Crown Of Necromancy

After gaining complete authority over the Iron Throne and the Realm, Aerion appointed Stannis Baratheon as Lord Paramount of the Stormlands. Furthermore, he gave him the title 'master of laws' for his stern nature along with his good sense of justice, putting him on the small council as a result. Tywin Lannister joined the small council as master of coin… for obvious reasons. House Lannister might have their gold mines but Tywin himself is a great steward in his own right, to say the least. Petyr Baelish, after his demotion from master of coin, was instructed to move to Volantis, the current capital of the Nine Cities. Lastly, to fill the position of 'master of ships', Aerion found it tempting to appoint himself but he gave it to the Sealord of Braavos who held the Arsenal. With Varys and Jaime retaining their respective seats of 'master of whispers' and Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, there were only two seats left; Grand Maester and Hand of the King.

Aerion had a very… distant relationship with the Citadel. He hadn't even requested for a Grand Maester nor did they propose to send one to him. In regards to Hand of the King, there were a few candidates in mind but he also had his reservations for each one. He decided to take his time and see how matters would develop.

Now, he began to set his next plan in motion. Lord Stannis was ordered to move the now royal navy from Lannisport to the Iron Islands. With the royalists and rebels in one army, they numbered over a hundred thousand which… wasn't necessary, to say the least. As a result, Aerion dismissed both armies and they all began to march back to their respective lands.

The Riverland lords were known for their lack of unity and now, with no Lord Paramount to speak of, their unity was even worse than it had been. Because of this, Aerion intended to march with the Riverland lords and assess whom he would consider for the position.

...

'Where's my damn reward for winning the duel?' Aerion wondered.

"Sheesh, quite impatient, aren't you?" He heard a familiar voice in his head.

'It's been a night, you fool.'

"Huh… even I forget a few things sometimes. You see, my wives were keeping me very busy… hahaha. That and watching over several other mortals."

'Wives? How many do you have?'

"Fifteen."

'...'

'Did I hear that right?'

"In my youth, I was all too lustful and yet never considered a concubine. There were too many lands with far too many beauties... all those factors were a recipe for what was to come." He chuckled. "Trust me… you don't want that many women. Though, a couple wouldn't hurt. Say, four… five, six. Somewhere around there."

'Why would I need that many?'

"Different women, different tastes… they might provide you with other benefits as well. Such as stronger bonds with your subject kingdoms and even assistance with ruling the Realm or other such matters. When you need company, there will always be one to lift your spirits, one way or another. Although your current woman might find it as a slight at first, she will learn to share. You are one of a kind, the Dragon Emperor of New Valyria, after all."

'... Hmm.' Aerion pondered on the matter. 'That doesn't answer where my reward is.'

"Right… always chasing the greater mysteries. Very well, I'll give it to you now.'

Aerion, who had been resting in one of the royal gardens, witnessed a black crown descend onto his head. The tips of the crown were tall and sharp, capable of piercing the skin if one was not careful.

'This crown holds the power you mentioned before?'

"Indeed. Try it."

Aerion looked through the collection of souls until he found a suitable dragonlord to control directly. Then, he summoned him to the garden as a Soul Knight with some blood magic added to mix and, upon willing it so, awoke in that same body he had created.

~

'Oh my... I look beautiful.' Aerion observed his original body. 'What shall I do...'

Just as Aerion was about to leave the garden, he was confronted by Jaime. "I don't remember you being invited."

"So? I'm a little busy, step aside golden boy."

Jaime drew Brightroar from his back as Arthur would Dawn and slashed towards Aerion. He tried to stop the strike with his hand but it was cut clean through.

"Fucking Valyrian steel swords..." Aerion cursed, retreating backwards. Fire emerged from where his hand had been cut and slowly began to reform. "How about a little diplomacy? I leave the Red Keep and you don't-"

Jaime with his ever-growing blessing dashed towards Aerion and slashed quicker than he used to with a one-handed sword. Aerion dodged every strike as best as he could, though even a Soul Knight's body could barely keep up. Turns out that his sparring with Jaime was just him going easy on him... something that Aerion found slightly insulting.

