History Lesson

(Rhaegon's POV)

"Here." Mother said as she set a book in front of me, "You need this." 

I was sitting in the chair across from her, in her study. 

I frowned, "Pardon?" 

"You need to read more books, my boy." She said as she looked at me, "Instead of worrying about swinging that sword of yours. That is why you're so confused all the time, you know nothing of the History of this Realm." 

"H-History?" I said as I set the book aside, "Mother, History has nothing to do with this! Manipulation does.....Bloodraven is the Three-Eyes, he's the Three-Eyed Raven that has manipulated all of this. There is something huge coming!" 

She reached over and slid the book back to me, "Read." she said firmly

I sighed and looked at the book, "W-What is this book?" 

"What do you know of our Targaryen History?" She asked

"The Conquest." I said, "All the Kings following the Conqueror have been nothing but Targaryen. The House of The Dragon has ruled the Realm." 

She tapped her finger on the book, "You know more than that." She said, "Our blood reaches back to Old Valyria, across the Sea. You're too narrowed on Westeros." 

"I'm a Westerosi Knight, a Lord, a Prince." I said, "I am only worried about fighting those threatening this realm." 

"That is precisely my point." She said, "You....You are identical to your Father. The only reason one would believe you are my child is because of that dragon you ride. You care nothing but fighting, swinging your sword so freely as much as you want. You ought to have listened to my lectures about our House. Tell me, son, what nearly destroyed our House?" 

"Huh?" I blinked

"Answer that." She said with a raised an eyebrow, "What event nearly ended our Dynasty?" 

"T-The Dance of The Dragons." I said

"And what was that?" She asked

"A civil war between dragons." I said, "The Usurper, Aegon II, took Queen Rhaenyra's Throne and from there, a vicious war broke out that nearly wiped out all the dragons." 

"Hm." She said, "Is that what you know?"

"Well, that's what happened, right?" I said, "Two sides with dragons, they fought each other and it devastated the realm, nothing but fire and blood." 

She chuckled, "That is what the Maesters of the Citadel decided to write about." She said, "Years after it happened, people would forget about what actually happened, the truth. It was too ridiculous to even admit that it was real." 

I frowned, "What do you mean?" 

"What do you think the Dance was called? It's second name." She said

"I...." I said

She leaned forward, "Aerion's War." She said softly, "The Dance of The Dragon, it is nothing but a tragic tale....and a horrifying one...." 

"Aerion's War...." I frowned, "Aerion Targaryen? There is that name again." 

"Aerion Targaryen is the single most important figure in our Targaryen History, well besides The Conqueror." She said, "When we were children, Rhaegar could not shut up about him." 

"Never heard him mention him." I said

She stood up and walked around the room, "Storm's End, Seat of House Baratheon." She said, "It's funny, that a Targaryen lives in it." 

"How so?" I asked, "House Baratheon and House Targaryen are kin, technically. Orys was The Conqueror's half-brother, was he not?" 

"Not what I mean." She told me, "You really don't know, do you? Robert....and his Father, they may have forgotten, but your ancestor, a certain Borros Baratheon....what do you know of him?" 

"Not much." I shrugged

"That is your problem." She said as she walked up to me, patting my shoulder, "You only know very few things. Rhaegon, my beautiful and strong boy, you may be dull at some aspects. I am afraid that is the case." 

"Alright, enlighten me." I said, "Tell me what I should know of Borros Baratheon. I know he was related to Princess Rhaenys, rider of Meleys, The Red Queen. I think she laid Morghul's egg. It's speculation." 

"That's right." She said, "Tell me. Do you know of any battles that happened in The Dance of The Dragons?" 

"Not particularly. There was a couple that were on records, no?" I said, "Two battles in Tumbleton, one in Stony Sept, a few more in the Riverlands....." 

"Lord Borros Baratheon died in the First Battle of Tumbleton." She told me, "How do you think he died?" 

"I'm assuming he died fighting the Tyrell army. If I recall, they aided Queen Rhaenyra." I said

"No." She corrected me, "You poor fool. That did not happen at all." She said

"Then what happened?" I asked

"Aerion's War." She said, "Aerion Targaryen happened. He and his dragon, Vermithor, took the fight directly to Borros Baratheon's army. He singlehandedly crippled it, burning them to a crisp. He also dismounted his dragon and left the streets of Tumbleton a bloody mess.....piles of bodies stacking up as high as the buildings.....well, that could be an exaggeration....." 

