The Bloody Prince: HOTD SI

Chapter 44

VISERYS TARGARYEN

There were times when Viserys thought that if times had been different perhaps he would have been a different man as well. If he had been challenged as their grandfather had been, or as the Conqueror had been then his legacy and life would be different.

Alas, he was challenged but in the most cruel way. Challenged in a way similar to Maegor had been, challenged with the lack of an heir, and now he was faced with a crisis. Not one as severe as his own grandfather, perhaps, but a crisis nonetheless.

With Daemon dead and him not having a male heir, the second in line was Daemon's legitimate son, Aegon, whose claim he had hoped to strengthen by joining their bloodlines, knowing full well of the aspirations and dreams of his cousin Corlys.

But he had underestimated the man. He had truly underestimated his desire and desperation for the throne. And now the Velaryons had committed treason, allying themselves with the slavers of Lys as they made to conquer the Stepstones and trying to hector him.

The nerve of that man.

"This is preposterous!" Viserys thundered in his room as he summoned his Hand, trying to think up a way to put an end to this madness.

"The man defies my command and attacks the Stepstones when I forbid him from it. Who does he think he is!" Viserys thundered in rage as his new Hand nodded.

"This is indeed an over reach from the Sea Snak..."

"Over reach. This is treason! Treason, I say!" he corrected sharply, for the man had defied his direct command. Leaving the capital was an insult already, but Viserys had been lenient, wishing not to accentuate the tensions between the Royal House and House Velaryon.

But the man had spat on his generosity. He had humiliated him.

"And I will see him punished for it!" he announced, and he knew that such a thing would not be easy and would cost the crown much.

But Corlys needed to be reined in. The Velaryons needed to be reigned in.

"If that is your desire, your grace," Lyonel Strong added, and Viserys remarked quickly.

"It is," and given that the man had served as his Master of Laws prior to being named as Hand, he was perhaps the most well-suited for this task.

"We can take back much of the relief in taxes that was given to House Velaryon by King Jaeherys when he wed Corlys to Princess Rhaenys and then introduce tariffs on goods that are imported and traded by House Velaryon," and he nodded. That was a good start.

"Good do that," and the man nodded.

"Prince Aegon wrote to me regarding this and believes that we can use House Velaryon's alliance with Lys as the cause for this. Given that the Rogares and Lys practice slavery openly, something which is outlawed," that was a surprise. That the boy had already written to him about it.

"Aegon has written to you already?" he asked, and the man nodded.

"Yes, I believe a letter arrived for you as well," Viserys frowned as he turned towards his table as a servant came forward.

"It was with the first letter, the one about Lord Velaryon's attack. And..." and Viserys understood, for he had in his rage summoned Lyonel immediately and had forgotten about the second letter entirely.

He took the letter and unfurled it, and it was as he had expected it to be. The boy had spoken of his progress in making him a new fleet and how he had won himself an audience with the Sealord and planned to go to Braavos in a week's time.

But then there was an interesting end to the letter, one he could have perhaps missed if he had been filled with rage. The words were simple enough, speaking of how House Vealryon's offensive had just begun and that it had not yet succeeded.

But for some reason, to him, it read as a promise or as a ploy.

But still, he needed to be sure, and then he hit upon an idea.

"Lyonel," he called out his hand, and the man answered dutifully.

"Yes, Your Grace," and Viserys put down Aegon's missive as he gave the man another order.

"Write to all the lords and ladies of the realm, have them summoned to the capital in a week's time," and it would not be easy, but perhaps if not in seven days, then in ten, but they will come.

And the man's eyes widened at his words.

"I will anoint Aegon as the heir in a week's time and name him Prince of Dragonstone and announce his marriage to Rhaenyra," and the man's eyes widened.

"Is it wise to rush this, the Velar..."

"Need to be put in their place," and he would do just that. All the lords and ladies of the realm shall swear their fealty to Aegon and Rhaenyra, ending Corlys's little ploy.

"Tax them, remove any subsidies that they are offered, and summon me, Lord Robert Redwyne. The man shall serve as the Crown's new Master of Ships," and that would send the right message.

Corlys thought himself too powerful and infallible because of his wealth and status. But he was still a subject of the Crown, a petulant and ambitious subject.

"And have a letter sent to Aegon and Rhaenyra, both of them shall return to the court by the week's end," and the man nodded.

"It will be done, your grace," the man spoke while bowing as Viserys dismissed the man and found himself all alone in this giant castle.

0000

RHAENYRA TARGARYEN

In the past year and more, she had come to learn much about Aegon Targaryen the Prince, the boy, the man. And yet a facet of him had been hidden away, here in Vale, that she, along with much of the Court, was oblivious to.

