Chapter 34: The Unseen Throne and the Crumbling Peace (Life Under the New Order)
The reign of Aegon the Conqueror, once a fiery maelstrom that had reshaped Westeros, eventually settled into the more mundane, though no less complex, rhythm of governance. Decades passed. Aegon I, the Dragon King, grew old upon his Iron Throne, his black hair turned to silver, his gaze weary from the burdens of empire. He was succeeded by his frail, indecisive son Aenys I, whose gentle nature proved ill-suited to the jagged edges of the throne forged by his warlike father. And then came Maegor, Aenys's younger brother, Maegor the Cruel, whose reign was a brutal storm of tyranny, paranoia, and bloody conflict against the rising power of the Faith Militant.
Through all these tumultuous years in the south, Aelyx Velaryon, the ageless Shadow King, watched from his hidden Northern sanctuary with the dispassionate focus of an eternal observer. His own dynasty flourished in the deep, warm heart of Mount Skatus, a silent, potent counterpoint to the increasingly troubled Targaryen regime. The "new order" Aegon had established was already showing cracks, and every fissure, every tremor, was meticulously noted and analyzed by Aelyx and his immortal family.
Publicly, Skagos, under the rule of a succession of Lord Volmarks – first Aelyx's grandson, Cregan, then Cregan's son, Jon, and then Jon's son, Torrhen II (Aelyx's great-great-grandson, all meticulously trained for their public roles and fully indoctrinated into the family's true, hidden nature) – remained a bastion of Northern strength, loyalty, and almost mythical prosperity. The "Heir's Hoard" gold mine continued its generous, carefully managed "yield," ensuring that Skagos could meet any tithe demanded by Winterfell for the Iron Throne without strain, and still possess enough wealth to be the financial pillar of the North. This economic might, coupled with the legendary prowess of the Volmark fleet (which remained a formidable, purely conventional force in the public eye), secured Skagos's autonomy and the unwavering support of the Starks, who were content to have such a powerful and open-handed vassal guarding their northern flank. Direct interaction with King's Landing was minimal; Lord Volmark paid his respects and fealty through his liege lord at Winterfell, and Skagos remained a remote, if respected, corner of the realm, its Valyrian-featured lords seen as a unique but thoroughly Northernized lineage.
Within the sanctuary, however, the Volmark dynasty was blossoming into an empire of magic unlike anything the world had known since the height of Valyria – and perhaps, in its secrecy and controlled power, surpassing even that. Aelyx and Lyanna, their youth eternal, presided over a multi-generational family that now numbered in the hundreds. Their eight direct children were the revered elders of this hidden society, each a master sorcerer and dragonrider, their own children (Aelyx's grandchildren) now mature leaders, and their grandchildren (Aelyx's great-grandchildren) young adults embarking on their own magical apprenticeships and dragon bondings. The sanctuary was teeming with new life, with children whose first lullabies were the songs of phoenixes and the distant roars of dragons, whose playgrounds were crystal-lit caverns, and whose destinies were intertwined with the eternal ambitions of their Shadow King.
The magical education within Mount Skatus had evolved into a sophisticated, multi-faceted curriculum. Young Volmarks learned not just the spellcraft of the Potterverse and the alchemy of Flamel, but also the revived (and refined) fire and blood magics of Old Valyria (stripped of their most self-destructive elements by Aelyx), the subtle earth and nature magic drawn from Lyanna's Stark heritage and the lore of the Reeds, and entirely new forms of sorcery developed through Aelyx's and Aenar's relentless research. They were taught to wield wands crafted from weirwood and Skagosi dragon heartstring, to brew potions from herbs cultivated in subterranean Glass Gardens under magical light, to enchant objects with lasting power, and to shield their minds with impenetrable Occlumency.
The dragon population now exceeded two hundred, a legion of magnificent beasts of all sizes and colors, each generation bred for greater strength, intelligence, and unique abilities. The original twenty-nine were now truly ancient, colossal creatures, their wisdom almost palpable. Their offspring, and their offspring's offspring, formed disciplined squadrons, their Volmark riders training in complex aerial formations, practicing coordinated fire assaults, and even developing techniques for silent, high-altitude reconnaissance. The volcanic heart of Mount Skatus had been transformed into a labyrinthine network of dragon lairs, training grounds, and magically heated nesting caverns, a feat of engineering and enchantment that dwarfed any mundane construction.
The house-elf community, numbering well over a thousand, remained the silent, indispensable engine of the sanctuary. Their lives, extended by the Elixir, spanned generations of service, their loyalty to Aelyx and his line absolute. They managed the vast infrastructure, tended the magical flora and fauna, assisted in arcane research, crafted enchanted items, and served as the eyes, ears, and subtle hands of the Volmark dynasty, both within the sanctuary and, through carefully glamoured agents, in the outside world. The phoenix flock, too, had grown, their fiery forms a constant presence in the highest, light-filled caverns, their tears a priceless panacea, their rebirths a symbol of the Volmark's own intended eternity.
It was the turbulent reigns of Aenys I and Maegor I Targaryen that provided Aelyx with the most compelling evidence of the inherent instability of overt, dragon-based rule. Aenys, gentle and scholarly, proved utterly incapable of handling the fierce pride of the Seven Kingdoms or the rising power of the Faith of the Seven, which viewed the Targaryen practice of incestuous marriage as an abomination. The Faith Militant, the military orders of the Faith – the Warrior's Sons and the Poor Fellows – rose in open rebellion, plunging the realm into chaos.
Aelyx watched this uprising with intense interest. "Observe, my children," he instructed his inner council, as reports of battles between royal forces and the Faith Militant flowed in. "A non-magical, popular insurgency, fueled by religious fervor, challenging dragonlords. There are profound lessons here. Dragons can burn armies and castles, but they cannot easily burn belief. They cannot be everywhere at once. A king who loses the faith of his people, or the tolerance of powerful institutions, invites rebellion, no matter how many dragons he commands."
