Chapter 15: Cracks start to appear

105 AC

First Day of the Tenth Month

Royal Nursery, Maegor's Holdfast

Red Keep, King's Landing

"Do you think that these dragon eggs will hatch?" Dacey excitedly asked me as I placed my old dragon egg into sleeping Aegor's cradle.

"I wouldn't know, my grandparents are the only ones so far in the family to have dragon eggs hatching in the cradle, everybody else in the family needed to go find their dragons either in the Dragonpit or in Dragonstone," I answered her.

I continued "Or somebody had to fetch a dragon hatchling from the hatcheries because dragon eggs need an amount of warmth that can only be matched in the Dragonmont."

"Then why place the dragon eggs in the cradle if they won't hatch?" Dacey asked with a confused expression.

"We hope that they hatch for my grandparents made it into a tradition for their sister Rhaena did it for them and their dragon eggs hatched," I replied with a shrug.

Though I hope that my children get to bond with bigger and already existing dragons instead of having hatchlings that will take forever to grow.

"This purple and gold dragon egg used to be mine, it is one of the eggs laid by Dreamfyre in a clutch of five," I said pointing to the egg that was now with Aegor.

"Really, what about the other dragon eggs of the clutch?" Dacey asked upon hearing that.

"This and two others haven't hatched yet and are still in the hatcheries, as for the other two eggs, I believe that they may have hatched but most likely the hatchlings were eaten by the Cannibal as we haven't found them," I replied grimly,

"Oh my goodness! Why don't you and Daemon do something over that dragon? If he keeps eating the hatchlings and dragon eggs shouldn't you put him down for good like the mad dog that he is?" Dacey asked with shock.

Now that is a question that everyone who knows anything about the Cannibal has asked at least once in their life to a dragon rider.

"Well for starters, a mad dog and a mad dragon are two very different things, second he keeps the dragon population from ballooning out of control, besides if we put him down some other dragon will take his place and continue the whole circle of life."

"And the third and the most important reason is that every other dragon other than Vhagar and maybe Vermithor is scared of the Cannibal, and even the cantankerous bitch and the hoary bastard know that it is best not to annoy him."

"WHAT??" Dacey exclaimed which nearly woke the twins.

"Yes, shocking isn't it, Gaelithox is scared shitless of the Cannibal, the only reason he has survived as long as he did in the wild is that he had the common sense to run away whenever the Cannibal was anywhere in the vicinity, searching for a kill."

For a while, we didn't say anything but we simply sat there in the Nursery looking at our babies sleep.

"Have you braided your hair?" I asked looking at her and finally noticing the change in hairstyle.

How is this the first I am seeing it? Dacey usually wears her hair loose, and this style of braid looks a lot like those I have seen in Queen Visenya's portraits.

She looks at me with a smile "Thank you for noticing."

"Earlier today Aemma and I were having tea in the gardens when Rhaenyra came running in asking if Aemma and I wanted to braid our hair alongside her, Aemma was too tired to participate so I agreed to give Aemma a break from everything, and indulge Rhaenyra, the Maesters hardly give her time to be alone as it is,"

It was only a matter of time before Aemma gave birth and I had to stop Daemon before he could potentially give Otto everything he has been praying for the past year.

"Something tells me that Rhaenyra is interested in Queen Visenya," I said as I wondered what were the chances of her saying yes to keeping the braids for bed.

She had a sexy warrior vibe with those braids just like what Visenya had in those portraits. And yesterday the Grand Maester finally gave the go-ahead to have sex again.

"Yes, she is, she strictly told the maids that the braids had to be like how Queen Visenya wore them," Dacey agreed with a smile.

"I have to ask, my lovely wife, if you would be willing to" I didn't get to finish as Dacey cut me off,

"Yes, my beloved husband, I will be wearing these braids tonight," She said with a smirk that both gave me a boner and sent a shiver down my spine.

(THE NEXT DAY)

Outside the Birthing Chambers

As Viserys had been with me when Dacey was giving birth, it meant that I had to be with him when Aemma was giving birth.

This meant staying outside the birthing chambers for more than seven hours listening to Aemma's screams of labor while waiting for the inevitable.

