Chapter 35: The Black Wedding (1)

Last Day of 113 AC

Royal Apartments, Maegor's Holdfast

Red Keep, King's Landing

It was dusk, the sun had set and the last purple rays of light were fading away as the darkness of the night crept in, I stood out on my balcony to enjoy the soft breeze and I saw the city and the Red Keep gearing up for the marriage of the century, the din of the preparations was ever-present yet I stood unmoving at the window, a part of me was waiting for Caraxes and Daemon to fly into the city yet another part of me was relieved that he hadn't. Some three heads of the dragon we are.

I wondered what I would have done if I hadn't bothered to ask my father and grandfather for Fairmarket, would I have joined Daemon in the bender that was the Stepstones or fucked off to the Summer Isles because there was no way in hell that I was going to stay in the cesspool that was King's Landing and certainly I wouldn't have been considered for Rhaenyra's hand and yet here I am, set to marry my niece and play the Game of Thrones till I die. Suddenly the option to run away wasn't so bad if not for my wretched pride.

"You can't stare through the window all night, in case you have forgotten then let me remind you that you have a wedding coming up in an hour, we should leave by now." Robb dryly remarks as he comes and stands next to me on the balcony and rests his hands on the balustrade. "Your bride must have finished her preparations as well, it has been five hours since they began to dress her up."

I snorted "The preparations began six months ago, and for the past fucking week we have had nothing but feasts, balls, gambling, hawking, jousts, melees, and a buttload of more things that I can't even remember. Thank goodness this will be the end of it."

It was a long week, the amount of money spent on this wedding is something Lord Lyman is yet to come to terms with. If I took ten random Lords from the crowd, their annual incomes combined wouldn't even make up a quarter of the wedding costs. The grandness and opulence of this wedding can be compared to Golden Wedding sixty years ago. And in an imitation of the Golden Wedding, a mock sea battle was staged in Blackwater Bay, I have to say that I was impressed though considerably less impressed when Lyman came to me and requested that I fund a part of the wedding because he was about to have a stroke. Though the merchants and the smallfolk must have greatly benefited from this wedding,

Robb informed me of what I already suspected "People are already calling it the Black Wedding because they consider this wedding to be the epoch of the Blacks wherein they shall rule the Seven Kingdoms for evermore and also because the Princess has been wearing black dresses with red highlights for the past week and same can be said about you, and the King and more than half the court."

"Thank you, Robb, you have my eternal gratitude," I said out of the blue which took him by surprise, "You were with me when I was in a dark place, you were with me in my lowest time, after the war and after Dacey's death, I nearly worked myself to death but you saved me more than once for which I cannot even begin to thank you."

Robb shook his head "No thanks necessary, Aegon, you gave me a chance to rise above my bastardy which is something that nobody else who has ever dared to do, I would have spent my whole life in Raventree Hall but here I am now, an advisor to a Prince, this is something most trueborn Lords would give their right hands for."

I snorted, "And those same trueborn Lords would expect me to give them a golden hand in exchange and this is not even touching the ones who will backstab me, not to forget, you were more of a father to my sons than I was, I was barely in their lives, I threw myself into my work that I forgot my family."

Robb waves it off "Please, you were far more of a father to your sons than mine was to my younger brothers or me and that is the sad truth when it comes to most Lords especially those who are Lords of large swathes of lands and have vassals under them, regardless of their wishes they tend to spend too much time dealing with disputes and managing their land that they do not have time for their family, only the heir gets to have a close relationship with the father the others need to make do with their mothers, uncles, older siblings or even Maesters."

I don't reply as the breeze picks up and l feel the cool air on my face for a few minutes we just stand there before I asked him, "How are the food tasters? Have they tasted the food meant to be served?"

"Yes they are all in good health, the chefs themselves were the food tasters, I doubt they will poison themselves to get a chance at poisoning you or the king," He replies.

"You are getting paranoid just like when you came back from the war, nearly all visitors to your court, my brother included were astounded at your tense state and mistrustful nature and the heightened security, it took a whole year for all of us to convince you to relax." He was right, I was paranoid about security after the war but it seemed that most of Essos hated the Triarchy that they decided that they would rather let a dragonlord destroy one of their counterparts rather than be subservient to a fellow Free City, not understanding the precedent it sets.

"But what about the wine, that can be poisoned, Tears of Lys is slow acting, no cupbearer will catch that and if it is the Strangler then nobody can save me." I pressed, the Greens would certainly try to kill me, if Otto wants his grandson on the throne, then I have to die.

"If it is the Tears of Lys, then the Grand Maester can save your life with a purgative, and don't worry, I will keep watch and as for the Strangler, you have a cupbearer for that, the person who drinks the poisoned cup first is the one who dies first and the Strangler acts within moments, so you needn't worry."

My cupbearer happened to be Medrick Manderly, the son and heir of Desmond Manderly, a good lad and strong fighter, he was chosen as my squire to make up for the fact that the whole betrothal with Viserra failed and also to undermine Velaryon's support, and since the Velaryon's lost most of their credibility after that stunt Corlys pulled off which resulted in easy pickings for the Blacks and Blues and Greens.

