Chapter 27: Lord of Sheep. 123 AC

A/N: Maegor will not be king. He will be the lord of the Sheep.

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[The Vale]

Vermithor flew above the highlands of the Vale, traversing through the clouds, passing the mountains below him. As always, it was a beautiful sight. Maegor always enjoyed the scenery of the Vale, the cold wind hitting his face, the freshness of the mountain air, and how vast the pastures and hills of the Vale is.

When they neared Runestone, Vermithor flew low, almost touching the grass of the land. There was something different around the place, yes, definitely, there were herds of sheep seemingly grazing around the pastures near Runestone, its herd size almost triple the size of the last time he went home, which was around two to three years ago.

Vermithor roared as some of the sheeps were 'blocking' his way, but strangely, while the sheep moved away from Vermithor's trail, they didn't run away like before, it's as if they were used to it.

It seems Helaena has done some flying around the place.

Vermithor then flapped his wings again, gaining altitude as Silverwing caught up with him. Silverwing then turned towards the mountains, not bothering to visit Runestone and wait up for her mate.

When he finally reached the outskirts of Runestone, he saw a different sight. The place certainly has been expanded, there were houses that were built outside the castle walls now, and Maegor saw a decent road was being built towards Gulltown, where the nearest big port is.

Maegor and Vermithor circled around the place a couple of times. He saw that a specific side of Runestone was more livelier than the rest, people were bringing logs and stones towards that specific district, as well as wool and live sheeps. Once Maegor decided that he had seen enough, he turned towards the castle itself, but then he realized that Vermithor does not fit on the yard, as he had seen that the yard has also changed, filled with training dummies and other training equipment.

So he reluctantly turned towards the outskirts again, where he would have to walk all the way to the castle, bringing all that gold…

But then, when he arrived at the gate of Runestone, he already saw an entourage of men, along with Dreamfyre just outside of the wall. Maegor sighed in relief when he saw that, and he flew towards them, landing just right in front of the gate.

When Vermithor landed, it shook the ground a little. Maegor unchained himself from Vermithor, and jumped from his back, not forgetting to retrieve the bags of gold on the saddle. He dropped the gold to the ground rather carelessly, and finally, his foot touched the ground below.

As he landed, Helaena approached him, she didn't forget to bow first, raising her skirt slightly, and she smiled towards Maegor.

"Welcome home, cousin." said Helaena, making Maegor sigh.

"We are to be married, Helaena, don't call me cousin anymore." Maegor stated, walking up to her, and hugged her tightly. When he released the hug, Helaena had a huge smile on her face, but she's seemingly waiting for something.

"Do you have anything for me?" she asked.

"Of course, you know that too." Maegor chuckled. "Turn around."

She readily turned around, her back facing him. Maegor then took something out of his pouch, before wrapping it around Helaena's neck.

It was a pearl necklace, with an oyster shell as its main decoration. The pearls were a mix between black and white, while the oyster shell itself was brown. It was a weird combination, Maegor probably made it himself, that's why the craftsmanship isn't that good.

But Helaena liked it nonetheless.

"Thank you." Helaena smiled happily at him, turning around.

"It's the least I could do." Maegor smiled back. He then turned towards the guards, and told them to bring the gold back to Runestone. As the soldiers did that, Vermithor flew away, heading towards Silverwing's direction.

"How was your stay at Runestone?" asked Maegor as all of them walked towards the castle.

"It was fun." she said dreamily. "The people were nice to me, and there were a lot of interesting bugs here… Though I wanted to learn how to read runes, but no one can teach me…"

"Oh really?" Maegor raised his brow. "What about Gerold?"

"He said only the heir and the lord would know that…"

"That's not true, he's just too lazy to learn it." Maegor stated.

"Well I could learn it from you now." Helaena smiled.

Maegor nodded. "Sure, how about every night when I'm free?"

"Okay…" she mumbled. "But how about the marriage?"

"Well, that's what I'm here for," said Maegor. "Tomorrow, we'll set off for King's Landing."

"Mother has been sending ravens a lot this past year…" she continued, not caring about what Maegor said before. "She told me to go home… but I never answered…"

Maegor raised his brow. "She told you that?"

"Yeah… but I like it here…" she said, looking around the place as the smallfolk waved at her, to which she waved back. "Can we have a Valyrian wedding?"

"A what?" Maegor asked. "Valyrian wedding? Is that even allowed?"

"Father would allow it." said Helaena calmly. "We just have to ask."

Maegor just shrugged. "Alright, if that's what you wish, I'll ask the king when we've arrived at King's Landing on the morrow."

Helaena just hummed, but she suddenly saw something interesting from a bush in the corner of the street. She walked towards it, and crouched in front of said bush, looking at… maybe a bug? Who knows?

Maegor just stared helplessly at her, so he turned towards the guard, and told them to call Ser Willam here, and they did just that.

Around half an hour later, Helaena was still standing in front of said bush, seemingly looking at the leaves, but finally, sir Willam arrived.

"My lord." he said, gasping for air as he was hurrying towards here. "Welcome back to Runestone."

"A lot has changed." Maegor stated, nodding.

"Indeed, my lord." Ser Willam exclaimed. "Lady Helaena has been the most helpful to me when you were away."

