Chapter 3: Maegor II

Maegor II

22AC

The wind breezed through my hair as Terrax swooped around the sheer cliff. I was cutting it close but the rush was oh-so tempting. Flying around Dragonstone allowed me to truly appreciate its beauty. The island was filled to the brim with thrilling things to fly around, sheer cliffs, sandy beaches, rolling waves, volcanic vents, and sloping hills near the town. All of it only deepened my connection to my new home. 

"WOOHOO!!!" I screamed into the wind as Terrax flew just above the water. Ever since I had my first flight atop Terrax I took him flying at least thrice a sennight. I would do all sorts of air tricks atop my dragon, barrel rolls, steep dives, sharp turns, and every other technique my mother could cook up for me to try. "The more you push your limits now with your dragon, the less likely it is to get injured in battle," she always said with a bit of melancholy. The shot that killed Meraxes and my aunt, Queen Rhaenys, was probably one in a million but my mother always attributed it to an error in judgment. Not that she talked much about it and in her heart she probably knew as well that it was just a bloody lucky shot. 

Terrax had already grown precipitously in just five years, he could already swallow a man whole and was several times larger than my own size. He had grown from the size of a big hound when I first claimed him to now being almost as big as a mammoth. I was astonished by his growth initially and thought it to be explained by his voracious appetite, his stomach was seemingly bottomless as he would eat whatever was placed in front of him. 

My mother had a different hypothesis, she told me that it was really the bonding that was causing the dragon to grow so fast. Dragons were creatures of magic after all and the bond between them and a person with blood of the Forty was one of the strongest sources of magic in the world. Despite her own hypothesis, she was just as bewildered by my dragon's appetite as myself. 

Ever since I claimed my dragon, my life in this world became way better. I was pulled out of my depression pretty handily. I could hardly believe my earlier melancholy. ' Seriously, I lived on Dragon stone and all I did was mope around! ' I could not help but lambast my previous state. However, I guess I also had much more to do than I did back then. Being in the body of a five-year-old was not all that fun. 

Comparing my current self to my past self it was almost like night and day. My new life was laid before me and I intended to tackle it with fervor. Training in the yard, flying my dragon, learning with my mother, and Maester Steffon, all of these events would take up much of my day. Still, the thing that kept me busy the most was my squireship with Ser Gawen Corbray, the master of arms for Fortress Dragonstone. 

My mother had called the knight from the Vale to be the castle's master at arms after learning of his prowess in combat. He had a reputation as one of the deadliest knights in the Seven Kingdoms after his campaigns against the Wildlings in the Mountains of the Moon. Under his efforts, the castle guards were quickly whipped into shape and I found myself improving each day in the art of swordplay under his tutelage.

I would clean his armor, prepare his horse, and follow him around for most of the day when I was not following my mother around that is. In addition to that, I would also spar with him at least once per day. On some days we traded sparring in favor of learning to joust or shoot a bow. It was exhausting but it was also entertaining. I had not expected to like combat as much as I did but getting to batter things with a sword was just plain fun!

Fighting would also be a necessity for me. Regardless of my plans in my new life, having a basic understanding of fighting was required. Relying solely on guards was a recipe for disaster. Not only that but being a skilled warrior also brought fame and attention. I would need a lot if I wanted to do better than Maegor did in the books. 

It helped that I found swordplay interesting, though fire magic was leaps and bounds more intriguing. I guess that was another change in this world as I was not expecting my mother's teachings. Once a sennight I would be shuffled into a room and I would practice with the Glass Candle or some dummy swords. I had quite a few cuts on my arms now from getting blood. Unfortunately, animal blood could not be used and it was not like we had a steady supply of human blood lying around. 

The swords I lit on fire were heavier than the ones without fire. ' Perhaps it is just a trick my mind plays on me. Because fire should not really weigh anything, ' I thought with interest when I first noticed it. I would have to explore fire magic more when I figured out how to really control it. I had gotten to the point that I could push and pull fire from sources but controlling the fire on my blade was still difficult. At least the smiths were making money out of it, with the fire damaging the swords I practiced with.