Robb advised, "You know, you should take your nephew Aegon as your cupbearer and squire, that will halt all threats of poisoning from the Greens."

"Yes, I should do that," I nodded, or Larys could poison both of us and frame the Velaryons for it, my thoughts said as they ran dark. There was something wrong with Larys and that was something everyone agreed on, he gave out an aura of eeriness that would be reminiscent of Euron Greyjoy from the books. He wasn't the Lord Confessor yet but it would be only a matter of time. If half the rumors from the dungeons are true then he sure had a lot of fun mutilating people, cutting off legs being his favorite method with tongue removal and branding people with a red hot iron slab as a close second.

For what reason does he support Alicent, only he knows, Alicent and the other Greens are creeped out by him but since they need a counter to me, he is all they got. His father and brother are my supporters and Harwin is indebted to me ever since I defended him when he accidentally killed Alicent's brother Gwayne.

"We need to do something about Larys, I am not waiting any longer for that rat to make a move." I declared as I turned back into the chambers. If I wait too long then I might suffer for my laxity. That rat is best-taken care of like how one deals with vermin.

"What do you have in mind?" Robb asked as he followed me in, the warmth of the fire in the hearth replacing the coolness of the breeze.

"Something along the lines of a fire," I replied as I took a cup of wine that was on the table, a little drink to calm the wedding jitters.

A knock came on the door and my Steward Brynden Thorne entered, "My Prince, it is time to leave for the Grand Sept."

I nodded and turned to look at myself in my mirror before I remarked, "I look like a fop don't I?"

While I tended to wear functional clothes of high-quality materials, this was just over the top and I would have never countenanced this if not for Viserys demanding it. Elaborate red and gold tracery on fine black silks, and an elaborate crimson-red sash. I look like Joffrey in the show dressed in Targaryen colors. The original design had large open sleeves and capes making it look even more like Joffrey before I did away with that.

Robb chuckled, "It's only for a few hours, with that sword by your hip, no one will dare call you foppish," He said pointing to Blackfyre on my belt.

Yes, a few hours.

 Grand Sept of King's Landing

I looked at the crowd inside the Sept, a crowd that was much larger than my first one, this one had Lords and Ladies from Castle Black to Sunspear, and nearly all the Free Cities sent a delegation, the fact that few of them were at war with each other notwithstanding. Nearly five hundred people inside the Sept itself and a crowd of tens of thousands thronging outside.

Thousands of peasants have gathered on the streets around the Sept, the City Watch is no doubt struggling to control the crowds, thankfully there is plenty of food and entertainment for everyone, jugglers, mummers, bards, minstrels, and many more entertainers.

Alicent was keeping a well-practiced mask of pleasantness on her face while the Blacks couldn't keep their smirk from their faces, the crowd was now majority black and everyone knew it. Rhaenys and Corlys were present as were their children, they put on a show of love for everyone on the outside to see but inside the cracks were still present, though knowing them, they will bury the hatchet soon enough.

Robb and Hosteen stood alongside my sons, they have come around to the idea of their father marrying the cousin, and I had to assuage their fears that they wouldn't be replaced and neither would I love my new children more than I loved them.

Twenty sworn brothers of the Night's Watch came down South for this wedding alongside Rickon Stark, they received generous gifts of steel, cloth, and grain from Viserys. Qoren Martell's younger brother Mors Martell was the main Dornish delegate with a couple of other Dornish Lords and Ladies to whom Viserys reaffirmed his commitment to peace. Sixteen magisters from Pentos arrived for this wedding as did the Sealord's son and representatives from the Iron Bank. A heavy guard was placed on both contingents to ensure that neither side would try anything, the war raging between Braavos and Pentos was best kept in Essos.

Then a huge roar went up from outside the Sept, it wasn't a roar of dragons, no, this was a roar of people, it means that Rhaenyra's wheelhouse has arrived. After three minutes that seem like three hours, the great bronze doors of the Sept open and Rhaenyra appears.

My breath hitches as I look at her, she is wearing a white samite gown, and her shapely figure threatened to overflow from her bodice that was studded with diamonds and pearls, the gown flared out at the bottom and dragged the ground and she was draped in her maiden's cloak, it was made of black silk with elaborate draconic imagery embroidered on it and it was studded with gemstones, her hair was braided in her favorite manner, the style of Queen Visenya, and on closer look, it seems like there are rubies in her braids, how on earth did they pull that off? She was wearing the golden three-headed dragon pendant that I had gifted her, her sparkling purple eyes and dazzling smile finished off her look.

Viserys escorted her down the aisle, he was looking proud, hopeful, and worried all at the same time, I could see his eyes were misty, I wonder how long before he breaks down in tears or did he cry it out before coming. Knowing Viserys, he will cry again, though I don't fault him for that.

After an eternity they finally reach the altar, Viserys nods toward me before letting Rhaenyra go and I take Rhaenyra's arm in mine, we shared a smile before turning towards the altar and taking the last few steps together where the High Septon awaited us.