Chapter 22- The Feast (part 2)

122 Ac

The thirtieth day of the fifth moon.

Mushroom Pov

Imp, Freak, Demon, Half-wit, Halfman, Abomination.

All of the above were the names that I was called since the day I came into this world. The only difference between me and the other orphans of Fleabottom was the fact that I was a Dwarf.

The vilest of creatures known to man. According to some Septons, the reason a man was born a dwarf is that the Seven had willed their judgment and that there was no place for them even in the Seven hells.

They were fools the whole lot of them.

When a dwarf is born in Westeros the family either throws them in the wild or drowns them in the sea, well that's what the stories say but I guess my mother had compassion for me and left me at the orphanage instead of killing me or rather she herself had died giving birth to me as the bitch septa used to say.

There were times I wondered how life would have been If my mother hadn't abandoned me in this cruel world but then those were just fantasies and I had grown out of them a long time back.

You may ask how was it that I was named "Mushroom".

Back in the orphanage, there was a boy who used to make fun of my body. Due to the fact that I had a pretty large head compared to my body so I was named Mushroom.

Back in the orphanage I always used to get picked on due to my physical stature so I used it to my advantage and started making fun of myself. It was then that I realized that despite not having a proper body the gods in their kindness had given me an Intellect vastly superior to others. But then I realized that people do not like to be corrected or helped by a dwarf so I changed the way I approached things. Everyone likes a fool and If you add a fool who's a dwarf then people will definitely love you.

So It was decided that I would showcase my talents in front of the king himself. But by the time I had decided that the king had already passed and a new one was crowned. So at the age of ten years, I went into the court of the newly crowned King Viserys and made him laugh so hard that I was worried that he may fall from the monstrosity of a throne.

After my performance, the king inducted me into his court as the Court fool a position which instantly gave me the opportunity to rise up way above my station.

If there was one word that could be used to describe the nobles then it would be "Lackwits", the whole lot of them. It was that very reason that they would loosen their tongues around me due to the fact that they considered me as a lackwit. I had fooled them very well and that gave me immense pleasure but the fact remained that there was no one there to be able to see it was a drawback.

"Mushroom, how are you?", came the princess's voice.

"Very well princess", I said as I started tumbling in the middle much to the amusement of her and her children.

Princess Rhaenyra the heir to the Seven kingdoms despite the fact that Dorne would like to argue about how they have not submitted to the Iron Throne. But before she was the heir I remembered her as a sweet girl who would like to roam the Redkeep with her mother but that soon changed after the Late Queen Aemma's death. She was a kind woman and her loss had affected her husband as well as her child deeply.

Due to her death and that of her son, there was much furor in the court as to who would be the heir. According to the precedent set by the Old King, It would have to be Prince Daemon the brother of the King but everyone feared or rather was made to fear the fact that If Daemon ascended the Throne then he would be no different than "The Cruel".

So the King broke precedent and made his daughter the Heir much to the delight of The Hand and the court. Due to the fact that the monarchy was in danger of being wiped out the King decided to marry again. Everyone had thought that the king would marry Laena Velaryon the daughter Of the Seas snake and the Queen who never was and would thus unite the claims of their fathers but the king again deceived the court and married lady Alicent daughter of the Hand.

At this time I wondered If the subsequent pregnancies and miscarriages suffered by queen Aemma were in fact sabotage so that the Hightowers could place their blood on the throne.

After the marriage, the Queen gave birth to a son who was named Aegon, a fitting name for the future king but those hopes were dashed when the King reasserted that his daughter would remain the Heir.

The moment he had that announcement I knew for a fact that civil war was imminent unless he would marry his son and daughter to each other. But the king laughed at the proposal made by the Hand and kicked him out of the office.

The years rolled by and the princess grew in beauty but sadly not in wits. In 111 AC a tourney was held to celebrate the five year anniversary of Viserys and Alicent's wedding. Since the queen wore a green gown while the princess wore the Targaryen colors of black and red, it became the custom to refer to "greens" and "blacks" when talking of the two parties.

The tourney also saw the return of the Rogue Prince to the court. The two brothers reconciled with Daemon offering Viserys the crown he claimed while fighting for the Stepstones, but six months later Daemon was exiled again from King's Landing. While Grand Maester Runciter claimed the two brothers simply quarreled, it was rumored that Daemon took Rhaenyra's virginity and that Lyonel Strong counseled the livid King Viserys that Daemon should be executed for treason. Septon Eustace reminded the council about the taint of kin slaying, thus Daemon was exiled instead. But nobody knew that It was because of me that the knowledge of Daemon takings the princess's maidenhood came into question.

After the whole debacle, It was decided that Rhaenyra would marry Laenor Velaryon much to my amusement since the entire court knew of his preference for 'swords'. While at the time the princess was busy with Ser Criston Cole's 'sword' but something happened between them and she took solace in Ser Harwin's sword both being found abed by me.

One of the good things that Maegor had done was the fact that he had built various tunnels in the keep itself which helped me in my nightly endeavors.

During the tourney, Rhaenyra granted her favor to Ser Harwin while much to the surprise of the court the queen gave Ser Criston her favor. During the ensuing tourney, Ser Laenor's lover died and Ser Harwin got his collarbone broken and his elbow shattered by the vengeful knight during the melee which resulted in him getting the nickname "Breakbones", by none other than me. After the disaster of a tourney, the princess gave birth to a son within a year much to the delight of the king but sadly the child was an obvious bastard sired by none other than "Breakbones".

