-Chapter 138-

-First day of the fourth moon of the year 121 AC-

-POV Larys Strong-

I lowered my head and apologized, saying to His Majesty:

"I beg your pardon for my delay, Your Majesty."

His Majesty said nothing but nonetheless nodded before losing interest in me and silently gazing at the sky.

"Weren't you eager to see your master again?" said the Hand of the King in an ironic tone.

I resisted the urge to sigh and roll my eyes and instead replied in a falsely repentant tone, now accustomed to his incessant remarks due to the frustration he felt at having to let me live:

"I do not know what I have done to displease you so much, my lord Hand, but I assure you that it was never my intention."

He chuckled softly without saying anything, as bitter as always since we had failed to bring down Prince Aemon.

He turned toward me, sensing the lightness in my tone and disliking it, then said, emphasizing each of his words while ensuring not to raise his voice so others would not hear what we were discussing:

"The only reason you are still breathing is that..."

"...I threatened to let the prince know everything I know about you and all that we did behind his back against him," I said coldly, straightening slightly, momentarily towering over him before adding with a return to my hypocritical air:

"I remember that moment perfectly. It was not one of the best of my life."

'If I hadn't done that, I would have undoubtedly ended up like Daemon's whore,' I thought, briefly recalling the fire that had occurred in the quarters of the one who had called herself the White Worm.

'As soon as her protector left the capital, her establishment, which was also her base of operations, was set ablaze. And even though he always denied it, I am absolutely convinced that it was no coincidence and that he had something to do with it.'

It wasn't just a hunch that made me wary of him and made sure he knew that if anything happened to me, he would have to dig a grave for two.

Because the night after the incident, some of his men boasted in bars that belonged to me about what he had done to "Daemon's Whore."

The fact that the bodies of these men were found the next morning with their throats slit in the streets only confirmed my suspicions about the Queen's father.

I immediately knew that he was covering his tracks while silently demonstrating to his men that loose tongues would only lead to death.

'The traces of the plot the three of us had orchestrated,' I thought.

Each of us had our own motivations for attacking Prince Aemon and our own contender that we wanted to push onto the throne.

For that, we all needed to make the Prince disappear by setting him against someone else.

'Someone who could defeat him,' I thought, watching the King and his brother, who had returned from exile last year with the only son he had left.

'But without his wife,' I added silently, as she had not survived the plague that struck the city of Pentos last year.

'The anger he feels is almost palpable,' I thought, as since his return, he had been very reserved, doing nothing but teaching his son what a true Prince should be, according to him.

The boy could barely walk straight before he was given a weapon to learn how to fight.

'It's a lost cause. He will never learn from his mistakes,' I thought, shifting my gaze from the stubborn prince to the Queen, who had significantly strengthened her influence over the King.

'It had to happen, after she was informed of what we had done,' I thought, still remembering the astonishment and the look in her eyes when she had learned of our plan to get rid of the Prince.

'A plan she did not approve of, yet had to follow because her father had a tight leash around her neck. Which is not the case for her son,' I thought, observing Aegon Targaryen, the second heir to the crown, who waited impatiently beside his parents for his mentor's arrival.

'I would not have believed he would allow him to return to the capital so soon, but he did,' I thought before hearing the sound of horses' hooves clattering on the paved road leading outside the open gates.

In the distance, a group of riders was leading what could only be considered an army.

By offering the Stepstones to this Saabhos Saan and taking him into his service as a corsair, he had managed to multiply his power as well as his wealth by...

'Even I could not say by how much,' I thought, as through his pirate associate, he controlled the largest trade crossroads and had now nearly cemented his total hold over Lys.

The riders entered through the wide-open gates before splitting apart to form a guard of honor through which a dozen riders passed.

I frowned upon noticing that among the riders were several people I would never have thought to see in the capital.

'Especially in these times,' I thought, knowing the underlying tensions between the King, Prince Daemon, and Prince Aemon, which had not disappeared despite all the time that had passed.

'Not to mention the ones between him and Otto Hightower,' I thought before turning toward the latter.

I softly whispered to the Hand:

"It seems that Prince Aemon is ready to humiliate you to the very end."

The latter clenched his jaw and watched with anger as Perra Royce entered, accompanied by her husband Robar Hawkeye.

Not only were they part of the escort, but Gunthor Royce, William Royce, Rhea Royce—newly remarried to the new Lord of Runestone, Willem Royce, who had taken his wife's name—were all present.

'At this point, it's outright a display of force,' I thought, as we had assumed he would come accompanied by only a few Royces.

Instead, he had arrived with all the members of his family at court.

Dragon Roar

I raised an eyebrow upon hearing a dragon's roar I knew well, and looking up, I saw the Red Queen emerging from the clouds and descending from the sky.

