Chapter 37: A Price Paid
110 AC, King’s Landing
Otto Hightower stood in his daughter’s chambers and suppressed the worry that he felt at the sight. After, Alicent would give birth anytime now, at least according to the Grand Maester, whom he had ordered to keep him apprised of her condition, but that was no guarantee of her health. They often said that the birthing bed is a woman’s battlefield, and many formidable women had perished in their battles, Viserys’s former Queen being one of the more notable ones.
He quickly suppressed his apprehension, especially as his daughter’s face morphed into a smile as she looked at him, “It gladdens me to see you, Father. Gwayne has kept me company enough, but I can only handle so much talk of what occurs in the training yard.”
The Hand of the King looked at his daughter, and he could hear the small hint of hurt in her tone. He had not truly gone to visit her since the dinner with the Velaryons. A part of him wished to confess to her the truth, that she looked so much like her mother, and he was reminded of her death whenever Alicent was nearing the birthing bed.
Instead, he simply said, “My duties have been keeping me quite busy, I’m afraid. The Small Council, especially, has been quite… troubling.”
“How so?”
“Lyonel Strong is petitioning that we remove some of the taxes from the realm, ones that he deems unnecessary, and they were aimed to curb House Velaryon’s rising influence. He hopes to mend the schism between them and the Crown.”
His daughter’s eyes widened slightly before foolishly asking, “Would that be so bad? Lord Corlys would be appeased by…”
Otto interrupted her, “Corlys Velaryon will only ever be appeased with his blood on the Iron Throne, something that he very nearly succeeded at achieving recently.”
Alicent fell silent at that, recognising how close things had come to disaster because of Laenor Velaryon. Technically, Rhaenyra Targaryen still remained as Viserys’s heir, as he had not declared Aegon to be it yet. Otto had done it to ensure that Daemon would have no path to the throne, but now he regretted it deeply, given the King’s stubbornness on the matter.
Should a match between the girl and Laenor Velaryon take place, the Sea Snake could have a path to claim that his son married Viserys’s heir, and thus give his future grandchildren a claim on the throne as well.
Otto believed he had stopped it, but truthfully, the tension of the situation had truly begun to lessen with every day since Laenor Velaryon left the Capital. He had even woken up early just to watch the Velaryons’ monstrously large ship sail away from his solar, and he was glad for it. And even then, there had been some unease left in him, an expectation that something would go wrong.
“Did the Sea Snake say anything regarding his children’s time in the Capital?” Alicent suddenly asked.
“He has remained silent on the matter.”
And that was quite worrying. The Sea Snake was always loud in the face of each slight, imagined or otherwise, and this lack of response was quite unlike him.
His daughter shook her head sadly, “It truly is a shame that a knight like Ser Laenor could be the son of such a grasping man.”
Otto suppressed the urge to correct his daughter about her preconception regarding Laenor Velaryons. She would not take his advice as it was intended, mostly because she underestimated the danger that the boy presented.
The boy had seemed quite intelligent, of course, but there was an intensity in him that he saw during their meeting together, one that had been absent during their dinner, where he instead appeared more a charming storyteller than the small flash of rage that he had felt when Otto had threatened his sister with a marriage to the Rogue Prince.
And as much as he pretended to be a heartbroken youth, the boy had been prepared not to seek the princess’s hand should Otto agree to lift the sanctions on the island. It was either a ruse or perhaps the Sea Snake and his son had different priorities, but he was leaning towards the former rather than the latter.
But perhaps he had imagined it.
Perhaps he had expected someone representative of the threat that Laenor Velaryon represented, that he had related it to his estimation of the boy. Then again, what did he expect from a young man, likely in his first time dealing with the delicacies of politics?
The boy would likely not see it that way, but Otto had taught him a very important lesson, especially in how to deal with other lords and the ways of the Capital. One needed more than a simple offer when making dealings; they needed leverage, something that would ensure that the other party would be faithful in their dealings. Otto had leverage in the form of Laena Velaryon, while the boy, himself, had very little. Truly, the Sea Snake should thank him for teaching his son this lesson, one that he had not deemed to do himself.
And so, he said to his daughter, “It matters little; any other suitor would have presented the same danger. Princess Rhaenyra cannot be allowed to be wed, or even betrothed, before Aegon is declared as the heir to the Throne.”
And Alicent knew that he was right. He had done his best to delay it as much as he could, but it would all be quite meaningless if Viserys did not declare Aegon as his heir. The boy had seen three namedays, and yet, the King still had not done it. He had tried to press, but the King was quickly becoming irritated with it. Now, Alicent likely had the greatest chance at convincing him, and as she was to give birth soon, hopefully with a spare, Viserys would be more forgiving with her than he would if Otto brought it up again.
The Queen had seen this for what it was and nodded, “I try my best, Father.”
The Hand of the King gave her a severe look, “Do you not understand, Alicent? You cannot simply try. You must be successful. He is your husband, and it is your children who will be usurped. This is not a game. Whatever friendship that you had with Princess Rhaenyra doesn’t exist anymore, for she is now a threat to Aegon. And the danger has not passed, not yet. Do you not remember what Laenor Velaryon said as he left? He may return in a year, or even a few moons, and this would all be meaningless.”
Otto did not know why his daughter seemed to care so greatly for the princess, especially given that she was a threat to her child. The girl had seldom been seen outside of her chambers since the Velaryon left the Capital, and he knew that Alicent had questioned the servants regarding her since.
It had been quite clever on Laenor Velaryon’s part to leave the door open for later. After all, heiress to the Iron Throne or not, Rhaenyra Targaryen was a princess and held the affection of the King.