Thinking back to my knight, I might have been bewildered at being squired so young but I was a big ten-year-old, I was taller and stronger than all the other boys in the yard, and once I turned ten I was almost as tall as my mother, whom I would follow everywhere, whenever I was not busy being a squire or riding my dragon. My dedication and newfound vigor did not go unnoticed by the castle staff and with my improved demeanor and conversing with them more, the castle staff affectionately began calling me, The Prince of Dragonstone. It was not my official title as King Aegon had not bestowed me with it, but I was not going to correct them, I quite liked the sound of it.

…

It would seem that this day was going to be a shift in routine as my riding was cut short by the sudden sound of a great horn that was the signal to return to Dragonstone. As I urged Terrax to return to the pit where the dragons were housed I found my mother standing at the entrance waiting for me. 

I guided Terrax into his pen at the back of the pit before giving him a quick goodbye and running to meet my mother. I had learned firsthand that she did not like wasting time and her wrath was perhaps the thing I wanted to avoid most of all. ' The last thing I need is another lecture… ' I thought with a little trepidation. The last time I made her upset she yelled at me for so long that her voice grew hoarse.

I ran up to greet her but she spoke before I was even given the chance. 

"Go and take your bath quickly, I have excused you from your squire duties for the day, dress in fine clothes too, not riding leathers," she said with an overly serious tone. I was more than a little confused, Visenya Targaryen was rarely this serious with me unless she was teaching me some important lesson. 

"What is the occasion, Mother?" 

"Your father, the King, is coming here and you will not appear in riding leathers before him," she said with a face that relayed a clear message, get moving. 

"Oh," was all that I could respond with. I quickly moved to follow her orders. She was clearly not in a forgiving mood. 

As I made my way to the bathing room I thought of the king, my father. Aegon the Conqueror was basically a stranger to me, just a hollow name with little to think of. He came to Dragonstone once or twice every year but never stayed for more than a day. All my interactions with him were limited to basic courtesy and telling him updates about my studies and arms training. There was always an air of formality between us and between him and Mother as well. 

It always pissed me off, Aegon the Conqueror! One of the most legendary figures in Westerosi history and I could barely even speak to the guy. I imagined he stayed away in no small part because of my mother but I was still upset about it. ' He could at least write! I have so many questions! ' I thought as my horse tore its way down the smooth stone path from the pit to the castle. I had graduated from Pony a few years ago.

The massive change in family dynamics was not easy when restarting my life but beggars cannot be choosers. I still got to see at least one parent for most of the year and my mother was staying on Dragonstone more and more as I grew older. She said that I needed more training and education, though I think she just despised court and King's Landing.

My mother was kind of weird about my father. Whenever I would ask her questions about him she would answer them but she also tended to flip-flop on her answers. Telling me of his great actions during the conquest one minute and then bemoaning his apparent foolishness the next. I suspected that my mother kind of hated running the kingdom half the year and she was placing the blame for the workload onto him. Truth be told I could not blame her, he was the king yet his wife was doing half the work.

Reaching the bathing chamber, I asked one of the servants to draw me a bath. The bathing chambers on Dragonstone were wonderful. Due to the volcanic nature of Dragonstone, there were a few hot springs that dotted the island and one of them was right underneath the castle. The Valyrian craftsmen must have liked a hot bath as much as me because they worked the hot spring into the design of the castle. There were aqueducts and a few pipes that traveled beneath the fortress and transported steaming hot water from the hot springs to the wonderfully designed bathing chambers. 

Now that I was pulled from my slump I could appreciate Dragonstone more. Sure it might be overly dark and uninteresting from a palette sense but the design was fascinating. Everywhere I looked I saw dragons and seeing how the masterful artists who made this castle worked them into the design was fascinating. Dragon maws for gate entrances, tails for walkways, and handrails were also dragon-shaped. The craftsmen who made the island were very creative.

The baths themselves were the highlights of Dragonstone, very modern, with faucets and other wonderful amenities like lavender-based soaps and fresh sponges gathered from the reefs around Driftmark. In the baths of Dragonstone, one could almost forget they were living in a medieval hellhole and I relished in it. However, I could not do so today.

