Chapter 53-Bent Knees!

Chapter 53

RHAENYS TARGARYEN

Wars begin in death and treachery, but they are fed on pride. Those had been her grandsire's words, upon the death of her father. At that time, she was young, too young to see the meaning behind his words or even remember them.

But years later, when the world had not turned so bitter, she had asked the 'Old King' why he had not turned every living soul in Dorne to ash for the killing of her father. Why had he not avenged him?

For even with the death of Prince Aemon, there were dragons enough to burn every living being from the shores sandy shores to the disputed Marshes.

And it was then he had repeated those words to her, praying in the next sentence that she would never have to suffer such a choice.

But Gods were cruel!

And now, as she stood at the balcony of High Tide, the once symbol of House Velaryon's opulence and wealth, she saw nothing but destruction as she glanced at the thinned and hollowed Spicetown spiraling around her.

The once bustling and bludgeoning city had lost its luster, and where once the markets were filled with traders from all parts of the world, coming here to trade their silks and spices, now there were but a few empty streets of men hustling fish and what little treasures they still had in their stores.

And this would only get worse, and she wondered if things would have been different if the Old King had been alive or if Corlys had been there by her side when the man had spoken those words to her.

All but a few years ago, House Velaryon was the richest House in the realm. Their close ties to the Iron Throne made them the envy of many a House in the realm, for the two Houses shared blood as others shared wine. Their close ties were a symbol of pride and strength for their House, and now all that was lost.

Lost because of a petty dispute fuelled now only by pride. Pride that had swallowed thousands of lives and would swallow thousands more lest he put an end to it.

She had been against this war, knowing that it would do little to change her fate. Rhaenys was the Queen who never was, and she had long come to terms with it. She had no desire for the throne, and neither did her two children, and yet her husband could scarcely let go of the notion.

And so, he tried to do what no man, and even dragon had managed to do in a hundred years as he tried to bring the tumultuous isles of Stepstones to heel. Islands that had swallowed her own cousin Daemon but a few months ago, and yet Corlys, blinded by his pride, rode into them with a shaky alliance with the Rogares of Lys, and now he found himself stuck with no way out.

Lys had abandoned him as she had once feared, leaving him and their son in a most vulnerable position, and though she prayed that both of them would have the sense to climb atop Sea Smoke and flee to safety, though she knew that such a thing would not happen.

Because this war had already been lost. It had been lost even before the first battle had been fought because, much like the war that her grandsire had warned her about, it was now fuelled by pride. And a man such as her husband would rather die than bend.

Then, it was a blessing of the Gods that she was no man.

"Mother," and in her trance she had missed the arrival of another in the room, though the voice was familiar enough that she knew who it was even before turning around to face them.

"Laena," she greeted her daughter, who resembled her husband in so much, even her suffering. The years of war had aged her, and the young little girl had turned into a grown woman. Her features a mix of hers and her husbands, yet her wander lust was all Corlys.

"Is it true that Lys has abandoned us?" she asked, and she hated that her own words had come true as she slowly nodded her head.

"It is," and she saw her daughter's face turn in horror, as the implications of the betrayal settled in.

"But father, brother. They are..."

"Trapped," she finished as she passed him his latest missive. Laena slowly took it from her hands and began to skim over it in front of her.

There was silence in the room except for the sound of gushes of wind, as Laena read the missive again and again before she put it down and turned to her.

"We must go! We must go and help them!" she pleaded, and many a times the very thought had crossed her mind, yet Corlys's disregard would always halt her step.

"If not you let me go..."

"NO!" she thundered before Laena could finish those words, as her head snapped towards her daughter.

And the horror from that day, a year ago, was still fresh in her mind. The day when she had nearly lost her daughter to her husband's pride.

A year ago, as the war grew contested, and House Velaryon and Lys began to lose their grounds, Laena, defying her orders, chose to ride to her father's aide to help him in the war effort.

And while Vhagar was a mighty beast, and Laena a gifted dragon rider, war was not her forte. And she had nearly lost her life to a stray arrow from one of the Crab Feeder's men, and it was only because of Vhagar's quick thinking that her daughter was still besides her.

And on that day she had vowed to protect her, both from this war and her father's pride.

"But I am fine, and Vhagar is the largest dragon in the entire world. Together, you and I can help Father and Laenor..." she pleaded but Rhaenys's lips thinned as she turned away from her daughter.

"This war is your father's folly, I will have no part in it and neither will you," and in this she cursed her son who had been drawn into it by that conniving man from Lys.

The very man who had now stabbed them all in the back.

And she had never trusted that slimy man who chose to go by the name of Drazenko, and neither should have Laenor and Corlys. But one of them was too blinded by love and the other by pride to see through the man's folly.

But it was too late.

"Then will you let them die! Let father and brother die! I will not let that..." Laena, jumped to her feet, her words thundering across the room as Rhaenys quickly cut in.

"No," and her answer made Laena frown.

"Then what do you intend to do? You will not fly to their aid yourself, and you won't let me do that either," she counted off as she walked to her side and made her face her as she held her shoulder.

"We have no more men or ships to offer, and even if we did, we would have to fight through a naval siege just to reach them," she argued, and she was right.

But Rhaenys was done with this war, even if Corlys was not.