"Wait... wait... wait!"

Jaime finally stopped.

"Think about it, I must be a member of His Grace's great undead army to dodge your attacks to such a degree. This means... that you attacking me goes against his interests. After all, us undead are loyal only to him."

"All of the undead have emerald eyes. Where are yours?"

"Oh... well, I'm a new weapon in the arsenal so to speak." Aerion slowly backed away as he realised that Jaime was no longer hostile. "I'll see you later, goldy."

"Goldy..." Jaime turned to Aerion who looked like he had decided to take a nap. Though, the black crown was certainly new to him.

...

After swiftly making his way out of the Red keep, Aerion found himself on the streets of King's Landing. Everything felt so surreal as he no longer walked as the mighty Dragon Emperor whom everyone turned their heads to. Sure, Aerion's new dragon lord appearance was unusual, causing some controversy, but he was more or less just highborn of valyrian descent. All of his previous responsibilities had completely faded in in this body... he felt free to do as he wished. Free to be whatever he had wanted.

That being said, the very first thing he did was get drunk in the tavern and start betting with some pocket change that had 'flown' away from a few people. With the board games that required more skill than luck, he won with strategy. The others that depend on probability... well, he didn't bother rigging them as losing was part of the game. Surprisingly, his luck had been pretty great nonetheless.

"How!? How? How? How do you keep winning?!" One disgruntled and drunk highborn shouted. "No, I'm no longer playing with you."

Aerion smirked. "Look, I don't win every time. Let's play one more, one gold dragon each."

"Find someone else, you gold thief!"

Aerion, after having beaten pretty much everyone out of their money, looked around.

"Well, anyone up for it?"

Silence...

Suddenly, a rather huge figure entered the tavern and drained a whole wooden pint of beer like it was nothing. Aerion's eyes widened as he realised that this large figure was none other than Robert Baratheon.

"How about you buy me a nice ring with all that gold?" One of the women at the tavern grabbed Aerion's arm. "I would reward you well for it."

Aerion shrugged indifferently. "You're too fat for my liking."

In her embarrassment, the woman slapped Aerion across the cheek, yet he didn't feel anything.

"A light tickle..." Aerion chuckled. "Do that again and I'll break your face."

She retreated under Aerion's cold gaze, leaving him free once more. One of Aerion's tavern 'friends' pat him on the back. "Fat or not, some mouths work wonders, you know?"

Aerion looked at his goblet of dornish wine. "I doubt that her attempt would be nearly as valuable as the gold. But... do my eyes deceive me or is that Robert Baratheon?"

"Yeah... he's a regular around here. It is where his whores gather to meet him from time to time. They have some fun here and then take it to Little Finger's sweet-smelling brothel. Heh, I wish that I could go there but I don't have the gold for any sort of service."

"I see... but even after becoming one of the Kingsguard, he still comes here?"

"The oath says father no children... but it never says fuck no women, hahaha!" The man countered, laughing for a while. "Oh, the Usurper is a fool. He had Lyanna and still wastes his time with whores... I wish that I had a queen like Lyanna. But I was born a poor boy named Brod and I will die a poor man, probably marry me an ugly woman when I'm older... hahaha..."

Aerion felt slight pity for the man. While he had (or could attain) almost everything he could desire, this man that he had come to know was the complete opposite. Powerless... to put it simply. Letting the flow of life lead him on to the same day after the next.

"I never got to ask... what is your name, Ser 'I am far too lucky for my own good'?"

"Eh... I am but a mere landless knight looking for some fortune in this large world."

"Well, you've got a good start right there. Where are your weapons?"

"I sold them all to bet for better ones." Aerion scratched his hair. "It worked, didn't it?"

"Man... I remember my mother telling me stories of knights with many companions. Maybe I could-"

Suddenly, Robert's hands shook the table.

