Chapter 20-Preying on Fear!

Chapter 20

OTTO HIGHTOWER

Otto Hightower rushed towards his daughter's room, furious at the failure of his plans, and at the guards for letting that confrontation between Daemon and Alicent happen.

"How could you let this happen?" he roared at the guards as he rushed towards her room and the men looked down, guiltily.

"Sir, it was the King's chambers, she ordered us to stay back, and we a..."

"You serve at my behest, not at my daughter's!" he admonished the two idiots, realizing that he might have been too lax in his behaviour.

He reached her room and flung into the doors adn watched her sitting there, tears welled up in her eyes as she sat huddled in her bed, her late wife's dress still covering her.

"My dear," he walked upto her and sat down beside her, and taking her and he looked her in the eye.

"What did he do to you?" he asked, already imagining the worst, and she shook her head as she wailed.

"Nothing," she replied stiffly, and yet he knew that to be a lie, for as he moved her arm, he saw it. A bruise covered her neck, and immediately his blood boiled.

"He did that to you," he asked, his voice chilling. How dare that bastard have the audacity to touch his daughter? he saw her still as she rushed to cover up her neck, but he asked again.

"Answer me, Alicent!" he roared. He saw her shrink back as she slowly nodded her head, and his fists balled up as he gulped.

"Did he do anything else..." he asked cautiously, and she shook her head.

"NO!" she replied immediately. And he sighed, and yet he knew rumors would fly, for that was the nature of the Royal Court. He could try and suppress them, and yet he could do much more than that.

"Did you go to the King's chambers then?" he suddenly asked and saw her eyes widen as she shook her head. And he ground his teeth. Had she done that, the King would have seen her wounds and maybe sympathized with her.

"Get me a master!" he shouted at the servant as he stood up from her bed and began to pace, realizing that another one of his plans had been foiled.

"But what was he even doing there? I was told that he was in the city, drinking and whoring away with his men from the city watch," he questioned as he paced before he looked at his guard.

"I believe it might be because of Prince Aegon," suddenly one of his men spoke up, and he perked up at those words.

"The Prince? What does he have to do with all this," and he missed in his surprise how his own daughter paled at those words, stilling as if waiting for a haunting discovery.

"I was told that the Prince went to the city and had an altercation with his father. I don't know the details of what transpired between the two..."

"Find me the details," he ordered, and the man nodded and walked out of the room.

Then, the master arrived and began to examine the wound on his daughter's neck as his mind raced to think of what to do. Somehow, it seems that his plans or intentions have been predicted and seen through. Regardless of how it was evident that Daemon's position was only set to grow stronger in the court. And he had an inkling that it was all because of him.

Aegon. That bastard. He was finally revealing his true colors.

"It is a flesh wound. It is rather severe and will take some time to heal, but thankfully, it will leave no scar. I will have an ointment sent for the young lady," the acolyte informed him, and he nodded, thankful that there would be no scar to mar his daughter's beauty.

"May I ask how she came by such a wound? It appears as though she was strangled..." the man continued as he gulped.

"...often such wounds are seen when someone is..." and he understood the implication of those words and shook his head.

"That will be all, Maester. I will see you in my office," he said, and soon enough, it was only him and Alicent in the room once more before his guard arrived with the full tale of what had truly transpired between Aegon and Daemon in the brothel.

And his hunch was proven correct. It was him behind this, Aegon.

"I was right," he spoke to Alicent as the guard left the room.

"That little rift between Aegon and Daemon was all a ruse," he scoffed at his own intelligence for believing such a farce.

"That boy is much more dangerous than his own father. I can see why many in the Vale hate him now, all those rumors about him blackmailing the Lady Jeyne and keeping all power for himself, they must all be true," he reasoned out.

"He played us all like a fiddle," he reasoned out as he looked Alicent in the eye.

"Even you, my dear," he spoke softly as he looked her in the eye.

"The friendship with you was all a ruse to keep an eye on me. To hide his true self," he whispered and saw his daughter's eyes quiver.

"And now he betrays you, leaving you to the whims of his drunk monster of a father. Gods forbid had he done anything to you. It would have ruined you, me. All of us," he mouthed. The very thought of that made him mad with rage.

Otto knew of his daughter's closeness with Aegon, knew that she had met the boy regularly in the Sept. And now it all made sense, the boy was using his daughter to keep an eye on him, to divert his attention.

'How clever of the boy'

"You must see it now as well..." he asked her, and she was quiet. Catatonic with grief as she sat there, the poison of those words seeping into her mind as a seed of betrayal and rage bubbled in her fearful heart.

"...the true face of Aegon."

AEGON TARGARYEN

Last night had been a hectic experience for him. Confronting Daemon in the brothel, deviating from those visions of his, it was a big step for him, and because of that, he had been unable to catch even a wink of sleep all through the night.

And now as the next day rose, he found himself once more in the Sept. His visits were growing more frequent than they had ever gotten back in the Vale, and yet, for some odd reason, he would always find himself getting pulled back to the Sept.

And a part of him had begun to whisper whether all this was truly for the solitude offered by the Sept of the special company he would often find in this place. Yet, as he sat there despite waiting for an hour or so past the usual time, he was a bit surprised that there was still no sign of Alicent.

