Chapter 8: A Day in King's Landing

105 AC

Royal Apartments, Maegor's Holdfast

Red Keep, King's Landing

I looked on as the sun slowly rose over King's Landing, the chill of the autumn morning was still there and it would only get colder as the days go by for winter is coming. Good thing that the harvest is nearly over.

Hopefully, it will last only a year or two like the other winters of my life so far.

Still, as of now, my life is excellent, Married life was great, and having a pregnant wife who was super horny due to pregnancy hormones was equally great. I have to enjoy life while I still can as things are going to take a turn for the worse by the end of the year.

I turned to see Dacey asleep under the covers clutching them tightly to ward off the cold, the four-month-old baby bump was covered up. And she had a smile on her face which made me smirk over last night's activities.

According to my estimates, it is the second trimester right now, also known as the golden period of the pregnancy because the morning sickness and mood swings slow down while the breasts double in size as does her sex drive.

Dacey wasn't the only one pregnant in the family, Aemma got pregnant around the same month as Dacey did early this year and I know that this is the last one, the child will be Baelon and she and the babe are not likely to survive childbirth this time.

I tried to convince Viserys not to go for another child so soon but with Daemon and Otto breathing down his neck about the succession he disregarded my advice.

I wasn't the only one to think that Aemma won't survive, Daemon, Corlys, and Otto thought the same as well. But with Viserys more interested in the child and the succession, there was nothing to be done but to let things play out.

I really should have spoken out when Viserys first got married to Aemma, they got married when she was eleven and Viserys was sixteen.

What was my father thinking? No matter what noise and grumbling Rhaenys, Corlys, and Boremund had made when my father was named the Prince of Dragonstone the lords of the Realm had, by and large, supported it.

We could have afforded to wait until Aemma was sixteen, a betrothal would have sufficed to get the Vale on board, or if they were so angsty then we could have made Aemma a ward of the Crown which is exactly what she was after the wedding.

I walked over to the table in my room and picked up a flagon of Arbor Gold and poured it into my cup, as I took the sip I heard Dacey stirring awake, I turn around to see her starting to sit up on the bed.

I walked over to her and gave her a kiss, "Good Morning, my dear. I trust you slept well."

"Mmm, Very well." She mumbles as she rubs her eyes.

"Are you drinking already?" She asks as she looks at the cup in my hand and feels the taste of the wine on her lips.

"I have a Small Council meeting today and Daemon will be called in for the monthly review of his work with the City Watch," I said with a sigh which caused her to giggle.

The rivalry between Otto and Daemon is now legendary and nearly every time the two of them meet in the Small Council it always ends in a fight. It's like the two of them can't go to sleep at night without arguing with each other.

Originally Daemon was meant to be a member of the Small Council with Viserys making the seat of the Commander of the City Watch as a part of the Small Council but that plan flew out of the window after two weeks of hell.

"Before you go, I want you to fuck me one more time," Dacey asked as her eyes dilated in lust,

"Good Lord, woman, you are insatiable," I incredulously said as I placed the cup down.

"And you love it." She purred.

"Of course I do," I said with a smirk as I took off my robe.

Morning sex is a great way to start the day.

Small Council Chambers

"Why don't we rename the Square as Otto's Virtuous Cunt to celebrate your virtue that you so love to remind us about?" Daemon ranted off,

"I have a better idea. Why don't we rename it Daemon's Whore Plaza? To commemorate the fact that you have fucked every single whore in this city," Otto angrily retorted.

"Aw, Thank you for that nice compliment," Daemon responds with a grin,

"It wasn't a compliment and you know it," Otto angrily flusters,

All the while Viserys was busy questioning the purpose of his existence.

"How did we get here?" Lyonel whispers to Lyman.

"I believe we were talking about the reallocation of funds for the City Watch," Lyman whispers back.

"This is never going to end," Runciter whispers shaking his head mournfully.

"Which Square are they talking about?" I whispered to Corlys as I poured wine for the two of us,

"I believe they are talking about the Fishmonger's Square," Corlys whispered back as he took his cup,

"Are all Small Council Meetings this ... heated," Ser Harrold, the newly appointed Lord Commander of the Kingsguard whispered to me,

"You will be surprised, they happen more often than not," I whispered back as I took some grapes,

"ENOUGH," Viserys finally thunders,

"I HAVE HAD IT WITH THE TWO OF YOU, YOU HAVE BEEN ARGUING FOR THE PAST HOUR," He starts his rant which I tune out while Daemon flashes a grin.