After a quick bath, I returned to my room and was dressed in my court attire. I was normally wearing more workable clothes, riding leathers or leather armor during sparring. Hells, I was already wearing riding leathers before I got back here but I was forced to take them off. Formal clothes were tight-fitting and much harder to move in. Either way, I slipped on my courtly attire before I moved as fast as I reasonably could to meet my mother at the upper gate. As my father would no doubt be flying in.

I reached the gate and stood next to my mother. The rest of the castle also came out to stand with us and we all stood out there for a little while before we saw a great black mass appear over the horizon. Appearing over the castle, Balerion the Black Dread quickly swooped over the yard and blanketed it in shadow. It was only when Balerion flew by that I caught sight of my half-brother. 

I was not expecting him to come here truth be told, he never did once since I was born but I quickly took note of his dragon. Quicksilver was far smaller than Balerion, but that was to be expected. My father's dragon was well over a hundred years older than my half-brother's dragon. Quicksilver lived up to her name, gleaming silver scales and light pink wing membranes the dragon elicited a more ethereal beauty compared to the harsh beauty of Balerion, Vhagar, or my own dragon Terrax who seemed to be a more miniature version of Balerion. 

Speaking of my dragon, he was almost the same size as Quicksilver, you could spot the difference but they were closer than I imagined two dragons separated by seven years ought to be. Granted, according to the Dragonkeepers Terrax was abnormal. ' As much as a dragon could be considered normal, ' I thought with a smile. Dragons were the coolest part of this world and I hated myself for not realizing it sooner. I had spent far too much whining about the incredible opportunity I had been granted. 

We waited a few more minutes after they landed and finally, King Aegon and Prince Aenys descended from the Dragonpit and entered the castle atop their horses. My father certainly looked regal, tall, and muscular, with short silver-gold hair and gleaming purple eyes, though they were a lighter shade than my mother's whose eyes I had inherited. He rode a great black stallion, similar to his great black dragon though far less threatening. 

Aenys meanwhile hardly looked like my father at all. He was thin, really thin compared to Aegon, with long hair and a shadow of a mustache growing on his upper lip. The only evidence of a relationship I could see were his eyes, the exact same shade of deep purple. The castle staff all knelt as the King's retinue entered the gates. The King smiled at us and descended from his horse. Aenys was quick to follow him, though in a more nervous manner.

Looking at my half-brother, I totally agreed with my mother's opinion of him. She had the uncanny ability to see through everybody's faults and insecurities and her scathing remarks about Aenys rumbled in my mind right alongside what I knew he would end up doing, should nothing change that is.

He would nearly destroy House Targaryen in his weakness and it would not be a severe understatement that his actions were the ones I was most worried about for the future. I had a few preliminary ideas of what to do, but I had a few things I needed to do before that.

…

Aegon walked up to my mother and beamed a smile at her. "Vis," he said with some urgency in his voice, but it was accompanied by emotions too.

"Valonqar," my mother replied with a smile of her own and I was even more confused by their relationship. Sometimes it seemed like my mother hated my father and other times she was his biggest supporter. The back and forth confused me greatly and I was often left struggling to decipher my mother's feelings.

It appeared that nobody else wished to sit and try and figure out the subtle implications of their greeting as the castle staff quickly dispersed. All of them returned to their duties, the life of a castle servant was busy after all and my mother worked them hard. 

"I need your counsel, Vis," Aegon said with a look that I had seen on my mother's face numerous times. Not up for negotiation. 

"Of course," she replied easily, my mother usually liked to assert her authority but from what I could glean from her she genuinely did respect Aegon, sometimes .

My father then turned to me unexpectedly. "Maegor, have you been well?" he asked with the same cordiality as I was expecting, though I had not expected him to acknowledge me given his request of my mother. I was instead focused on reading my mother's body language as it was the best way to gauge her mood. My mother did not speak as much as she probably could, she relayed a lot of information with her body language, ' usually threats, ' I thought with a few memories of lectures bouncing in my head.