"It was him. He threatened me after I rejected him!" The very woman that had slapped Aerion stood behind Robert Baratheon.

Aerion's mouth widened in shock and fury.

'Rejected... me? The nerve-'

"You look like a dragonspawn..."

"I look like His Grace? I'll take that compliment." Aerion smiled. "But you... aren't you meant to be guarding his door? The Lord Commander is a little too lenient, it seems."

Affected by his high emotions since the previous day, Robert Baratheon exploded and threw a mighty blow Aerion's way.

Aerion rolled away onto the ground and stood up before Robert could strike again.

"This is unsightly... a boar-like Kingsguard fighting in a tavern against an innocent, young and handsome man like myself. Don't you have anything better to do than fight for some lying whore?"

"I..."

"Your spare time should be looking after what you already have; a family. Not chasing after whores... I ask this, as you were once a King, where is your pride!?"

"My pride? My pride is in battle!"

A few exchanges later... they found themselves in a drunken brawl. Although fighting this Robert with his current body wasn't wise, Aerion wasn't going to back down. Surprisingly enough, though, their exchanges were pretty even.

'Blood enhancement is a wonderful thing...'

Tables, bottles... food, pretty much everything one could get their hands on was thrown. The tavern was in a state of disaster within minutes. In the end, their tavern fight moved out to the street where a massive crowd surrounded them.

"You fight well..." Robert Baratheon admitted.

"You too... not that I am surprised." Aerion spit out the blood lingering in his mouth onto Robert's eye. In the confusion, he pummeled his chest with a barrage of fists, retreating before Robert could recover.

Robert charged Aerion afterwards in his fury but an explosion of lightning separated them.

"Men... how barbaric."

It was none other than Helia and Ser Arthur Dayne.

"Ser Robert, this brawl of yours was against Ser Jaime's orders. What do you have to say in your defence?"

"Hah... what is he going to do? Give me a little lectu-" Robert Baratheon paused, unable to speak.

"Remain silent. You were given a short leave to do as you wish, so long as your actions did not lessen the image of the Kingsguard."

"I'm only a man with a great appetite. Men with a sword up their ass like you and Ser Jaime would not understand." Robert countered.

"There is much work to be done, it seems. You will follow me to the tower and await your judgement."

"Hmph..." Robert turned to Aerion one last time before walking away, flicking a gold dragon his way. "Buy yourself something. That was a good fight... the best one I had in years."

Aerion grabbed it mid-air and laughed. "Right..."

"Ser... you are a true knight, a myth, fending off Robert like that!" Brod ran to Aerion's side. "I somehow managed to keep all your earnings away from the raging crowd... so, here."

"You said something about being a companion..." Aerion grabbed his bag of gold and returned it to him. "Give half of that to the tavern owner... for repairs. If you do that well enough, I'll keep you around."

"... Right away, Ser!"

'So young and eager... I'll leave Ser Dragonknight here to his own devices for now.'

Aerion returned to his own body, exhausted somewhat.

...

Instead of laying against the tree, Aerion found himself laying on his royal bed. It would seem that someone, no doubt Jaime, had realised that he wasn't just napping for a short while. Aerion couldn't believe how thrilling it was to be a person of no significance... it was a whole different world. As Dragon Emperor, no one would even dare to raise their voice against him, let alone incite a conflict.

But as Ser 'Dragonknight' Valar it was a completely different story.

Now, instead of constantly travelling with his original body, Aerion decided to make several vessels to oversee some other regions of importance. Namely regions such as the Vale, Riverlands, North, Iron Islands and the untouched paradise of Valyria.

The 'Crown of Necromancy' would, as expected, turn out to be a truly useful tool in governing the Seven Kingdoms and the rest of New Valyria. Along with entertaining himself in the peaceful times that were to come.

~

"As one's fire would grow, so would the other's ice..."

Aerion the Transcendent watched from above.

"Your greatest war has yet to begin, Stormcaller."