After a while, he stops to regain his breath before turning towards Daemon and continuing.

"Look, Daemon you will get all the money you need for the City Watch to keep it going smoothly as before, there will be no cuts in budget and as for the increase you have asked it will happen if we can cut corners in other places, you will be informed accordingly." He tries to pacify Daemon who wanted a raise in the City Watch budget.

Thankfully Daemon accepts and takes his leave but not before taking one of the flagons of Arbor Gold with him.

For a while, there was silence in the chambers other than Otto trying to regain his breath and composure and then Viserys got up and walked towards me,

"Dammit, Aegon, you are hogging all the wine." He said as he took the flagon from me,

"That tends to happen when you give your cupbearer the day off to fly her dragon," I responded as I took a grape.

"I don't want her around when Daemon and Otto are fighting so we will have to make do pouring wine for ourselves today," Viserys answered as he sat down and poured himself some wine which quickly drank to calm his nerves before giving the flagon to Otto.

"Alright then, the next part of today's agenda, Is that we need to find a replacement for Lord Commander Ryam Redwyne, he was one of the most prestigious members to ever don the white cloak, and as such, we need to find an equally skilled and honorable man to replace him," Viserys says once he has finished the flagon.

Ser Otto then says, "Lord Commander Westerling has picked four men whom he has seen as capable successors to Ser Ryam, you have to choose amongst them, Your Grace."

Viserys nods, "Who are they?"

Ser Harrold answers, "Ser Desmond Caron, Ser Rymun Mallister, Ser Axell Tarly, and Ser Mychel Corbray, Your Grace."

"Can we have a four-way duel to the death and give the last man standing the White Cloak once he wipes off his blood stains," I pitched in my two cents.

For a while, there was silence in the chamber as everyone looked at me in shock until Lyman coughed and Viserys pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed in exasperation.

"I always forget about the other one," I heard Otto whisper to himself.

"Your Grace, while I wouldn't exactly suggest a duel to the death, a melee between all four combatants to decide the victor for the White Cloak wouldn't be so bad after all it has happened before," Corlys says before the pause becomes too long.

"I agree, Your Grace, there has been a previous incident in which your grandsire held a tourney to fill the vacancies of the White Cloaks, it was called the War for the White Cloaks, holding another such melee to find an appropriate replacement for Ser Ryam Redwyne wouldn't be amiss and this could easily herald in a new tradition for the Kingsguard." Runciter joins the party as well.

"So a melee between the four of them, does that stand well with you Lord Commander." Viserys turned toward Ser Harrold and we all looked at him expectantly.

Viserys was rather excited about it so that was a good sign.

Ser Harrold slowly nodded, "None of them have any real experience fighting a war so a wild melee between the four of them might help set apart the best from the rest among them, Your Grace."

Viserys nodded and turned to Otto, "See to it that this melee is held within the fortnight."

And Otto dutifully nods like the nice and obedient Hand that he is. "Yes, Your grace, as you wish."

"Before we go on, I would like to ask for a raise in the budget for the Justiciars for another expansion," I spoke up before Otto could bring in a new topic for discussion.

"A raise?" Lyman asked with his eyebrows up.

"Another expansion?" Runciter joined with his eyebrows up as well.

"Prince Aegon, it was on your insistence upon taking office that the Justiciars were to be expanded to an unprecedented number of a hundred and fifty, and now you are asking for a further expansion?" Otto says with incredulity.

"Yes I am," I said with a smile,

"Any particular reason you would want to expand again, brother," Viserys asked me curiously,

"Yes, as we all know the expansion of the Justiciars has helped a great deal, three-fourths of all matters about the Smallfolk of King's Landing are now taken care of by them which has reduced our workload considerably, not to mention all petty disputes between the minor nobles and knightly houses are also been taken care of by them as such I want to expand it further and increase the range of their duties," I explained.

"And exactly what expansion and increase in duties are you asking?" Viserys asked with a little apprehension,

"I want to expand the Justiciars to have jurisdiction over Fairmarket and my domains in the Riverlands, I go to Fairmarket every month for a sennight and it is hard enough for me to keep track of all the construction work so having to deal with all the petty issues of the Smallfolk in Fairmarket along with that of the Riverlords who just so happen to arrive at Fairmarket within a day of my arrival is a bit of a headache," I answered, Too much of a headache.