"I am doing well father, just got done flying for the day," I answered noncommittally, I knew this would not develop into a conversation so there was no point in specifics.

"I would like to speak with you later. For now, though, I need to speak with you Vis, let us go to your solar," he turned his head away from me and back to my mother.

"Let us go then," she responded simply, though she was tapping her foot waiting for my father to move.

I was going to go find something to do when my older half-brother spoke to me. "It is nice to finally meet you, Valonqar," Aenys said to me in a quiet voice and I almost jumped. I was interested in whatever Aegon and my mother were speaking about so I was tuned out of most other sounds.

"Oh, same here, Aenys," I replied with a quick pace after I realized I had been ignoring the crown prince until then. I was unsure of how to deal with him, from what I remembered he was pathetic but there were already things different in this version of Westeros. ' Should I give him a chance? ' I kept thinking to myself. Doing so could cost me greatly but did he not deserve a chance to change for the better?

"I would like to speak to you more if you are not busy," he twiddled his thumbs nervously and sheepishly gave his request. The High Valyrian sounded rough on his tongue like he was out of practice.

"...No, I can speak with you if you wish, I have already completed my chores for the day," I replied after a short pause to think about coming up with an excuse. I could easily get one. But truth be told, he was a fresh face and I was starved for new sources of human contact.

…

"So how did you claim your dragon Maegor?" was the first question that Aenys asked me when we found a nice place to sit in Aegon's garden.

"The Dragonkeepers showed me Terrax and I placed my hand on his snout, and then he was mine, what about you?" I replied curtly. I already knew how my Aenys got his dragon but I had tread carefully with how I talked and interacted with others. Revealing information I should not know could get me in some serious trouble.

"I wanted to know what it was like, I do not remember claiming Quicksilver after all, she was placed in my crib when I was but a babe," he seemed to tack on the latter part of his sentence. It was so very weird speaking with Aenys, he was much older than me with him being five and ten and I being only ten but he was still engrossed with this conversation. 

"When did you first fly on Terrax? I was one and ten when I first took flight on Quicksilver," he asked with a shine in his eyes. 

"I first took flight a little over a year ago, on my ninth name day." It seemed that he sought to compare our experiences. 

"How did you find your first flight? And how long was it?" 

"Uhm, the flight was awe-inspiring but with it being my first flight I flew him for a little over an hour before we had to stop , " I said truthfully, I did not even need to embellish it. Flying a dragon was the most fun thing about my new life and to say I had a blast would be a massive understatement.

"How fascinating, our dragons are the first to be born in almost sixty years you know?" he said while looking off into the sky, it was clear and blue not a cloud to be seen in the summer sky.

"Really? There were no other hatchlings between Vhagar and our dragons?" I asked with genuine curiosity, I had figured some had hatched just that they died in some unexplored way. 

"Yes, father said the whole of Dragonstone celebrated with the hatching of Quicksilver, four and ten days of celebration were ordered by my father. I am fairly certain the same was ordered for the hatching of your dragon no?" For all his flaws, It seemed that Aenys liked dragons almost as much as me.

"Hmm, I was only three when my dragon hatched so I do not recall that." I was beyond thankful I did not remember being a toddler, I came to when I already had some agency so I was at no point completely helpless. 

"Hmm, how about bonding with your dragon? You said you remembered it! What was it like? I must know. " 

"Uhm, it was really strange, one moment I felt normal and then it felt like I had been made better in some way like some block in my head was lifted from me," I said with a not completely wrong statement. I really did not know what changed in my mind, I knew it had to have something to do with Terrax but beyond that, the intricacies of my bond with my dragon were a mystery to me. It did change my demeanor though, while it lifted me from my depression I was growing a little bit of a temper.

As our conversation continued I realized something, Aenys was a kind soul, I would even say he is too good for this world. I thought he would be an incompetent fool all around, yet he was seemingly just misled. I could not help but contrast the young man in front of me with the failure I knew he would become if nothing changed. I could hardly believe it.

