Amidst an air of solemn anticipation, more than twenty grand, dragon-prowed warships slowly raised anchor and set sail from the bustling port of Blackwater Bay in King's Landing.
Like warriors departing for battle, they carried with them Aegon's great and hopeful dream, bound for the distant, uncharted seas.
Maester Bennifer watched the fleet recede, his heart heavy with feeling. Unable to resist, he began recounting a long-forgotten history to his peers.
"Aegon is not the first to harbor such a vision.
"Thousands of years before the Conquest, when the North was still ruled by the Kings of Winter, Brandon the Shipwright built a fleet, intending to cross the Sunset Sea. He sailed west himself… but never returned.
"His son and heir, also named Brandon, burned the shipyards in grief and anger, earning the name Brandon the Shipburner.
"A thousand years later, a band of Ironborn were blown off course after leaving Great Wyk and came upon a barren, rocky isle northwest of the known coastline, eight days' sail from the nearest land.
"Their captain took the name Farwynd, meaning 'the Far-Traveler.' He built a tower and a beacon there, naming it Lonely Light. His descendants remain to this day, guarding a place where seals outnumber men fifty to one.
"Others—even the Ironborn themselves—called the Farwynds mad, some mocking them as 'Sealmen'…"
Brandon the Shipwright and those Ironborn had braved the northern seas, where krakens, sea dragons, and monstrous beasts the size of islands swam in the cold gray waters, and drifting icebergs hid within the fog.
Aegon's planned route was entirely different. He would not repeat such mistakes. His fleet would sail southward instead, through warmer, bluer waters, carried by steady, powerful winds. He was certain his ships would cross the Sunset Sea and achieve his great purpose.
...
On the morning of April 13th, in the fifty-eighth year of the Conquest, the sky lay cold and gray, and a howling wind swept in from the east.
Aegon II was taking breakfast with the Keyholders of Braavos, administrators of the Iron Bank.
They had come to negotiate terms for the Dragonlord Bank's acquisition of the Iron Bank.
Under the Targaryens' new rule, Braavos had grown increasingly difficult ground for the Bank. The dynasty had enacted clear laws: apart from the Dragonlord Bank, no one was permitted to engage in large-scale lending. All major loans were now considered illegal.
This left many of the Iron Bank's outstanding debts unrecoverable. In a realm where large loans were outlawed, the Bank could not enforce repayment. Naturally, borrowers ceased paying.
Worse still, the Bank's former ally—the Sealord of Braavos—had fallen. Deprived of political protection, the Iron Bank was like a ripe fruit: rich with wealth but too weak to guard itself, inviting others to take a bite.
Backed into a corner, the Keyholders had no choice but to accept Aegon's merger plan. Soon, the Iron Bank would become a branch of the Dragonlord Bank.
...
Elsewhere in the Red Keep, Queen Alysanne spent the morning tenderly with her children, basking in the warmth of family life.
Princess Daenerys had finally begun showing more affection toward her younger brother Aemon, though she still sometimes clamored for a sister.
Prince Jaehaerys was absent from the castle, unable to be with his siblings. The crown prince was at the new Citadel in Harrenhal, devoting himself to the study of the Breathing Techniques. In time, he grew familiar with the sons and daughters of the great lords, their bonds deepening through daily lessons and shared company.
Queen Alysanne had long been considering allowing Jaehaerys to attempt the taming of his own dragon, either this year or the next.
The lack of a dragon companion for the crown prince had already stirred murmurs among the people. They seemed to favor Prince Aemon, who already had one at his side.
This made the Queen realize that if the kingdom was to be passed to the crown prince, then Jaehaerys gaining a dragon could no longer be delayed.
Brother Barth was quietly ordering the library, while Grand Maester Bennifer carefully tended the ravenry.
In King's Landing, Lord Corbray was inspecting the soldiers of the City Watch's eastern camp. Meanwhile, Rego Draz was enjoying himself with a coquettish young courtesan in his mansion beneath the Dragonpit.
The Targaryen dynasty at this time seemed cloaked in peace and harmony.
Yet the imperial examination system announced by Regalus later that year struck the realm like a stone cast into still waters, sending ripples far and wide.
The decree only deepened the nobility's discontent with the Regalus. They thought his measures too harsh. Still, discontent was all they dared. None would dream of rebellion—the Regalus' overwhelming strength forced them to swallow their bitterness in silence.
Above King's Landing, the sight of wyvern riders had become increasingly common. Patterned wyverns, swamp wyverns, brown-bellied wyverns, shadow wyverns, and other subspecies had been captured by hunting parties from Westerosi lords, brought back from the distant continent of Sothoryos.
The appearance of these wyverns utterly transformed the status of the royal bastards. Some even begged the Regalus to grant them noble titles. They did not wish to live as humiliated sons-in-law, but longed instead for honors of their own.
