The Bloody Prince: HOTD SI

Chapter 51

AEGON TARGARYEN

Marriage was something that tested even the greatest of men, and Aegon was no great man. At least not yet, and his marriage tested him much more than anything else.

His and Rhaenyra's marriage had come to fruition under testing circumstances, which had not improved much afterwards as he found himself thrust with the entire responsibilities of the realm, while he engaged in a shadow war against both the Triarchy and the Velaryons.

Too many things rested on his shoulders and as King Viserys fought for his life, Aegon was thrust forward, young, recently married, and the first in line to inherit the throne.

It was not necessary for him to step forward, he could have let the Council rule the realm, and they could have done a good enough job. Lyonel Strong was a capable hand, and the rest of the Councillors had sat at the Council for decades now, and would have ruled well in the King's absence.

Yet, it would have given them too much power, and so Aegon chose to push himself forward, as he sought to fill the vaccum of power left by the injury of the late king.

Few chose to speak against him, questioning his eligibility and ability though they would all be quickly silenced or handled by several means, and soon enough Aegon found himself in the Council Meetings sitting in the King's stead, as he helped steer the realm in a new direction.

It was tough work, for while he was the heir, he was not the King. And so, the change he had hoped to bring came slowly, and steadily as he tried to shore up the Crown's power while preparing them for the eventual war.

In that time the Gods blessed the Royal family, as the King fought and beat the specter of death while Rhaenyra got pregnant with their child, and gave birth to a pair of healthy twins a year later.

That was the happiest the Red Keep had been in years as tournies and feasts were held at the King's behest, and yet the injury had taken much from him as the King chose to separate himself more and more, as Aegon found himself laden with more responsibilties, more so as the war in the Stepstones reached a critical point.

And he was so lost in his responsibilities that he missed the betrayal of his two closest allies, and to this day he wondered just what kind of a mistake he had made to be betrayed by two people he trusted most in the world.

Rhaenyra was young and adventurous. He had tried to divert her energies towards the betterment of the realm and King's landing, and yet he had trusted Jeyne. He had trusted her for years and years, and it was her betrayal that shook him the most.

For she knew better than most the sheer amount of responsibilities resting on his shoulders, and yet she had betrayed him, and Aegon found it hard to forgive her.

Though perhaps it was time to do so.

But he had to put all those thoughts aside as he walked through the gates of the Council Room, as the Council Men stood up. And it had not changed much from the times of King Viserys, except for the addition of his cousin Willam who sat in his stead as the Master of Laws, and Lord Robert Redwyne, the new Master of Ships.

"Please, sit," Aegon spoke softly as he walked to the head of the table, where sat three chairs, two smaller one's, meant for him and Rhaenyra, placed infront of a larger one set for the King of the realm.

The Lords all sat down, as Aegon walked past them, and reached into his pocket and put down his marble stone into the table, as to indicate his presence, as the Lord Hand turned towards him.

"Will the Princess be joining us later?" he asked, and Lyonel Strong had not changed much, except for the few grey streaks that now showed in his lush brown hair, and a bit more rounder belly.

"No," Aegon answered softly, as the doors were closed.

"The Princess will not be able join us today. Her mood does not agree with her today, and so she has bid us to continue the Meeting without her," and a few smiled at his words. Many had been surprised by the addition of Rhaenyra to the Council, and though she was not a permanent member, she was had a seat on the Council specially given the large organizations of charity and welfare that she ran in Kingslanding.

It was her idea, to divert her attentions and to earn the goodwill of the people, and while Rhaenyra Targaryen was no 'Good Queen' Alyssane yet, the people did love her a lot for her charity, and aid.

The men nodded as Aegon leaned back, and scanned the Council Room.

"Is everything well with the Princess?" questioned, Lord Redwyne, and Aegon nodded.

"It is, she just had some trouble sleeping last night," he added and the men nodded.

"Ahh, yes that does tend to happen when a woman is with a child," the Grand Maester Mellos added, and Aegon nodded.

"Yes, though I have informed her of the Meeting nonetheless, she may perhaps join us later if her mood settles," and the men nodded a Aegon took a deep breath.

"I believe you must be all a bit surprised by this untimely session," and it was untimely, for Aegon was not overly fond of having a Council Meeting daily, and so per his command the Council met twice a week for a longer time than usual to give them all the freedom and the time to handle their duties as one may see fit.

