Aemon Targaryen

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-Chapter 10-

-POV Viserys Targaryen-

Since the death of my grandfather, everything has gone awry, whether it's Aemma's death, the tensions with the Velaryons, the tensions between me and Rhaenyra, who blamed me for leading her mother down the Stranger's path, or even the headaches Daemon caused me with his increasingly excessive antics.

'The burden of the crown is the heaviest of all.'

Grandfather had warned me, and he was so right. The members of my family turned their backs on me one after the other, while my friends, my advisors, reveled in the situation, draining my life force day after day like vile leeches.

Fortunately, my sweet Alicent was there for me. She is so virtuous that at times I doubt she is real. After Aemma's death, she was the only person present for me, caring about my well-being. But unfortunately, as always, a detail had to come and ruin everything.

'Rhaenyra.'

My daughter felt betrayed that her lady-in-waiting, her 'friend,' became my companion.

'As if in her nine days of name she could even grasp what true love and affection we had for each other,' I thought, looking at my wife sleeping peacefully beside me.

Even though she has now reached marriageable age, she still does not grasp how important our duty is and how precarious our position is, especially with the few dragons our branch possesses.

Daemon may not have had enough judgment or patience, but in any case, he had magical seed. No one could take that away from him.

Of the two sons he fathered, two dragonriders were born.

'Although one of his sons is a bastard,' I thought inwardly.

Giving a dragon to his bastard had completely frozen the practically nonexistent relations with his true son, who proved to be even more intelligent than we had thought.

Since he took over the reins of House Royce, I expected Rhea to govern for her son, which she did, but only in name, as young Aemon quickly proved to be a competent administrator.

He turned to four sectors of activity: mining, commerce, agriculture, and livestock.

Commerce, agriculture, and mining, although bringing good profits, were not as successful as livestock, which, according to my ministers, brought in several tens of thousands of gold dragons just last year.

At this rate, once he is an adult, his coffers will be filled to the tune of hundreds of thousands or even millions of gold dragons. This is the kind of foresight Rhaenyra will need if she wants to reign once I am no longer of this world.

Many seemed to think Aemon was our uncle Aemon reborn, but I knew better than they did. Aemon was the rebirth of our grandfather, King Jaehaerys. His wisdom and intelligence placed him far ahead of all his peers. Just look at the way he distanced himself from the capital to develop peacefully.

A small bitter smile appeared on my lips as I thought about what could have happened if I had ever let Rhaenyra live with her cousin during their childhood.

'They would have been raised like brother and sister instead of being strangers to each other.'

Knock...Knock...Knock.

"Enter," I said softly so as not to wake my wife, who had not slept much that night.

"Your Majesty, you asked me to inform you if Runestone ever sent a message," said the Lord Commander of my Kingsguard, Ser Harrold Westerling.

I motioned for him to come closer and hand me the message he was carrying. Once in hand, I quickly read the message from my nephew:

Dear Uncle,

Thank you for inviting us, my mother and I, to your wedding anniversary.

It would be a great honor for us to attend.

I am therefore preparing the horses as we speak.

We will arrive in the capital within one to two moons.

I look forward to seeing you again.

Yours sincerely,

Prince Aemon Targaryen, Lord of Runestone.

'Perfect, with an alliance between Rhaenyra and Aemon, my branch as well as Daemon's will be allied and Rhaenyra's position will be unassailable,' I thought. 

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-POV Rhaenys Targaryen-

"Have you heard the news?" said my husband, bursting into my room, furious.

"What news?" I asked while continuing to brush my black hair, identical to my mother's.

"Aemon Targaryen is going to honor the king for his fifth wedding anniversary," said Corlys through clenched teeth, displeased.

"Why do you hate the boy?"

"I don't hate him," said Corlys, although I knew he held a grudge against him because Viserys had largely won against me thanks to the fact that Daemon's son, who was then the heir to his brother, had a dragon growing faster than any other.

"He simply represents a variable on which Viserys relies to muzzle us. If Viserys ever manages to seize this opportunity to get his nephew on his side, in a few years, he will have the rider with the largest living dragon as an ally."

"It's just a legend. Dragons do not grow regularly; it all depends on luck and time," I said, knowing that a dragon could grow very quickly or very slowly and without any explanation.

"His dragon is over 130 feet, Rhaenys," he said.

My movements stopped. I turned my head toward my husband and asked, "130 feet?!"

Corlys nodded, and I said incredulously and suspiciously, "How can you know that? Did you send people to spy on him? Oh, what a fool I am, of course you did!!"

I put down my comb, then stood up and said, "130 feet is the current size of Meleys. The destructive potential of a dragon of that size is not to be taken lightly."

I took a few seconds to think, then asked another question, "Does he spend a lot of time on his dragon's back?"

"I don't know. Although I sent spies, they cannot penetrate his private space, only the outskirts of his territory. I don't know why he decided to go to the capital, but it is not impossible that he will ultimately renounce the commitment Daemon made for him," said Corlys.

I began to think, then said, "If that's all, then we could completely turn the situation to our advantage."

"How?" asked Corlys.

"We propose to make Laena Aemon's wife," I said.

"He won't accept," said Corlys confidently.

"I know he will," I replied categorically.

"How do you know?"

-Flashback-

"Watch over my little Aemon for me," said my grandmother.

"I promise you," I said, gripping her hand.

"When he is not confident, he likes to give a false image of himself, but he is a good boy. He is very intelligent and as long as you treat him sincerely, he will treat you well," she said with a peaceful smile.

-End of Flashback-

"I trust someone wiser than I will ever be," I said, masking my reflection with a layer of mystery.

Corlys frowned, then shrugged before saying, "I don't agree."

"Why?" I asked, surprised.

"I have betrothed Laena to the son of the Sea Lord of Braavos," said Corlys.

"That incompetent is a waste of time and resources. He has practically finished squandering his late father's fortune," I said, not hiding the contempt and disgust I felt for that young man.

"I know, but by betrothing her to him, I create a dangerous alliance that the King will be wary of and that little by little will lead to the fact that he will be forced to marry Laenor to Rhaenyra to eliminate this alliance and its potential nuisance."

"Aemon has as much, if not more, potential for nuisance than this good-for-nothing about to get into debt to the tune of several million gold dragons. I assure you that the king will be more inclined to marry Laenor and Rhaenyra once he knows that Aemon has allied himself with our house through the sacred bonds of marriage," I said.

Corlys thought for a few moments, then said, "You may be right, but if we proceed down this path, we will have to plan everything well so that we are not isolated in the end. Only the 14 know how many of those sycophants are waiting to put our heads under water."