Sorry, this chapter would have been out sooner but I was having some serious writer's block.
Hey guys, so it looks like I'm going with option C on the slight retcon. Just know that, though she is called the lady of Rubestone, Rhea is actually just Aemon's regent until he is an adult, which I think is 16 in this world, but I'll have to check the wiki. The rules are a little weird apparently the age of adulthood is 16 but the age of consent is like 12-14 which is weird but fuck it if I can deal with incestuous dragon riders we can deal with that too I guess. 🤷🏾♂️
Also as for Agaraxes' name change, I'd like some suggestions for names but there are a few recommended that I like. This isn't the vote for which one it will be but I'm thinking this will be more of a vibe check for which I might choose so here is the list.
A: Ancalagon
B: Alduin
C: Acnologia
D: Deathwing
F: Nefarian
G: Kalameet
H: Fortissax
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101 AC
The Red Keep
Third Person POV
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In the main dining room of the Red Keep the royal family members sat patiently around a wide table. Off to the sides, most of the members of the Kingsguard stood vigilant. As they waited for the arrival of the king and Queen they all at some point started to wonder what exactly had prolonged the king's arrival. The children in particular simply wanted the wait to be over in order for them to begin eating. The adults however each pondered the deeper meaning behind the delay. Every adult in the room began to wonder as the moments went by but that came to an end when the dining room doors opened.
Off to each side, two new Kingsguard members held open the doors for the new arrivals. Another stepped forward to the side and announced the new arrivals.
"HIS GRACE KING JAEHAERYS TARGARYEN, QUEEN CONSORT ALYSANNE TARGARYEN, AND PRINCE AEMON TARGARYEN!" The voice of Sr Ryam announced the presence of the king and his company the group of three walked into the room. Jaehaerys ever the lifelong politician as any king needs to be walked over to the head of the table and start to analyze the room. On the right side of the table, Rhaenys stood next to her husband Corlys, and their two children. They all dressed in Velaryon blue with white accents. Rhaenys in particular had black added to he dress to show that she two mourned her uncle's death.
But even though she was mourning her uncle she too diverted his attention to the politics of the situation. She was currently looking at the king her mind was on another. She noticed how Aemon had arrived alongside the king and Queen. There could have been any number of reasons why but she knew it to be no coincidence.
'Has Daemon's boy somehow gained the favor of grandfather as well?' she wondered. She already knew that the queen favored the boy more than any of her other great-grandchildren but she also knew the queen was in her corner when it came to the issue of who should be heir. But now he seemed to be rather close to the king and she began to ponder how it might influence things.
Her husband Corlys also began to consider the impact of the king's favor for Daemon's child. Though they had technically met he had never truly spoken to the boy. Rather he only knew the child through reputation alone. They said the boy was both very bright and very blessed by the gods. Though which gods had blessed him was up for debate. He decided that he would soon need to speak with him if he wasn't significant now he would be later. After all only a fool would ignore the progress of a future dragon rider. Not to mention he was the same age as Laenor and Laena and they all seemed to be fond of playing with each other. He quickly considered whether it was a good idea to end that relationship now or not. He decided against it. Forming a wedge between the children may somewhat affect their relationship with the king and queen considering how fond of the boy they seemed. He glanced over to his wife's face it seemed that she too was contemplating the boy's importance in the game as of right now.
Rhaenys was not the only one who noticed Aemon's arrival and began to ponder its importance. Unlike his older brother who thought of it as nothing more than a few family members spending time together before eating together. Daemon noticed that his son should have arrived long before the King and Queen yet they did sit together. He weighed the consequences of such closeness but wagered that it was a good thing for their cause. His elder brother never had a mind for schemes or plots but he had a charisma that united people. So he would let his brother gain the hearts of the lords but he would gain the swords of the realm. As for his son, he saw no problem with him being with him charming his grandparents. In fact, he thought it would only help their cause.
Jaehaerys analyzed his darker grandson as well. On the left side, Daemon stood at the far end of an empty chair on his left. He meant for his son to sit there with him. He dresses in black and although he seemed slightly hung over his expression was quite serious. Dark sister lies on his hip even now. He waved the empty seat was most likely for his son to sit next to him.
