101 AC
Kinglanding
Leana Velaryon
XXX
I breathed deeply through my nose trying to suppress a sigh from coming out of my mouth. I stood side by side with my twin brother, Larnor, as we received the nth lecture from our mother about what was expected of us here at court. But my mind couldn't help but tune her out completely when I heard a sudden but loud roar of a dragon.
Mother turned to look out the window but before I could ask her who it was the roar was followed by two others. This could only mean one thing. There was only one man in all seven kingdoms, not in the whole world who commanded the might of not one but three dragons.
'Aemon!' My head snapped to the side and my eyes met Laenor's. In that moment I could tell that we were both thinking the same thing. We looked back at our mother who saw our reaction. She closed her eyes and sighed, then, with a hand, she motioned for us to leave.
"Thank you, mother!" The two of us said as we left quickly but we still had the sense not to run. We missed him the last two times he was here and we would be damned if we missed a third. We strode through the palace, not even bothering to have a guard or two come with us, and I quickly realized we needed a plan to find our cousin.
"Laenor we can't just keep walking aimlessly like a bunch of headless chickens we need to split up and look for him," I say as we turn down a corridor brushing past a few artifacts. My feet click hard against the tiled floor in my blue heels. They're not optimal for running or moving too quickly but they do make me a few inches taller than my twin brother. When I was just a little girl, I was taller than my younger brother, but recently he's caught up to my height. He's caught up to my over five and a half feet of height both of stopping just under the foot by less than half. But the shoes I'm wearing were gifted to me by Aemon and they put me at nearly six feet though I'm still a few increments off.
"Right I'll go outside maybe he's in the garden or the training yard." He said still keeping pace with me. I ignored the fact that if Armon had been outside in the training yard Laenor would have probably seen him earlier. Instead, I'll exploit it to see if I can find Aemon first.
"I'll check around the castle and ask some of the guards if they've seen him make his way into the castle. We should meet back in the throne room if we don't find him." He nodded in agreement at my words and we split up quickly taking different paths.
While he searches outside I quickly speak with the nearest guards trying to fish out any information I can from them. None of them have seen him enter the palace, as I move on and for about the next half an hour, there are no leads. I even tried using my own charms to my advantage once but in truth the man simply didn't know.
I moved on closer to the throne room still questioning a guard or noble lady once in a while when one of them mentions they saw him entering the throne room alongside his father. That was a little but troubling I had little interest in Daemon not that he wasn't an interesting man but admittedly he was a bit of a cunt. Less so now than when I was a child but he's called the rogue prince for a reason.
Nonetheless, if nobody saw the two of them enter the castle but saw them enter the throne room then there is only one other way I can think of they used to get inside.
'The tunnels! They had to have used the tunnels' it was the only explanation I could come to that made sense. Since we were kids the two of us, and sometimes the others played around in the tunnels hidden all over the Red Keep and Maegor's holdfast. Aemon first showed them to me and he was shown them by Daemon. I'm not sure if that was a very responsible decision for him to make but to be fair the man isn't known for his responsibility.
Heading towards the throne room I ask another if they've seen the two princes only to find out that Aemon has already been seen leaving alongside Rhaenyra. A slight pang of jealousy that she found him first prickles in me but I keep searching. Each lead has me coming back towards my guest apartment in the castle which can only mean they're looking for me as well.
By the time I make it back to my room, they're not there and they've already left. Luckily the guard was told that if I arrived to give me a message. He tells me they're headed down to the garden and I feel a fool. Laenor may find them first at this rate and no doubt my annoying little brother will rub it in my face. Still, I decide to head down after them and hope that I'll meet up with them before Laenor does.
XXX
111 AC
Kings Landing
The Red Keep
First-person POV
Aemon Targaryen
XXX
I sat across from Rhaenyra at a set of tables and chairs set up not too far from the entrance. I had them set up before I notified anyone of our presence using my dragons.
We ate together me finishing my sandwich from earlier and her eating one of the extras I made for just such an occasion. She moaned quietly with each bite the first time she tried to hide it but I couldn't hide the smirk on my face. We ended laughing and talking about all sorts of things. If I didn't know any better I would think this was a date. A date that seems to be going well.
All was random easy small talk until we were suddenly interrupted by a cough. I looked left and before me was the only girl in this world I've ever seen who could match the beauty of the one sitting across from me. Dark skin and pale white hair paired with purple eyes and a light blue dress.
"Greetings Princess, my prince a lovely day we are having." She said her voice was smoother than the last time I heard it and it made me gulp down the bit of food stuck in my throat. I blinked a few times and smiled to make sure it didn't look like I was staring. I stood, I flickered my gaze back over to Rharnyra who stood as well and there was a slight glimmer of something in her eye. Most people would miss it entirely but not someone with eyes like mine.
"Dear cousin it's good to see you please come join us," I said managing to keep my voice even if not slightly deeper than before which I hoped neither of them noticed. Rhaenyra made a polite greeting to her as well and I pulled out a chair for her to sit. She joined us but there was no food for her. Luckily we had already called for a servant to bring us beverages earlier and we could have some snacks added to that when they returned but for now, I was far more interested in the young lady before me.
She's sixteen now and even taller than Rhaenyra but not me although she wasn't much shorter. I'd guess about 5'10 a sign that the enhanced body I gave her was doing its work and doing it well. But as we made small talk my curiosity towards her grew when I remembered she still had yet to claim a dragon.
That was something I could use to my advantage I just needed to know how. If I figured out how to prevent Alicent's marriage to Viserys the next candidate was her. I would admit I would hate to remove her due to the loss of her enhanced body and bloodline. But I also took no pleasure in the destruction of something or someone beautiful. I doubt many men in the world enjoy doing such a thing.
