displeasure.
Rhaenyra lifted her chin and met his stare without fear.
As father and daughter stood opposed, Aelor tugged again at Viserys’s sleeve and gave him a pitiful look.
“Please, Father.
I truly want to go.” “Gods help me,” Viserys said, thumping the table in frustration.
“You always give me impossible choices.” In the end, he yielded to both of his children.
His warning was stern.
“You may come to the Kingswood hunt, but you must promise me you will behave, obey orders, and not run about with Rhaenyra.” “Of course.
I promise.” Aelor agreed without hesitation.
At that moment, a man hurried into the chamber, his voice urgent.
“Your Grace, a request for aid has arrived from the Stepstones.
You may wish to read it at once.” Viserys was a man who hesitated.
He met others with smiles and tried too hard to please them.
He tried to please everyone, but no amount of accommodation could quiet the ambition around him.
In the end, no one could be pleased.
As Daemon had once said, the thing that truly harmed Viserys was his own weakness.
✦ ✦ ✦ Want to keep going?
I hope this chapter gave you another reason to stay with the story.
There’s still plenty ahead, and things are only starting to unfold.