Pre-Chapter A/N: So here we are back on our regular upload schedule. Sunday and Tuesday/Wednesday. I've put systems in place to ensure we don't fall behind again so yay. I look forward to stress-testing them as the madnesses of life stack up (We're over two weeks in now and life is really hitting. We're still on schedule though(more or less– does this count as Wednesday or Thursday? I haven't slept so I count it as Wednesday), so things look good!). To celebrate the scale of our achievement, we've got a cheeky little discount for the whole month on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga). Kind of messed up the timing of this upload so the discount will actually be up by the time this goes live so to claim a special deal for the next 24 hours (adding the first of June to May madness), just enter the code: MAYBE01. Next five chapters on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)— same username as here and link in bio.
XXXXXX- AEGON TARGARYEN
It turned out that Mother was wrong. It turned out that this time, Father's mind had been truly made up. She had refused to speak with him, even started taking meals with Aegon separate from everyone else, but Father would not be convinced otherwise, and eventually Mother had been the one to bend. She was yet to admit it out loud, but Aegon was not stupid. She had begun teaching him how to run his own smaller household, and the only reason she would be doing so now would be if he needed that information. He was going to Bloodstone.
He would be the squire to Ser Laenor Velaryon, and while he had initially been opposed to it, it was growing on him as well. He would no longer be confined to a castle, for one. He and Sunfyre had been separated since he had left the dragonpit, and he would not be seeing his dragon again until they were on their way to Bloodstone. Even saying it gave Aegon a giddy, heady feeling in his stomach. His dragon. His.
Aemond might have had a bigger dragon, and even be able to fly with his already; it did not matter. Aemond's dragon was a hand-me-down. Sunfyre was Aegon's and Aegon's only. His dragon had chosen him, not just accepted him as the next best thing since its host was gone. In the distance from his balcony, he could watch Aemond as he soared through the sky on dragonback. The little tattler had gotten away with no real punishment. Sadly, Aegon would be gone before he'd get the chance to wring his neck for the affront. But his time would come. He just had to be patient.
"They fly well, do they not?" What? Aegon could scarcely control his reaction as it felt like his body jumped out of his own skin. He near tripped over himself to maintain whatever remained of his balance.
"Grandfather? What brings you here?" he asked, struggling to avoid stumbling over his words. His grandfather was not a fan of clumsiness, and there was no one in the entire Red Keep who was as critical of Aegon's every action or inaction as he was. If Aegon was being fully honest, the fact that his grandfather had been content to leave him alone since his impending squireship had been announced was one of the greatest advantages to the move.
"If the horse will not go to the well to drink, then water must be brought to the horse," he said. Aegon just gave him a puzzled look. What was he talking about now? Horses? Wells? What did horses have to do with anything here? There were no horses in Aegon's bedchambers, for sure. He had tried to bring his pony into the castle once, and that had not gone well in the end. Not even in the beginning, if he was being completely honest.
"What?" he finally asked. His grandfather sighed before reaching out and placing a hand on Aegon's shoulder.
"You missed our meeting this week, and if you do not come to me, I will come to you," he said. Oh, so Aegon was the horse? He would much rather be a dragon. Could his grandfather be persuaded to change it? His grandfather coughed, bringing his mind back to the moment. The meeting. Oh. Those weekly meetings, the source of many of his headaches.
"I was packing. Mother said she would let you know," he said, trying not to sound defensive. Sounding defensive was always a good way to get caught in a lie. Aegon was not lying, of course. But when you were telling the truth, you had to try all the harder to be believed. People did not like to hear the truth any more than they liked to be lied to. Probably even less.
"Indeed. And yet here I am. And here you are. We can talk now," his grandfather said, and Aegon nodded. There was no way out of it now. His grandfather was in his chambers. He could see quite clearly that all the packing had been handled already. Packing could not be an excuse now.
"Yes, Grandfather. I have not done much this week other than packing," he said. Their meetings often started with Aegon giving an account of what he had done all through the week while his grandfather listened and probed with questions once in a while.
"Indeed. That and trying to get both yourself and your brother killed," his grandfather said. Aegon barely managed to avoid sighing. Another dressing down? Did they not know how repetitive it got having his hide tanned for the same thing over and over again?
"Never mind that. I am sure Viserys and Alicent have imparted the foolishness of your decisions on to you," he said. Aegon nodded spiritedly. Anything to avoid having that conversation again.
"Your actions have led to more good than ill. You and Aemond have both claimed dragons now. Aemond's the legendary Caraxes, and yours, a dragon fit for a King. What name did you give him again?" he asked.
"Sunfyre," Aegon said with some pride rising in his chest.