He spoke on and on about all manner of other topics and I could only stand bewildered. I had never met him before and yet he was treating me like a lifelong friend. Our next two days progressed along like that. I would spend most of the day squiring and training with Ser Gawen and after being done with training, I was normally accosted by Aenys before I could continue my routine of following my mother around. He wanted to explore or just speak more about dragons or other topics like fairy tales and old tomes in the Dragonstone library. Three days into Aegon and Aenys's stay on Dragonstone, my half-brother came to me with a request I was not expecting. 

"Hey Maegor, would you like to go flying with me?" 

"..." I did not really know how to respond. I had flown with my mother numerous times but those had always been leisurely flights. 

"I would," I chanced after my pause. It could not hurt, I mean my training was already done. If I was not flying I would have been reading, and I could always do that later.

…

We practically raced to the Dragonpit, I had never raced a person before on Dragonback and my competitive spirit, which I did not know I had, was soon blazing within me. We blazed past the Dragonkeeprs and practically threw ourselves onto our dragons. 

Getting strapped into my saddle atop Terrax I marveled quickly at my dragon, sitting atop him never got old. He had a crown of gray horns atop his head with sharp dorsal spines. His thagomizer at the tip of his tail only added to the message his form seemed to scream, do not test me. His coloring made him look like one of the countless dragon statues that covered the entire keep had sprung to life with only his bright green eyes differentiating him from any random sculpture.

As we departed the pit we stopped before we took off, both of our dragons stopped at the cliff's edge. Aenys waved his arm to get my attention and then made a friendly challenge.

"How about this! Whoever can circle the island first and get back here wins!" he shouted and I smiled at the provocation. I had been practicing plenty and if he wanted to challenge me I was more than happy to oblige. 

"What are we betting?" I yelled back and his response only fueled my urge to win. 

"Nothing! I do not need anything from you!" he said with what must have been a smirk on his face before he urged Quicksilver into the air. 

I stared in shock before I urged Terrax off the cliff edge and our race began, I soon realized after we both took a sharp turn around a sheer cliff that Aenys was quite skilled. ' Aenys is very good at this, ' I thought with a little shock. He was definitely better than me and I think the only rider better than him may have been my mother. Though with more time under his belt, I figured that Aenys would surpass her in skill, especially with a smaller, swifter dragon. I went into the race hoping for a win but I ended up with a pretty serious loss, he had already touched down and was drinking from a wineskin by the time I got Terrax down and into the pit. I at least learned something from this, I needed to fly more. 

I was kind of shocked that I lost because I was so successful in so much of what I did, I was the strongest child in the yard and even the gruff Ser Gawen had to heap praise on my progress. I was so good in the yard that I even beat Aenys when we sparred a few days ago.

That was a weird event, Aegon had decided to set up a little bout between us, we did not use live steel but that was fine by me. Even though I was five years his junior and maybe half a head shorter I still bested Aenys in the yard. He was no slouch mind you, I would probably say he was the best non-adult I had ever faced but I was still better. After a pretty long duel of me mostly testing him and being on the defensive, I ended the duel by sweeping out his legs. Aenys merely smiled and congratulated me on my victory, though given his quickness to challenge me here I assumed he held some sort of a grudge.. 

After Aenys's defeat, my father and I actually got to have a more normal conversation. It was really awkward but I also don't think it could have been better. He was super busy on the island but he still found the time to speak with me in my room.

He spoke quickly and awkwardly, almost like he was afraid of me. It seemed like he wanted to apologize to me but he never got that far. Instead, he just said that he wanted to get to know me more. He asked me all sorts of questions, mostly the things we would talk about when he visited before but this time it seemed like he genuinely wanted to know and was not fulfilling some obligation. I had so many more questions for him but he had to cut our discussion short. I wanted to ask him why he did not visit but he controlled our conversation like my mother would and I had not the chance to ask him what I really wanted to know. Instead I was answering his questions. 

He left my room after we spoke and I did not really know what to think. Aegon the Conqueror was my father. My mother assured me of that when I questioned her but he hardly visited at all. Even when he did it seemed like he went out of his way to avoid me. Spending all his time working and leaving before I could muster the courage to interrogate him. This sudden change in him was bewildering and I would have to think more about my mysterious father. 

