Chapter 13: The Queen

"Your grace, forgive me. Please have mercy." begged a baker grovelling before her for his life.

Visenya sat regally, or as regally as she could on the monstrosity of a throne her brother made from the flames of Balerion.

A king should never sit easy, her brother had said.

While she agreed with the sentiment behind her brother's words, she cursed him for his bullheadedness. What sort of moron would build a throne that could kill the monarch if he/she moved the wrong way?

The jagged edges of the Iron Throne poked her body despite the chainmail she donned. Sometimes she wondered whether her brother was dropped on his head when he came out of their mother's womb.

Keeping those thoughts aside she adjusted herself on the Iron Throne so that she could put the fear of dragon on those in the court. Her hands gripped the hilt of Dark Sister hung on the armrest of the throne. Even placing her arm on the armrest required chainmail and greaves lest she accidentally cut her wrist.

'Curse that fool.' she thought before focusing on the matter at hand.

"Mercy is granted to those who commit the least amount of offence and that too under duress. You on the other hand neither deserves mercy nor the time of this court. You have committed a grave crime by adding sawdust into the bread you sold, the food used by the people of this city for your personal gain." Visenya took a deep breath before calming down and nodded at the knights under her employ.

"You endangered the lives of the people of this city, a city ruled by the House of Dragons no less. No evil shall escape the gaze of the dragons and so long as House Targaryen sits on the throne of this land, justice shall be done. I, Visenya Targaryen, Queen of the Andals, the First Men and the Rhyonar sentence you to die. Your assets will be seized by the crown and will be used to recompense those who fell ill because of your crime." she declared

"The Black! I take the Black, your grace. Please!" the man begged desperately with wide eyes.

Visenya gritted her teeth in frustration. The man was directly responsible for getting children ill and perhaps even caused a few deaths. Nonetheless, taking the Black was a viable punishment and her investigators have so far not been able to find anyone dying from food poisoning.

She knew in various parts of their kingdom sawdust was being used as an ingredient in bread. But the Targaryens of Dragonstone had outlawed such practices long ago. The sawdust caused too many problems sometimes even leading to outright poisoning.

Most bakers couldn't see the inherent problem in using the sawdust because they didn't know that some trees themselves are poisonous. Once sawdust is bought from a mill, who knows which tree the sawdust belonged to. This is why sawdust was banned from being used in King's Landing. As a growing city, it was essential to keep the sources of food and water clean, else tragedy may occur.

"Very well then. Take this man to the dungeons. He shall be sent to the Night's Watch when the Rangers return for their yearly recruits."

She watched as the guards dragged the weeping man away from her court and then the next petitioner came forward. With Aegon travelling in the Reach it fell to her to hold court.

When they finally concluded the court for today her mind was feeling numb. It didn't help that she had to sit still on that hideous chair for too long. She decided she would have some men flatten those jagged edges somehow. With Aegon in the Reach, this will be the perfect opportunity for her to do so. The only problem was she wouldn't be able to hold court if men were working on the throne.

'Or she could endure for the time being and have the Throne modified when Aegonfort is rebuilt.' she thought

Thinking of the reconstruction made her think about those new offers she received from unexpected places. At first, she was content to use her contacts in Lys to hire some of the best architects but she was approached by a legation from Volantis.

After Aegon burned the Volantine fleet their ties with the First Daughter were strained. If it wasn't for those fools in Volantis' Tigers she would have advised her brother to align with Volantis in the war. The Tigers led by House Maegyr thought too much of themselves until Aegon brought them low.

But Volantis is now ruled by the Elephants. A pack of greedy merchants they were but they showed proper respect. This was why she was toying with the idea of hiring architects from Volantis to build their castle. The Lyseni architects could work on the City. or maybe the reverse is also possible.

The final decision, of course, rested with her brother but she could nudge him in a certain direction. The offers made by Volantine legation were lucrative enough.