"Sunfyre. A good name. A beautiful name for a dragon in peacetime. The lack of Valyrian roots will do you no harm. Not when Rhaenyra herself has married a Lannister in this case. Sunfyre will be a good companion to Caraxes. A King must be feared, but he must also be loved. You have a privilege few Kings have. You have your brothers. Your brothers who will be credits to you and not weaknesses. I will make certain of it. Caraxes will be feared, and the beautiful Sunfyre will be loved. Helaena will need to claim a dragon of her own in time as well, but that is not what brought me here today," he said. Aegon just nodded, even though he was not following most of it.
Grandfather had this assumption that Aegon would one day be King even though that was Rhaenyra's inheritance. Mother said it was because Grandfather was old and he should just ignore it when he could. That was what he tried to do now.
"But the greatest boon your actions have given you now is not Sunfyre. Beautiful, the dragon may be. It was always going to be your destiny to claim a dragon. But going to Bloodstone? That was Aemond's. And while I would have entrusted Aemond with this mission if he had ended up being the one to go, you are far the better suited one for it," he said.
"Mission? What mission?" Why did Grandfather have to speak so strangely, Aegon wondered to himself.
"You are to squire for Laenor Velaryon. Apart from House Targaryen, House Velaryon is the most powerful house in the Seven Kingdoms. They have three dragons, each of them said to be bigger than Caraxes now. They have gold. More gold than House Lannister, some say. They have the greatest navy in the world, and the resources to bring that navy to war better than any other house. If House Velaryon is to declare in support of you, Rhaenyra would have no choice but to abandon her claim," he said.
"But why would they do that? Rhaenyra is Father's rightful heir," he pushed back now. This was sounding like something else. Something that Mother would not like to hear of. It was sounding like Grandfather was preparing for a war.
"She is your father's chosen heir. And that is only for now. You are the rightful heir. That is what centuries of Andal law have taught us. That is the precedent that was relied upon by the Great Council that put your father on the throne. A son inherits before a daughter. It is the law, and no one. Not even a King can change that. You will be King after your father, Aegon. It is your birthright. You just have to be the one to decide whether you want to see that birthright stolen by Rhaenyra or not," he said.
"But I don't want it," he said. He could not imagine being King. All that attention on him all the time. Always having to attend meetings or to hold court, or to do this or that. Aegon saw the life his father lived, and he wanted nothing to do with it.
"You do. You do want it. Because do you think Rhaenyra will ever believe that? Do you think anyone would? You and Aemond are threats to her as long as you live. Your children will be threats. Your grandchildren and so on. You either resolve it now or you watch your family suffer for your weakness. Is that what you want?" Grandfather asked, tone intense as he squeezed down on Aegon's shoulder. His grip tightened until it bordered at the edge of uncomfortable. Aegon wanted to ask him to stop, but he would not. Grandfather never stopped. Not until he got what he wanted.
"No, Grandfather," Aegon gave it to him.
"Good. House Velaryon must be brought on side. The good thing is that they are already predisposed to side against Rhaenyra. Your goal will be to convince Laenor Velaryon that backing your bid would be better than launching an ill-advised campaign of his own," Grandfather said.
"Yes, Grandfather," Aegon said. His grandfather wanted to hear nothing less than that, so Aegon told it to him. He was a good liar. And the point of lying was always to tell people just what it is they actually wanted to hear. And with Grandfather, it was easy. Just agree with him on everything.
"You will not be expected to negotiate this yourself, but do hint to him that your hand is available in case he should have a daughter. Offer him my position and his family's position as Master of Ships if that is what it takes to secure his support," he said. Grandfather's position? The Hand of the King? What would Grandfather do when someone else was given the position though?
"But—" Aegon began, trying to ask the question before his grandfather smoothly interrupted.
"I do not matter beyond my role in ensuring that you receive your birthright. I can retire as a happy old man once you become King and never regret it. But even if you do not choose to appoint my successor for a while and keep me in that position, Laenor Velaryon would have committed to your cause and done it so publicly that it would not matter at all whether a promise ended up being fulfilled already. Once you are King, nothing matters, Aegon. Nothing. You will have the power to do whatever it is you want. Keeping promises is something that you can decide to do or not do, and nothing will happen," Grandfather said, but his words washed over Aegon without taking root as Aemond executed a particularly impressive move on dragonback where he flew straight high into the air before spinning about and then beginning to descend at a rapid pace — looking to all the world like he was going to smash through it before stopping at the last second, only causing a few fixtures to vibrate from the wind knocked up by its deceleration.
"Aegon. You must focus," he nodded, still not able to pay complete attention to his grandfather. He wanted to fly. That was all he cared about now. He wanted — nay, he needed Sunfyre to grow big enough to carry him and take to the skies. They would fly better than Aemond, he knew. Caraxes was a strong flier and was just carrying Aemond along for the ride. He had no real control beyond telling the dragon what directions to go in, and sometimes not even that. He watched as Aemond snapped his whip, trying to get the dragon to go left towards the docks. It went right towards Rhaenys' hill instead.