My hourly trips to the kitchen to refill my wineskin was the only good thing I had to do. I could have asked the servants to do it for me but I needed an excuse to get out of the vicinity.

Dacey was inside the birthing chambers staying with Aemma while Rhaneyra was kept in a different part of the Holdfast with Alicent and other Septas to keep her away from what can easily be a very gory event. I never noticed this until now but children are not allowed anywhere near the birthing chambers.

Who knows maybe this time the butterflies may cause both Aemma and Baelon to live or maybe Aemma will survive.

Either one of those scenarios may cause Otto's plans to fly away to hell. Though if the number of ravens coming from the Hightower in Oldtown is to be considered then his older brother Hobert Hightower might be calling the shots.

No wonder Otto agreed to my plan to attack Myr, the shipping lanes from Oldtown to King's Landing, Braavos, Gulltown, and White Harbor were strangled in the Stepstones, which caused Oldtown to become dependent on the overland trade routes. These routes just so happened to pass by Highgarden. A castle currently held by House Tyrell, a house of stewards, a fact that has irked virtually everyone in the Reach for the past hundred years.

As I came from the kitchen with a new wineskin, I found Viserys sitting despondently outside so I gave him the wineskin and he took it without question.

"It's Dornish Red, but it might help take your mind off for the next ten seconds," I said to him as he nearly drank the whole thing in a single gulp.

"Where is Daemon?" Viserys asked me as he wiped off the wine that spilled into his tunic.

"Somewhere, I am not sure," I answered with a shrug.

"Go and find him," Viserys said to me,

Before I could protest, Viserys said to me "You don't need to stay with me for this, Aegon, I know I wouldn't so go find Daemon from whatever ditch he is in,"

Courtyard of the Red Keep

"Captain Harwin, any particular chance you might know where my brother might be," I asked Breakbones as I meet him in the courtyard drilling the men.

Like his father, Harwin Strong was not an ambitious cunt, he was a decent and honest human being which I have realized is in short supply around here. Not to mention a good fighter in the training yard and the only Captain of the City Watch who isn't Daemon's sycophant.

The same couldn't be said about his younger brother who happens to be a Confessor, he already gives the Littlefinger vibes which tempt me into strangling the cunt, fortunately for him, his father happens to be my friend, so I shall not do anything to him as long as Lyonel is alive.

"Yes, my Prince, Prince Daemon is inspecting the garrison at the Gate of the Gods," Harwin answered as he walked toward me while a serjeant takes over the drilling.

"Thank you, Captain Harwin, anything of note that might be happening at the Gate," I said with a nod.

"I am as of yet unaware, should I accompany you?" He asks me.

"Sure, why not?" I reply with a nod, a little extra protection in the streets in case of an attempt on my life is not to be discarded.

"My Prince, if I may ask, how is Queen Aemma faring?" Harwin asks me as we wait for one of the stableboys to bring out the horses.

"Every birth is in the hands of the Gods, the Queen is still in labor and the child is yet to come out, we can only hope for the best," I replied as Harwin solemnly nodded.

"How are things in the streets? The number of cases coming to the courts has reduced as of late," I asked him because I wanted a change of subject and also to find out why there wasn't a backlog of cases in the justice system that I so amazingly pioneered.

"Well, my Prince, since you are the Lord Justiciar, most people think that the judgment given by Prince Daemon in the streets will be the same as what you will give in the courts, so they tend not to appeal," He answers with hesitation.

"That's ridiculous, I am the one who overturns or reduces most of Daemon's needlessly harsh sentences," I reply affronted.

Harwin replies "That may be true for you my Prince, but you ONLY deal with the cases given forth by Prince Daemon or the Captains, the same cannot be said about the other Justiciars, they tend to accept whatever accusation is made by the Watchmen, and it's made worse by the fact that Justiciars and Watchmen need each other, Justiciars need Watchmen to enforce the King's Law while the Watchmen need Justiciars to condemn criminals,"

I didn't have anything to say to that, this is exactly what I worried would happen, nearly all the Justiciars come from well-to-do backgrounds which means that they are not particularly sympathetic to the people of Fleabottom

"I should have seen that coming a mile back," I said with a sigh as the stableboy arrives with two horses while a serjeant assembles a squad of guardsmen to accompany me.

