Chapter 12: The City Of Kings - Part 1

Grandmother Rhaenys arrived at Dragonstone with news blacker than the stones of the castle

Grandfather, the King, was dead

And Aegon had been crowned.

It's a disgrace. A mockery, a disgusting and despicable insult to his memory. The foul vipers denied him a funeral and left him to rot in his bed for days so they could secure oaths of loyalty from the lords present within the city and go through with their farce of a coronation.

This cannot stand. This will not stand

Even as I write these words, my mother, now the one true monarch of-

Then the boat lurched and I bit off a curse before angrily slamming the book shut. At this point, it was all too clear I'd never manage to read comfortably.

Behind me, Arthur snorted "I told you you'd never manage it."

"Given that the alternative is sitting in this cabin doing nothing but getting seasick, I do believe I can be excused in my desire to learn more about my ancestor."

Arthur merely shrugged "I suppose that is as reasonable a pass time as any other. Though, again, attempting to read in circumstances such as these is next to impossible.

And what circumstances they were

Traveling across the north took the better part of a week. We kept to the forests and wilds and rarely made use of the Kingsroad for fear of being pursued by Stark men. At first, near our third day from Winterfell, I'd started pressing forward towards white harbor I had tried to convince him to let us join the kingsroad proper, to his immediate refusal. My protests had lasted until the next day when an honest-to-gods Stark hunting party had passed by on the Kingsroad just as we were planning to rejoin it. We took another day without getting back on the road just for that.

The white harbor was a beautiful city, and far cleaner and well-built than I'd expected it to be. The houses were commonly made of pale brick, with grey slated roofs, and the streets were huge paths of cobbled stone that stretched all across the majority of the city like spiderwebs.

However, if the city was clean then the docks were spotless. Fair, considering they were most likely the pride and joy of House Manderly and overlooked directly by Newcastle, the Keep of House Manderly. That's when things started to get difficult. Though there were plenty of ships traveling to Kingslanding, many of them happened to be merchants carrying their wares, and few were willing to take in the additional and relatively deadweight of a man and a child who couldn't contribute to the ship. The few that were wanted exorbitant amounts of gold, so much that Arthur wasn't willing to part with it.

Finally, we found another ship. The captain nearly turned away, but then happened to notice the sword on Arthur's belt.

"You any good with that blade?" The lean man asked. The idea of having another skilled blade onboard in case of pirate attacks appealed to him.

I nearly died laughing when Arthur merely shrugged "Good enough"

Apparently, the word of a stranger wasn't sufficient for the good captain.

Common sense? In Westeros? I was stunned.

The captain had one of his men give Arthur a spar to check the veracity of his claims. My protector let it last for a few moments, long enough to show his confidence and skill, and then promptly disarmed and took the man down with two graceful swings I could barely follow.

The Captain changed his tune in about three seconds flat and even gave us a small cabin to boot, and here we were. Small and cramped it may have been, but it did the job well and as a bonus, it had two beds so we didn't have to share.

I'd never traveled like this ever

There was an ocean (heh) of differences between medieval and modern sea travel, and that's discounting obvious factors such as speed and comfort. The constant motions of the ship, the constant motion of the crew, and the nerve-wracking but still incredible experience of standing on the deck and seeing the open sea stretch out for miles were all things I'd never experienced before. It made the adventurous part of my soul cheer.

"In any case" Arthur's voice brought me back to reality "I've spoken to the captain. Kingslanding approaches."

That drained my enjoyment like nothing else, and I snapped my gaze to him "How long?"

"We'll be there by dawn"

Damn. The moment we set foot in the city is when our biggest challenges begin. And speaking off -

"Are you sure your plan is going to work?" I asked him, and his face turned grim "Look, Arthur, After everything you've done for my sake I'm the last person in the world who's going to doubt you, but from what I know of the man, he's fiercely dedicated to his vows-

"He!-" Arthur cut himself off, took a moment to compose himself, and breathed out "That may be, but he took other vows, once, and his love for Rhaegar was great."

I measured my next words very carefully "And Rhagar, my sire... is dead"

The silence between the two of us grew stifling before Arthur finally relented with a sigh.

"Even so" His eyes were closed and his voice seemed shaky and I felt sharp guilt fill me for causing it "Old oaths are not so easily forgotten in favor of new oaths taken at sword point."

I hated to push, but-

"And if they are? You'll give us both away, Arthur"

"No" He replied, and this time there was iron in his voice "No. He will honor his vows and kneel to his rightful king. Should he not?"

His eyes snapped open, fire blazing in their depths "I will strike him down myself."

... Well.

That was that, then.

...​

Ash and smoke, a mountain blacker than night rising into the sky

Heat and rock and lights so bright.

Shadows shifting, scales gleaming

A three-headed dragon set in black stone.

Then-

Jaws and teeth descended...

...

I startled, staring up into Arthur's light purple eyes, his face creased in slight concern

"You seem to be having many a restless night"

"Dreams, Arthur" I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and tried to get the vestiges of inexplicable fear out of my system. I tried to remember what I dreamed about, but to my everlasting frustration, I could only catch the barest nonsensical bits and pieces. "Fucking dreams"

"Language" he chided gently before rubbing my back "Perhaps a journal of your own, then?"

When I looked at him in askance, he elaborated "To keep track of your dreams. Rhaegar had several, and if the journal already in your possession is any indication, other Targaryans over the centuries may have had some."

"...Perhaps that would be for the best" I agreed. At least It may give me a chance to make some sense of this madness. I grinned tiredly "In any case, why have you chosen to wake me up at this ungodly hour?"

He gave me a serious look "We have arrived."

Crap. All traces of sleep fled as I lept off the bed and slipped my fur cloak on. Arthur grabbed my hand when I was ready and walked us up to the deck, before picking me up and putting me onto his shoulders.

'It will afford you a better look" he said with a barely visible grin as I glared at him.

Then I looked upon the city that had sprung in the wake of Aegon's landing, illuminated by the light of the dawn. From our vantage point, the first thing that stuck out with great clarity was the red keep, built high on a hill overlooking the city. So large it was that it dwarfed even Winterfell, red towers seeming to scrape against the clouds. Below and all around it, the city stretched, far larger than a white harbor. Where white harbor was organized and made of two distinctive colors, for the most part, Kingslanding was a wild swarm of browns, reds, and yellows stretching out like a sea. And that was only the comparatively small portion that was visible for us from this far out.

"It's impressive" I admitted, and it was true. The city had my inner geek stirring despite the danger I knew was hidden in its slums and dark alleyways, to say nothing of the Red Keep

"It is in size and scope, most certainly" There was a wistful note to his voice, then an amused tone when he continued speaking "Though that impression may be overshadowed when we step into it."

"What?" I asked, confused as I leaned forward to peak down at his face

"The smell." Arthur grinned "The smell of half a million inhabitants in a city with an utterly pitiful sewage system."

….. "Ah, shit"

Arthur only chuckled "Exactly"

***

A/N: Bit of a warmup chapter, just to set us off.

Believe me though, in this arc, escalation is the name of the game hahaha

As always, leave your comments and ideas and if you don't like it please be courteous