Chapter 203 - The Nexus of Time and Space (IV)

"The Wheel, an imaginary object, but it seems to carry an enormous weight over humanity that none of us could ever imagine." King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, the Old King.

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"How is the war going?" After a while, Jaehaerys asked with an obviously calmer tone. Any hostility and enmity he had previously felt towards Aenar disappeared completely at that moment.

Looking at the extraordinarily tall young man in front of him, Jaehaerys showed a complex look, but soon became the indifferent, cold king he usually was. That's not to say he was angry, but he had been for decades.

"King's Landing was conquered by my First Wife and my grandmother, they are at this very moment, with the ninety thousand soldiers of House Tyrell, preparing to attack Old Town." Seeing that he had destroyed the animosity Jaeaherys had towards him, Aenar gave him a satisfied look and explained the course of the war.

Then he continued speaking. "On the second front line in the Riverlands, I am fighting with my Second and Third Wives against the armies of House Lannister and Baratheon, who are stationed in Harrenhal. The Armies of the North, the Vale and the Riverlands are at my side as we lay siege to the castle."

Although he despised some of Jaehaerys' deeds, no one could deny that the man knew how to rule, especially after a brutal civil war and a brutal war with the Faith of the Seven, the kingdom was weakened and very tense, having a king like Jaehaerys allowed the people to accept the Targaryen Dynasty even more.

Even today, many remember the almost eighty years of peace and prosperity that Jaehaerys allowed Westeros to have and this was not something trivial over the thousands of years of war in the Age of the Hundred Kingdoms, where a Kingdom could exist one day and the next day, it had already ceased to exist.

A thoughtful look appeared on Jaehaerys' face after hearing how the war was going. Aenar's situation was much better than he had expected. Although the boy said he was a cruel monarch, how could someone cruel gain the support of so many Great Noble Houses?

"How many soldiers in total?" Jaehaerys asked with a calm, unconsciously commanding tone.

Which naturally made Aenar frown, he could tolerate Jaehaerys, but that didn't mean he liked hearing someone speak to him in that commanding tone. He wasn't Jaehaerys' vassal, he was the current King of House Targaryen.

Jaehaerys hadn't noticed this, as it was natural for him to speak in a commanding tone, but Alysanne quickly realized this and whispered in her husband's ear, causing Jaehaerys' expression to change slightly and under Aenar's surprised eyes, the Old King's posture changed, becoming more casual and sloppy.

"How many soldiers are under your command, Your Grace?" Jaehaerys asked again, but this time he gave Aenar the respect he deserved as king.

"I don't know the exact number, as it's impossible to count so many people exactly, but it's around two hundred and twenty thousand men and women." Aenar replied, looking at Jaehaerys with a different look than before. The Old King really knew how to adapt to circumstances.

The number Aenar spoke of made Visenya, Rhaenys, Jaehaerys and Alysanne look at the boy in surprise. Their astonishment was understandable. After Aegon's Conquest, the continent of Westeros saw a significant increase in population, since wars were no longer frequent and couples could reproduce.

But whether it was Jaehaerys or Visenya, they could never have imagined that the Great Noble Houses would have such large armies over time. Especially House Tyrell, the staggering number of ninety thousand soldiers was worrying to say the least in Jaehaerys' eyes.

With no dragons to control the Great Noble Houses, Jaehaerys had to commend some of his descendants for holding the kingdom together, albeit at a rather dangerous fragility, as any disagreement could lead to a full-scale rebellion and with no dragons to defend against such vast armies, the future of the Targaryen Dynasty was worrying.

"However, as we don't have the logistics to supply so many people, I've had to divide the war into two fronts, one in the Riverlands and the other in King's Landing." Aenar spoke with an obviously helpless tone. Although splitting up the army was a good move, mainly to force the God of the Seven Faces to choose a side in the war, he still preferred the whole army to be together.

However, a backward agricultural society could not supply such a large consumption of people, which made such a large army somewhat expendable in Aenar's eyes.

Jaehaerys understood Aenar's difficulty, but didn't comment on the war, especially after hearing about the two hundred thousand soldiers. If Aenar could control so many people, the boy didn't need any help.

However, the Old King noticed that Aenar had three wives and looked rather displeased at the Young King. The boy was looking more and more like Maegor, which displeased him a little.

"Don't look at me like that, my wives are all dragon riders, I'll never let a second Dragon Dance happen, dragons are only from House Targaryen and no one else." Aenar came up with a very believable excuse so as not to upset the Old King even more.

Alysanne couldn't help laughing when she heard this, the sadness in her heart fading slightly. "How will you deal with the succession, Your Grace?" The queen asked in a gentle, wise tone, ready to advise the young king.

"My first daughter, Alysanne will be my heir and will sit on the Throne after me." Aenar replied without any hesitation. Many might ask why not choose a man as heir, but Aenar knew that if he were to die one day, only Alysanne could continue his legacy and lead humanity to survive longer.

His other sons and daughters weren't as competent or even fit to be emperor or empress in his place. As for those who wouldn't accept Alysanne as his heir, Aenar would show them the true strength of a tyrant.

Hearing this, Alysanne looked at Aenar with a gentler gaze, she felt flattered that the Heir to the Throne would be named after her and she admired the young king, who dared to break the archaic and stupid traditions.

Jaehaerys wanted to say something, but looking at his wife's face, he closed his mouth and said nothing to change Aenar's mind.

Aenar looked at Jaehaerys' expression and wanted to laugh, what the man was thinking was practically written on his forehead. However, there was no one who could change his thoughts, Alysanne would be his heir and that wouldn't change for anything.

"Honestly, I'm not worried about the war." Refilling his wine glass, Aenar spoke in a calm tone. "At this very moment, the Night King with his army of Wights is heading south."

"Hundreds of thousands of Wights, commanded by thousands of White Walkers." He spoke with a solemn tone. Five hundred Astartes was far from enough to fight so many White Walkers and then face the Long Night, where monsters attacked humanity like never before.

That's why Aenar wanted more people to die, the more Astartes he had, the stronger the lines of defense became and he could concentrate on more important matters.

"The prophecy is being fulfilled in your time!?" Jaehaerys asked with a shocked tone. The prophecy of Ice and Fire had always been something passed down from King to Crown Prince, there were no exceptions, but knowing that the prophecy's time had indeed come made the Old King's expression slightly nervous.

"It's not as complicated as you think, the problem is the gods watching me every moment, these divine bastards are too cautious." Aenar understood Jaehaerys' nervousness, but in his eyes, the Night King was only a minor obstacle, whoever was behind the Night King was really the source of the problem.

"Gods..." Alysanne murmured with a complicated expression, she looked at the young man in front of her and couldn't help but admire him even more.

How many people were calmed by the knowledge that he was an enemy of the gods? She had no doubt that even Aegon the Conqueror would be frightened and horrified in front of such a fact, but Aenar was calm and showed no trace of fear on his face.

Alysanne prided herself on her ability to guess people's thoughts from their expressions, it had always been her gift and she had uncovered countless conspiracies with this ability, but at this moment, she saw no signs of fear in Aenar, showing that the young man really didn't fear the gods, he just thought it would be complicated.

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