Main Content
Archive of Our OwnArchive of Our OwnHi, TheBrimmedHat!PostLog Out
FandomsBrowseSearchAboutWork Search
tip: words:100
Actions
Entire Work ← Previous Chapter Next Chapter → Chapter Index Edit Bookmark Mark for Later Comments Share Download
Work Header
Rating:
Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warnings:
Graphic Depictions Of ViolenceMajor Character Death
Categories:
F/FF/MM/MMulti
Fandoms:
A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. MartinA Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms
Relationships:
Rhaenyra Targaryen/Laenor VelaryonJoffrey Lonmouth/Laenor VelaryonCorlys Velaryon/Rhaenys TargaryenDaemon Targaryen/Laena VelaryonRhaenyra Targaryen/Laena Velaryon
Characters:
Rhaenyra TargaryenLaenor VelaryonLaena VelaryonHelaena TargaryenAlicent HightowerAegon II TargaryenAemond TargaryenRhaenys Targaryen (Daughter of Aemon)Corlys VelaryonJoffrey Lonmouth
Additional Tags:
Self-Insertdance of dragonsAlternate UniverseTechnologySelf-Indulgent
Language:
English
Series:
Part 1 of The Blacks, the Greens and the Reds Next Work →
Stats:
Published:2019-09-19Updated:2026-06-17Words:1,084,451Chapters:467/?Comments:4,066Kudos:6,016Bookmarks:1,174Hits:557,654
The Blacks, The Greens and The Reds
Loke_Lyon
Chapter 4: Opening Moves - Chapter 3
Chapter Text
Laenor left my rooms as early as was proper. I made a point of kissing him where the maids could see and although I could admit he wasn't an unpleasant kisser, I could tell from the slight tensing that he'd rather I was Joffrey. Hopefully, it would get back to Corlys and curb some of the 'talking' going on.
After that I allowed a batch of giggly maids to attend to me. If we were to head to King's Landing soon then preparations had to be made. Although I had a dragon, a royal could not just leap on it's back and leave. I required dresses, attendants, guards, supplies, gifts… The list was almost endless.
An hour long meeting with castellan gave me a partial solution to the dilemma. Laenor and I would fly tomorrow with the bare essentials and our ship would follow along afterwards. There would be a gap of a few days but Viserys had never minded covering for that in the past.
After laying out what would need to be loaded onto the dragons and what the ship would be bringing. The longest part was deciding on appropriate gifts for me siblings. I finally settled on a dagger with a dragon hilt inlaid with emeralds for Aegon, a collection of really fancy thread for Helaena, a wooden sword and shield for Aemond and the usual assortment of rattles one gave to a newborn for Daeron.
I was willing to admit pride as I made my way to the set of rooms I'd claimed as an office space. One of the first things I'd done when arriving on Dragonstone had been to set up an actual bureaucracy so that no part of the castle lacked oversight. That my staff could now plan and enact royal travel with a days notice was testament to my success.
Apparently, getting too smug had attracted the Gods attention and they'd decided to knock me down a peg or two because as I returned to my office I found Rhaenys waiting outside. Don't get me wrong, I loved Rhaenys. She was blunt, wore her heart on her sleeve and was absolutely ready to fight 100% of the time. I have fond memories of her ripping Viserys a new one on my behalf.
For all that, Rhaenys was just as dangerous as Corlys and twice as ambitious. She wasn't cruel though. If she could help someone she would and I couldn't forget what she'd risked when she'd stood before my Father and the Court and denounced my Uncle with words that, had they come from anyone else, were a good way of getting your tongue removed.
She ushered herself in after me, waving away the offer for refreshment. Before I sat down to deal with her, I sent a runner to Ser Joffrey to order him to attend to me at his earliest convenience.
"I'll be heading off for Driftmark soon enough. I came to let you know I'll be sending my girl to you in King's Landing," she informed me as she took a seat.
That was unusual, Laena was adventurous. She mostly spent her time flying on her dragon, planning to fly somewhere with her dragon or sightseeing in places she had flown to on her dragon.
"I always look forward to seeing cousin Laena but I was given to believe she was planning a trip to Pentos." At least that had been Laenor's report a couple of days ago when he and his family sans Laena had arrived.