She sank into the bathtub full of hot water prepared by the servants and let out an appreciative hum. The warm water relaxed her body somewhat and she closed her eyes enjoying the peace. It was at that moment she realized how much stressed she has been lately.

While the burden of ruling was taxing many worries also weighed her down. Chief among them was her worries about the future of her House. Aenys was becoming more and more of a recluse so much so that she thought her sister should have named him Aegon the Second. Aenys mirrored her brother so much that she worried for the boy.

Her husband while renowned for his Conquest of Westeros was not a perfect man, far from it to be blunt. Aegon loved only two souls in this world Orys and Rhaenys. One is dead while the other hides behind the walls of Storm's End after suffering mutilation at the hands of the cursed Dornish.

Aenys was more of a disaster than Aegon, this much she was sure. The boy rarely spoke to anyone, if at all. The only people her eldest nephew spoke is with Rhaegar and Alyssa. But, now that Rhaegar is travelling with Aegon, only Alyssa was left for Aenys to mingle. It didn't help Alyssa is an air-head who sees the world with a flowery tint. The girl is too much taken by her future position as Queen to notice little else around her.

Visenya dearly hoped the Velaryon girl learns the lesson that nothing in this world is handed over in a silver platter. The same for Aenys but at least she could make sure Aenys will be surrounded by competent advisors. Rhaegar will surely counsel his twin wisely and in time her little Maegor will defend his eldest brothers most fiercely. But that was far in the future and she had to try to break Aenys out of the wall he built around himself.

To that end, she had assigned Aenys to manage the finances of the City Watch. Needless to say, it ended in a disaster. Aenys was supposed to merely learn from Trystane Sunglass who served as the Master of Laws. Instead, her nephew hoodwinked by a few members of the City Watch overpaid several of its members despite protest from Lord Sunglass.

It took her a few days to properly restore order and reclaim the gold of the Crown. She had her spies track down those who took advantage of her nephew and quietly silenced them for good. After that incident, she was reluctant to let Aenys involved in anything. She was meaning to talk some sense into that boy but lately, she could never find the energy to do so. She was always too tired to bring up the matter. It didn't help that she wasn't as young as she used to be and she was further weighed down by her own problems.

After all, she is also a mother and her little Maegor hardly gets any attention from Aegon. She has to think about her child and never let him feel abandoned in Dragonstone. If she didn't look out for her little dragon, then who will?

On that thought, she hastily finished her bath and dressed in fine silks before seeking out Maegor. With Aegon engaged in his Royal Procession, she could not leave King's Landing as she used to and that led her to bring Maegor to the city. She had hoped Aenys and Maegor would become close but that was not to be. Her little dragon was too excitable to stay cooped up in a corner with Aenys and his books.

In the end, it was relatively easy to track down her little dragon in the training yard, trying desperately to overpower Ser Simon Thorne. The knight from House Thorne was one of the replacements to the Goode brothers who gave their lives to protect Aegon. The other knight was Quentin Cargyll who watched on from a distance as Maegor trained with his sworn brother.

Visenya kept her silence and observed her son fight. Her son's stance has always remained on the offence. Rarely had she seen him chose defence. Maegor has always been aggressive in the training yard, something that Ser Gawen Curbry the Master of Arms at Dragonstone tried to curb.

She knew why the Knight failed to instil much control into Maegor's swordplay. Her son held a lot of insecurities in his little young mind. Aegon's apathy hurt her boy more than anything. It didn't help that Aegon showered so much attention to Aenys whom Maegor could see no hint of greatness or distinction from himself.

So, Maegor channelled all the frustration and angst he kept in his heart on the training field. The problem with holding onto all that pent up anger is that when it flows out it comes like a raging flood that is unstoppable. But despite all that Maegor was easily disarmed by Ser Simon Thorne.