I was also perplexed by my half-brother, I had no idea what to do with him. I knew that he would one day nearly sink this country and that went against what I wanted. 

"What do I want to do?" was a question I had asked myself probably over a hundred times since I bonded with Terrax. After probably too much deliberation I settled on an idea for now. I would not limit myself in the future but for now, I would settle for making the world a better place and making a life for myself. 

Maegor Targaryen in the books was a monster, he killed his family, butchered tens of thousands of innocent lives, and most frustratingly of all, he left House Targaryen weak and fragile, so much so that Jaehaerys was scared to abolish the right to the first night. 

Yet I was not him and I refused to become him. I was blessed with all of the positives of Maegor Targaryen and none of the negatives. I knew what would befall him in the future, I knew who to avoid, I had access to Visenya's teachings, and I was well-positioned to take advantage of any openings created in the future. 

On top of all of that, I could make this world a better place. I had the requisite knowledge to push this world further along, to try and lift it from its several thousand-year technological slump. If I can do it, shouldn't I? If only to make my own life easier at the very least. Westeros was a backwater right now and the clay was still malleable enough for me to make a real difference. 

' When I am older that is… ' I thought with trepidation, not for the first time. I would have loved to get a head start but besides giving a few hints to Maester Steffon, like asking him a few choice questions about lodestones, I could do little in the body of a ten-year-old. So for now, I resolved to develop myself, to distance myself from the future canon Maegor found himself in. 

That involved getting a positive image, so hitching my wagon to Aenys, whom I knew would nearly get himself and his family killed and lose his kingdom. It made me hesitant. What if I devoted time to making him better just for it all to blow up anyway? 

Even then this world was clearly different from canon in some ways. Differences to Dragonstone were likely just the beginning. I already heard of devastation across Essos like I had never imagined, as it seemed the Dothraki were far more successful. There could be hundreds of changes to the world that I had no idea about. ' Should I jump to conclusions? He could be different… ' I could not help but think as I lay in my bed and eventually I came to a decision. I had to speak with Aenys, one on one, and truly gauge how he felt and if I could trust him.

…

"Maegor, what a surprise! Please come in," Aenys whispered as I snuck out after dark to get to his room. By this time most of the guards were endeared to me and let me pass without a peep. If they stopped me I would get upset and if I actually got past them and then was caught they would lose their jobs, and maybe their lives depending on what happened to me. So we all came to a silent understanding, they let me sneak out and I will be back before sunrise and not get into trouble.

"What did you want to talk about?" Aenys asked jovially after taking a seat on his bed. I chose the lone seat in the room instead.

"Why are you so nice to me?" I questioned awkwardly. I did not really know how to gauge him. He was acting weirdly familiar with me yet I barely knew the guy. I wanted to prod his brain and get to his thoughts. Perhaps playing up the confused kid will get me there. 

"Because you are my little brother," he said with a straight face. I was expecting a little more than that so I stared at him for a moment before explaining my question a little bit more.

"I barely know you, I didn't even meet you until a few days ago. Yet you treat me as if we grew up together," I stated the fact with a bewildered tone and I just could not wrap my head around this. Westeros was filled to the brim with the worst scum imaginable. People who would betray you for a few more crumbs of prestige or power. Who believed nothing of honor, hells even the few people I had already met all had their issues. Ser Gawen was prideful and my mother had too many flaws to name. Yet Aenys appeared to just be a nice person. The idea did not sit right in my head. I knew he would turn out to be a coward but I had to know if that changed.

"Well, I would like to change that! When Father told me I had a brother I could not help but rejoice, I was no longer alone! I wanted to meet you for so long but Father said that I needed to be older first before I could go to Dragonstone. I thought it preposterous, my father had his brother Lord Orys so why shouldn't my little brother be with me and learn to help me rule?" Aenys said as if it was the most obvious answer but I was finding myself more and more dumbfounded. 

"I want you to come to the capital with me and Father once our time here is done," Aenys told me without waiting for my reply. I was utterly astounded, this was not the indecisive Aenys I remembered reading about. He seemed active and wanted to change his situation.

