111 AC
King's Landing, Aemon's Personal Mance
First-Person POV
Aemon Targaryen
XXX
So remember how I said fucking wasn't exactly in the plan.
Well, we may need to make just a few alterations.
Lifting my left hand Rhaenyra's golden hair fell through my fingers and I blinked away the last of my sleep I both felt and saw her beautiful nude form pressed against me.
Then I felt a strange warm sensation coming from my right and turned my head only to see silver waterfalls of white hair cascading down my chest as a chocolate-skinned girl on my other side pressed against me.
I looked out the window to see a beautiful new sun rising from the glittering reflection on the narrow sea.
"Hey, system?"
[" Yeah, Aemon. "]
"I think I may have fucked up."
[You don't fucking say you fucking… player.]
Shimmering golden rays of dawn gleamed through the window beside us illuminating the three of us and granting just enough warmth to wake the two sleeping beauties beside me. And as the sun rose on my uncertain future, you might be wondering how exactly I got myself into this situation.
Well, it all started last night on the Street of Sisters.
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.
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111 AC
King's Landing, The Street of Sisters
The night before
First-Person POV
Aemon Targaryen
So Rhae and I were doing some friendly sports betting nothing too serious. Just some horse racing.
"COME ON YOU SLOW CUNT THE BITCH IS RUNNING CIRCLES AROUND YOU!" The man next to yelled as a woman in a mysterious black cloak came dashing down the road in the lead. The mysterious girl had been in the lead from the very beginning going up the Rose Road.
The route went up and around Flea Bottom along the Rose Road and back down to turn onto the street of Sisters up by the dragon pit and back down to where the two places met in a loop.
[image here :
"HAH THAT'S WHAT YOU GET YOU OLD CUNT NOW PAY UP!" Rhaenyra yelled at the man whose face already fully flushed from the flagon of what was definitely not his first ale of the night, lit up even redder with wrath. She'd bet our whole pouch of silver, or rather my pouch of silver, on the mystery girl winning the race.
"WHY YOU LITTLE SL-" The man stepped in closer to her.
"Oi let's all just calm down here," I said stepping between the red-faced man and Nyra.
"FUCK YOU YA STUPID CU-" I cut him off with a punch to the throat and a sudden knee to the gut. Beside us, a few other people in the crowd reacted with surprise and fear but most of them were distracted by cheering for the mystery girl as she crossed the finish line first.
The small folk, grew even more rowdy with cheers. As the man groaned on the floor a quick boot to the head knocked him out. Turning back to check on Rhae she was already rushing over to the winner with the rest of the crowd.
"Sigh that girl really does love a winner," Putting Rhaenyra's questionable fetishes and more than obvious bisexual tendencies aside, I obviously needed to follow after her. After all, it seems that somehow my uncle has managed to raise a daughter without the slightest hint of common sense.
'Note to self include stranger danger in my future children's upbringing.' After that, I followed the two who seemed to recognize each other and started rushing away hand in hand.
"Hey, where are you going?" I asked more confused than anything else.
"Aemon umm, well she's-" Rhaenyra said nervously before the mystery girl stepped forward. She didn't lower her hood but when she looked up at me I recognized her face.
It was Laena and frankly I wasn't too surprised but at the same time I honestly didn't even know what to say to her for a moment before just settling for a sigh and telling her to come on.
Instead of getting angry or yelling at her I decided to take them somewhere else to talk. She tried to get my attention but I was much more focused on reorganizing my plan in my head. I didn't even realize she was trying to talk to me until she managed to grab my arm.
"Aemon?"
"Not here let's find somewhere safer to talk," I said, glancing back over to Rhaenyra who nodded at my words.
"Both of you stay close we wouldn't want to get separated," I said and they nodded. In hindsight, I think it was either my tone or the fact that whenever we were with each other as kids it was usually me who led the metaphorical charge.
Pressing forward through the streets and dismissing their questions of where I was leading them for now eventually we reached an establishment of mine.
Standing out front I took out the mask I'd prepared in advance. Then turning to Rhaenyra I gestured for her to do the same. As for Laena she'd been checking our surroundings when she turned back to see us.
"Aemon? What is this?" She hissed keeping her voice down as two drunken small folk passed by through the alleyway. The two drunks stumbled out a drunken prayer for the Queen's soul and stumbled on by. Stepping closer to her I took her hand and pressed a black sash into it.
"We're going in. I don't have a mask for you so cover your face with this cloth for now. I'll get you one when we enter," Stepping back I looked at both of them who still looked confused I turned around and knocked a secret rhythm on the door.
For a moment nothing happened, then two seconds later a small latch in the door opened and a voice came through.
"Password?" The voice asked but no eyes or anything were peering through the viewing hole only darkness.
'Good their following my orders to the letter.' I thought. It would be all too easy to poke a blade through and kill the man behind the door so I'd made sure to drill this part into them. Well technically I had Sidious do it but I emphasised the point.
"Open sesime," The word for open in High Valyrian slipped from my lips quickly and I heard several locks come undone as the door moved out of our way.
Stepping inside I heard my two cousins follow me in after a moment. Inside was a narrow dark stone corridor lit by a few lamps. Beside me, a doorman in a black cloak held the door open for the three of us. Quickly stepping through I reached a shadowy staircase and at the bottom was another door. This time it was red and carved with animal faces and I knocked on it in a new rhythm.
Another latch opened and another password was required this time it was lemon tree and quickly enough we were allowed entry into a much larger much more well-lit room. There were red carpeted floors and the walls were painted yellow with patterns. The lobby was also fully furnished and full of red seats and couches.