The facet of the Lord Aegon Targaryen, the heir to Runestone and, in many ways, the ruler of the Vale itself. The Vale was large, big, and tall, with winding paths and stubborn mountain clans that he had hammered as he transformed these lands.

And a transformation it truly was. It was one thing to read about his initiatives and actions and hear the rumors about them from the people at Court, but seeing them and the people talking to them gave her a whole new perspective on what it meant to rule.

What it meant to govern.

She had been her father's cupbearer for a few years and had watched his rule over the realm and the capital through his Hand and councillors, and yet only now did she realize how shallow and flawed it was.

Kingslanding was rich, being both the capital and largest city on the continent. It was supposed to be the Crown jewel of the Kingdom, and yet its streets were often littered up, its air grew dirtier and its people more ill and poorer by every passing year.

And yet, the story here in the Vale was just the opposite. Runestone was not rich. Or at least it had not been rich, but slowly and steadily over the years, it had become rich, as Aegon's reforms were implemented in the city.

Better tools for farming, better seeds for crops, better healers for health, better streets, better roads, and even better justice. By now it was a well oiled machine, and she could see how.

Proper maps were drawn for every street and every house, copies of which were all registered to the castle's castellan for approval, and the newer houses were now all being made with experimental new material. Quick Sand, formed from burnt coal and sulfur, was a mixture that was easy to mold and hardened quickly and made much sturdier walls and streets.

The main buildings were still made of stone, but streets, barracks, and other offices were made using this material. The people of the town toiled day and night with no complaints as they tried to repay Aegon for his deeds.

Everything they enjoyed, from their safety to their houses to their food, was because of him.

And now she could see why the lords of the Vale were so jealous of him, so afraid of him. Because loyalty like that was not easy to obtain, and the people of his land would die for him, and so would nearly half of the Vale.

"You seem rather troubled," her cousin questioned as she found herself alongside her in the gardens of Runestone, both of them having come down here to take some much-needed rest as the realm around them underwent a massive shift.

And she had been a surprise as well, a woman so free, so gentle, and ever so loyal. Hers and Aegon's shared past made her jealous, given how implicitly the both of them trusted one another and cared for one another.

Yet, despite it all, she could scarcely blame her for it, especially since it was rather obvious where her heart lay. Jeyne Arryn loved women as some men loved men. And if her own intuition was right, then the woman liked her, though she could not be sure.

And even so, she did not know what to do and how to react to that. What would it entail? What did she feel herself? And most importantly, what would Aegon feel about it all?

"It's nothing," she replied. However, that was a lie—a blatant lie, for there was too much.

"I don't believe that for a second," the girl saw through her lie as she flicked her nose, similar to Aegon's own habit.

"Because I felt the same way when I first saw Runestone for myself. I saw the change he was trying to enact, and it shook me to my core," and the way those blue eyes glinted, she knew it to be the truth.

"It's just too different," Rhaenyra spoke out her thoughts, and Jeyne in her blue simple low-cut dress that showed even her soldiers nodded.

"I know. It is as if he sees the world through an entirely different gaze. And the truth is that in a way he does," and Rhaenyra seemed surprised by that as her head snapped towards her as they both stopped.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"Exactly that, many believe that Aegon's political and administrative prowess are a result of the tutelage of his grandfather, but the truth is different," she added, and indeed, that was what was believed in the capital.

"No, he was always like this. Even as a child, I think we were six when we first met, and even then, as a child nearly my own age, he understood more about the art of ruling and politics than perhaps we both do even at present," and she chuckled at that.'

"He spoke to me of people, tools, ideals, and practices that I did not understand until years later. And when I did, I appointed him as my Hand for even with a limited understanding of his vision, I understood that he was no ordinary boy, at least not when it comes to ruling and governing," and that much was obvious.

"And now, years later, the Vale is much better for it, and it is all because of him. But the question is, how would a child know more about politics than many a lord ten times his age?" she asked as she looked into her gaze.

"I never had the answer until a few days back. And that was when Lady Rhea spoke to me about it, a possibility that I had not considered but one that is perhaps the likeliest of the given situation..." and as Rhaenyra's mind spun, the answer came to her in a gasp, as she stilled right there, as her feet got rooted to the ground.

"You cannot mean...." she gasped as the girl shrugged.

"It would explain much, but the truth is that I..."

But before she could say anything else, they were interrupted by a servant who came rushing in.

"My Lady, Princess..." he spoke as he knelt infront of them.

"An urgent message came for you from the capital.... and her heart skipped a beat at those words as she hurriedly reached for the rolled-up missive and unfurled it and found herself taken aback by its contents.

"The Velaryons have attacked the Stepstones..."

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