Those who had already succeeded in taming wyverns went so far as to call themselves "noble bastards," to distinguish themselves from the "mere bastards" among the great houses.
The Regalus, however, ignored their petitions. He stood firm in his earlier resolve, allowing the royal bastards to develop freely. He believed that once they married into noble houses across Westeros, they would serve as vital bridges of kinship, strengthening the unity and stability of the realm.
...
Throughout the year, the Regalus carefully monitored the Citadel's records of daily sunlight.
The maesters' rigorous measurements showed that daylight varied in length over the year—but compared to the year before, the fifty-eighth year of the Conquest had indeed seen shorter days.
This discovery set alarms ringing in Aegon's mind. He immediately shared the Citadel's findings with the lords, solemnly warning that the gods themselves might have begun tampering with the world's climate and skies.
But the lords of Westeros dismissed the notion as too fanciful. Until they saw real changes in their own lands, they treated it as little more than speculation.
...
Time slipped by like a horse galloping past a crack in the door, and soon the fifty-ninth year of the Conquest began.
The gods granted Aegon and his queen another precious gift—a healthy, beautiful son.
The couple rejoiced and named him Baelon, after a Lord of Dragonstone who lived before the War of Conquest. He was the Regalus' third son.
The newborn Baelon was slightly smaller than his brother Aemon had been, but he cried lustily and was full of vigor. Even the wet nurses complained they had never seen a babe suckle with such ferocity.
Just two days before his birth, a white raven flew from the Citadel, heralding the return of spring.
Thus Baelon was soon nicknamed "the Spring Prince."
Following Targaryen tradition, the Regalus placed a green dragon egg in his swaddling clothes. Sadly, the Spring Prince never hatched a companion dragon, leaving many quietly disappointed.
At this time, young Jaehaerys was six, Prince Aemon two, and Princess Daenerys four—three siblings with three very different natures.
In the opening days of the fifty-ninth year of the Conquest, Jaehaerys finally reached the age when he could attempt to tame a dragon.
It was a pivotal moment for House Targaryen. With eager hearts, the Regalus and his queen personally brought their son to Dragonstone's Dragonmont.
As the crown prince, his dragon-taming was an event watched by all.
By now, Dragonstone had long since become sacred, inviolable ground for the Pureborn. Aside from the Dragonkeepers and the Imperial Guard tasked with its defense, no outsider was permitted to set foot on the island—a testament to its singular and vital importance.
Jaehaerys did not disappoint.
Within the towering Dragonmont, he succeeded in taming a rare adult Dragon—Meraxes. Her eyes gleamed gold, her body clad in silver scales. Once the trusted companion of Rhaenys, sister to Aegon the Conqueror, Meraxes had borne witness to countless moments of glory. Now, this venerable elder of House Targaryen welcomed a new rider, ready to begin a fresh chapter of legend.
Overcome with excitement, Jaehaerys mounted the silver-scaled dragon and took to the skies, his voice carrying as he called down to his father and kin. Then, guiding Meraxes, he turned toward King's Landing.
Upon reaching the capital, he emulated his father's own triumph of years past, circling the city three full times atop Meraxes.
The sight was breathtaking, and the people below erupted into thunderous cheers and applause. To them, the heir to the throne now wielded strength worthy of his station, his position more secure than ever.
Yet only Regalus Aegon II knew the truth.
In this strange new age, the world might see its first sixty-year-old crown prince. For the Regalus bore the gift of immortality. Even when this particular body reached the end of its span, he could return to the Valyrian peninsula, synchronizing his mortal flesh with his demigod essence, resetting his life and reclaiming the vigor of youth.
...
In the meantime, Aegon's other children were also growing, each revealing their own nature.
Princess Daenerys was lively and untiring, ever cheerful, overflowing with energy. She spent her days racing through the halls of the Red Keep, rarely still for even a moment. Her favorite game was riding a broomstick disguised as a "dragon," soaring through every corner of the castle. Yet she often returned caked in mud or streaked with grass stains, and her sudden disappearances left her mother and handmaidens constantly fretting.
Prince Aemon could not have been more different. Grave by temperament, he was careful and precise in all things, ever mindful of rules and order. Though he had not yet learned his letters, he loved listening to others read, and Queen Alysanne often laughed that the first word he ever learned was "why."
Beyond the four children born to Queen Alysanne, the Regalus' consorts had also given him many heirs, each carrying the precious Dragonblood.
It was plain that under Aegon II's reign, Targaryen dragonriders would emerge in numbers never before seen, springing up like mushrooms after the rain.
Grand Maester Bennifer, ever the chronicler, watched the Regalus' growing brood with a historian's eye, carefully noting their words and deeds.
For many lords still remembered all too clearly the bitter struggle between the Conqueror's sons, Aenys and Maegor. The scars of that conflict had yet to fully heal.
And Bennifer had every reason to fear that the sons of Aegon II might one day follow the same path, turning against each other, dragging the realm once more into a pit of blood and ruin...