12
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184 AC
Kingslanding
Daenerys Targaryen
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I watch Aerion draw out plans and different ideas as if he is a man possessed and I have to double-take when I see a parchment going over prices and goods. Reading more into it I am surprised to see my twin taking an interest in making gold, he usually is indifferent as he knows all his needs are provided for. We both get an allowance similar to the 'Great bastards' from both our dead father and nor from Daeron. I personally think he should lower the amount the bastards get but that is not up to me.
"Restaurants and clubs?" I ask and Aerion is startled in his seat and bangs his knee on the table.
He grabs his knee and groans and I have to stop wine from getting on his 'plans'. He looks back with a glare before his eyes widen seeing who it is and he smiles and nods before standing up.
"Glad you are here, let's look at some things together as I want you to help me work out some problems." He runs over to the corner and grabs a chair and snatches it up before running back and setting it beside his own.
He walks up behind me and puts his hands on my shoulders and guides me into the chair and even pushes my knees out so I fall into the seat.
"You seem eager." He nods quickly as he sits next to me and starts sorting through different sheets and stacks them up in a certain order.
"My meeting with Daeron took a turn I didn't expect and something I thought impossible is looking to have some wiggle room." I nod as he looks back at me and I spot the dark circles under his eyes.
"Your meeting with Daeron?" Has he not slept since then? That was like two days ago what could possibly have his attention so much?
"Yea he wanted to hear from me if I had any interest before he put me to work somewhere because the council is 'concerned' about what I am up to. I told him I didn't want a job taking up my time because there would be nothing 'gained' from it that I am interested in. So I let him know I am interested in being a Lord but I only want one castle." My eyes widen, Aerion is motivated because he wants a castle.
My mind roams as I try to imagine which one it could be but soon remember the look of 'wonder' he had when we visited Harrenhal. It was like when someone sees our dragons for the first time, his head was spinning around taking everything in. He pestered the Lord of Harrenhal to tell him all about it rather rudely as well, it must be this castle.
"Harrenhal?" I ask and he freezes before nodding slowly.
"How did you know?" I smile and pat his shoulder.
"It was just a guess, what do you even want that cursed place for?" It is the biggest and 'strongest' castle in Westeros and I would have no problem if that is where we end up.
"It has so much untapped potential, they don't even use a single one of those towers to the full extent. There is still damage from Balerion's flames and I seek to repair and improve the castle so it is unbeatable and it will stand the test of time." He grips his hands so hard they pale and I am once again surprised, my brother only gets this excited over music.
Most boys and men would kill people for his natural skill with the blade and he takes it further past that by mastering every weapon he can get his hands on. But it is music that his passion burns for and I never expected to see it burn so hot for a castle. He has shown zero interest in the throne or political power before so this is refreshing to see.
I won't say I miss my last life as it was full of pain and suffering and rarely any true love if there even was any. But I did enjoy the power I acquired with my own hands and even though I would never usurp my brother I still miss it. I know my duty and my responsibilities, I have no problem with the life I have now and am even happy with it. But there is still an itch to make moves and gain a certain 'control' that even dragons don't give.
Dragons can get me control but I have to take it and as a princess, it is not possible unless I want to fly off to Essos on a power trip to sate my hunger. But Harrenhal would give me quite a bit of work as its Lady and I could occupy a lot of time with plans for its future. I might even have to free the slaves once more to get some Free Men to come and work for us as we have little support beyond our family. People fear us but as we are just prince and princess fear won't get us men to work on Harrenhal.
"How will this work, in your mind at least." He starts handing over sheets of parchment and pointing things out and my eyes widen seeing the 'map' he has drawn on. "We will be directly under the Iron throne and not the Lord of Riverlands?" I didn't even think about that as my mind was busy remembering how Harrenhal looked.
"Yea the plan is to be under the Iron throne and not the Riverlands, we cant be dragon riders and Targaryens and be under a Lord paramount it would cause conflict." This will be a huge problem, I was just thinking about how he plans to kick out those who live there now but he also will insult the Tullys and hurt their coffers with this.
"That is a lot of gold and influence they will be losing not to mention men for their armies, they will not be happy." He shrugs in an uncaring way.
"Fuck the Tullys." I snort and find myself smiling as I start to nod.