"She has?" Maegor asked, a bit surprised.

"Oh yes, she's incredibly bright for her age." Ser Willam nodded, looking at Helaena in the corner. "She could easily count our earnings of the year in just a few moments in her head."

"Huh, interesting…" Maegor hummed. "So mind telling me about these past three years?"

"Well, as you have probably seen on your way to Runestone, we have a… surplus of sheep…"

"How many exactly?"

"Well, before you became the lord of Runestone, it's around 5000 heads," said ser Willam. "Now… It's around 20.000 heads."

"That's… a lot…"

"Indeed my lord…" ser Willam chuckled. "Their wool has been filling our warehouse, at first, we have no idea how to get rid of it except selling it to merchants, but now, tailors have come to Runestone, seeking jobs, so I offered them some gold to start a business using the instructions you've given me, and modified it a little, and now, we produced clothing… and carpets… and cloaks…"

"That's… impressive…" Maegor murmured. "So no problems whatsoever?"

"Well, the lord of Gulltown visited us a year back." said ser Willam. "They offered us a joint construction of a road, as a lot of merchants from there wanted to buy our goods, but have no decent path to travel."

"What of our port?" asked Maegor.

"It's… doing its job, my lord. But, it's small, though we could use the gold you've just brought, and we could expand, but I'm afraid—"

"It will spark conflict between us and Gulltown." Maegor hummed. "Let's put that aside for now, so that road that I saw on the way is the result of the joint cooperation?"

"Yes, my lord." ser Willam nodded.

"You've done a really great job, ser." Maegor praised. "Is there anything I could do for you?"

"My lord… you don't have to…"

"I insist, ser Willam."

"Well… perhaps… if my lord could release me from being your regent?" asked Ser Willam politely. "To be honest, it's been a struggle, my lord. I am but a mere knight, if not for Lady Helaena, I would probably have driven Runestone to ruin."

Maegor sighed. "Perhaps you are right, ser Willam. I am sorry, for dragging you into becoming my regent, it was supposed to be only a farce, but I didn't expect to go to war in the Stepstones. Fine, I will relieve you of your duty, ser Willam, but you will lead our soldiers, train them, you're the best knight we've got. I will reward you for your service, come see me after I go to King's Landing."

"Thank you, my lord." Ser Willam bowed, he wanted to say something, but he hesitated, eventually, he spoke. "Though… I have one more piece of news for you, my lord, I've heard whispers about you."

Maegor raised his brow. "And that is?"

—

[The Red Keep, King's Landing]

King Viserys stood in front of the council as he listened quietly. His body has been deteriorating lately, his stamina becoming less and less, and he has to be helped one way or another if he wants to go somewhere. Inside the council were the usual faces, Lord Otto, Queen Alicent, the Ironrod, Lord Beesbury, Lord Tyland Lannister, and the Grand Maester Mellos.

"Your grace, I've had reports on the War of the stepstones." said Tyland Lannister. "It has ended, Lord Corlys Velaryon and Lord Maegor had signed a treaty with the three cities and Dorne. And as the report suggests… the Triarchy has collapsed."

"That is great news." Viserys smiled, but the council didn't look that happy. "Is something the matter? War has ended, yet you all look like you preferred that the war continued."

"Your grace, while it is a great achievement in itself that your nephew, lord Maegor, has dealt with the Triarchy in a span of less than two years, it's what he used as the method of ending the war that concerns us." the Ironrod spoke out. "I fear he used… a cruel tactic in order to achieve anything."

"And that is?"

"He starved Dorne for a year, your grace, burning every field and cattles they could find," said Tyland Lannister. "Any discussions on the unification of the Iron Throne and Dorne have possibly been pushed back further than ever before. Not to mention, he burned Tyrosh to the ground, sure, it is effective, and it's one of the main reasons that the Triarchy collapsed, but…"

"It is cruel, your grace." said Otto. "Hundreds of Thousands of lives have been lost."

"Well it is war." Viserys argued. "The important thing is, it has ended. The casualties would've been much higher if the war continued like this."

"Your grace, I understand." said the Ironrod. "But no one decides to burn an entire city to the ground, and expect nothing to change in his personality."

"What are you suggesting, lord Jasper?" questioned the king sharply.

"We have concerns that a second Maegor the cruel has been born." Otto spoke out clearly, making the king frowned.

The king didn't say anything, he just stared at the council. Then, with an annoyed tone, he spoke clearly. "I remember years ago when you said that my brother was to be the second Maegor the cruel… and now, you accuse his son to be the second Maegor the cruel?"

"This time, we have genuine concerns, your grace."

"He is to marry Helaena, Otto. your granddaughter." Viserys pointed out. "You agreed to this, yet you accused your own grandson-in-law of being a tyrant over a baseless accusation?"

"Viserys, the hand is right." the queen spoke. "I do not want Helaena to marry a cruel man, perhaps we should consider—"

"Enough." the king spoke sternly. "If we break the betrothal, my already broken relationship with my brother would break even more. Is that all you want? To see your king's family be torn apart?"

The small council just went silent as the king stared down at them. "I will not hear of this any longer. I will be the judge on whether or not he's a tyrant or not when he comes to the red keep for his late marriage."

"Of course, your grace." Otto, who has realized that he has lost the bet, bowed.