Soon the servants arrived and we asked for those snacks but it also reminded me of something else I brought with me. In a smaller metal compartment of my lunch box carved with cooling and freezing runes. A few small cubes of chocolate lay within and I brought them out for the two girls to try.
Both of them looked rather hesitant at first no doubt due to the brown color of it but after trying the two seemed practically enthralled with it. That's when I told them that when the rest of my people came to follow me to kings landing they would bring all sorts of tasty treats and foods. Laena simply looked pleased at the news but Rhaenyra was about as giddy as proper manners would allow if not a bit more so only because she was in the presence of family.
After we finished eating I invited them to take a walk through the garden with me. In truth, it was an effort to lose the person who had been watching the tree of us from a nearby balcony. Alicent Hightower is a problem all in of herself and the last thing I need is her reporting anything we said to her father. So I pretended not to notice her subtly directing us away from Rhaenyra's favorite lady in waiting.
To my surprise, the garden was actually rather large by comparison to the one we saw in the show and any map I saw online. But as we walked and talked I decided to ask Laena why she hadn't claimed a dragon just yet.
So I waited until Rhaenyra left and asked her. Her reasoning boiled down to a lack of confidence and options. So I took her hand and whilst I looked her in the eye I promised to help her claim one someday and until then she could ride with me anytime.
It had the desired effect and I kept catching the glances she was giving me for the rest of our walk. If I could make a lasting impression on her today a positive one that is I might be able to use that later in my plans. She wasn't just a problem when it came to Aemma's death but also the king's death as well.
When Viserys dies there will be a need to figure out who his heir will be. The obvious choice is the one I'm aiming for, my own father. That being said I would also make my mother the queen and thus the position would be occupied. If he does try to kill her then I'll need to prevent it and he may try just that to replace her with either of my two cousins.
However, I'm hoping for a far more difficult outcome to occur. An outcome that I've been spending years establishing. If I can keep them together long enough even if they don't like each other at all. Then I can have my father take a second wife and hopefully it will set the precedent for future Targaryen kings to do the same. The main problem with that is the faith of the seven as I'm fairly sure I can convince my father to take a second wife rather than put my mother to the side.
However, I have something to do this evening that has been put in motion months ago and I can't afford to put it off now so I'll need to refine that plan later. Once I left I managed to slip off into one of the tunnels and started to make my way out.
XXX
111 AC
Kings Landing
The Red Keep
First-person POV
XXX
I slipped out of the Red Keep into the streets of the capital my brother fast behind me. I grab my neck double checking the that I have the key stool looped around it in a necklace. It wasn't quite dark yet but it would be soon and before then we needed to arrive at our destination. So we hurry as fast as we can and make our way to an alley soon enough making sure not to draw attention with our hoods.
Luckily a cart is waiting for us just as planned but just to be sure my elder brother walks up to the driver first. They speak but I don't bother to fully listen as I check the alleyway. No hold cloaks just as planned. I glance back when I hear my brother move and see him about to try to get my attention.
He nods seeing I noticed him beforehand and he's already confirmed the password so he helps me get in. All is going to plan so far and it isn't long before we're headed down the hook and turning down the Muddy way to reach the River gate.
Once we pass through the Mud gate the stink of fish hits me. We pass through Fishmonger's Square just as quickly and move unimpeded to the docks where a handful of men are waiting for us. My brother and I dismount the carriage and pay the driver the other half of his promised silver with the lob of a single coin purse in his general direction.
The man nods and waits for us to return. Under normal circumstances, we would be doing this under the cover of nightfall but we're under a time constraint. We walk over to the small group of men waiting for us and my brother confirms with them as well. I see them nod in confirmation and they give the proper response in turn.
After that, they guide us to a new unmarked ship in a less populated area of the docks and one chest lies off to the side. I walk over to it slowly and take the loop from around my neck and check the dangling key still hanging there. I take hold of it and bend down carefully and unlock it.
They gather around curious to see what cargo was so precious that an entire smuggling crew was sworn to secrecy and also not allowed to see what was inside. I open the chest slowly relishing the suspense in it. When it's finally open the shifting golden color that reflects on my face makes me smile. Several of them leanedin trying to see over my shoulders eager to know what it was.
I closed it quickly and looked at my brother his gaze questioning. I nodded in confirmation and he started having the men load the nearby carriage with the cargo. We made sure to put some common vegetables atop them in case anyone had questions. Meanwhile, I continued my role of lookout I just wanted to make extra sure nothing went wrong this time.
Tonight would be the last of menial labor that I'll have to do from now on. I looked over at the setting sun in the west as it fell beneath the buildings. After this, I'll be able to assume my new role, and when the night is over the sun rise over a city transformed. I've followed my master's teachings for years now. The skills he taught me how to hone will soon find uses.
As I turn back to look over the black water I know that most of these men's corpses will end up in the Blackwater by tomorrow night. It was a slight point of contention in the plan. On one hand, if we kill everyone we hire people will stop accepting our offers. On the other hand, these men already know too much just by seeing the cargo once. Things like this will be up to my personal decisions by tomorrow morning and I can't help but relish the power my new role will grant me.
"Time to go brother." I hear my brother's voice call over my shoulder and I sigh and close my eyes briefly. Soon a new dawn will come and when it does I will graduate from apprentice to master.
[Chapter image]
XXX
Let me tell y'all when I say writer's block I mean less than a hundred some days. Anyway, I've decided I need to vary up what I'm writing so I don't end up burning out on this fic. So I'm launching an MHA fic soon enough in celebration or commiseration of the ending. So the first chapter of that will be out by the end of the week.
Bye, everyone. đź‘‹