Chapter 54-Wars Over! Wars Begun!

Chapter 54

RHAENYRA TARGARYEN

Days had passed since words had last been exchanged between her and Aegon. Meaningful words.

They still spoke to one another, gave their greetings, smiled in pretense, and laughed with their children, but since that day, she had felt the schism between them widen, as if a line had been crossed, that the thread binding them together had broken.

She often wondered if he felt the same way, yet she lacked the courage. For as cruel as she was, she did not wish to wound him any more than she had. Already, she had noticed how he barely slept at night as the Crown grew closer and closer to intervening in the Stepstones, but she knew, as did many others, that if the Crown intervened, then the war would not just be limited to those infested isles.

No. The Dragons had muzzled its hunger for years, and now it would only be satiated by devouring the Triarchy in its entirety.

Aegon would relish in it, she knew. He had spent the last several years preparing for this conflict, and there was only one man who could halt him in his quest—her father.

But he would not do that. Weakened and broken as he was, King Viserys Targaryen had not yet forgotten about his brother, whose death had left him truly alone.

He was a dragon as well, one who hungered for the Triarchy just as much as Aegon, if not even more.

The silence between her and Aegon continued, yet their pretense continued as it had for around a year now. To the lords and ladies, he was the Perfect Prince and husband, and she was the Perfect Princess and wife.

But it was all a ruse, one that would end soon.

And so, as she lay there in her room as her servants and ladies doted on her and the child that grew in her belly, he appeared in the room. A rarity for him, given how busy he had been.

"Aegon," she called out lovingly. The lies and pretense had long become second nature to her as he gave her a nod before turning towards the

"Leave us," he said, and they all rose at their commands and headed for the door. When the room was empty, he closed the door behind her. Her two children, Aenar and Aemma, were asleep, taking their afternoon nap after a rather rowdy morning.

"Aenar and Aemma are asleep in their room," she added, thinking that he had come for them.

He had been so busy that he had not played with them for quite some time, though he shook his head.

"I am not here for them. I am here for you," he said as he looked her in the eye, and she gulped nervously as he walked towards her and stood up beside her.

"War is here," he said, and the words made her heart skip a beat as her smile vanished.

War. She had seen but a glimpse of it and had been shaken up by the horrors of it. She had seen the aftermath of the rebellion in the Vale, seen the thousands that lay dead after even a small battle.

And now it had come again. In a bigger and worse form than that time.

"The Velaryons," she asked as he shook his head.

"But I believe better sense will prevail soon. Lord Corlys and his men have no more than a few days. The Crown has to intervene now. Otherwise, it would simply be too late," and she gulped as she understood the intentions.

"Has father commanded this?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Yes," he agreed as she sat there, her hand moving along her protruding belly.

"I must depart as well by tonight. The men and the ships have already begun moving out of the docks at Dragonstone and Runestone," and it often took her a second to remember just how vast their fleet was now, but three years later.

The Crown, which had boasted a fleet half the size of House Velaryon, now had a fleet thrice of what the Sea Snake boasted at the height of his power, and even now, more and more ships were added to the fleet by the day as sailors and soldiers were trained, on Dragonstone.

The money for this venture all came from Aegon's new ventures, as the Crown to supply the world with a new set of wines and drinks distilled and aged on Dragonstone, under the direct supervision of the Crown Prince.

It was a surprising venture, and she had been skeptical of it at first until she had tasted the first batch of these whiskeys, and malts, and other concoctions. And she had been surprised, and now the Crown drove much of its new revenue from these exports as it utilised its expanded fleet to trade with the entire world.

But that was not all. The North supplied the wood for this fleet. Grain and crop came from the Reach, and the metal to arm the soldiers came from the Vale, where new smithies had been set up to fulfill the Crown's expanded demand for good steel.

The battle may be beginning today, but she had no doubt that the war had begun years ago. And Aegon Targaryen had been fighting it all these years.

"Is it really necessary?" she asked, the words slipping out of her mouth as Aegon frowned.

"What do you mean?" he asked, and she hesitated before she looked him in the eye once more and asked.

"Must you really go to war?" she elaborated.

"Daemon died three years ago, and we both know that you held little love for your father," and he did not deny it.

