-Chapter 183-
-POV Daenerys Targaryen-
"Lady Daenerys, all the lords have arrived and are now gathered in the Great Hall. They are waiting for you and the Emperor."
"Very well," I said, wrapping a Valyrian steel dragon-shaped necklace around my neck.
It had been fifteen days since we arrived at Storm's End, and I could feel that as time passed, Aegon was growing more impatient.
Thanks to him and the officers I had questioned, I had learned a lot about the internal situation of the Empire. Even though from the outside the situation might seem completely under control, it wasn't true.
The substantial army of the Empire and the fear it inspired in nobles and wealthy merchants ensured that everyone submitted to the Emperor without any problem.
However, by exterminating most of the great noble lineages of the Riverlands and Stormlands, the remaining nobles had quickly increased their power by devouring the minor nobility.
The lords who died in the war or were exiled to the Wall left heirs who married the last survivors of these houses to the second and third sons of their own Houses.
Some even managed to marry members of insignificant collateral lineages with fairly prestigious houses, like House Buckler, which married the fourth cousin of Lord Buckler, Ronald Buckler, to the eldest daughter of the late Lord Swygert.
House Swygert possessed more than 300 guards, twenty knights, and four knightly houses that, before Aegon abolished the chains of vassalage, reported to House Swygert. In addition, they had a small fortune of several tens of thousands of gold dragons and beautiful lands suitable for cultivation or pasturage.
This is just one example, but with these alliances, Houses like House Buckler were able to quickly fill the gaps in the nobility of the Stormlands while ensuring their fortunes, so that the events that occurred in the North or the Riverlands would not be repeated on their lands.
'Now remains to be seen what their demands will be,' I thought as I headed to the Great Hall.
---
-POV Brus Buckler-
"How much longer do we have to wait?" murmured Roswell, my cousin and captain of my guard composed only of the best knights.
He was beside me, annoyed because it had already been more than an hour since we were all summoned to the Great Hall, but to my great surprise, none of us had received bread or salt.
We spent the entire hour standing, glared at by the Emperor's legionaries, and the least one could say was that they looked more than formidable.
All of them were of good height, clearly rigorously trained, and all had a cold, unyielding gaze, fixing each of us as if we were nothing but walking corpses on borrowed time.
Roswell didn't object but simply sniffed, turning to observe the 'Emperor's dogs,' all the noble houses of the Stormlands that had forgotten that the Stormlands and Stormlanders would only be ruled by someone with the blood of the Storm Kings.
"What are you looking at like that, bastard?" Roswell asked the chief of all the Emperor's dogs.
"I am the Viscount of House Caron, Lord of Nightsong, Rolland Caron, by the will of the Emperor. To deny it is to deny the Emperor himself."
"No one would dare deny it, Viscount Rolland, but everyone knows who your mother was and that no one can ever erase," said Roswell in a lower tone but still audible to all of us.
Rolland Caron didn't respond to the insult and even raised a hand when one of his knights placed his hand on his sword. He replied nonchalantly:
"Laugh while you still can and keep spitting the venom you have left, for I strongly doubt any of you will return alive to your lands."
I glared at Rolland Caron for his words, but I stopped Roswell from continuing to attack him. At the same moment, Dinar Wylde interposed himself between our two camps to prevent it from escalating before the arrival of the Emperor.
'After all, we don't even know what he knows and what he will do to punish us.'
As I pondered the course of action, I heard the doors open. Contrary to what I expected, it wasn't the Emperor, but that damned commoner who shouted:
"The Emperor awaits you, follow me to the courtyard."
We all complied without saying anything because, honestly, we couldn't do anything under the constant threat of the legionaries' spears watching us all. It looked like a trap, but we could only move forward because anyone who refused would surely be accused of treason.
'The Emperor's word is law.'
---
-POV Beric Dondarrion-
Seeing the nervous look on Brus Buckler's face, I smiled slightly because I knew everything he was doing in the shadows to keep all the power he had secretly accumulated since the death of his cousin during the Emperor's conquest war.
He married his cousins and bastards of his House to noble houses like the Swygert, Fell, and Errol as well as many small knightly houses formerly vassals of his House to keep them under control.
The chain of vassalage will never be reinstated, not under the reign of Aegon Targaryen, First Emperor of Westeros.
This man had understood it among the first and had ensured he could count on the support of more than half of the nobility of the Stormlands.
'Emperor's dogs,' I thought, smiling slyly at the name they had given us behind our backs.
Once we arrived in the courtyard, we realized we were not going to attend a meeting but a judgment, for in front of the Emperor stood a block.
The Emperor leaned on a long Valyrian steel sword out of its scabbard, which I recognized only thanks to the description given by the Maesters. It was the symbol and one of the attributes of most kings of House Targaryen before its loss to the House that bears its name.
'Blackfyre,' I thought, turning my gaze from the Emperor to observe Roswell Buckler, who couldn't look away from the block.
'Naturally, knowing he commanded the troops of "bandits,"' I thought, inwardly pleased to see that the Emperor wasn't abandoning us, given that most of the significant damage occurred on my lands and those of the Marcher Lords, who, unlike the others, hadn't dishonored themselves with such low tactics.
Setting the tone, I instantly knelt and shouted as loudly as possible:
"Long live His Majesty The First Emperor Aegon Targaryen!"
Immediately after, the lords completely loyal to the Emperor did the same, followed by the supporters of House Buckler and Brus Buckler, who didn't want to fall out of favor with the Emperor.