"That is understandable and I am sure we get another ten more Justiciars for Fairmarket," Viserys said nodding, "Besides how is work on the stone bridge coming along?"

"It is going faster than expected, I am sure the bridge will be ready by the end of the year," I said nodding,

The wooden bridge that once spanned the river is now being replaced with a more permanent stone bridge as the wooden bridge could not handle the increased traffic, it is wide enough for two wagons to cross at the same time and with two fortified square towers on either side, just like the Twins. And unlike the Twins, I don't charge exorbitant rates.

"While you may have justified the need to expand the Justiciars to Fairmarket, my Prince, you still haven't explained about the increase in duties." Otto chimes in,

"Lord Lyonel and I have been working on classifying the disputes that come before the king, most of the disputes are minor and a few others are major, the minor ones don't need the king's attention so why not let the Justiciars take care of that," I replied,

Lyonel came in my support, "That is true, your Grace, Prince Aegon and I have come to an understanding that most of the minor disputes shouldn't be dealt with by yourself, so it would be best to delegate them to the Justiciars."

Runciter on hearing remarked, "Compared to the reign of King Jaehaerys, the number of disputes that have now been delegated to Justiciars is already one for the History books and now with this, you will remove nearly all disputes from the King's Court to simply the most pertinent cases."

On hearing that Viserys was sold, the very fact that most of his work would now be done by others was more than enough to bring him on board, now all that was left was Otto.

"Delegating cases of a dispute of minor nobles to civil servants is one thing but to do the same with the major Lords of the realm would be an insult toward them no matter how small the problem," Otto says in an attempt to dissuade Viserys of something he has in his mind decided.

"Please, it is an insult that the King should even bother to listen to their mundane nonsense in the first place," Corlys speaks up,

"Just yesterday a dispute was brought before the King, Lords Ashford, and Merryweather came into a dispute over who owned about five acres of land, such things shouldn't be dealt with by the King but rather by their own Liege Lords and if they can't bother themselves to first go to Highgarden then we shouldn't bother to give them our time."

And with that, the matter was settled, too bad Otto, though I believe that he was inwardly relieved that he shouldn't have to deal with petty problems from now on.

"Lord Lyman, do you think that we can afford to increase the number of Justiciars," Lyonel asks Lyman who is going through his ledgers.

"I will have to cut a few corners but I might be able to work it out." He says as he turns the page.

"We wouldn't have to cut corners if it hadn't been for the Triarchy leaching off our ships," Corlys says with a venomous bite.

Corlys wasn't wrong, the Triarchy was responsible for the dip in the revenues of the Crown and it was showing.

He is still unhappy with Viserys for not starting a war with the Triarchy over the Stepstones, all that Viserys could do for him was give out letters of Marque to every willing captain from the Iron Islands to the Arbor and Driftmark.

"Mayhaps, we wouldn't have to cut corners if more than half of the taxes of the Riverlands weren't being siphoned off to Fairmarket," Otto remarked with a pointed look towards me and almost immediately I heard Viserys sigh,

I decided to cut Viserys some slack, "First of all that money is being put to use for the betterment of House Targaryen, and second if this expense hurts the Crown so badly then I am willing to foot half the costs for this expansion."

Viserys gave out a sigh of relief and while Otto felt pleased with my offer, the fool wasn't entirely happy that I wasn't going to pay for the entire thing. On the other hand, Lyman was happy as he could make do with half of the costs.

"Now, can we attend to the matter of the Stepstones?" Corlys asked as the matter of the Justiciary came to a close.

"Lady Joanna Swann has been taken slave into a Lyseni Pillow house, how many more noblewomen have to be taken slave for this Council to realize the threat that the Triarchy poses to the Seven Kingdoms?" Corlys asked with exasperation.

