-Chapter 6-
-3rd Person POV-
The doors of the Small Council chamber opened, and the queen, accompanied by the Commander of the Royal Guard, Ser Ryam Redwyne, entered with an indifferent air. She surveyed all the members seated at the council table and said, "Do you have something to announce, dear husband?"
"The council has decided to convene a Great Council at Harrenhal to decide on the succession," the king said, his expression unreadable.
"The crown's heir is Rhaenys by birthright. We no longer have a son who can claim the crown, so primogeniture prevails," the queen said, clearly disagreeing with the king and the Small Council's decision.
"I do not agree, and that is why I have decided to leave the choice to the Lords of the Realm," the King stated.
The queen wanted to say something but eventually fell silent and said, "Is that all?"
"Yes," the king responded.
"Very well, have a good rest of your day," she said before leaving, visibly angry.
---
-3 weeks later-
-12th day of the 5th moon of the year 101 AC-
-POV MC-
I watched the knights in the training yard fighting each other with my father, one of the rare moments we spent together.
"Who do you think will win?" my father asked.
I pretended to ponder like a child and then said, "The knight with a stag embroidered on his doublet."
"A good choice, but I bet a gold dragon that the knight with a seahorse will win," he said.
As he had predicted, the knight sworn to House Velaryon eventually won, and I frowned, asking, "How did you know?"
"We are Valyrians, exceptional beings. It's natural that we are better than mere peasants," he said.
I nodded, pretending to agree, and then he started to boast about the power of Valyrian blood purity while expressing his own superiority over the rest of the world—basically, a megalomaniacal speech, meaningless, boring, and utterly tedious.
It was only after 10 minutes of explaining our history and that of ancient Valyria that I saw my savior appear in the form of my great-grandmother.
"Daemon, I've suggested to Lady Rhea to visit Dragonstone. Will you come with her and Aemon?" she said, giving me a hug.
Daemon smiled and then said, "Sorry, grandmother, but we will not be able to be present for the time being. I've planned to take Aemon with me on Caraxes to visit our vassals."
"In view of the Great Council, I suppose."
Daemon said nothing, knowing very well what grandma thought of this, and then she sighed, saying:
"At least leave Aemon with me. He will be less bored with his cousins."
"I'm sorry, but I cannot do that," Daemon apologized to grandma.
"You cannot, or you do not want your son to bond with your cousin's children?"
Daemon said nothing, but I could clearly feel that it was the latter that greatly bothered him.
The queen shook her head in disappointment, then caressed my hair and kissed my forehead before leaving.
I wanted to run after her, but I did not because Daemon had a hand on my shoulder, tacitly intimating me not to do anything.
---
-2 weeks later-
-26th day of the 5th moon of the year 101 AC-
"Urrax is a dragon, the very symbol of our power, and given the rate at which he grows each year, he could become as large as Balerion the 'Black Dread' within a few decades," my father said.
I smiled, excited because I knew the reason for this constant growth, which was irregular among other dragons. In addition to my attribute window, Urrax had his own, and every animal he killed brought him attribute points.
• [Name: Aemon Targaryen]
• [Age: 2 years]
• [Title: Prince of House Targaryen]
• [Allegiances: House Targaryen, King Jaehaerys Targaryen]
[Familiar: Urrax]
• {Attributes}
[Constitution: 45]
[Strength: 24]
[Endurance: 23]
[Dexterity: 23]
[Agility: 3]
[Speed: 10]
[Intelligence: 76]
[Willpower: 63]
[Charisma: 13]
[Perception: 71]
[Wisdom: 71]
[Unassigned Points: 0]
{Passive Skill}
[Unburnt LVL 1: Your resistance to ordinary fire is 5%, and your dragon lineage is purified by 2%]
[Urrax]
[Physical: 3340]
[Magic: 4203]
[Attribute Points: 23]
It took me a while to understand the functionality of my system, but it seems to only reward accomplishments worth mentioning, like bonding with a dragon, and it only rewards me when I kill.
I verified this theory by killing a mouse with a trap and managed to earn an attribute point, but I was immediately scolded by Jonquil Darke, who caught me playing with my little trap and immediately reported it to grandma, who hurried to pull my ears.
100 physical points of Urrax equaled 1 foot, and knowing Balerion and the Cannibal at their prime were over 300 feet long, I just had to let Urrax consume 30,000 sheep for us to become nearly invincible. With his current diet and considering his future appetite, it would only take between 20 and 40 years to reach a similar or even better size.
Unfortunately, the fact that my dragon was growing rapidly attracted my father's attention, surely commanded by the king himself to pay attention to my education and ensure I did not become a bad seed given the weakness of the next king who didn't even have a dragon, which I found pitiful in my own opinion.
Regardless of Viserys's qualities, in my view, the first quality of a Targaryen king is to have a dragon. If you don't have a dragon, how could you even impose your vision on the other riders of our house?
"Stop dreaming and come," my father said once the Dragon Keepers had finished properly attaching the saddle and straps that would hold me on Caraxes's back.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"We're going to visit your grandfather, the Protector of the Vale."
"Why?"
"You ask too many questions for a kid your age, Aemon" my father said.
I tried to dodge the situation with a smile, and then he said, "Don't play the fool. Everyone knows now how intelligent you are; there's no point in hiding it anymore."
I said nothing because at this stage, anything I could do or say would only serve to dig a deeper hole for myself.
We fell into a comfortable silence, and then Daemon said, "Once we arrive at Runestone, I want you to forget that simple-minded air you take on in my presence and behave as my worthy heir. Is that clear?"
I nodded seriously, and once he finished securing me to the saddle, he moved behind me without securing himself and yelled, "SOAR, CARAXES!"
Caraxes began to run to exit the cave, speeding up as the exit approached until suddenly, he started to flap his wings, taking us to the skies.
I won't lie, the sensation of being propelled upward was really horrible.
However, the sense of freedom once the dragon spreads its wings is magical. I looked to my right to see Urrax, not even a third the size of Caraxes, who was over 100 feet long.
I smiled and felt my father grasp my small hands to let go of the grip on the saddle. Following his movements and with arms wide open, I felt an unparalleled surge of power and freedom.
'No wonder he thinks he's superior. Anyone who experiences this kind of thrill on a daily basis would think so too,' I thought to myself.