The Emperor said nothing, leaving us with bowed heads and worried. It was only after a few seconds that I dared to look in his direction and saw that he was no longer looking at us but at the distance.
Gradually, we all turned in the same direction as him to see the most beautiful young woman I had ever seen in my life.
She was stunning, dressed in a dress that perfectly hugged all the curves of her perfect body and with a face any young woman would dream of having and even be willing to kill for.
But despite all this, it wasn't what made the strongest impression on me. No, it was her violet eyes and gold and silver hair, similar and almost identical to the Emperor's.
'A Valyrian?' I thought before retracting
upon hearing the sound of two dragons and seeing them gradually land in front of us in the courtyard.
'A Targaryen, Daenerys Targaryen. He managed to conquer this woman, which means the Empire has just extended its grip on the known world by annexing Slaver's Bay to Westeros,' I thought, excited because I was living in the same era as the Prince Who Was Promised, the same era as Azor Ahai and all the nonsense Thoros of Myr told me when he was drunk.
"I would like, before we get down to business, to introduce you to Daenerys Targaryen, Mother of Dragons, former Queen of the Bay of Dragons and Rider of Drogon, who joins us today after abdicating in my favor. She is my fiancée and once we are married, she will become your new Empress. I ask you, therefore, to treat her with the utmost respect," said the Emperor.
"Yes, Your Majesty," I replied along with all the lords now kneeling before the Emperor.
I could notice some lords whose pride was wounded, but the appearance of the two dragons quickly clarified everyone's thoughts.
I found it genuinely hilarious the respect the Emperor received as well as the fear his dragon inspired now that it had arrived.
Not more than a few minutes ago, I could still hear talk of the Emperor's weakness against poison and his 'humanity,' while I had seen with my own eyes his dark powers, and they scared me more than a mere dragon.
'Which he raised so quickly thanks to his powers,' I noted mentally.
It is true that the assassination attempt on the Emperor had started to loosen some, if not many, tongues.
Before that, many feared his occult powers and didn't dare openly join Brus Buckler's camp.
But once he took refuge in Dragonstone after the assassination attempt, and the rumors of this attempt reached everyone's ears, many decided that forcing the Emperor to agree to make the Stormlands independent of the Royal Domain was now possible, becoming increasingly unscrupulous in their actions.
Hiring bandits, passing off knights as bandits, blocking supplies and food, then blaming the Imperial Legion's controls and taxes, all while reminding that under House Baratheon, none of this happened.
As long as it tarnished the image of imperial authority
and brought the common folk to the side of House Baratheon, anything was doable.
And it worked well because now, among the common people, a wind of revolution is starting to rise in the territories belonging to the Emperor, where no Castellan has yet come to take care of the abandoned villages firmly controlled by the Imperial Legion.
'Even a bit too firmly at times,' I thought, recalling the public executions that took place because commoners dared to speak ill of the Emperor in the presence of witnesses, a punishment I found justified but excessive.
'And this is largely due to this man, a good soldier but a commoner who doesn't know how to manage lands,' I thought, looking at the Commander of the Fourth Legion, Dorian.
"Now that you have all met my future Empress, rise. I give you only two minutes to explain to me how the situation in my domain, which is under the governance of Dorian as well as all of you noble lords who have sworn loyalty to me, could have deteriorated so greatly."
Seeing that no one dared to step forward, I did because I had already spoken with the Emperor before and knew he wasn't a bloodthirsty man as some rumors claimed.
'At least not entirely,' I thought as I stepped forward.
"If you allow me, I might be able to enlighten you," I said, bowing.
The Emperor nodded, and I then said, "I don't know what you have been told in detail, but some nobles have decided to act on their own and hired bandits to cause trouble in the Stormlands."
"Which nobles?"
For a second, I hesitated before finally saying, "I don't know the exact number, but I know the leaders of this dubious alliance are the Bucklers."
"LIAR," shouted Roswell Buckler, his face red, panicked by my words.
He probably thought I would continue to remain silent because my cousin was the mother, but I wasn't going to put House Dondarrion entirely in disgrace simply to save my cousin from the gallows.
The Emperor raised an eyebrow and then said, "Are you calling me a liar or the Viscount of Blackhaven? Because I know you are the cause of everything happening on MY lands, I simply gave you the opportunity to admit your crimes so your families would be spared."
I turned my gaze to Brus, who was thinking quickly. He finally stepped forward, knelt before the Emperor, and said, "I was never aware…"
The Emperor raised his hand, interrupting Brus's plea, and said with a slight smile:
"Please stand up. Contrary to appearances, today is a happy day that we should celebrate, and I will not shed blood. This block and this unsheathed sword are not for your necks, but simply a reminder of what you all risk if you disobey me again in the future, for I spare your lives in my great mercy."
No one said anything, processing the Emperor's words internally. The Emperor added lightly,
"Have I made myself clear?"
His dragon quickly extended its neck and let out an incredibly loud roar that nearly made me deaf.
"Yes, Your Majesty," the kneeling lords quickly shouted, scared by the fear the Emperor's dragon had instilled in them.
"Very well, now go prepare. We are going to celebrate the birth of Raegalion, the dragon of my son Maegor, the golden dragon," said the Emperor, sheathing his sword and acting as if he were celebrating good news with old friends and not as if he had just threatened almost all the nobility of the Stormlands with death.
'At least no one is dead... For now,' I thought, seeing the venomous look Brus was giving me.