1.13 - Aelyx

Aelyx - 12​

The wind whipped through my hair as I leaned against the rail of the galley. Baela and Rhaena clustered on both my sides watching the rolling sea with fascination. I reached out and ruffled Baela's hair drawing an annoyed look from the young girl.

"Don't do that." She demanded while batting away my hand.

I chuckled. "Older brother prerogative." I proclaimed and received a pout in return.

I was glad to see that neither of the twins appeared to suffer from seasickness. Neither one of them had much experience with sailing. Which was someone ironic considering their mother came from a traditionally naval family while their father had attempted to forge a kingdom from an island chain. However, both their parents had preferred the sky to the sea. Had the twins remained on Driftmark their grandfather would likely have taught them to sail. But, with the move to Dragonstone, the responsibility for connecting them to that part of their heritage fell to me. It was hardly a burden; I had spent almost my entire life living on islands and developed a deep fondness for the sea.

The vessel we were currently on had been commissioned by Rhaenyra years previously when she had first taken possession of Dragonstone. The ship had been designed and built for cruising around Blackwater Bay, it was a pleasure craft, not a merchant vessel or patrol boat. A casual questioning of the assigned crew had revealed that after being built the Princess had only taken a handful of voyages aboard, before abandoning it. These days it was primarily used to ferry messages and people between the Narrow Sea Houses. The thought left me with somewhat mixed feelings, on one hand, I was glad, that the ship had not been left to rot at anchor once Rhaenyra grew bored, on the other hand, the idea of such a beautiful vessel being reduced to drudge work was almost physically painful.

Acquiring the craft had been easy, a simple request to my father a few days ago had seen the ship prepared for the cruise this morning. I was unsure if he had asked Rhaenyra for permission to use the vessel or if he had simply issued orders to her crew, nor did I wish to find out. I intended to stay far away from the power dynamics of Rhaenyra and Daemon's marriage.

I glanced at the ship's captain who was standing a respectful distance away, while still keeping a close eye on us. I wondered if he had been instructed to report on my interactions with my half-sisters or if he was just well aware that if anything happened to us his remaining life span could be measured in hours.

"What are we supposed to do?" asked Rhaena, her voice much softer than her sister's.

"Right now, just enjoy the ocean," I told her. "Next time we go out I will start teaching you how the ship works, and by the time you are my age you will be ready to command one."

"We're going to do this again!" Baela exclaimed; her excitement palpable.

"Of course we will, you're Velaryons aren't you? The sea is in your blood, it's your birthright. So, I am going to teach you everything I know about sailing."

Baela's brow furrowed in thought. "What about Jace, Luc, and Joff? They are Velayrons too, aren't they? Shouldn't you be teaching them too?"

The smile on my face froze, as did several sailors in earshot. Well for one their only Velaryon blood comes from their great-great-great grandmother I thought sardonically. Truthfully, I did not care that Rhaenyra's three eldest were bastards her claim to the throne came from her father, not Laenor so if she wanted Jacaerys as her heir that was her business. But I could not deny the burn of anger that came from the knowledge that Baela was being cheated out of her inheritance to maintain a lie.

However, I understood the necessity. As of now the truth of the Strong boys' birth was something of an open secret, but it was one that only the most reckless individuals would bandy about in public. Furthermore, the fact that Laenor was as close to openly gay as one could get in Westros made many somewhat more understanding about her choice to bed Breakbones. So long as neither Rhaenyra nor anyone in her inner circle acknowledged the rumors, they would stay just that. That would change of course once Viserys died and the Greens would need to dredge up every bit of slander in their arsenal to discredit the Princess of Dragonstone. But, for now, snide whispers were the furthest anyone was willing to go against the king's favorite child.

"Aelyx?"

My focus snapped back to Baela, the odd expressions on her and Rhaena's faces told me that my pause had dragged on long enough to become awkward. I forced a cheerful, but patently false grin.

"Princess Rhaenyra's sons are indeed Velaryons." I lied smoothly. Out of the corner of my eye, I noted several of the eavesdroppers relax. "But they are only my siblings by marriage. And as such they are not my responsibility. Of course, if the Princess wishes I will of course teach her sons to sail." I felt comfortable making that proclamation as I was absolutely certain that even if she chose to have her sons learn to sail in order to reinforce the illusion that they were Laenor's children, I would not be whom Rhaenyra asked.

My answer seemed to appease the twins, if not leave them entirely satisfied. But, with careful prodding a returned their attention to the ship and the sea. Over the next several hours I instructed the two girls on nautical matters of all stripes. And they soon forgot all about Baela's well-meaning but extremely fraught question.

We returned to shore as the setting sun painted the bay red. As we prepared to disembark my mind was already moving to consider my plans for tomorrow. I intended to return to Driftmark to further discuss strategy with the island's Lord and Lady. I had made several such trips over the past month and the three of us began to develop a plan of attack that would hopefully see any attempts by the Hightowers to dispute Rhaenyra's coronation strangled in the cradle.

The biggest problem was that Corlys and Rhaenys' ability to act had a rather sharply defined limit. Neither of them was the future monarch nor were they empowered to make deals in her name. They were of course the Lord and Lady of House Velaryon and as such they could form agreements that between their own family and potential allies but none of us could make any promises about the like of tariffs, or city charters, or border disputes, or anything of that nature. We could imply an awful lot, but we could promise a single seven damned thing about anything Rhaenrya would do once she ascended the throne. The three of us grudgingly acknowledged that at some point we would need to bring Rhaenyra and my father into our plans, but we hoped to present them to her with a certain degree of fait accompli and have her provide a rubber stamp. Not for the first time I reflected on the irony that the three people who were working the hardest to see Rhaenyra seated on the Iron Throne thought little of her potential as a monarch.

The moment we stepped foot on the pier men wearing red and black livery moved to flank us. I exchanged a few words with their commander, confirming that there had been no problems on our excursion. We then made our way back towards the castle. As we moved the guards spread around us creating a loose cordon around us, keeping any passersby from getting too close to the twins.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an unfamiliar ship. Under normal circumstances, this would not have caused me to take note, but the evident wealth that had been poured into the vessel combined with the fact that the section of the docks we were currently treading was reserved for crafts that belonged to the Royal family or visitors of elevated importance raised my curiosity. A lifetime of experience allowed me to identify the ship as Pentoshi after a close examination of its lines. I hummed thoughtfully. I had not heard any talk of dignitaries coming from the Free City. Perhaps they were on their way to King's Landing and had merely stopped here to pay a greeting to Rhaenyra. I shrugged, there was no point in speculating. I was certain I could find out as soon as I arrived at the castle.