House of The Dragon-The Beauty, The Bold, And The Black Dread

(Baelon's POV)

"Prince Baelon." I heard Laenor's voice call for me

I was walking down the hallway when I stopped. I turned to see him standing a few meters away from me, giving me a serious look. It was the following morning and I had gotten up a bit earlier than I usually do. I had told Father I wanted to speak with him after the entire ordeal that had happened yesterday. 

"Ser Laenor." I said, "Or should I say Lord Laenor?" 

He raised his hand slightly and shook his head, "Call me what you wish." He said as he walked up to me, "I wished to speak to you about something." 

"Is something the matter?" I asked him

He looked down, "I want to apologize for insinuating something terrible, My Prince. I was angry." He said before looking back up to me, "I am aware of the argument you had with my Father. You had him before Balerion. He did not take it well." 

"I thought we had been past that." I said, "He gave me names. I am sure you are aware." 

He nodded, "I know. And I want to tell you that I had no part in any of that." He told me, "Whatever schemes he had, I begged him to cease them. Doing something as treacherous as plotting against you is a sin.....the gods are cruel, they punished him in their own way....." 

That's one way to put it.

I looked to the side, "That's what having too much power does to someone who cannot handle it, Ser Laenor." I said, "After all, the only reason your House has a taste of our true power is because your Mother's blood runs through your veins." 

He sighed, "That is the truth." 

"The only reason why it was even accepted, someone like Princess Rhaenys marrying Corlys Velaryon, was because House Velaryon is a Valyrian House." I told him, "Yes, your Father made it the wealthiest one in the realm but what solidified his power was marrying a Targaryen Princess with a Dragon. What else did he want? I'll tell you what. He wanted the Throne. He had it in his grasp, didn't he? He almost had it. But the Great Council decided against you and your Mother and placed my Father ahead. It is because of that decision that I am here, holding onto this." 

I placed my hand on Blackfyre's handle, which he glanced at. 

"You speak the truth." He said, "And I will admit, my Father had never gotten over it. But know this, I am not him. I loved my Father. But his ambitions are not my own. Your Father is King, You are the Heir. My House serves the Crown, always." 

"Good." I said, "I am glad to hear that." 

He offered me his hand, "I will take a wife soon, My Prince." He said, "Should we have children, I hope our House remains joined in a much stronger bond, through our children." 

I shook his head, "That sounds like a good plan." I said with a raised eyebrow, "Are you certain you can produce a child?" 

He frowned, "W-What does that mean?" 

"We both know what it means, Laenor." I told him with a chuckle

"I'll do my duty." He said with a serious tone

"Good." I said

**********

"Willem Blackwood's execution will be held in three days." Otto said as I stood next to the table, "Lords Strong and Blackwood have taken the Black and the hunt for Ser Harwin has begun. He is nowhere to be seen." 

"This is not something I expected." I heard Lord Jasper said, "Who knows what could have happened if our Crown Prince was successfully assassinated...." 

"Jasper, I cannot even think of the possibility." Father said with a frown, "What matters is that we root out all of those responsible and cleanse the realm of this treachery!!" 

"Your Grace, we must act with composure." Otto said

"Composure?" Father said, "He is my son! I will not have an insult like that happen without consequences! It was their wedding, Otto! Your Granddaughter's wedding!" 

Otto looked down and nodded, "I understand." 

"Skagos." I heard Uncle Daemon say

All eyes were on him. 

I raised an eyebrow, "What?" 

"We should do what happened to Skagos." He said with a slight smirk, "To show them that we are not joking." 

"My Prince." Lord Tyland said, "That's absurd. Who would we target? Are we going to burn half the Realm just for this? The innocents....." 

"I agree with Lord Tyland, that's too absurd, Uncle." I said

"If you had actually been killed, a War would have broken out regardless." He said seriously, "The majority of the Realm would have risen up in outrage and would have supported us against those responsible." 

"We will not burn anyone down." Father said, "What we will do is we will round the traitors up and execute them." 