"Fuck the Tullys indeed." Why would a dragon care about what a fish thinks?
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Watching Aerion fight against three separate knights is a real heart bounding event, he is strong for his age but still not as strong as grown men. What he lacks in strength he makes up for in speed and reflexes, it is almost like he has eyes all over his body with how he reacts. Small movements pay off with big results.
With a flick of the wrist having his training sword smacks an incoming sword to the side and all while he is avoiding an attack from the other side. Just when you think he is going to get hit he twists or pulls his body to the side.
He told me he will be the best swordsman to ever live, I thought he was talking nonsense at the time but now I can't help but hold out hope he is right. I can't wait to watch him in the upcoming tourney, it is Daerons way of getting him knighted and having Dark sister passed to him. Daemon is becoming a favorite across the realm in all the tourneys he is taking part in and I know Daeron wants to see him knocked down a bit.
Daeron is not openly hostile with any of the Great Bastards and he even supports them in most things but that does not mean he wants one gaining glory with the 'kings sword'. Aerion will take any wind out of his sails when he starts tearing through tourneys and Aerion is eager to join in.
He always had an interest in Tourneys and we would fly to watch them but he wants to win them now for both Glory and Gold. His new favorite saying is 'will it put a roof over my head?' when being asked to do something. His grip on his coin purse sois tight these days I fear he will start burying gold in the Dragon pit tunnels for the dragons to protect.
He even has spread the word he will perform at people's Weddings or Name days even funerals with his music for the right price. I can only shake my head at his attempts to speed up the gold flowing into his coffers.
A dangerous idea came out his mouth the other day, he wondered aloud if he could maybe find the secret to Valyrian steel in Old Valyria. He went on and on about how much gold would 'pour' in if he could make Valyrian steel swords or even armor. I had to slow him down and focus him on his 'investments' and gaining support for all the businesses he plans to start.
Speaking of plans I turn to the side and spot Aunt Elaena and find her watching the fight with great interest. Aunt Elaena has been god sent as far as getting stuff going, she is a monster when it comes to making coins and is very supportive of Aerion's plans. Well in reality she is just supportive of Aerion in general, she loves music and Aerion is perhaps the best musician alive.
She requests he plays for her every chance she gets and asks him all kinds of questions about each song and how he came up with them. The lyrics to most of his music are a bit odd but they all are very nice to listen to and I enjoy playing a few instruments because of his insistence that I learn. I wonder if he is better on the harp than my old life brother Rhaegar.
I hear shouts of pain and look back to see a man walking away quickly while holding his hand and Aerion standing with the other two. They all watch as the man clears out and they soon shake it off and seem to decide to stop for the day. Both men are soaked in sweat while Aerion only looks like he had a light run.
He racks his training sword and I walk over to join him since today is the day our first 'restaurant' opens up. We both chipped in to get this one ready and it is going to be a big event, we had Daeron help with invites.
Lords and Ladies from the court will show up and be served the different meals Aerion has set up on the menu and hopefully it is enough to get interest spread around. He will of course be playing music along with the bands he has trained personally. The whole city watch is out in full force so nothing goes awry.
"You done?" He nods as he looks back over his shoulder and I raise a brow.
"I think I broke that guy's finger, hope it didn't shatter I would feel a bit bad." I am about to respond when I spot Elaena walking over.
"He tried to kick out your legs while you had your back to him, it's already three against one and they can't win so he resorts to cheap hits." Her frustrated voice is evident making me raise a brow at her this time.
Might need to keep a closer eye on this one in the future, there are talks of her marrying the new Master of Coin. It is a match made just so she can do his job for him, an easygoing man by the name of Ronnel Penrose. But there are talks about her son Viserys Plumm whose dad died during 'bedding' not being a Plumm but a bastard of hers and my dad. No one has spoken up about it and House Plumm hasn't voiced a word of complaint. They are likely scheming internally that they have the blood of the dragon and are planning for the future.
She certainly seems interested in tasting the dragon that much is certain and I will have to keep an eye out.
"It's fine, I asked them to be rough with me so I can improve. Let me get cleaned up and dressed nice and we can head out if you are also ready." I nod and he walks off to get ready.
Tonight is just the start of our economic takeover and soon we will have the Tullys and the Lothstons begging us to take Harrenhal.