"You're lying." I said, "A lone man did that? Not even Ser Arthur is capable of that. A whole army? What?" 

She poked me in the chest, "Not just any man." She said with a smile, "Aerion Targaryen. He did just that. And he met Borros in battle. And unsurprisingly, he killed him. Took his head right off." 

I blinked, "What?" 

"And after that, he flew to Stony Sept, burned the Lannister army down, and took Jason Lannister's head as well." She said, "After that, he fought another part of the Lannister army, wiped that out. After that, he went to meet the Host gathered by some Lords-Commander at the time and clashed with Aemond Targaryen, his very cousin. Aemond One-Eye, they called him. Well, he rode Vhagar. He won that clash, Vhagar retreated." 

I looked down, "How do you know that?" 

"I saw it in a dream." She smiled, "A jest. Survivors of what happened were able to relay the message to the Usurper in King's Landing. They then recorded the events in some journals that were later sealed." 

"Why would they rewrite that part of history? Does anyone else know?" I asked

"Only the highest of powers." She said, "The Great Maesters probably didn't want the people to know that a single man was able to lay so much devastation to the realm. It was quite the ugly chaos, the Civil War. They rewrote that part of history to make it seem that Rhaenyra Targaryen reigned a bit longer than she actually did. The truth was that while nobody knows what truly happened that led to her death, they preferred to lie about it, to make things more believable than they are." 

"So...." I looked down, "What does that have to do with any of what's going on right now?" 

"Another piece of information I wanted to tell you for so long, but my precious imbecile of a son never paid attention." She said, "Aerion's War was covered up, yes. It was a good thing to do, actually. Yes, Aerion's legacy was not tarnished whatsoever, Aegon III made sure of that. The truth is....when a certain someone learned the truth of that War, he became obsessed and eventually started a vicious Rebellion. And the embers of those flames.....we're about to see their results." 

"Blackfyre..." I said

"Right." She said, "Aerion Targaryen may have inspired The Dragonknight, but he inspired The Black Dragon, the King Who Bore The Sword. They said that Daemon Blackfyre was the second coming of Aerion Targaryen. He even wore his armor, Aerion's. Wearing the armor of the Mighty and wielding Blackfyre, Daemon thought he was the true chosen King. Aegon IV is to blame for that, spoiling him. That one thought he was entitled to Aerion's armor. I hear he tried to wear it one time but could not fit in it." 

I stood up, "So it comes down to Daemon Blackfyre...." I said, "His blood is what we're dealing with...." 

"Daemon Blackfyre is long dead." She said, "But his ideals aren't. Or at least, that's what it seems like." 

"Hm...." I said, "I'm confused." 

"Of course you are." She said as she patted my cheek, "There was a rumor that people orchestrated the rise of Daemon Blackfyre and aided him in the Rebellion. It's unknown if this is true but if it is, I have reason to believe that they're connected to what we're dealing with. This...group....that have allied themselves with the Asshai....it's much bigger than we think." 

"Right...." I said, "The Dark Order.....Bloodraven....he told me about that." 

"Brynden Rivers is alive...." She said, "That adds more fuel to my suspicion, son." 

"What?" I asked

"It's probably nothing but...." She said, "But this Dark Order...maybe they are in fact connected to that name after all.....Aerion Targaryen....It's too much of a coincidence." 

I've been hearing that name for so long that I'm beginning to think that it may not be one. Or maybe it was. Just how people love to talk about the Conqueror, they talk about the Mighty. But Aerion Targaryen was some huge figure that they covered up his feats in the most important conflict in House Targaryen's history. 

Wait. 

Aegon III wrote some journals depicting his reign. Myrcella told me that he'd done that and even wrote books. I didn't bother to read them but maybe there could be something in them that could shed some light on what happened. 

Suddenly, something piqued my curiosity. 

"Mother." I said, "Aegon III was called the Dragonsbane because the Dragons died out during his reign, right?" 

"Correct." She said

"Whatever happened there?" I asked, 

"How exactly did they die off?"