"What do you intend to do about that? My Prince." Harwin asks me as climbs on the horse given to him.

"That is a problem that has to be dealt with another day," I said to him as I climbed my horse.

Gate of the Gods

When I arrived at the Gate, I wasn't expecting to see a whipping. The man is tied to the whipping post, and his clothes, gold cloak, and armor discarded nearby show that he is a member of the City Watch or rather a former member now and his back is a raw, bloody slab of meat.

Standing behind him is Daemon, his arm up in the air with a whip, the squad of twenty that stands behind him is stone-faced as they watch it all happen, and upon my arrival with Harwin, they turn to look at me while Daemon stops his arm before it fully descends.

"Did I miss anything?" I dryly asked as I got off the horse.

Daemon points to the man tied to the post "This rat here is a man who has betrayed my trust, this rat decided for himself that the wages that I give him aren't enough, apparently, he needs to be paid by smugglers to satisfy his material desires."

"What has he helped to smuggle?" I asked Daemon as he wiped his hand along the length of the whip, cleaning his fingers on his gold cloak before coiling it into quick, net loops.

"Look for yourself," Daemon said as he pointed to an open chest, and sure enough on closer inspection, the chest is filled with Myrish carpets, laces, wines, mirrors, screens, and blankets. In other words everything from Myr which is now worth more than ten times its weight in gold.

"And the smugglers?" I followed up and Daemon pointed to the heads above the gates.

"Right, never mind that now," I answered as I took him a little further away while others took the now unconscious man and placed him in a cart which I believe will take him to the docks for a ship heading for Eastwatch.

"Viserys needs you back in the Red Keep, we all do, it seems the childbirth is going much worse than the ones before," I revealed to him.

"Will he ever learn?" Daemon says exasperatedly.

"No he won't and this time it is worse, I don't think that Aemma will make it, so you need to come back to the Red Keep," I answered with a sense of urgency.

He understood my tone and he nodded before calling one of his men to bring his horse.

Courtyard of the Red Keep

Of all the things that I expected to see when I rode into the Red Keep, Dacey waiting for me was not one of them, her gown had too much blood on it and her eyes said it all.

I dared to hope and before I could form words in my mouth to ask her, Dacey answered with an almost imperceptible shake of her head.

"What happened?" Daemon demanded as he got off the horse.

"The King had to make a choice, save the babe or let both the mother and the babe die," Dacey said with tears in her eyes.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" I shouted incredulously.

"When did that happen?" Daemon followed up with an eerily calm tone.

Dacey raised her blood-stained hand to calm me before saying, "I don't know the exact time but according to the midwives, the Grand Maester approached the King sometime before you left to get Daemon,"

"That doesn't make any sense unless" I started but I trailed off as realization dawned on me.

"THAT CUNT!!!"

(TWO DAYS LATER)

Royal Apartments

The cremation for Aemma and Baelon was held outside the city and it went as I expected it to go, Viserys was near catatonic, Rhaenyra was devastated, Daemon had gone off drinking and whoring, and all the while Corlys and Otto are plotting to place their daughters as the next Queen.

And I am more than pissed at Viserys, I need to give that asshole a piece of my mind, but first I need to calm my wife who was starting to become distraught over the worst happening to me in the Stepstones.

"What am I to do should some cursed quarrel find you in the Stepstones?" Dacey asks worriedly as I sit in my solar with her.

"For starters, I would suggest not to think about things like that," I began but Dacey didn't let me finish.

She said to me "Your uncle died in Tarth because a Myrish crossbowman accidentally hit him, do you think that the Myrish crossbowmen will not attack you for revenge on what you and your brother have done in Myr,"

"Queen Rhaenys was killed because of a lucky shot of a scorpion to the eye of her dragon what if that happens to you?" She continued frantically.

I held her shoulders to calm her down and I kissed her on the lips, "Dacey, it will be alright, nothing will happen to me and I will return to you and our children, I promise."

She slowly began to calm down and soon our clothes began to come off and the next thing I know is that pleasure washes over all my senses as I am in the throes of passion.

(Later that Night)

By the time I got up, it was already well into the night, which either meant that I was too late to stop Daemon's folly or his orgy was just getting started. Doesn't matter which because I still had to go.