She was not surprised by the outcome. Her Maegor might be a dragon but he is just eight namesdays old. Soon, she will have to find a good Knight to take her boy as a squire. One that would know how to keep Maegor's worst tendencies at bay and perhaps teach her son to channel it in combat. The Kingsguard Knights were more than enough to teach her son to be a warrior but it'd help if Maegor was to be Rhaegar's squire.

A year ago, she wouldn't have thought such an idea held merit. Oh, she knew Rhaegar was more than skilled with a sword and would have taught Maegor to the best of his abilities. The concern was she thought her nephew to be too soft. But it seems that perception was wrong.

Rhaegar certainly surprised her by his stint at Tumbleton where he hunted for some bandits. By some stroke of luck, her nephew came out of that misadventure with his life and all limbs intact. A victory that earned her nephew a song in his name. She could see Aegon's bumbling mind behind that little plan. She'd be having words with that fool when he returned to the city for endangering her sister's son.

Now, what truly surprised her was Rhaegar's actions near the Lake of Sorrows.

Her nephew managed to catch a Dornish raiding party and had their hands cut off for thieving, their cocks cut off for raping and took their thumbs so that they will never use the remaining hand again. The surviving Dornishmen were escorted to the border by Tarly men. When she learned this bit of information she had laughed so hard.

If there is someone she hated more than her husband then that would be the Dornishmen.

Visenya lost her sister because of Aegon and the Dornishmen. She'd have burned Dorne to the ground if it wasn't for that cursed letter that brought Aegon to his knees. The contents of that letter still festered in her mind. She had almost given up on seeing House Martell and House Wyl being torn down in her lifetime.

But, perhaps there was still a chance. Her nephew kept surprising her. If he has this much mental fortitude then perhaps it is time she began to instruct him on the higher mysteries. Rhaegar has certainly shown a sharpness and mental fortitude to bear the knowledge of Dragonspells and his way around a Valyrian Glass Candle.

'And when the time is right perhaps Rhaegar could teach this to Maegor and thereby bond with his younger brother.' Visenya mused

Just as Aegon, Rhaenys and herself led House Targaryen she was sure Aenys, Rhaegar and Maegor would lead her house to further heights.

"My Queen."

Visenya shook her thoughts away as she turned to Grand Maester Gawen who sought her attention. She generally disliked the Maesters and their institution. She found them to be too overreaching and the Citadel's proximity to House Hightower bothered her. It also didn't help that her father distrusted the Citadel and held the Maester of Dragonstone responsible for many of grandfather's follies.

"Grand Maester. What brings you here?" she enquired

"A raven from his grace, my Queen." said the Grandmaester before handing her a sealed scroll of parchment.

She broke the seal and began reading the contents of the parchment keenly. She stopped herself halfway and re-read the message again just to make sure this was real. Having read the message she didn't know exactly how to feel.

"Your grace, has something unpleasant happened?" the Grand Maester asked in concern.

She knew Grand Maester Gawen loved Rhaegar and was always concerned for her nephew's well-being. Perhaps, that's why she found this maester more tolerable than the last one.

The last maester was too old and the man fell over one day broke his hip and died the following day.

"It seems Aegon has asked me and Maegor to join him at Oldtown."

"This seems rather abrupt, my Queen. Shall I make the arrangements?" asked Grand Maester Gawen

"No. It will take too long if I am to travel to Oldtown through the land." said Visenya as she pondered whether or not to accept her husband's invitation in the first place.

Then her eyes went to Maegor and her gaze softened.

'If not for me I shall go for him. Perhaps, Aegon will notice that he has three children instead of just two.' she thought

"I shall take Vhagar. Send a raven to Horn Hill asking them to receive their Queen and Prince Maegor."

"As you will, my Queen." the Grand Maester bowed before taking his leave.

Visenya watched on as Maegor trained in the yard even as she thought on why Aegon suddenly took an interest in her and Maegor. Something must have happened at Highgarden and she was intent to find out what happened.