He waited and waited, and yet she did not come. He watched as Septas and regular worshippers began to appear. Most of the time, he would already be out of September by this time, and so many seemed surprised at seeing him in September.

And so when the crowd began to grow, he rose from his seat and began to walk out of the sept, the hollow sensation in his heart telling him of the real reason for his rather frequent visits to the Sept.

And yet, as he was about to leave out the door, he saw her there walking into the Sept, and as their eyes met, he spoke out.

"Alicent," he called her out, and he did not miss how her eyes dimmed as she stopped and looked at him.

"Prince Aegon," she greeted him, giving him a small bow, but her tone and demeanor were different. They were too formal. Both of them had gotten to know each other rather well in their time together and had let go of most of the titles and stuffy etiquette, and yet this was not a tease.

No. She was being distant.

"I waited for you for quite some time," he began, trying to see if this was just a misunderstanding, but the way she looked away from him and the words following it gave him the answer to his question.

"I know," she answered, and his eyes widened.

"And I believe you shouldn't wait for me anymore, my Prince. I believe..." and then, as she turned her face away from him, he saw it. It was summer, and it was rather out of fashion of her to wear a dress with such a high neck, and yet he realized the reason quickly enough.

"What is that?" he asked, his tone stiff as he pointed at her neck and saw her gasp as she quickly put her hand up and concealed the bruise around her neck.

"It's not..." and she evaded his gaze as she tried to turn away from him. And yet, as she was about to move away from him, he caught onto her hand, stopping her and making her turn back towards her, and as she looked him in the eye, he saw those eyes filled with tears, filled with betrayal and pain as she pulled her hand away.

"What happened, Alicent?" he asked, seeing those bruises for what they were, as his mind raced, trying to reason out what had happened.

And she seemed to gulp as she looked him in the eye, those orange irises turning scarlet as she replied scathingly.

"Don't tell me you don't know what happened, Prince Aegon?" she said, giving a short chuckle. He stood there, perplexed by her tone, wiping away the tears threatening to come out of her eyes as her bros arched.

"After all, I bear these as a mark of your betrayal," she scoffed, and he was taken aback. His doing? But last nig... and suddenly, a picture began to form in his head.

"What was I even thinking, trusting you while you played me like a fiddle," she continued as she gave a mock chuckle and looked him in the eye, her words scathing and vengeful as she continued, giving him no chance at defending himself.

"Perhaps they were right about you all along. You truly are a monster," she finished as her eyes narrowed.

"One even worse than your own father."

0000

VISERYS TARGARYEN

The drinking last night had been rather excessive, and together, he and Daemon had drowned one goblet after another, and though at that time it had not felt like much, the effects of all that drinking were rather apparent when he opened his eyes the next morn as his head threatened to burst over.

And so, despite his Hand's insistence, Viserys postponed the meeting with Otto, feeling rather wroth at the discussion posed by the Council last night, one that was led by his hand as they all asked for him to disinherit Daemon from the heirship.

Preposterous. Daemon was many things: impulsive and angry but not cruel like Maegor. He was no kingslayer.

And so, with the Sun well into the skies, he entered the chambers of the Council and found his dutiful hand sitting there with an acolyte behind him.

"You wished to meet me, Otto," he asked curtly, and his hand bowed and nodded his head as he replied.

"Yes, your grace," he said, and Viserys sat down, motioning Otto to do the same.

"So, what is it?" he asked, his head still hurting, and he was not in any mood for an elaborate meeting today. He had only entertained Otto's request because the man had said that it was urgent and an emergency.

"Your grace, though it pains me to inform you, but last night Prince Daemon was in a brothel in the city late into the night, where the mood was rather festive," Otto began and his mood soured at those words.

Again. He was getting rather tired of this whole game between his hand and his brother, of trying to put out fires every day.

"There were whores and wine in that place when Prince Daemon and his son Prince Aegon got into an alteration. One that saw a member of the City Watch losing an arm and dying afterward, leaving two others injured," and that caught his ear.

A man was dead.

"Who killed the man?" he asked.

"Prince Daemon did, supposedly in retaliation of some kind for an offense against the Royal Lineage," Otto replied, and he would have to ask Daemon about that.

"Is that all?" he asked and saw Otto hesitate.

"What is it, Otto? Speak up?" he asked. He saw his hand stiffen as he gritted his teeth.

"I have served you loyally as a Hand, your grace, and yet I am afraid I cannot do this any longer," he said and he was surprised by those words.

"If this is about the proposal at the Council last night, Otto, there is no need for th..."

"No, your grace. This is not about that," Otto said, and the man seemed to be barely restraining himself for some reason, and now Viserys's mind whirled as he leaned forward.

"What happened, Otto?" he asked sharply.

"As your King, I command you to tell me," he did not like using his authority as King, but he needed to know. What had happened that had Otto so upset?

"Your grace, this was not the only alteration Prince Daemon was involved in last night," Otto spoke as he looked him in the eye, and there was a fire in those eyes.

"On his way to your room, the Prince met with the Lady Alicent, who was on her way to your room to console you at the loss of your lady wife and speak to you about the Princess where a drunk Prince Dae intercepted her...." and as Otto grit his teeth, dread filled his heart as he saw Otto bite his lip as he rose from his chair and pushed back the chair rather violently as he looked him in the eye.

"I DEMAND RETRIBUTION!"

0000

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