"But it was necessary to call this session for their, has been a rather acute shift in the war of the Stepstones," Aegon began before pointing towards the Lord Hand.

"As Lord Strong will tell us now," and the man nodded.

Thankfully, unlike Otto Hightower, Lyonel Strong had little political ambitions and was neither agonistic nor antagonistic to him. His loyalty lay with the Crown and the King, and so did Aegon's in a way. With that, it was rather easy for both of them to work together.

"Indeed, as the Prince has mentioned the situation in the Stepstones has shifted greatly in the last few days," and the mood in the room was somber at the mention of the war, for it was well known that this was the greatest and most contentious issue for the Crown and this Council.

"Lys has pulled its support from House Velaryon," and there were a few gasps at that, for it was well known that even with the support of Lys the war was not going in their favor.

And now without the support of Lys, House Velaryon would be in great trouble.

"Their ships have abandoned their posts on Sunstone isle near the shores of Dorne, and have given the lands into the hands of the Crab Feeder and his men," and all those who had looked at the map once knew the danger that it posed.

"Lord Corlys Velaryon and his men are now surrounded by both sides, and are in a rather precarious situation," Lord Strong finished as few murmured and whispered their concerns, cautiously glancing towards him to gage his own reaction as Aegon schooled his expression, to not give anything away.

It was no secret that House Velaryon was of the few Housew who had not bent the knee to him and Rhaenyra, and were openly antagonistic to the Crown's chose for heir.

While it was not said openly, House Velaryon desired that the Crown should call for a Great Council to decide on the succession as the late King Jaeherys had.

This had become more important, as the King's fall had made him impotent, the break in his spine robbing of him of all sensations and functions below his legs.

"This is rathe precarious," began the Master of Coin, the aged Lord Beesbury, casting a silent glance towards him.

"Yes, the Lyseni chose to flea with the grain and the weapons as well. The Crab Feeder can simply surround them and make them starve to their deaths," the man finished.

"What of the dragons?" questioned Lord Redwyne, the white-haired man was a time-tested sailor with a good head on his shoulders.

"The Crab Feeder's ships have scorpions, and even then, he now outnumbers the Sea Snake with four ships to his one, and one or even two dragon would do little to change those odds," and this time it was Aegon who answered as everyone in the Council looked around, not daring to speak up.

He decided to end their misery as he spoke up.

"The King has already made his decision," he announced as everyone turned to face him.

"Despite the egregious behvaior of House Velaryon, the King has not forgotten about their shared blood and years of loyalty. With their alliance of Lys now broken, the Crown has no reason to sanction them, and their trade," for that was the justification that had been used by them to sanction them.

And while a justification was hardly necessary in a monarchy, generous and just kings were easier to love than petty ones.

"The sanctions on House Velaryon will now be lifted, and the realm will be allowed to trade with them again," he finished as many raised a brow at that.

"Will the Crown be coming to their aid?" questioned the new Master of Ships again, and Aegon turned towards the Lord Hand.

"No," Lyonel Strong answered for him.

"Though a letter has been dispatched to House Velaryon, offering them clemency and forgiveness if they choose to rejoin the fold," he finished as Aegon nodded.

"Though, I would like you to keep the men ready, Lord Redwyne," he said as the attention of the Council turned towards him.

"The Velaryons are our kin, and I do not think that the King would like to see them killed in the stepstones because of some folly. The Crown must be ready to come to their aide at a moment's notice," he finished, and the older lord nodded.

"I will also write to the steward at Dragonstone, and have them make preparations as well to have enough ships ready to break the Crab Feeder's siege at once," and there were many who raised a brow.

"And who would lead such a recovery effort?" questioned the King's Hand.

"I will," Aegon answered much to the surprise of many, including the Hand of the King.

"But my Prince, is it wise to put yourself in such danger?" questioned, the commander of the City Watch and it was another new addition to the Council, a strange one but one that he found rather amusing.

"I have heard of your martial prowess but you are the Prince, the very Prince that the House Velaryon chose to spurn," he said his dark haiar were cut short as he wore steel armor, with a full golden cloak at his back.

"And that is exactly why I must go to their aid, Ser Criston," he replied softly as the Commander of the City Watch seemed taken aback by his words.

"The Crown's biggest contention with House Velaryon was their alliance with Lys, an enemy nation who played a role in manufacturing the demise of Prince Daemon, the King's late brother," and that was true.

