NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 11: 11
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184 AC
Kingslanding
Aerion Targaryen
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At the ripe age of forty-nine, my dad passed away laying on a couch covered in his filth. I would want to say it was a heart attack from how out of shape he was and how he ate but it wasn't. His limbs rotted on his living body full of different kinds of flesh worms that he had to take 'milk of the poppy' to reduce the pain. A horrible way to die but he was king and no one could tell him no or make him stop.
Honestly, he wasn't as bad as a king as one would think, at least from what Daenerys remembers from the future and how people talked about him. He didn't go out of his way to do good and even tried to start a war with Dorne but he did not go mad and burn the Warden of the North and his heir. It could have been a lot better or a lot worse but there is no denying his final act as king was pretty petty and nothing good can be said about it.
The legitimization of all of his bastards left a bitter taste in many people's mouths, I couldn't care less. My brother will sit on the throne and will handle all the problems and if something goes wrong he will ask for my help.
Help is me raining Dragon fire upon anyone who thinks they can step up to challenge him.
Apparently from Daenerys own memory, the reason things will go wrong is a mixture of things. Aegon the Unworthy had multiple times declared in roundabout ways that Daeron was not his son and that left room for people to scheme. He also gave the sword Blackfyre to his bastard Daemon who took the name Daemon Blackfyre when he was knighted.
Right off the bat one of those things never happened in this reality, my father would never speak out about Daeron not being his because then people would doubt me and Daenerys are his as well. With the dragons hatching for us that would make him look a fool to say we are not his and kill any glory, he gained by being our father. There is no room for people to try and push someone ahead of the crown prince and with my brother already in Kingslanding having sailed there the moment word of the king's death came he is already making moves.
The small council is being replaced and people are being tossed out of positions that they have been abusing like the city watch. A huge upheaval was starting when those angry people grouped up and came to give him some 'words' but Moonfyre and Drogon silenced them by simply flying over. They likely wanted compensation of some kind but decided it was better to get out with what they had from years of being in favor of my father. It is no secret he gave gifts to any who praised him and made him happy, they are getting out while they can.
Daemon is still Daemon Blackfyre as he was knighted after a squires tourney two years back and gifted Blackfyre. I don't think it was for the same reason this time, I personally think it is because of who I squired under.
Aemon the Dragonknight took me as his squire and has been 'teaching' me to fight and has said multiple times he would give me Dark sister once I am knighted. I think my dad took that personally, the reason he gave Blackfyre to Daemon instead of giving it to Daeron or even me was to spite Aemon. It has to do with the fact I am most likely Aemon's son and not his so he gave Blackfyre to his actual son regardless of him being a bastard as a 'silent' way of setting the record straight.
I can't hope to understand it but I am getting a Valyrian steel sword regardless, if I wasn't getting one from Aemon I would just take one. There are many out there that I could easily get my hands on, if the Iron islanders cause problems I wouldn't mind Nightfall or Red rain. There are also many around in Essos and would be up for grabs if I could locate one.
But Dark sister will work fine for me, if I get the chance later on I won't miss obtaining another to pass down to someone worthy of it in my family. I am surprised we only have two when there are quite a few scattered around Westeros in poor houses. If Daemon does try to rebel and go for the throne I will make sure we recover Blackfyre from his ashes.
A knock at my door wakes me from my thoughts and I turn to see a guard peek his head in after hearing me ask who it is.
"The king has sent for you, he is in the small council chamber." I nod and the guard closes the door behind himself.
Standing up I stretch and walk over to the chest with some of my finest clothes, it won't do to wear clothes that stink of dragons to meet the king after all.
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"Your grace." I go through the whole proper courtesies as he spots me walk into the room.
"I already told you that you don't need to act like that when it's just family, I will order you if that's what it takes." He waves me off and I smile, it is mainly an act anyway on my part I don't want him to ever think I am plotting or scheming for something so I make sure to do through the motions.
I mean I have a dragon I am pretty scary as far as being the 'second son' goes and regardless of legitimized bastards I am his biggest 'threat'.
Daeron is a very important king as he is the one who finished the work of others and brought Dorne into the fold. He originally finished a pact between Drone and House Targaryen that involved the marriage of the original Daenerys according to my Danny. I have no clue who he plans to marry into House Martell but it won't be Daenerys and not because she is engaged to me but because she has a dragon and it would be foolish.
"I sent for you so we can talk about your future." I nod as I sit in a seat he pointed to and once I am seated he clears his throat. "The small council or at least the seats I have filled are concerned about your future greatly." Sounds about right.
"What is it that they want?" He smiles and drums his fingers on the table lightly.