"I plan to put an end to this war once and for all," she answered resolutely, and for a second, Laena frowned before the implication of her words dawned on her.

"You cannot mean tha..."

"The Crown has lifted the sanctions on Driftmark, and Hightide citing the end of our alliance with Lys as the reason," she added, as Laena clicked her tongue.

"So generous of them! They are the one's who beggared our House and us cutting our legs from under as they robbed us of our wealth," and that was true, but the Crown had not asked Corlys to start this war.

And in a way, the sanctions had come after Corlys had allied with Lys, and while it mattered little in the grand context of things, she saw this for what it was.

Even if her own daughter did not.

"Do you not see it for this is?" she asked Laena who scoffed as she glanced at her.

"And what is it exactly?" she asked angrily.

"A peace offering," she added, and that was not the only thing that she had received from the Crown.

A letter had come along with the missive, one written by a young Prince who was, in many ways, the very cause of this war. The letter had been a request and a remembrance of the old alliance of their Houses.

"A peace offering! You call this a peace offering!" Laena thundered, her youth blinded her to the intricacies of politics, as once her own youth blinded her.

"Yes, and one that I intend to accept," and Laena's eyes widened at her declaration.

"You cannot," she gasped as she continued.

"Father will not stand for th..."

"Your father is a thousand miles away from that shore, clinging to his pride," she replied sharply as she tried to make her own daughter see reason.

"He is a proud man, a proud and successful man, and proud men do not like to look up. He would rather die than bend the knee, but he is the man I love," and her voice grew softer because she did indeed love him.

Not what he had become but the man he was.

"And so, I will do what he cannot, and I will bend the knee as he should have years ago and put an end to this horrid affair once and for all," she finished as Laena shook her head.

"But it was the Crown who started..."

"History rarely remembers how a war started. It only remembers those who lived and those who died, and I would see your father return to me alive," she finished as Laena's lips thinned.

She gave her a bitter smile as she held her daughter's face.

"Tell me now, Laena. Do you have any desire for the throne?" the question surprised her daughter for a second before her daughter shook her head.

"No, my only desire is to ride on Vhagar from dusk till dawn," her daughter answered truthfully, as Rhaenys chuckled at that answer, reminded so much of her husband's own love for adventure and sailing.

"I know that, and I also know that neither does your own brother have any such desire," she added, for he was her son. She knew what he was and what he desired.

"This whole war was pointless, and yet your father refuses to see it. He clings to an aspiration that I have long put aside, and I put it aside for you and Laenor and in a way for him as well," she truly had no desire for the throne, and by the lines of succession decided, the throne did not truly belong to her own children.

Aegon was the heir after Daemon's death, and with the boy's marriage to Rhaenyra, his claim was more solid than any claim of her two children. And now the boy and Rhaenyra had children of their own.

And loathed as she was to admit it, the boy had a saner head on his shoulders than Corlys as his letter had shown. And the boy was willing to help them, and all that for affirming a truth that was already known throughout the realm.

"Are you certain about this mother?" Laena asked, as she looked into her eyes and Rhaenys nodded.

"I am," she answered resolutely, her mind already made.

"But will the Crown even be able to help us at all? The attack is but a few days away," Laena asked, and her daughter was also worried about Corlys.

"Yes, I have been assured of that much," and her daughter's eyes widened at her declaration.

"Assured by who?" she asked.

"By Prince Aegon Targaryen," and Laena frowned at the mention of the Crown Prince's name.

"Did he fly to Driftmark in the night?" and she shook her head.

"He wrote to me, as did Viserys. The young Prince has been trying to make your father see sense through Vaemond, and as he saw the situation turn dire, he wrote to me, to make me see reason," and it was a bit gracious of him.

But the boy did have a reputation for being gracious and cruel in equal measure. She also knew that with Viserys being injured, it was the boy who ruled over the Seven Kingdoms in his stead, and given all the rumors she heard about the progress and change in the capital, she guessed that the boy had ruled well.

"Uncle Vaemond has been in contact with the Crown?" Laena questioned, and she nodded.

"Yes, though he chose to keep these talks to himself and only revealed them recently as the situation turned dire," Vaemond was not the right choice for this, but the choice of the person would hardly have changed her husband's mind.

"And when Vaemond failed again, the Prince wrote to me, hoping that our two houses can mend ties," and Laena nodded.

"I plan to ride to Kingslanding in an hour. He says that ships and men are at the ready, and will sail at a moment's notice if Viserys gives them the leave for it," and the Crown had many ships now, thousands with their shipyards in Runestone capable of churning out a galley in four days.

Slower than the fabled shipyards of Braavos, but these ships were said to be bigger and were meant for war rather than the trade galleys made by Braavos.

"Driftmark will be in your care," and Laena nodded, as Rhaenys made to leave her daughter called after her.

"Wait," and she stopped and turned to face Laena once more.

"Take me with you," Laena offered, making her frown.

"I have heard that Rhaenyra gave birth to twins and is now with child again," and that was true.

"We were friends once, and she is my cousin. This entire thing has made us drift apart. If we were to mend our ties, I would like to mend this one as well," and she smiled at her daughter's offering.

"As you wish, I think she would be happy to see you," and she hoped her words would be true as Laena smiled.

"Go and wear your riding gear. I will inform the Steward of your leave as well. We leave for Kingslanding in an hour...."

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