-Chapter 61-

-Chapter 61-

-POV Viserys Targaryen-

"Pardon?!" I said, surprised but mostly shocked by Daemon's greed.

'Daemon has really and definitively lost his mind, threatening his own son, the greatest dragon rider in the making, to do something like that, and my daughter, the princess heir of the Seven Kingdoms, to confront Corlys Velaryon,' I thought, shocked but mostly once again disappointed by my brother.

'It's ridiculous; I have always told him that his pride would be his downfall.'

Aemon remained silent, his head bowed, without saying a word.

I frowned, and although I wanted to let out all the frustration within me, I found his gesture particularly courageous.

'Any monarch would be within their rights to demand his head for this. Maegor could have had many of his vassals decapitated for far less than this,' I thought.

'And he did,' I noted.

'But I am not him,' I told myself, letting out a defeated sigh. My anger wasn't directed at my nephew, but at my brother.

I took a deep breath and asked, frowning:

"I am not angry with you, Aemon. I am even proud of you, in a way, for telling me the truth. But I need to understand, why did you agree to do what your father trapped you into when you could have simply said no?"

Aemon frowned, visibly more relaxed and especially relieved by my absolution, then he replied:

"Under normal circumstances, I would have just said no, but he waited for the right moment and found the right words. Maybe it's foolish, but he cornered me. Everything in his choice of words was designed to trap me. He made his greedy demands sound like a pledge of trust and good faith, with him as the foundation."

"You are still young. Over time, you'll learn that you should never make decisions under pressure because they are rarely in your favor. Those are the worst decisions you can make in life. I speak from experience because I have made many of them, and I can tell you that I regret most of them," I said.

"What made you be so honest with me? You could have easily kept quiet and never told me. There must be a reason."

"Several things, but... the biggest reason of all is this," Aemon said, pulling out from his garment the ball I had given him this morning.

'A symbol of his position on my council, as well as the value of his advice and honesty,' I thought, looking at the red ball.

I smiled slightly, happy to know that I had not entrusted this ball to an ambitious and unscrupulous man.

Aemon continued: "Your wife half-heartedly offered me the opportunity of a blood alliance between your daughter and one of my future sons, if I have one, the hand of her brother, as well as a commercial alliance aimed at destroying the crushing resource monopoly of House Velaryon."

Aemon didn't speak quickly, but I didn't have time to interrupt him.

Pulled forcefully from my thoughts by his words, I looked at him, speechless.

It felt like each of his words was a blow to the back of my head.

"How dare she..."

"She's not the only one who's made me indecent offers," Aemon said, cutting me off before continuing:

"Rhaenyra wants full support from House Royce, but especially from me and Urrax. She practically considers her half-brothers as strangers and..."

"And what?" I asked in a loud voice.

"And she vaguely hinted at a hypothetical future without them."

'He's playing with words; she's thinking of having them assassinated,' I thought, noting how his eyes kept darting away, clearly uncomfortable because he knew the truth.

'They're all the same: Rhaenyra, Alicent, Daemon, not to mention Rhaenys and her house of snakes, all ready to pounce on each other for that damn throne,' I thought.

I looked at Aemon, unsure how to respond to his confession.

I was, of course, very impressed by his dedication to the task I had entrusted him with this morning.

But I was particularly disappointed in all the members of my family, including Aemon, who had hidden from me that Daemon had trapped him and Rhaenyra to force me to grant him more power.

I took long minutes to absorb, digest, and try to understand everyone's motivations.

Aemon said nothing during this time, and signaled to Larys Strong to fetch us some refreshments, which he did.

A few moments later, servants entered carrying pitchers and goblets.

While Aemon filled two cups for us, I said:

"I won't hide that I was disappointed that you deliberately omitted to tell me about Daemon this morning, but as I've already said, I'm proud that you eventually confessed it."

"Thank you, uncle."

I raised my hand and said, "Don't thank me too quickly. There's something I'd like to know before we can move forward."

"Anything you want, uncle," Aemon replied.

"What did you say to my daughter and my wife?" I asked, wanting to test him and see if he was like the others, or if…

'…Can I still trust him?' I wondered.

Aemon looked at me with a sly smile and said, "I accepted."

"Which offer?" I asked, disappointed by his response.

"Both," he said, to my utter shock.