"They want to know what role you will pick up, you are to wed our sister and that is a hopeful avenue to return more dragon riders but that doesn't say what you will do. They want to know if I plan to have you on the small council or be made a Lord and given land and a castle. You will be knighted soon enough for any reason as you have demonstrated you are more than worthy of the title as far as swordsmanship goes. Your starting to shape up and are approaching the age you will be expected to 'do something' and they want to know. I want to know your opinion before I think up something." I shake my head thinking about being on the small council.
"Anything but the small council." The dread in my voice is clear and he barks a laugh in response as I think about what it is I could say here to appease him.
"Baelor is eager to be on the council, I plan to make him hand after a few years and have him rule alongside me to have him ready for the crown." Daeron flicks the seven-headed dragon crown of our father and I nod in understanding.
Baelor has been a lot more serious as of late, it is obvious the title of prince of Dragonstone weighs on him as he is next in line for the throne.
"I don't want to waste time with some small pitiful lands that mean nothing at the end of the day. If I am going to put time into something I want it to be something I can build on and grow to be worth my effort." His surprised look as he listens to me irks me but I push on ignoring it.
"What is it that you would want to grow?" He sits up with clear interest that I roll my eyes at and lick my lips as I start to get a bit nervous.
"I don't know if you would be able to get it for me, it has room for me to build for the rest of my life but also won't take too much attention. It would make our House much stronger if we had it directly in hand instead of giving it to Loyal men." I already can see his brows scrunch and I dread saying the words, he might take it the wrong way.
"Out with it, I won't know unless you say something." I take a deep breath and send a quick prayer.
"Harrenhal." He doesn't react in the slightest before slumping back in his seat with a frown.
"House Lothston has Harrenhal." I shrug, it is not an easy sell but I see a lot of wasted potential in Westeros biggest castle.
"Before them House Strong and before them House Tower and so on all the way back to House Hoare the ones Aegon burned alive in the tallest tower. It is the biggest Castle and is always in disrepair and wastes away for the most part. I have been there not even a year back and they only use two of the towers and not even half of each of them." The castle is beyond big it is a monster made of stone and without dragons, no one would ever take it.
I could slowly repair the damage and seduce settlers to come and build a massive town outside of it as I work toward bringing it to the glory it deserves. It could easily be the biggest city in Westeros and outshine Oldtown and Kingslanding if done right, and if I get it I will do it right.
"Don't get me wrong Aerion I see the appeal, I don't think anyone would support the decision as things stand. You don't have any support for you to take the kingdom's biggest castle and I would be disappointing a lot of Lords by forcing the matter. Not to mention you would have to swear to serve House Tully and that sounds like a horrible idea in my mind. Giving the fish power over both dragon riders of House Targaryen is just foolish." I nod as I can finally get to my second point.
"I wanted Harrenhal and the lands it is responsible for to be brought into the Crownlands, I would swear directly to the Iron throne and not a Lord of rivers." His eyebrows fly up and his mouth gapes as he looks at me in astonishment.
"Talk about angering Lords this would cause the Riverlands to rebel..." He massages his forehead and sighs.
"They could try." I respond in a strong voice and Daeron snorts.
"Your right, they could only 'try' to rebel." Ideally, I would take Harrenhal and be made Lord of the Riverlands but that seems impossible without the Riverlands first rebelling for some reason or another.
It won't be too late for that to happen in the future or my kid's future if something ever happened and they could snap up the opportunity.
"It is just a thought, I don't want some lesser castle and lands unless they are very abundant lands. What you gave Daemon and the wife you are paying the dowry for is not something I would want. There is no real room for growth, which is wise in their case but I am a true Targaryen and the start of the new dragon riders. I should be given special privileges and Harrenhal would be worth my efforts and would have our House hold the strongest castle in Westeros. No one would ever be able to take the castle from dragons, all the kingdoms could rebel and so long as Harrenhal is manned they would never be able to win." I never cared for lands or titles or some job full of responsibility but when my eyes landed on Harrenhal a part of me grew an itch.
So much could be done with that massive castle, it is the central location of Westeros or at least the best you will get. It has the King's road running right next to it and a tributary connecting it to the Blackwater rush from the God's eye.
"I will think on it, if you can prove you are 'worthy' of the castle by amassing a wealth to support your idea and get men to support your idea then I will push for it. Connecting it to the Crownlands is going to the a even bigger problem, the Tullys will think themselves as being punished and take insult. Not to mention the lands between the castle and the Crownlands are not small, the Tullys will forever hold animosity for this so it has to be worth it. I plan to bring Dorne into the fold and losing the Riverlands and having them rebel would be bad for my progress. The Martells would fear I would try something similar with them in the future even though my wife is Martell." He shakes his head and I see I won't get further with that idea unless I can put my money where my mouth is so to speak.
"Alright, I will see what I can come up with to support the idea on my own. The coffers of a prince are not as heavy as I would like but I can make something work." He nods and we start talking about other options but I realize the more we talk the more I am sold on taking Harrenhal.