"Ow," he cursed involuntarily as he felt his shoulder be wrenched forcefully to the side before his grandfather gripped him by the ear. He pinched down with two fingers and then began to drag like he was trying to snatch the body part from Aegon's face.
"Your mother tolerated this absentmindedness for too long. You must not display this in front of Laenor Velaryon, Aegon. You must not show him this weakness. You must leave him with the utmost confidence in your reign and potential. You must not leave room for doubt, Aegon. You must be perfect. You must show yourself as worthy of being a—"
"Father." Aegon could barely hear his mother's voice. He could feel her arms as she snatched him from his grandfather's grip. His mind was focused on the pain that was making everything feel like a blur. He could hear a sound that could not be real. The sound of roaring. But it was not coming from the outside. It was coming from him. He was roaring. But he was not roaring. He was whimpering in pain as he clutched his ears — they felt scorching to the touch.
But no, he was roaring again. No, he couldn't be roaring. But he was. He was in a market and he was roaring. Now he was pushing from the ground and into the air. He was gliding for a time, flapping his wings with all the force he could muster. Wings? He had no wings. No. No, he had wings.
They were here on his back, a brilliant gold that matched his scales. And they were leading him to the big red stone ahead. He just had to keep flapping them.
"Seven hells," his grandfather's curse cut through his fog.
He opened his eyes to see Sunfyre smash in through the balcony. He tore through the curtains as he came in — when had those curtains been drawn closed? He roared, the sound so familiar and yet so alien.
He looked around, and then, picking out his grandfather, jumped on the man. Only the Seven prevented him from losing a hand in seconds as Sunfyre bit down, snapping down on nothing but air as he barely managed to move it out of the way in time.
"Calm, Sunfyre," he said, feeling fear replace the pain. If Sunfyre killed the Hand of the King, Sunfyre would be put down. The very thought of it brought him near-physical pain. Sunfyre stilled, but did not release his grandfather.
"Come, Sunfyre. To me," he said, pulling himself from his mother's slackened grip as he rose. The pain in his ears did not exist anymore. He had his dragon now. Sunfyre. Sunfyre was here.
XXXXXXX- FOUR DAYS LATER
"Are you ready, my Prince?" The white cloak assigned to him asked as he poked his head through the door. Aegon looked down, inspecting himself. He could see nothing wrong with his clothing, but at the same time knew that Mother would find a dozen different faults to fix upon her arrival. It was a fate he had since resigned himself to. At least on Bloodstone, the fussing would be non-existent. But then on Bloodstone, his mother would not be there. That fact felt like cold water dumped over his head on a chilly morning.
'Focus, Aegon,' he chided himself. 'You are no child to be clinging to your mother's skirts and hiding behind them,' he repeated the words that the Cargyll Knight had told him when he had raised his worries in private. The Knight was a friend now. And Aegon was going to quickly find himself in need of those, considering where he was going.
"Come, Sunfyre," he called, gesturing at the dragon who nested on the balcony. He had refused to be separated from him since the incident with his grandfather, and if Aegon was being honest, he much preferred it this way. Never mind that he had to clean Sunfyre's shit himself or hold the pigs his dragon ate and prevent them from escaping while the dragon took his sweet time. His dragon, for some reason, wanted to do everything by Aegon's side and had been well-behaved enough so far that no one had good reason to complain.
Well, except Orwyle. But was the Maester not always complaining about one thing or the other?
"To Mother's rooms, yes?" he asked the White Cloak.
"Yes, my Prince," he said. After that interaction, they walked in silence, only Sunfyre's breathing — the sound of an idle furnace — cutting through that silence.
His rooms were not far from his mother's — despite his previous best attempts — and so they arrived in a matter of minutes.
Cargyll nodded at the other white cloak at the door, and the man began to knock on it.
"Your mother will try to keep you. You must be strong enough to refuse her, my Prince. It might not seem so, but the realm watches," Cargyll said, and with that ominous warning, he gestured for Aegon to step into the just-opened door first.
"Oh my boy. My handsome boy," his mother was already crying. Aegon looked over at Cargyll behind him, and the White Knight shook his head near too delicately for most to notice. And with that, Aegon began to prepare to convince his mother that he must leave. Better to be seen doing so with his head high than being dragged from behind his mother's skirts, Cargyll had once said.
A/N: We spend a chapter in Aegon's head. Perhaps one more to cover his arrival at Bloodstone, and we return to regularly scheduled programming. Next five chapters up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) (same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early. Discount available with the code MAYBE01 for the next 24 hours– have fun.