It was understandable to the old king as any father would expect his son to sit next to him during a meal such as this one. The lady Rhea who sat on the left side as well but opposite Daemon in that she was on the much closer side of the table had an empty seat next to her as well. She too desired her son to sit next to her. Normally she would be seated next to her husband had she been any other lady however the two's distaste for each other was already well known. But the old king knew his Queen had other plans. As she approached the table she motioned for Aemon to sit next to her still on the left side of her.
Daemon though was somewhat dismayed by this even though it was technically a good thing for his cause. Still, he said nothing and waited along with the others for the king to set. Meanwhile to his right was little Rhaenyra in her small red dress smiled and waved at Aemon. The boy smiled and waved back as he moved for his seat. Her mother standing to her right saw this and put a hand atop her own and lowered it. The little girl looked at her mother with a pout. But Aemma simply smiled and patted her placatively on the head and motioned for her to stay silent.
On her other side, her husband stood next to her calmly. Normally a man like Viserys Targaryen would be positively delighted to be at a dinner like this with all his family. However, the reason for their gathering dimmed his mood. His father was gone and his grief was immense. Still, he reached out to take his wife's hand and caressed it softly.
Soon the King sat down at the head of the table and all of the family took their seats as well. The king sighed observing his family each of them was silent in his presence. The tension in the room was almost as palpable as the divide between the two sides of the table.
"Good morning everyone." The King said simply but the tension didn't seem to change at all. Still, they all responded in unison to his words. They all sat there in silence still just as tense as before as the servants moved around swiftly serving the plates.
Once Aemon received his plate he examined it briefly. The food in this world wasn't bad but it wasn't any better than the food in his last life. However, he hadn't truly realized how hungry he actually was this morning, and compounded by his own needs for extra food thanks to his enhanced body. As such these factors resulted in him devouring his food at an extreme pace the moment it was placed before him.
Aemon who simply dug into his meals was completely unaffected by the tension at the table. Instead, he simply enjoyed his meal eating at a pace just nearly acceptable within noble manners. Seeing this all of the table's occupants looked at him. While most who didn't really know him looked at him strangely. Rhea looked at he son with a fond exasperation. Viserys chuckled at his nephews' Nonchalant behavior while Daemon smirked at his son's rapid eating.
The Queen smiled and cleared her throat causing Aemon to look up at her puzzled. She almost laughed at his questioning gaze but instead she spoke kindly to him.
"Aemon you must remember to say your prayers to the seven before you eat." She said.
"But I don't follow the seven? So can't I just eat?" He said in his best impression of a clueless child. His words caused a few of the others to chuckle and his mother to sigh. She knew her boy had quite the appetite and she was sure that if he wasn't so active he'd have grown a belly by now. He ate far more frequently than anyone else at Runestone and he would even sneak snacks in the night. Still, she knew he had far more manners than he was showing at the moment but she would let him get away with his little clueless out for now.
"Apologies your grace my son shall wait before he continues." She said looking at the good Queen kindly then a slight glare of annoyance at her son. He grinned sheepishly and put down his fork and knife. Then after that, the king and queen led them in prayer. Then as they all began to eat together Aemon resumed his rapid pace of eating. The Queen chuckled while the King shook his head. Viserys even laughed at his nephew's antics meanwhile Rhaenys and Corlys glanced at each other before beginning to eat.
Laenor seeing his cousin eat so quickly decided to copy him and increased his pace. One swift glare from his father made him stop though and Laena chuckled at her brother's misfortune. The boy scowled and kicked his sister's shin under the table. She let out a noise and turned to look sharply at her brother's smug face. Seeing it she decided to let him feel her own fire and she kicked him back. Laenor let out a noise of pain as well and Laena smiled widely back at him at his pain.
"Laenor, Laena eat your food." The twins' mother said in a calm tone but it sent shivers down their spines. They knew it was roughly code for behave or I promise your father won't save you from your punishment this time.
The two audible gulped and looked back down at their food and started eating slowly. Rhaenyra saw this and giggled at the two as her mother helped her eat more of the breakfast. Aemon hearing Rhaenyra laugh looked up trying to find out what was so funny. Seeing nothing he went back to rapidly eating his food and moments later his first plate was finished.