Still, if that had been the result of Laenor and Laena Velaryon being in King’s Landing for less than a Fortnight, then he was glad that they had left. Things had certainly felt less tense since then, and it wasn’t as if they had not achieved much during their time here; their glassware was quickly becoming quite popular in court. The ladies seemed particularly taken with their folded mirrors, which allowed them to look at themselves at a moment’s notice, and even Otto, himself, was not spared.
He had procured one of their glass quills, and he had to admit that, after some practice, it was superior to regular quills. The ridges forged in the glass had worked quite well to keep more ink, and it was much less fragile. There were also some strange lenses that acted like far-eyes and increased the size of text when he hovered it above it, though that was a paltry trick at best.
As expected, his daughter nodded in agreement, with a hardness in her eyes, “I will, Father.”
“Good,” Otto answered, wishing to continue, before giving her something that would help her, “Perhaps after Aegon’s claim is secured, a match between the princess and Ser Laenor could be possible. It would be as a fated reunion of a sort, and I think that the princess would enjoy Driftmark greatly.”
His daughter smiled at that, her eyes gleaming with what he thought was hope. Otto let her have it, but he inwardly thought that the match was still unlikely to occur. After all, this would leave House Targaryen with no real Dragonrider (not counting Daemon, of course), while House Velaryon would have three. It would have been different had the dragon eggs hatched in Aegon or Helaena’s cribs, but they had not.
Alicent opened her mouth to answer, but whatever her reply would have been was drowned as a familiar screech echoed across the Red Keep.
Otto Hightower felt himself become pale, hoping that he might have been mistaken, that perhaps he had misheard the sound. He looked at his daughter, whose eyes were similarly wide and anxious, and said, “Stay here, Alicent.”
He ignored whatever she said afterwards, as he exited her chambers and began to walk hurriedly towards the source of the noise, his dread increasing with every step he took.
He saw it then, hovering above the outer ward of the Red Keep, a sight from his worst nightmares. For he recognised the serpentine frame of the Red Wyrm, Caraxes, almost in perfect position to attack the castle and bring it down to cinders with Dragon fire.
The beast was circling the castle, almost like a warning of a sort, in a manner that was so evident of Daemon’s arrogance that he had no doubt that he was likely atop his mount.
Still, Otto practically slumped in relief as the Red Wyrm landed on the ground with a loud thud, and finally, Daemon Targaryen climbed down and commanded his dragon to fly away in High Valyrian when he had.
Finally, with the dragon gone, the Gold Cloaks finally showed themselves, all of them readying their weapons, with Harwin Strong at their helm. Otto quickly saw the Kingsguard accompany the King to face the Rogue Prince personally, and he hastened his steps to join them.
He stood next to the king, who looked down at the banished prince, and said loudly, “I see that you wear a crown now.”
Otto took a closer look at the Rogue Prince and saw that he wore his old black armour, though it seemed worn. He could have likely used another one, but given what Otto knew of Daemon Targaryen, he wanted his appearance to be a statement of the battles that he had fought and had come out victorious.
However, the most important and the most scandalous part of his outfit was the crown. It was a gaudy thing made of bone, gems, and crabs.
The Rogue Prince looked to his brother with his signature look of superiority and arrogance, and answered, “It belonged to the Crabfeeder, and now, it belongs to me. An ugly thing, but it had its uses. I do not need it anymore, for there is only one King. The Stepstones are yours, your Grace, just as you bid me.”
Otto felt his eyes widen at that statement, and a whisper began to spread across the members of the Court who had gone to see the spectacle unfold. The Rogue Prince then removed his crown and threw it to a Kingsguard, who in turn, passed it to the King.
Viserys looked at the crown in shock, and Daemon smiled smugly at that, and continued speaking while walking forward, “I have brought the Triarchy to heel, just as I promised I would. I have conquered the Stepstones to be part of the realm, just as you commanded me to. And I have come for what was promised to me in return.”
With every word he spoke, the prince walked forward, ignoring the Kingsguard advancing and pointing their swords at Daemon’s chest, ready to kill him at a moment’s notice. The prince simply raised an amused eyebrow at that, especially as Viserys raised his hand to stop them from attacking, though Otto could see him trying to hide his confusion from his face.
As the King’s Hand, he did not know of any agreement between the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms and Viserys, especially not one regarding the Stepstones.
The King opened his mouth to say something, likely to expose this mummery for what it was, but before he could, the Rogue Prince reached into his armour and took out a piece of parchment. Specifically, it was a letter. Otto’s eyes widened, followed by his stomach dropping, as he recognised that it bore King’s Seal.
Viserys silently took the letter and began reading it, while the Rogue Prince finished speaking what was supposedly promised him, “That my banishment be lifted, that my marriage be annulled, and…” Daemon paused and looked towards the princess, who had come to witness the commotion as well, “… and Princess Rhaenyra’s hand in marriage.”
AN: I finally decided to do it and release this story outside of Patreon. I sort of waited a bit until I had a schedule somewhat stable enough to write it. For now, I'm doing 2 chapters a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with the aim of making it 3 chapters soon. Don't worry, that shouldn't affect the upload rate of 'Melodies of the Force', which should also have 3 chapters a week.
As for this chapter, well, it was a bit vindicating to write, mostly as Otto realises that he is about to be in a lot of trouble soon. If you haven't guessed yet, it was Laenor who sent the letter to Daemon, using the King's Seal. Daemon is also using it to his advantage by being a bit selective about what he said publicly about the letter's content. The letter itself will be revealed more clearly in the next chapter, which will make a bit more sense.
As usual, I don’t mind rewriting this chapter depending on your feedback, so please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.