"The Small Council realizes the threat, they are just not sure how to proceed," I quipped as I refilled my cup,

"And how exactly do you intend on proceeding, you better not say start a war," Viserys replied with a look that meant he was not joking,

"Why not start a war?" Corlys asks incredulously, "That cunt Craghas Drahar needs to be killed,"

"Well for starters, we do not have the resources to hold the Stepstones, we are barely able to expand our bureaucracy by cutting corners." Otto points out,

"Capturing the Stepstones isn't the problem, holding on to it is," Lyonel adds,

"The Triarchy finds no problem holding on to it for the past ten years," Corlys angrily retorts,

"They are successful because Three Free Cities combined are contributing towards it, the individual wealth of the Free Cities is more than enough to match both the Westerlands and the Reach combined," Lyman answers,

Before Corlys can say anything in response Runciter speaks up,

"Suppose for a moment that we somehow find the money to fund a war in the Stepstones, Princes Daemon and Aegon on Caraxes and Sheepstealer manage to break the strength of the Triarchy and we can defeat the Triarchy and force them into recognizing our control over the Stepstones which I doubt will happen and hoping that the Dornish don't side with Triarchy which is also doubtful, who will control the Stepstones in the Crown's name."

Not Daemon, I thought.

"It will take a fortune to fortify the Stepstones and garrison it, not to mention another fortune to develop the Islands properly so that they may be economically viable, even with all your wealth Lord Corlys, I doubt you will be able to do it all," Otto says condescendingly which makes Corlys grind his teeth.

"And none of this is mentioning the winter that is soon to be upon us," Runciter adds at the end.

There is a lull which I break by speaking up,

"So what is to be done then?" I asked as I walked over to get a new flagon of wine.

"Mayhaps we should pray to the Seven that the Triarchy lowers their tolls," Corlys snarked.

Viserys ignored his comment and answered me, "Westeros has no lack of sons of bitches who are willing to fight and die in the Stepstones, what we need right now is someone to fund our efforts."

"So in other words, we need to find someone who hates the Triarchy as much as we do and has the money to fund a war in the Stepstones." Lyonel continues,

"Which means Braavos, Pentos, and Volantis, they are the best chance we have." Runciter finishes,

"We have sent envoys to Braavos and Pentos and both the Sealord and the Prince of Pentos have shown interest in funding a war provided it is Westerosi blood spilled in the Stepstones and provided we give them low rates of tax tolls I am sure they might let us hold the Stepstones," Otto informs us,

"And what about Volantis? Can we bring over to our side," Lyonel asks thoughtfully,

"Volantis will not get involved no matter how much they hate the Triarchy, they barely recovered from the Century of Blood before they were thrashed yet again during the Battle of the Borderland, all three Triarchs of Volantis are Elephants and they were all elected on the promise that they won't get involved in any more conflicts," Corlys replies shaking his head.

"Aegon, do you have anything to add?" Viserys asked me when he noticed that I was silent throughout the entire conversation.

I got up and walked over to the part of the wall which held the map of the three Daughters and the Stepstones, it was set up for our benefit as nearly all Small Council meetings circle back to the Stepstones and the Triarchy.

"We are doing this wrong, if we invade the Stepstones then we must ensure that Craghas Drahar doesn't get any support from the Triarchy, and the best way to ensure that is to bring down the Triarchy as a whole," I said as I took my dagger out and pointed to former Disputed Lands and stabbed the map.

"Yes, that is a step in the right direction," Corlys hisses in satisfaction and got up and walked over to me and the map, "The best way to ensure that the Triarchy doesn't intervene is to break them up and without any support from the mainland the Crabfeeder might as well be a pirate king whose days are numbered."

"What do you have in mind? Brother," Viserys cautiously asks me,

"For all of its talk about the Eternal Alliance, the Triarchy is fragile like glass and is always on the verge of exploding, a proper spark in the right place and at the right time will set the whole Eternal Alliance ablaze like the Seventh hell," I replied twirling the dagger before placing it into its sheath.

"The Thirty-three Magisters of the Triarchy have a vested interest in keeping the Alliance together, no matter what bad blood may be between them individually, there will be members who will have the foresight to put the needs of the Triarchy first before their own," Otto counters,

"Too bad none of those foresighted fools and their admirals have the common sense to not annoy the House of the Dragon," I snarked back,

"The Triarchy is a complex system, you can't just tear them apart like they are clothes," Otto replied patronizingly,

I didn't bother to respond and I turned toward Corlys, "Where does the High Council of the Triarchy come together?"

If he was surprised by my question, he didn't show it, "It changes every year between the three cities, this year it is Myr and next year it will be Lys considering that last year it was Tyrosh."