The Queen who had been watching him out of the corner of her eye smiled lovingly and called for another plate to be brought to Aemon. At first, he refused but she insisted that he was growing big and needed to eat well and grow strong. She patted his head and told him he could have as many plates as he liked. The old king just smiled gently at his wife's words and went back to eating and contemplating his family's situation.
His mother just sighed and started eating though unlike her son she had the grace to wait until the king and queen started eating. His father however gained a rather devious idea and a smile stretched across his face. Meanwhile, Aemon began to obliviously tear through his second plate whilst Alysanne chuckled at the speed of his eating.
"The boy eats like a dragon Rhea, is that the kind of manners you teach in the Vale?" Daemon said his sly smile was growing even bigger as he turned to look at her. Viserys heard his sigh and pinched his nose. The last thing their family needed in his opinion was more division. Their father was gone and they were all grieving so why did his younger brother always have to start something? Meanwhile, Rhea who was using her fork to reach for a sausage froze at her husband's words.
"Well maybe if you visited the boy more than once a year his manners might improve." She says putting her hand down and slowly turning to look at Daemon. Little Rhaenyra looked up at her uncle she had been making funny faces at Laena who had been making them back and giggling. Laenor who had been mindlessly eating his food diverted his attention to the conversation. His parents who had been making small talk with each other also looked over to observe.
"Oh, but I thought you did not need me. What was it you said? Oh yes, Runestone has no place for barbaric Princes and yet my son seems to have nearly any manors at all. Mayhaps he would be better off being raised say… I don't know here in Kings Landing with his family?" Daemon replied to Rhea with a slight bit of laughter in his voice. Aemon hearing his father's voice stopped eating from his third plate and looked up to pay better attention to the conversation.
"He does live with his family." She said sharply gripping the knife in her other hand more firmly. His annoyance with Daemon rose every time they saw each other but she realized that now wasn't a good time for a debate.
"Ah yes… and what an honorable family it is," He says disdainfully he knew full well how she would react when both her and her house's honor was brought into question.
"Brother please can't we all just enjoy one meal together as a family," Viserys says before Rhea could fall into his brother's obvious provocations. He sighed tiredly and Aemma rubbed her hand on his shoulder.
"Yes, my prince perhaps it would be better if we simply enjoyed are meal and left it at that." She said taking a smaller plate of fruit and handing it to Rhaenyra. The little girl seemed completely oblivious to the growing argument simply deciding to eat her fruit.
"Oh, but I am enjoying this meal I'm simply wondering why my son hasn't been taught the proper method to eat his food," Daemon said turning his gaze to Aemma. Meanwhile, Rhaenys drank juice from a glass and looked at Corlys who returned her side-eye but remained silent.
"Besides if my Bronze bi-"Daemon's sentence was cut off when a fork was sent flying by his face point first. Every person followed the fork as it was planted directly into the wall. Then their gazes traced back to the one who threw the utensil. To shock most of them the one who went through the fork was not Lady Rhea but rather it was Aemon. Both he and the Queen were glaring at him with a startling intensity. In fact, most of them had not seen Aemon ever get angry at all while the Queen hadn't made such an expression in quite some time. But what startled most of them was the words he spoke.
"If you finish that sentence my next throw won't miss." The hall went silent and every member of the royal family stared wordlessly at the young boy. Even the king's guard was shocked when it happened. Viserys was shocked, Aemma stunned, Rhaenys surprised, and all of them were at least a little caught off guard by the suddenness of Aemon's actions.
Daemon leaned back and focused his gaze on his son who was this time twirling a knife in his hand. He stayed silent but locked eyes with Aemon dark violet eyes met amethyst. The two wills struggled against each other. Daemon's scowl met Aemon's glare and the fire in their blood seemed to rise. Then as if judging his son worthy Daemon smirked and leaned back into his chair and silently resumed eating his food.
Aemon however seeing how all of the table was staring at him save his father. Put down his knife and scooted back his chair. Standing up from his chair he walked over to the king and bowed.
"Your grace if I may be excused." He said quickly before looking back up at the king's face expressionless. Jaehaerys just nodded and without any further ceremony, Aemon left the hall.
[Chapter image here]
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Happy Thanksgiving every body clearly it's not going very well in-house Targaryen.