"With that alliance gone, one way or another. It is time for us to mend our ways, and help our long lost allies back into the fold," and that would show the Crown sagacity, and nip the Velaryon problem in the bud.

"I plan to write to Princess Rhaenys myself as well, along with the King to assure her that the Crown has little animosity for her and her kin, and that they are welcome to join back the realm as both kin and allies," and the Council seemed impressed by his words and many heads turned and twisted at his words.

"That is very generous of the King," added Lord Beesbury, and Aegon nodded.

"It is, but our King is a generous person," he added and they smiled at the compliment agreeing with it.

"Yes, that he is. That he is," agreed the King's Hand as Aegon nodded.

"Still, Lord Hand has instructions for you all, that come directly from the King. He will give you all the details now," and so Lyonel Strong gave the rest of the directives as Aegon listened, and the meeting ran for hours and hours.

After many hours and discussions over a dozen matters of great importance, it was time for it to end.

"I believe that would be all," Aegon asked as he cracked his fingers, the long session had begun to take a toll in him now.

"Yes, I believe it is," added the Hand and just as he made to stand, the voice of Mellos cut through the silence.

"I have something to say," and Aegon raised a brow pulling back his hand from the marble as he sat down once more.

"Of course," he said and the dark-skinned bald man hesitated before he finally began.

"I was asked by the Citadel to bring up this matter infront of both this Council and the King," he began and Aegon turned to look at the Hand who turned towards the Grand Maester.

"I will be happy to bring it up with your grace," he said the Grand Maester nodded.

"The Conclave has written to me, and it is concerned by the Crown's patronage for the Alchemist Guild, and the newly found Healer's guild," he asked, and Aegon smiled internally, though he did not let it show as he raised a brow.

"They fear that the Crown is trying to replace The Citadel with inferior competition, specially when it comes to the newly found Healer's guild," and most of the eyes turned towards him, for these two ventures were directly connected to him.

The Alchemist Guild had existed since the time of Maegor. They had lost favor in the time of the Old King Jaeherys, but Aegon had revitalised the ancient order.

Though revitalised, was a small word. He had more or less rebuilt it from scratch, and though they were still named the Alchemist guild, they now basically dealt more with Chemistry, Physics and some part Biology, as he tried to impart upon them the basis of modern sciences.

"I can assure the Citadel, and its patrons that the Crown has no such intentions," Aegon answered with a smile, and that was not even a lie.

The Citadel for all its faults, was a stories organization that was in many ways a net positive for the realm. But Aegon was no fond of their monopoly and their patrons, the House Hightower, who got to wield quite a bit of influence through them.

"The Alchemist Guild, though they are contemplating a name change nowadays, serve an entirely different purpose than the Citadel and are entirely focused on the material sciences and are simply trying to broaden our understanding of the world as we know it," and the Mellos did not like this.

"But they are charlatans your grace, robbing the Crown of gold and resources," and he raised his hand.

"The money granted to them by the Crown is miniscule at best, the rest they obtain is through private grants. And as for their work, it has come a long way from years past, and is rather interesting," he said leaning back.

"Just now they are working on a way to make a product that we could use in place of stone to build roads, and are making good progress with that," and the man shook his head.

"The Citadel would be willing to accommodate any of the Crown's requests. We fail to see why the Crown would support such charlatans in our stead," he asked.

"As I said before, the Crown does not support. We give them very little in comparison to the gold that we give your order, Grand Maester. The Guild serves an entirely different purpose than your order. You and your order have no reason to be threatened by it," he replied softly as the amn ghrit his teeth.

"And what of the Healer's Guild," he asked and Aegon shrugged.

"That is Rhaenyra's venture though, and its purpose again is not to replace your order but to build a small order that would be able to tend to the Common Folk, who have no access to a master," and that was the initial thing.

"And they are run by a former Maester of your order, and are there to help the people of this city," and at that he turned towards the Council.

"Kings Landing is the capital of the continent. It is in many ways the Crown of the Targaryen empire, and the Princess believes that the people of the city deserve to live a healthy and secure life," he finished and there were nods.

"A noble thought indeed," they agreed with him, and the cost of it was again minimal.

"The Hand will bring these concerns to your Grace," he asked and lord Lyonel nodded.

"But there is nothing to be concerned about. The guilds serve an entirely different purpose than yours, and are no threat to the esteemed Citadel," and with that he rose up, as did the other men and after a few small smiles and short greetings, he walked out of the room, for this was not the only Council Meeting he had to tackle.

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