I sighed, "Blackwood is one thing." i said, "But we need to get those that were involved." 

"Do we have names?" Lord Jasper asked

"Corlys Velaryon, Willem Blackwood, Harwin Strong, Kurtis Redwyne, and some more." Daemon spoke up

Father looked at him, "What??" He said, "Corlys? He was poisoned, you fool!" 

"He was the fool, drinking his own poison!" Daemon said

I shook my head, "Corlys may have had his issues but I set him straight prior to all of this." I said, "There is no reason to involve House Velaryon in any of this. Laenor will handle them, and keep them in line. He's on our side. The last thing we need is a tension between two Houses that have Dragons." 

"They only have one dragon, Seasmoke." Daemon said, "Caraxes, Silverwing, Meleys, and Moondancer are Targaryen Dragons." 

"Point still stands, Uncle." I said

"What then?" Lord Jasper said

"We should find out who was truly behind this?" Orwyle chimed in, "There is a possibility of another attempted attack. The best way to eliminate a dragonrider, especially one as skilled as Prince Baelon is to do what they tried." 

"So think of something to prevent that." Daemon scowled

I nodded, "Yes, Grand Maester, can you try something like that?" 

He looked down, pondering something, "We study poisons to understand them and have antidotes on the ready..." He said, "I might be able to do something about this...." 

"Good." Father said, "In the meantime, I want our men to scour the city, find out anything that relates to this. I want justice...." 

"Someone else will bleed for this..." 

********

"Helaena...." I said as I stopped and stood next to her bed, "I'm sorry...." 

It was about an hour later, I had gone to check on her. She was sitting down, crosslegged, looking down at the sheets of her bed. Her hair was let loose, draped over her shoulders. Her eyes were red, she was crying. 

"Why did this happen?" She said softly, "On our wedding?" 

"I...." I said

She looked at me, "Baelon...." 

"I know, Helaena....the day was ruined, I am so sorry for that...." I said

"No, that's not it..." she said, "What if I lost you, Baelon? I did not foresee this....I did not dream of this....I...." 

I frowned, "Helaena...." 

"I love you, Baelon...." She said softly as tears ran down her cheeks, "I cannot bear to lose you. You are my world....m-my entire life....I've watched you from behind....I've only had eyes for you.....I....why did I almost lose you...? Baelon, I can't lose you, I c-cannot...." 

I walked over to the bed and crawled on it, immediately pulling her in for a hug, "No, don't say things like that." I said as I held her firmly, kissing her on the cheek, "Do not say such things.....Helaena....I am here, okay? I will always be here for you...." 

She began to sob, her entire body trembling as she dug her face into my chest, "I...." She wept, "I don't ever want to lose you, Baelon.....you are everything to me...." 

"You won't...." I said softly, "You won't ever lose me. I give you my word..." 

"I am so scared...." she wept

I pulled away and lifted her chin up, seeing her face, her eyes full of tears, "There is no need to be scared....." I said softly with a smile, "Do you remember all those times you came to me afraid at night? What did your big brother always tell you?" 

She sniffed, calming down a bit, "T-That you will keep me safe from the dark...." She said, "From the terrors of the....night..." 

"I am no longer your brother, Helaena. I am your Husband." I said with a gentle smile, "I will not allow anyone or anything get in between us. If I die, you would be sad.....and I cannot have that. I promised that I would give you happiness....I intend to keep that promise." 

She nodded, "Y-yes...." 

I tucked some of her hair behind her ear, "I love you...." I said as I leaned in and kissed her on the lips briefly, "I always will." 

She looked at me, "Baleon...." 

"Hm?" I asked

"We did not...." She said softly, "Consummate our marriage...." 

"Oh." I said, "Right....well, you know...." 

She wiped some tears away, "I want you to hold me...." She said softly, "All day, please...." 

I nodded, "Right...." I said as I hugged her, "I will be here all day, my love...." 

"I won't go anywhere."