Aemon Targaryen

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Ghostrider0002

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-Chapter 15-

-POV Rhaenyra Targaryen-

Seeing my cousin's cold expression as he was put in his place, struggling to maintain his mask and composure despite the humiliation his house had just witnessed, gave me such pleasure that I wanted to jump up and kiss my uncle.

They had nothing in common except Targaryen features. I would never have believed he was one of my cousins; he looked more like a Royce than anything else, and his bronze armor emphasized the difference between us even more.

I looked at Alicent triumphantly because it was she who had suggested I marry Aemon. Without her, I would still be free to roam the seven kingdoms and not cloistered in the Red Keep waiting to be thrown to the wolves.

Once the reconciliation between my father and my uncle was completed, everyone was immediately invited to a small party in the royal gardens. I thought I could exchange a few words with my uncle, but I was quickly sidelined, just like Alicent, who carried in her arms the latest of her offspring.

'I will never end up in the same situation as her or my mother. I will never be chained to a bed waiting to bear heirs for a man,' I thought, disgusted even by the idea of giving birth to a child.

While my father and Daemon were talking, my father's eyes lit up, and he signaled Aemon to join us. Though clearly annoyed by his father's presence, he complied and said, bowing low: "Your Majesty."

He and Daemon burst out laughing at my cousin's platitudes, but he said nothing, maintaining the same expression.

'I feel sorry for him,' I thought, pitying my cousin for having to swallow all the anger he felt so as not to irritate his father as well as mine.

"So, how are you doing in the Vale? Are the sheep welcoming to you?"

"Yes, very. They always have been, and even more so lately. I don't know if you know, but every year they bring me a handsome sum of gold dragons," my cousin said without acknowledging his father's insult.

Daemon smiled, and before he could add anything else, my father said:

"I've heard a lot of good things about your enterprise. My advisors have informed me that House Royce's livestock has never been as prosperous as it is today."

My cousin placed a hand on his chest, then bowed his head slightly and said:

"I am honored, Your Grace."

'He is smart enough not to make a scene even though Daemon practically insulted him in front of us while remaining humble before my father, the king.'

'He's a good friend to have; I will need him and his dragon once I take the throne after my father,' I thought.

Just as I was beginning to like my cousin more and more, almost regretting having acted behind his back to make him renounce my hand given his decent character and intelligence, my father said:

"None of that between us. As Daemon's son, you are a member of the family, and soon you might even become my son-in-law."

All the goodwill my cousin had accumulated during this discussion evaporated in an instant, and I said displeased: "I don't think that will happen."

My cousin smiled and said in an amused tone: "And who would dare oppose the king's will?"

The words that were about to come out of my mouth got stuck in my throat, and he smiled and said:

"It's just a joke, dear cousin, and I am committed to my liege lady. Nothing and no one could turn me away from her."

"I doubt it," said Daemon, looking at his son.

"Not all of us are as unfaithful as you, father," said Aemon.

I raised an eyebrow without saying anything, impressed by my cousin's retort and his total absence of fear and nervousness in front of his father.

'It's as if he were speaking to someone completely foreign to him.'

Daemon said: "Once you find your way to the brothel and know what it's like to spend the night with a woman, we'll talk again."

Aemon's eyes narrowed at his father's clear insinuation:

'Your mother is worth less than a lowly whore.'

"I heard that you had the honor of receiving the ancestral blade of House Royce, Lamentation," said my father, trying to change the subject to prevent a dispute from erupting.

My cousin turned his attention away from his father to face mine, then took the opportunity my father offered him and acted as if Uncle Daemon didn't exist for the rest of the reception. Meanwhile, I was constantly torn between executing my plan or not.

Beyond offending my cousin and ruining the chances of an arrangement between us, I might offend many nobles of the kingdom, not to mention my father's anger.

I took a deep breath and then thought, seeing Ser Criston wearing my favor on his arm: 'Anyway, it's already done, I can't go back now.'