For the past year, I had been waiting for a chance to protect Daemon from his foolishness only for my dick to betray me in the end.

I get out of bed where Dacey is still asleep, hopefully, she will sleep for the rest of the night, I get dressed as fast as I can before I rush out to the Street of Silk.

Now the shit begins for real.

Street of Silk

I walked into the orgy room of the brothel expecting to see the endless debauchery and perversions and kinks that have long called Daemon's mind home sweet home only to be surprised to see a rather tame orgy happening.

And to my greater surprise, Daemon is dressed and not buck naked and balls deep in a whore as I expected him to be. There are a few of his officers entertained by Mysaria and her set of whores. But this is nothing compared to what happens in the black brothels and the rat pits of the undercity.

"Look who decided to show up," Daemon said with a grin looking at me. Other than Mysaria I doubt anybody else here speaks High Valyrian.

"I had thought of asking you to join me in a few drinks and a little bit of gambling a few hours ago only to find you and your wife rutting like animals," He continued to say with his insufferable smirk.

"Urgh, you walked in on us, and how did we not notice it," I said with distaste and I thought my kids would be the first to walk in on us.

Daemon replied with his smirk not leaving his face "The two of you were too busy to notice from your 'please don't leave me alone sex' so what brings you here to this den of lust and desire, for last I checked you are happily married,"

"It's disturbing that you know what kind of sex that is because I doubt you have experienced it considering every woman who sleeps with you instantly regrets it but I am not going further into that because I have something important to discuss, something that could get you exiled," I responded with a dead look and the last part managed to get his attention.

"What do you mean?" Daemon asked me with a bemused look.

"Got somewhere private to talk, this includes Otto and the succession and slander against you," I answered, and that got Daemon up from the chair.

"EVERYBODY OUT, TAKE THIS ORGY SOMEWHERE ELSE," He shouted at the others,

They knew better than to whine too much in Daemon's presence as he never tolerates it. Mysaria tried to approach us but a look from Daemon made her back of.

"Did you give a toast here sometime before which included a few phrases going by the words of Heir for a day?" I asked once everyone left the room.

"What do you mean?" Daemon questioned with annoyance.

"I mean did you insult our dead nephew," I replied with a snarl,

Daemon snarled back "I did not insult him, I am many things Aegon but I will never insult my flesh and blood, that too Viserys' son."

"Alright then, just one last thing," I said to him.

"And what's that and what does any of this have to do with that cunt Otto?" Daemon asked back as his lilac orbs glared into mine.

"How many spies does Otto have in your circle? I won't be surprised if Otto goes to Viserys claiming that you insulted Baelon and in his grief and desperation to find a scapegoat for his mistakes and selfishness Viserys will believe him".

"You are being ridiculous Viserys will never believe such nonsense besides no fool in the City Watch will dare spy on me to that cunt Otto, they know full well what I do to traitors and snitches," Daemon said with a scoff.

"Viserys will believe such nonsense and you know it," I pressed,

"No, he won't because he defended me in the Small Council just hours ago," Daemon revealed,

"What Small Council Meeting?" I asked bemused.

"I wish I could say that I am surprised but I am not, I am certain Otto purposefully didn't inform you of it," Daemon responded with a roll of his eyes,

"After I walked out of your room I glimpsed Viserys entering the Small Council Chambers, it was the Hour of the Eel and Viserys was in no position to call for a Small Council Meeting, so I knew that Otto called for an emergency meeting, so I snuck in and overheard the meeting through those secret passages we found as children,"

"Otto brought up the succession and begged Viserys to name Rhaenyra as heir, he even compared me to Maegor but Viserys shut him and the rest of the council up,"

"Why wasn't I informed of this meeting?" I angrily asked after hearing what Daemon said,

"That is exactly what Viserys, Corlys, and Strong asked and Otto replied saying that you chose to recuse yourself from this meeting to grieve with your family," Daemon answered with a mocking smile.

"That cunt," I breathed out,

Before Daemon could leave the room I asked once more "Did you call Baelon the Heir for a day, I am not asking if you said it mockingly or somberly, I am asking did you say those words because those words will spread and Otto will pounce on that,"

Daemon looked away from me, His silence told everything, he said those words and the context doesn't matter.

"You are fucked, you know that."