Dragon Roar

I had no time to think before a second roar, followed by a third, a fourth, and even a fifth, echoed.

Four dragons emerged from the clouds, following closely behind the Red Queen.

I frowned and, observing the faces of those present, quickly realized we were all thinking the same thing.

'If these four young dragons belong to the Prince's four children, it means he has silently created his own army of dragonriders,' I thought.

'Or at least, it will be one when his children are of age to fight,' I added before being pulled from my thoughts by three more roars.

Dragon Roar

DRAGON ROAR

'And what roars,' I thought, feeling a shiver of fear run down my spine.

'There they are at last,' I thought, seeing Vhagar, Urrax, and Sheepstealer emerging from the clouds.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Prince Daemon's reaction and held back a smile as I saw his jaw clench violently at the sight of the two behemoths, casting a total shadow over the city for a brief moment, accompanied by a dragon that was slightly more than a third of the size of the other two.

'To think that today, he could have had all these dragons under his command. But due to his inability to be a good father, he has not only lost his eldest son but also his second son.'

'Perhaps he will even end up losing the last one as well,' I thought before refocusing my attention on the dragons.

They slowed their descent, spreading their wings to land both inside and outside the Red Keep, as there was not enough space in the castle's inner courtyard due to the dragons of the King, Princess Rhaenyra, Prince Aegon, and Prince Daemon.

---

-POV Viserys Targaryen-

The ground trembled slightly as Vhagar and Urrax landed, but I did my best not to let myself be destabilized despite the weakness I felt throughout my body.

Since Aemon's alchemist had left my side after our falling out, the illness that the alchemist had been combating had returned with a vengeance.

And despite the expertise of the archmaesters and the Grand Maester, they had done nothing but ease my pain.

"Come on, jump into Papa's arms!" Aemon shouted with a smile at his daughters, who leaped fearlessly from the top of Urrax's head before bursting into laughter under my wide-eyed gaze.

My heart, which had nearly jumped out of my chest upon seeing the two little girls leap from a height of ten feet, calmed as I saw they were unharmed.

I wanted to step forward to greet my nephew, but I recalled my discussion with my advisors, and they were right.

'This sense of impunity must end. I need to clarify our positions,' I thought, raising my chin slightly when our eyes met.

I maintained an impassive face throughout our exchange of gazes, and he finally conceded, setting his daughters down and breaking our silent contest.

I, in turn, averted my gaze from my nephew to focus on my cousin Rhaenys, who, according to Larys, had taken Aemon's side.

'That explains the absence of the Sea Snake and his prolonged journey to Yi-Ti, which has dragged on for several years now,' I thought, realizing that he had simply lost the support of his wife.

'The rumor that he had bastards must therefore be true,' I thought, instantly understanding what had driven a wedge between the couple who, in the past, represented the pinnacle of this kingdom's power.

'That was back then,' I thought, shifting my gaze from my cousin to Laena Velaryon, who was waiting for her rival to descend from Vhagar as well.

'Today, the couple… if I can call them that… who represent the ultimate power in this kingdom, is them,' I thought, for even though it pained me to admit it, if Rhaenyra and Alicent did not reconcile, Aemon could become a threat to her reign.

'Unless she manages to absorb and unite Aemon's branch with hers,' I thought, casting a glance at my granddaughter Alysanne, who was curiously watching young Princes Aerys and Viserys dismount their dragons.

"My uncle."

Aemon's voice pulled me from my thoughts, and I turned my gaze toward him.

He stood less than two meters from me and looked at me without any animosity.

He knelt and I extended my hand for him to kiss the ring.

"It is a pleasure to see you back in the capital, dear nephew," I said in a measured tone, neither cold nor warm.

Aemon acted as if everything was fine and replied with a broad smile:

"The pleasure is shared, my uncle."

If I were anyone else, I might have believed he was sincere.

But as one of the protagonists of the conflict that had opposed us for the past five years, I knew perfectly well that without the conquest of the Stepstones and Aemon's call for peace, perhaps half of the people present at this very moment would already be dead and buried long ago.

"I did not know you would bring your children," I said, for over the years, he had found numerous excuses to ignore the many invitations I had sent him.

Even when Daemon was exiled and Raevyna Vaelaros was burned, we had not received any news from him.

'Not even a letter, neither from him nor from Baelon,' I thought.

"I hadn't planned to, but the girls cannot go a day without their father," he said, placing a hand on the head of each of the little girls clinging to his legs.

'They have no manners,' I thought, observing them properly before silently adding:

'But there is no doubt that they love him.'

'When was the last time one of my children looked at me that way?' I thought, experiencing, for the briefest moment, a deep nostalgia for a time that felt so distant it hardly seemed real.

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