"Perfect timing for us," I said nodding,

"And they will be meeting in the Grand Palace of Myr, will they not?" I gave a follow-up question to which Corlys again nodded,

I turn to Runciter "Do you have a map of Myr, I mean that map that clearly shows exactly where the Grand Palace is?"

He nodded bemusedly, "Yes, my Prince, the maps are in my quarters but I don't see what that has to do with anything?"

"Let me worry about that," I replied as I sent a page to get me the map of Myr.

I turned again to Corlys, "Do we know when the High Council will be in session or rather any religious festival or any occasion which may cause all thirty-three magisters to be in Myr in the Grand Palace along with their main Admirals and everybody who is anybody in the Triarchy?"

I can see a wicked smile grow on Corlys' face, "Yes, there is, on the tenth day of the sixth month the entire leadership of the Triarchy will be present to celebrate the ninth anniversary of the founding of the Triarchy."

"All the eggs in one basket." I completed with a wicked smile of my own.

"Seven Hells, Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting?" Viserys asked with a gobsmacked face,

"Damn right I am, Daemon and I will fly in and burn down their palace with them in it and be out before they even know it," I answered with a grin,

"And I thought Daemon was the crazy one of the family!!" Otto uttered with shock,

"You will be surprised by how far the craziness goes in my family," I deadpanned,

"No one in their right mind will ever think of doing something like this," Lyman said in disbelief,

"Exactly, they will never see it coming," Corlys responded with a gleam in his eyes,

"A chance to cut off the snake's head in a single blow is tempting but how will you pull it off, my Prince," Lyonel asked me. Unsurprisingly he could keep the shock of my idea off his face because I think he expected me to give some crazy idea.

"We shall leave from Dragonstone before dawn and fly east straight to Pentos, we will reach Pentos by a little before midday, we shall meet with the Prince and tell him of our plan and then head south, we will reach Myr by the hour of the owl, not that it will matter for they will all be too drunk to react, we will make the Grand Palace another Harrenhal and then leave,"

A decapitation strike, so to speak. I have flown to Pentos before, it's a little less than a ten-hour flight from Dragonstone and I am assuming that it is a twelve-hour flight to Myr.

Corlys continues after me, "After that whatever is left of the Triarchy will collapse into infighting, and the Crabfeeder will be all alone to face our attack,"

And yet again silence descends upon the Small Council chambers as they take in my plan,

Instead of outright disagreeing with me, I can see that Otto is contemplative, this is encouraging.

"What if this attack instead galvanizes the remnants of the Triarchy to fight back?" Viserys questions me,

"I believe that is unlikely, Your Grace," Otto speaks up in my favor for the first time, which is a shock to me.

Otto continues, "Whoever is not in the Grand Palace at the time of the attack will be too low ranking for them to do anything against us, this anniversary celebration for them is somewhat like the Coronation for us, all the nobles of the Triarchy will be present no matter their standing if this attack is successful then all three Free Cities will be left leaderless and will fall into anarchy and by the time anyone can regain control of the cities, the Stepstones will be ours."

"And they will never dare to make a union like this ever again," Corlys adds,

"So what do you say, brother?" I asked him eagerly,

Viserys looked at the others in the Small Council, "Are you all in agreement with this crazy plan?"

Otto shrugged, "It is more than crazy, Your Grace, and normally I won't accept something this mad but it is the only way to prevent a protracted war with three Free Cities at once and to end the Crabfeeder's tyranny over our shipping lanes for good,"

Lyonel spoke in support as well, "A chance to cut the snake's head shouldn't be wasted, Your Grace, for it is important to be decisive in such matters,"

"This will start a never-ending war with the Free Cities," Viserys replies, uneasy at the prospect of war.

"A war which can be used to help heal the wounds of the Great Council, after all, it is easier to unite Westeros against something rather than for something," Runciter sagely replies.

"At this point, your Grace, I would suggest that you annex the Stepstones to the Seven Kingdoms for good," Lyonel adds.

"It won't be like a Dornish War, for I am certain that the war will not last as long or be as costly as an invasion of Dorne, for once the Princes destroy Myr and break up the Triarchy, a pirate fleet will not be much trouble," Beesbury pitches in.

With the entire Small Council on the same page, Viserys folded and accepted the plan.

"Very well then, you and Daemon can do your crazy plan but it better work Aegon and you better not make me regret this," Viserys said with a sigh.

"Don't worry brother this will work and you will not regret it," I replied with a smile.