"Must you wage this massive war against the entire Triarchy just to satiate some grudge from years long past," she asked, for as much as the relationship between him had deteriorated, he was the father of her children.

He was a good lord, a better Prince, and would make a King finer than even her own Great Grandsire. She did not wish to see him die.

"I know you can be rid of Drahar and his pirates in but a few months, but if you go beyond that, the war will last for years," she added, trying to reason with him, knowing that no one else would.

No one else could.

"He is the one who killed Daemon. I doubt even Father would begrudge you if you put an end to him and conquered the Stepstones, and stopped after that," but Aegon did not answer as he simply looked into her eyes.

"I dedicated three years of my life to two things," he began, and he did not need to name them, as he continued.

"I must at least make sense of one of them," she said, lowering her head in shame. She knew full well that he had spoken of her own betrayal then, but she had to try.

"You could die," she pleaded weakly

"All men die," he added with a crooked smile.

"You will miss the birth of our child," she tried again in futility as she held his hand, but he was not moved.

"I will pray for you and our child, but this must be done, Rhaenyra. " With that, his mind was made up. He reached into his pocket and took out a rolled-out missive, making her frown.

"This came from the Eyrie today," he said, and she stilled as she heard those words.

"Jeyne has left the Vale, she will be..." But before he could say more, they were interrupted by the loud roar of a dragon as their heads snapped to the window beside her.

Aegon was the first to rush to the window, and Rhaenyra slowly and carefully pushed her up to see which dragon it was.

"It's her," Aegon began as they saw two dragons flying around the Red Keep, two familiar dragons that had soared through the skies of Kingslanding in over three years.

"Princess Rhaenys is here...."

0000

KING VISERYS TARGARYEN

It had been some time since he had sat on the Iron Throne. So long that it took him a time to remember when he had sat in the massive chair before.

And yet, the burden that he had once felt upon sitting on the massive chair had lessened much over the years as he came to terms with the bitter truth that he was but a placeholder for the Throne.

That his would not be an era of change, peace, prosperity and opulence as he had once hoped, that he was not his grandsire.

His was a life of tragedy and tribulations, one marred by loss and failure. First, he had lost his wife, then his brother, and lastly, he had lost his legs, and even now, as he sat on the most powerful chair in the realm, he sat there because of the help of his men who had carried hip up the flight of melted swords before setting him down on Aegon's throne.

The mighty King of the Seven Kingdoms had been reduced to a cripple. It was a cruel jape.

But he had learned his lesson and had realized that he had been blinded by his hubris for far too long. That he was not the successor to the Glorius Jaehaerys, he was but a place holder who occupied the throne until it was time for the fated child to replace him.

And that fated child stood there, below him, at the heel of the throne.

He was young still, younger even than Viserys when he had sat on the throne. And yet, he still cut the most imposing figure as he stood there, commanding men around him with an ease that he had never truly had.

He was the best of them both. The boy had his father's martial prowess tempered by his own mind for politics. The boy was the true successor to Jaeherys, and of all his decisions, he often thought it a blessing that he had married the boy to his daughter.

Their marriage had brought the realm together, healing the much of the damage done by the Great Council of 101 AC, and now it was time to heal the last of the schisms.

And as the doors opened, the entire throne room fell silent as they all straightened up as the familiar face of his cousin walked through the gates.

He had not seen Rhaenys in years as the Velaryons stayed away from the capital and the Red Keep because of a self-imposed exile, not they would have been welcome much in these Halls.

Corlys, the Sea Snake, had earned his ire when the man had defied his words to join hands with Lys so that he could wage war in the Stepstones. His intentions are obvious to all—the man thought to beggar the Crown by holding onto those crucial isles, and yet, much like Viserys, the man had become prey to his own pride and hubris.

And now, he found himself surrounded on all sides by those treacherous Myrish pirates, as Lys abandoned them at the most crucial time, forcing them to make the hardest choice of bending the knee.

Corlys had not come, of course, but the man gained much of his power and political intentions through the blood of his lady wife, his cousin Rhaenys, who now walked to the front of the throne.

And her presence here, signified the end of Corlys's hubris and aspirations.

She had not come alone as Viserys's gaze moved to the girl who stood a step behind her, and while the years had taken his sight, he could still see things far from him rather clearly.