To say that the queen was incensed was an understatement. The argument between the queen and the King was heard around the keep.

The following year the princess gave birth to another son with the same traits and then shifted to Dragonstone.

The entire realm knew about the Princess and her bastards but nobody uttered a word. The pious lords who were not sure whom to support now knew that following the princess would result in them forsaking their belief in the seven so they looked towards the light of the High tower.

120 Ac the year that changed everything. Dragon riders died and new ones arised.

Before the deaths that ensued the "Greens" only had two dragons riders and they were Prince Aegon and Princess Helaena while the Blacks had as many as nine. If one would not count the children then they would have five dragon riders.

At the start of the year the kings youngest son had also claimed a dragon.

Due to the deaths of Princess Laena and her brother, the blacks only had three adult dragon riders left but then when Prince Aemond tamed Vhagar the black supporters were left wondering how in seven hells did this happen.

Vhagar the last dragon alive which participated in the conquest and is currently the largest dragon in the world was claimed by Prince Aemond. If there was a civil war then prince Aemond would be the biggest hurdle to overcome if the blacks wanted to win the throne.

While the boy did gain a dragon he also faced ridicule from most of the nobles and smallfolk alive because of what he had done to the Rogue Prince's youngest daughter.

"No true man should act like that, especially a prince of the blood", was the sentiment that echoed throughout the realm, especially among the black supporters.

The look on the Hand's face had turned from shock to horror when he learned that the prince had claimed the largest dragon but at the same time taken the eye of the Rogue Prince's younger daughter.

As soon as the royal party had come back from Driftmark the Hand sent the prince to be fostered by his grandfather at Oldtown and then took his own son to Harrenhall where he sadly perished in a fire along with "Breakbones".

That year the Princess married her uncle and gave birth to another son whom she named Aegon in an apparent slight against her half-brother.

She again gave birth to another son at the start of the year and now had come to the capital for the wedding of her siblings.

As I gazed at the princess I was surprised at how she had changed over the years. At one point in time, she was called the Realms delight but now had grown fat. She had a thick waist and never lost the weight of her pregnancies much to her annoyance since Queen Alicent maintained her figure despite the pregnancies.

Now as I moved through the crowds I saw various prominent lords present. The majority of them were supporting the greens. The warden of the West had come along with his wife while the Queen's cousin Lord Ormund Hightower had come along with his pregnant wife and his heir the young Lyonel.

The Lord Paramount of the Trident the aged Lord Grover Tully had come along with his grandson and heir Ser Elmo Tully who had brought his two sons with him. The fish heir looked very uncomfortable. The fact that he wished to pursue neutrality while his grandfather and liege lord wanted to support the greens must have been a reason for his reluctance.

Lord Unwin Peake was present along with his bastard brother Ser Mervyn Flowers as well as the various lords of the Reach.

The Crownland nobility was present as well which included the House Bar Emmon, House Celtigar, House Massey, House Rosby, House Rykker, House Stokeworth, House Sunglass, and House Velaryon the richest and most powerful house.

The Sea snake was present with his wife The Queen who never was who was busy scolding her older granddaughter who looked as If she would rather trade her dress for riding leather while her twin was looking quite uncomfortable due to the various stares she was receiving due to her scar which was covered with a dark blue eye patch which complimented her dress.

I saw the Lord of Harrenhall busy whispering something to the Hand who then left to most probably find the king who must be busy eating the Lamprey pie that the cooks had prepared.

I looked at the high table where the soon-to-be-married couple was sitting. Prince Aegon was already deep in his cups while groping the passing serving girls when he thought that nobody was looking while Princess Helaena was busy looking in the crowds as if she was searching for someone.

The Kingsguard were spread out over the hall. Ser Criston Cole the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard was standing guard behind Prince Aemond while Ser Arryk Cragyll was with prince Aegon on the High table while his twin brother Ser Erryk Cragyll was standing guard behind the princess along with Ser Steffon Darklyn. The divide in the court had the same impact on the Kingsguard as well because the moment that King Viserys would take his last breath the Kingsguard would have to choose. The King's heir or the king's eldest son? The choice which would define the fate of the realm.

Suddenly I heard the noise of plates crashing and looked toward the High table where Princess Helaena was suddenly making her way toward the entrance of the hall.

I quickly asked one of the servants to pick me up and they snickered at that until one finally picked me up as I looked at the entrance I saw the boy nay the man I wanted to meet.

Standing close to six feet it seemed that he would grow taller. With his pale lilac eyes and pure white hair reaching to his shoulder along with the white and silver doublet that he wore he certainly would make the ladies swoon over him. No wonder the princess seemed to be in love with him.

He had heard about him, the boy who nearly saved the life of Laena Velaryon until her brother's foolishness and how he had avenged the said brother after he was killed in a brawl despite the fact that the said man along with Princess Rhaenyra had thrown him in the cells. The Rogue Prince himself had taken him as a squire and If the tales of his prowess were to be believed then he would become one of the greatest knights in the Seven Kingdoms.

I was curious to know more about him and as I made my way toward him I wanted to learn about the enigma called Ulf.