He noted how Aenys faltered, how his health declined under the pressure, and how his younger brother, Maegor, a renowned warrior but a man of brutal, uncompromising temperament, seized control. Maegor's response to the Faith Militant was one of savage, unrelenting warfare. He unleashed Balerion the Black Dread upon the Starry Sept in Oldtown and the Sept of Remembrance in King's Landing, acts of sacrilege that horrified the realm but demonstrated his ruthless determination. He fought the Warrior's Sons in countless bloody skirmishes, his personal prowess in battle undeniable, but his cruelty alienating even his own supporters.
"Maegor rules by fear alone," Aelyx analyzed, his voice tinged with contempt. "Fear is a brittle foundation for any lasting power. He sheds blood indiscriminately, he trusts no one, he makes enemies of potential allies. He is a tyrant, and tyrants inevitably sow the seeds of their own destruction. His reign will be short, bloody, and will serve primarily as a lesson in how not to maintain an empire."
Aelyx ensured that public Skagos, under the wise Lord Torrhen II Volmark, remained impeccably loyal to the Iron Throne, whichever Targaryen sat upon it. Tribute was paid, pronouncements of fealty made through Winterfell. Skagos even contributed a significant sum of gold, ostensibly from the "Heir's Hoard," to Maegor's war chest against the Faith Militant, a gesture framed as supporting the restoration of royal authority, but which Aelyx knew would further indebt the crown and highlight Skagos's unwavering (if distant) loyalty. He had no love for the Faith, whose power he saw as a dangerous constraint on true rulers, but neither did he endorse Maegor's brand of butchery. His support was purely pragmatic.
He also took note of Maegor's massive building projects: the completion of the Red Keep in King's Landing (and his subsequent execution of all its builders to protect its secrets, a move Aelyx, for all his ruthlessness, deemed inefficiently paranoid) and the beginning of construction on the Dragonpit, a vast domed structure designed to house the royal dragons.
"He seeks to cage his dragons," Aelyx mused to Aenar. "A telling sign. Dragons are creatures of fire and freedom. Confine them, and you diminish them. Our own dragons thrive because they have the vastness of the sanctuary, an environment tailored to their nature. The Targaryens, in their arrogance, believe they can treat these magnificent beasts as mere tools, as glorified warhorses. It is a flaw in their understanding, a weakness we may one day… note."
The eventual downfall of Maegor the Cruel – found dead on the Iron Throne, impaled on its jagged spikes, whether by his own hand or that of an assassin, none could say for certain – and the subsequent ascension of Aenys's young son, Jaehaerys I, the Conciliator, marked another shift in the Westerosi landscape. Jaehaerys, with his wise queen Alysanne, would usher in a long era of peace and prosperity, skillfully navigating the treacherous waters of court politics, mending the rift with the Faith (by disbanding the Faith Militant but offering other concessions), and truly unifying the Seven Kingdoms through law, infrastructure, and diplomacy.
Aelyx watched Jaehaerys's reign with a different kind of interest. Here was a Targaryen who understood the subtleties of power, who preferred peace to war, wisdom to brute force. "This one," Aelyx remarked to Lyanna, "is a true king. He builds, he heals, he negotiates. He understands that dragons are best used as a deterrent, not a constant scourge. He may well forge a dynasty that lasts for some considerable time."
During these decades of Targaryen upheaval and subsequent consolidation, the sanctuary on Skagos was a hive of focused activity. The Volmark grandchildren, now young adults, were taking on significant responsibilities. Torrhen's eldest son, Cregan Volmark (the public Lord Volmark after his father's "passing"), had a younger brother, Rodrik, who showed a remarkable talent for beast mastery, not just with dragons, but with the great white wolves and shadow-cats of Skagos. Visenya's daughter, Vaella, inherited her mother's fiery spirit and a prodigious gift for elemental evocation, becoming a leading figure in the dragonrider training programs. Jojen Reed-Volmark, Lyra's son, his greensight now almost as potent as his mother's, became the sanctuary's chief diviner, his pronouncements guiding many of Aelyx's long-term agricultural and resource management plans within their hidden world. Maegor's sons, Hrothgar and Garth, were colossal warriors, leaders of the sanctuary's elite magical ground troops. Valerion, Aenar's son, was a prodigy of enchanting, already crafting magical artifacts of subtle but profound power.
Aelyx himself, with Lyanna always his confidante and partner, focused on the even longer game. He initiated deeper research into the fundamental nature of magic, into the prophecies that hinted at future threats beyond mere mortal politics – the return of the Long Night, the true nature of the Others. He began to subtly prepare his dynasty not just to outlast the Targaryens, but to be a bulwark against far older, more existential dangers. The Skagosi dragon legions were trained not just for aerial combat, but for endurance in extreme cold, their fires capable of being focused into lances of heat that could, perhaps, counter unnatural ice.
The public persona of House Volmark, now under its third generation of "mortal" lords since Aelyx's "death," remained one of quiet strength, immense wealth, and unwavering loyalty to the Starks and, through them, the Iron Throne. They were seen as a somewhat eccentric, reclusive house, content with their island domain, their Valyrian heritage a faded, romantic notion. No one in King's Landing or Winterfell suspected that the true Lord of Skagos was an immortal sorcerer-king, commanding a legion of dragons and a dynasty of powerful mages, patiently watching the world from his hidden, unassailable throne, his plans stretching into the mists of eternity. The new order of Westeros had settled, but beneath its surface, an older, far more enduring power continued its silent, inexorable bloom. The peace of the Dragon King provided the perfect shadow for the Shadow King's long vigil.