Laena Velaryon had grown over the years, the girl was now nearly as tall as her mother, with similar features, though she much favored her father in her coloring.

The girl's nervousness was evident as she felt his gaze linger on her before he moved it to Rhaenys once more, who stared at him with a bit of pity in her eyes.

And why would she not?

He was no longer the King who had risen to the throne. He had lost everything, even his limbs and now all that remained to him was his one arm, yet he was still King.

And then she took a step back and knelt down as gaze of every other lord and lady in the court turned toward her

"I have come to you seeking aide, your grace...."

And with those words, the feud between their two houses ended as Viserys's voice thundered across the room.

"Stand...."

.

.

.

After the ceremony was done, he retired to his room once more, more than half of which was occupied by the spiralling model of the Valyria that he had been working on for years.

He had not come alone, as Rhaenys and Aegon had come as well, and her cousin looked at him with sympathy as she slowly spoke up.

"What has become of you, Viserys?" and though she was a Velaryon, he held little animosity for her, or even for Corlys for that matter.

"Time has not been kind to me," he replied with a scoff as he lay in the bed, tired after the whole ceremony in the throne room.

"You have aged as well," he said and now one could see the wrinkles on her face, as she returned a bitter smile.

The Sun had set by now, and the lamps had been lit up even though some light still lingered in the skies outside.

"This war has aged me," she replied bitterly as she sat down beside him as Aegon stood there dutifully.

"You can rest easy now. This is my war now. Ships and men have begun their mobilization. Aegon is set to leave himself tonight," and she seemed a bit surprised by that.

"You knew I would come?" and he did.

"I know you love Corlys and would do anything to save the man from his own pride," but the Crown could not back down.

"Does your victory give you pride, then?" she asked with a scoff.

"Do not blame me for this, cousin," he retaliated quickly.

"It was your husband who broke faith with the Crown, allying himself with our enemies as he defied my clear orders," he lashed out as her lips thinned.

"Tell me what our grandsire would have done to him for such a thing, tell me?" he asked, and she did not, for they both knew that Jaeherys did not like to see his authority questioned.

"The Crown did what was needed, and it gave any of us no joy to see you and your house suffer," Aegon added from the side.

"But precedents matter, stature and ceremony matter," the boy added.

"It was why I made countless attempts to make him see sense through Lord Vaemond, but it bore no fruit," and he nodded.

"Yes, even now, your husband refuses to see reason. I did not know of your arrival today," though he had expected it.

"Yet, I had our ships and men mobilized because, unlike Corlys, I have not forgotten the kinship that we share," he challenged, and she had no retort for that.

"I understand," she replied after some silence as Viserys asked again.

"Do you plan to stay in the Red Keep?" he asked, and she nodded.

"I have heard that Rhaenyra is with the child once more," and he nodded, a smile blooming over his own face.

"The Gods have been kind to her. She gave birth to twins the first time, Aenar and Aemma," and the young daughter did indeed resemble his own lade wife much for him, and of the two, he had little shame in saying that he preferred her even though she was the louder of the two.

"Then I will stay, it has been quite some time since I have cradled a babe in my arms," she added, and he nodded.

"Yes, these Halls have not been much kinder to babes," as he remembered all the losses he had suffered and how Aemma had died trying to fill that gap.

"Then we shall break our fast together," and he turned to Aegon.

"Tell the Kitchen staff to prepare a modest feast, you should join us as well," he said to the boy, who shook his head.

"I am honored, but it will not be possible, your grace. I must head to Dragonstone tonight and inspect the mobilization with my own eyes. There is no time to waste," and his lips thinned.

"Then so be it, but we will feel your absence," and the boy nodded.

"I must go and make preparations," and with that, Aegon made to leave the room as Rhaenys watched the boy leave as she turned towards him once more.

"I have heard that the boy has been ruling in your stead," she asked, and Viserys frowned.

"I have given him much responsibility, but make no mistake. I am still King," he corrected her.

"Look at me," he continued as he raised his only hand.

"The Maesters fear for my health, troubles of the mind hasten my ailment. And the boy ruled well, better than even myself," and before, he would have thought himself a lesser man for admitting.

But it was the truth.

"If he survives this war, he would make a finer King than even Jaehaerys himself...."

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