"Corlys put a halt to it when he heard about the trouble on the Stepstones. He wanted one of us on Driftmark in case of trouble but I've offered to step in," Rhaenys explained. I raised an eyebrow. That did explain why Rhaenys was sending her to me rather than to Pentos but didn't explain why Rhaenys was leaving her husband a dragon short in the face on renewed hostilities.
"Did Lady Laena cancel her plans to fly to Pentos?" I asked. Rhaenys sighed and shook her head.
"She's too into flying. She needs something to tether her to Westeros and the Seven knows her Father isn't going to deal with it anytime soon. It's a mother's hope she might find someone in court worth breaking that damnable contract. Besides, having a beautiful maiden to flaunt won't exactly hurt your cause."
I see. Rhaenys and Corlys are having differences again. From what I've gleaned from Laena and Laenor's slip ups, this is a usual occurrence. They love one another and are a surprisingly good team despite their hugely differing attitudes towards life but every now and again they butt heads and reenact Jaehaerys and Alysanne's Great Quarrels. Still, Rhaenys is right. Laena is Lordling bait and so I send a message off to the castellan after she's gone to advise him to co-ordinate with Laenor's men about Laena.
I was half way through the harbour master's report about a small collision that had occurred yesterday when Ser Joffrey Lonmouth limped in, leaning heavily on his stick. His brown hair was clipped short and his face was clean-shaven. The clothes he wore were a better fit for an academic than the knight he was. A far cry from the look he bore when I first met him.
Joffrey then had been brash and proud with long hair he'd had in a knot and a well-groomed beard. He'd duelled a few squires who'd made remarks about him and Laenor and on the same day made it clear to me that Laenor was his and that he wasn't in the mood to share. I'd warned them both about Criston. My warning had saved Ser Joffrey's life but he'd been crippled in the aftermath. The brash youth was gone and I had only my inability to manage Criston to blame.
Like the Black Powder, he was another failure. I'd assumed that as long as I didn't encourage him or openly act 'unchaste' he'd remain loyal. That his betrayal had been fuelled by Rhaenyra's behaviour in the original time line. I'd been proved wrong and I should have seen it coming.
The Kingsguard had been in love with me. He had created a story in his head that I was the beautiful Princess and he the dashing Knight. That, somehow, I would eventually end up with him. When Uncle Daemon had blown in, Ser Criston had been my shield in truth. When my betrothal had been announced he'd expected to defend me again.
He'd come to me before the wedding and laid out a plan to flee to the Disputed Lands. There, he claimed, he would win fame as a mercenary so that he could ensure I had everything I deserved. I had done my best but it hadn't been enough. I had not been diplomatic in my refusal, I had been too shocked that I had missed all the warning signs even though I had known something would happen.
I should have flattered him, soothed his hurt ego and rejected him gently. I hadn't and his desperate love had turned to hate and rage. Laenor had been the target and since he couldn't directly harm Laenor, he'd tried to kill Ser Joffrey. A 'take what's mine and I'll take what's yours' scenario. He'd gunned for Joffrey, ignored countless other Knights in the melee and it had been all that Joffrey could do to even survive.
In the aftermath, it did not seem to matter how much Laenor professed he did care about the injury, how he loved him, Ser Joffrey would not believe him. He'd come to me and begged my pardon for not listening to me and offered to serve in my household, so that he would not be burden to his family. I had agreed. I had gotten Criston Cole so wrong and it had destroyed someone in turn. I felt guilty. I couldn't help but hope that with a little bit of time to realise he could be useful as something other than a fighter that he'd find his way back to Laenor.
"You called for me, your grace?" he asked as he lowered himself into the chair with difficulty. I made a show of filing the report before turning my attention to him as finished making himself comfortable.
"I will be heading to King's Landing tomorrow. I've made the material arrangements with the castellan but I have some tasks for you whilst I'm gone." There was no point asking how he was or asking nicely. He would take it as pity and sulk for weeks.
"Will Ser Laenor be departing with you?" he asked, a note of longing in his voice. I brushed over it.
"He will. We're hoping to touch base with loyal lords at court, amongst other things," I replied, ignoring the look on his face. "As for Dragonstone, it seems Lord Corlys has people here. I want every single one of his informers shipped to Driftmark."
Joffrey ran a hand through his short hair and looked thoughtful.