"What would I even do there though, you are the crown prince," I retorted. I had no idea what Aenys even wanted, I assume he learned how to rule but I was the spare, I did not have a clue what would happen in King's Landing. 

"You would join me in my duties, you are my little brother, I will want your help when I am to be king , " Aenys replied with a smile. Aenys wanted me to help him rule? Wanted me to be a brother? I would give him a chance then. 

"I would love to if I am permitted, brother," I responded with a smile of my own. At the very least, a future chance at the position of Hand of the King would get me closer to some of my goals.

"Great! We should go talk to our father on the morrow!" Aenys said once more with a smile from ear to ear. 

I would keep my eyes and ears open around Aenys but I would give him a chance. He certainly did not look pathetic right now. Perhaps with my help and luck, we could both change our fates.

…

In the morning it was Aenys who woke me up so that we could go speak with our father, King Aegon the Conqueror. 

"We should ask him before he gets bogged down with his usual lords and their boring petitions." 

"My mother should be helping him with that so he should not be that busy," I replied, though I mentally noted the usage of the word boring there. My mother was really undersold from the books the Maesters wrote. She did all sorts of work for the kingdom Aegon founded. She ruled from the Iron Throne when he was on a progress, she held Small Council meetings in the Aegon's absence, she heard petitions from the lords and smallfolk, and above all else held the realm together while my father improved relations with his lords.

Arriving at my mother's solar, Aenys calmly knocked on the door and was met by a member of the Kingsguard opening it. I had never seen a white cloak before Father and Aenys arrived here. They came on a boat a day after them, and ever since, they've been all over the island. His armor, like that of the other Kingsguards, gleamed white, and he wore a cape whiter than freshly fallen snow. A seahorse-pommeled sword was clasped to his side, yet his most distinct feature was his dark purple eyes, which seemed to peer into a man's soul. ' Ser Corlys Velaryon, The Lord Commander, ' I thought with interest

"Good morrow, my princes. The king will see you shortly when he is done with his meeting with Lord Aethan Velaryon," I noted his usage of Valyrian. I had been using mostly Valyrian since I learned it because my mother used it. I was momentarily shocked before I remembered that House Velaryon was another Valyrian house. 

"So we wait," Aenys responded happily and I couldn't help but sigh, nothing seemed to get under his skin and he never seemed to be annoyed. Which was annoying, I had a temper even in my old life, and ever since I got into this world it had only grown worse. Yet I had seen nothing that even made Aenys upset.

Roughly an hour later Ser Corlys let us into the room and we were met by three very valyrian-looking people. My mother, our father, and what must have been Aethan Velaryron, Lord of the Tides.

"Good, Aenys I wanted to speak with yo-" 

"Father, I would like to make a request of you," Aenys cut Aegon off which left me and everyone else in the room bewildered. I don't think anyone would dare to cut off The Conqueror in that way but Aenys didn't even seem to realize it and continued to speak.

"I want Maegor to come back with us to King's Landing," He said with the most authoritative tone I had heard from him ever since meeting him. ' Maybe he really is different? ' I thought as I stared at my brother with wide eyes.

"I would love that," Aegon said with a not-so-secret side glance at my mother. That left me extremely confused, 'why would he look at Mother? ' I thought as I mentally scratched my head. Aegon said that she refused to live in King's Landing but what did that have to do with me going there?

"Great!" Aenys replied with a smile and turned to leave the solar before Aegon stopped him.

"Of course, we have your wedding to Lady Alyssa Velaryron soon and your brother will attend as a prince of the realm. Then he can accompany you to Kings Landing and on our next royal progress." 

That was when my foolishness hit me. I had been so distracted with training my dragon and all the excitement on Dragonstone that I had forgotten to ask my mother and was unable to ask Aegon why he and my brother were here. Time had flown by so fast and now I had only just realized that it was twenty-two years after the Conquest, and soon I would have nieces and nephews. I had let myself get complacent on Dragonstone and now I would have to get my head back into reality. The Game of Thrones was truly starting and I had no intention of repeating canon Maegor's mistakes.