Inside lay a desk off to the side with another masked man and two large red doors at the front and a red door at the side. Standing by the wall two maidservants in black and white uniforms also wearing black masks stood off to the side. Behind the desk, another man stood up from a fancy red velvet chair to greet them.
"Hello, my Lord, and ladies, a lovely night we're having. Tell me have you been to our establishment before?" The man asked, performing a short bow as I approached his desk.
"I have but these two ladies haven't," I said looking over my shoulder at the two girls. Rhaenyra looked far more uncomfortable than Laena with her body language while the other girl although nervous and only covering her face with a black sash was more still. Even so, the two ladies stood close together and said nothing.
"I see my lord in that case would you mind if I explained this place to your companions?" The man said in a servile tone.
"You may do so, also my friend here will be requiring a mask for herself. And the two will need to change as well," I said gesturing to a door off to the side the two girls glanced at each other but said nothing.
"Of course my lord. Would you like to go to the public floor or?" I cut off the question quickly.
"Well do a private room for now," I said before handing the man a specialized coin out of my pocket. It wasn't your typical gold, instead, it was custom-designed for specific members of the Sith order and all of our important connections would recognize it even if they didn't have one.
"Apologies my lord I didn't recognize you," Pressing the coin into his hand the host stares at it for a moment before handing it back and bowing deeply.
"Girls these three are special guests please escort these two ladies to the changing rooms. I will take the lord here to his private room." Clapping his hands, the two maidservants begin to guide Rhaenyra and Laena away. The two hesitated at first, Rhaenyra going to speak, but Laena took her wrist and led her away, following the two maids through the side door.
"My lord right this way if you please," The host gestures to the main door but I ignore him.
"No ill wait for them," I say before crossing my arms and waiting for a while. It takes longer than I hoped but I don't sit or take any of the drinks or snacks they offered me.
By the time the two existed they had been transformed. Rhaenyra was in a bright red and white dress with her red-and-white mask while Laena wore a bright blue and black dress coupled with a blue and black mermaid-themed mask.
'Very subtle guys.'
"Let's go," I said as I turned around and stepped towards the door. The two maid servants rushed over and opened it while I stepped through at the front of our group.
A wall of noise hit us as soon as we set out into the open. Below was an entire underground casino floor whose blueprints I had hand-crafted for years. Marble pillars held it up and the faint smoke of patrons holding pipes and smoking cigars clouded the air. Different lords and ladies all in immaculate costumes faces covered by different kinds of masks molded after a variety of things in a menagerie of colors flooded the gambling floor.
Off to the left side, a live bar sold different drinks from all over the world and was worked by a tall summer islander I had personally recruited after he came to King's Landing to start a new life. On the right a stage with a band of self-trained singers and musicians using brand-new instruments created by me and my underground forges in Runestone. Turns out that being from the one place in Westeros known for bronze makes inventing brass instruments rather easy.
Plus I also had to make them play the cantina jazz music from Star Wars or as it's called in-universe, Jizz music.
The thought alone made me chuckle as I leaned my hands against the fine wooden railing before me. Beside me, Leana and Rhaenyra gasped as they gazed down at the dozens of gambling tables.
"I had no idea a place like this could exist in King's Landing," Rhaenyra said softly and I chuckled at that too.
"Yep three years and running now," I said stepping back from the railing. I watched as men played winning hands and women in fancy gowns and elaborate masks shot dice. Pool balls cracked together at multiple tables as people laughed and drank new experimental brews and rare beverages at prices probably only the upper echelon of houses could afford to sell at the prices we were and actually make a profit like I was.
But of course this place wasn't under my name. No, this was under the rule of Darth Sidious and his brand-new Brotherhood of Darkness, and thanks to the strategic purging of several gangs and organizations that father and I had planned and executed. The Brotherhood and about four other criminal factions remained somewhat powerful the rest had been absorbed and or destroyed by the others.
The first was a child fighting ring that had captured little boys and girls and forced the orphans to sharpen their nails and teeth to points in order to fight to the death in bets on matches. They were essentially slaver trash that I planned to root out.
The other criminal syndicates were a matter for another time though. Instead, my attention had passed to the host beside me.
He stepped out in front of the three of us he bowed and spoke with a tone of awe and reverence for the establishment.
"I hope you have a wonderful evening gentle lord and ladies. And welcome to the Continental."
XXX
111 AC
King's Landing, The Red Keep
First-Person POV
Viserys Targaryen
XXX
'Aemon was right.'
The thought came to me the moment Alicent had left my door. My nephew had come to me the night of Aemma's death with a bottle of wine and his condolences as well as those of his father. He'd said Daemon wanted to visit but the Maesters had insisted he stay in bed and heal for a few days before he could start moving around properly again.
Luckily my little brother was still young and healthy enough that he'd recover quickly. But the true thing that haunted me from that night wasn't the worryingly accurate guesses he'd made about the motives of my council, but that he may have been right about Otto's true motives.
Just as Aemon had said the man's daughter had come to me in my time of greatest darkness to not only offer condolences but she'd done it wearing one of her mother's dresses as he'd anticipated.
'If his guess about that had been right, what else could he have guessed correctly?' The thought brought another frown to my lips as I lifted a smaller goblet of wine to them.
The Arbor Gold wasn't my favorite kind but lord Redwyne had given them as a gift to the crown to celebrate my son's birth.
Another sip wets my throat and I sigh before setting down the cup and slouching into my seat.
'Otto Hightower' the thought of my own best friend disturbs me now. After all these years of friendship, how could he do something like that to me? I suppose it's to be expected of any lord who plays the game of thrones. Could Daemon have been right about him all this time? If Aemon knew he was capable of something like this then mayhaps he was more dangerous than I had considered.
'Perhaps accepting Aemon's proposal was the right option or perhaps something more."
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