"I did think he was overstepping his mark but you didn't give orders to the contrary so I didn't think to address the issue. I would advise we don't send them all though. It would be a solid plan to keep a few in place to feed misinformation to our enemies."
That was a good idea. I hadn't thought of that. I studied the man opposite. I was loathe to admit it but I had been finding him gopher jobs in the few months he'd been here. Apparently I'd caught his ability to turf out Alicent's spies and completely missed the fact he had a mind for sneakiness I could use. If I made him 'master of whispers' I could hopefully get another window into Westeros that wasn't being filtered through the various factions amongst the Blacks and Greens.
I pulled a sheet of paper close. Technically, when writing a proclamation that someone has the authority to speak on your behalf it should be done on vellum, not paper. It was, surprise surprise, considered an insult but I judged Joffrey to be among the less block headed members of my staff.
"I would have you become my spy master of sorts," I said as I slid it across to him and he read it, eyes widening.
"You grace! I…" he paused, mouth moving. It was more than a crippled second son had any right to expect. I saw the anger at the imagined pity.
"Don't mistake this for pity or kindness, Ser Joffrey. You are capable and have my complete trust but I have no doubt that you'll be cursing my name in a years time. I'm tasking you with routing out my enemies spies as well as establishing spies of your own within their ranks," I informed him, taking care that my voice was cooler than I actually felt.
He swallowed audibly and nodded, staring at the paper transfixed. Having the ear of the heir to the throne was no minor thing.
"I should begin immediately," he said finally.
"Speak to the castellan for an allocation of funds. Nothing too extravagant. Our goal is to ensure Dragonstone answers to me and only me currently," The paper I'd given him should mean the cranky old man should listen to Joffrey. Oh well, he could come and find me if he was refused.
"I will not let you down, you Grace," he swore as he pushed himself to his feet with a bit of struggle. My smugness about something going my way lasted until well past dinner, when Laenor presented himself at the door to my rooms looking decidedly discontent.
"You made Joffrey your voice on Dragonstone," he accused the moment the doors shut and the room was free of unwelcome ears. "You made him your spymaster."
"Yes Laenor, I did. He has a mind for people and the Seven know he needs something to do." I snapped back, good mood evaporating. My husband dropped onto the bed and rested his head in his hands before sighing.
"I'm sorry. I should not… I miss him. I miss him so much. It's like I'm missing an arm," he flopped backwards and stared at the ceiling, talking to himself more than me. "Maybe Qarl is right and I should let him stew through it on his own."
"Qarl?" I asked, voice weak. Laenor sat up, blushing slightly in the candlelight.
"Yes. Ser Qarl Correy. He and I have been…" He paused as if looking for the right word. "…close recently."
Whhhhhhhhhhhhhy?
Actions
↑ Top ← Previous Chapter Next Chapter → Edit Bookmark Comments (14)
Kudos
Jessamintzz, Ang3lFall, Elycia_D, LuciremD, Bradley52869, CaptainSolar021, Chair404, Bellriver123, 0th_Law, monkeyyys01, Alucard43, DarkCauldron, Rikki, NotSoSecretCultist, Zirqoyi, linadreams, LadyAthos, Randomrusina, Meisse, Daughter_of_Hades, Fav_works, Aussie2003, caiside13, RudestLittleMadam, brinew, Ladyofgoats, 20fructidor, Pleasebemineillumizoldyck, Kingsombra21, Akira_senju_949522, Von_Linden, Icecream38, Hazelnutsdeath, RhiannonViAugust, Starboy15, WelshSilverLion, yuhmama, cochella22, rosestone, Russ_Kaunelainen, LoneSword, Arroz_quemado, EvieBorges, NalaSparkles23, Vaedrix, Jijiiya, Touchinggrass, Nana_louXstar, Stillhotting, tvavision, and 1889 more users as well as 4077 guests left kudos on this work!
Comments
Post Comment
Comment as TheBrimmedHat
Plain text with limited HTML ?
Comment
10000 characters left
Footer
Customize
Default
Low Vision Default
Reversi
Snow Blue
About the Archive
Site Map
Diversity Statement
Terms of Service
Content Policy
Privacy Policy
DMCA & TIDA Policies
Site Status
Contact Us
Policy Questions & Abuse Reports
Technical Support & Feedback
Development
otwarchive v1.5.0.1
Known Issues
GPL-2.0-or-later by the OTW