Chapter 6: The Blacks, the Greens, the Blues, the Reds and the Purples

111 AC

King's Landing

"Are you nervous, my dear?" Shiera asks me as we wait for the bronze doors of the Great Hall to open for our presentation.

"Of course not, sweetheart. What would make you think that?" I replied with a badly attempted calm voice. I was nervous as fuck.

"You are tapping your foot incessantly, you are sweating like a pig, not to mention you are rubbing your hands as if you are freezing, and the list goes on. I thought you weren't afraid of the King," Shiera points out.

"Oh, I am not afraid of Viserys," I clarify with a scoff. He was not the one I was afraid of, there was someone else much more dangerous on the other side of the hall.

"You are scared of your mother," She declares with a smirk, to which I grudgingly nod. I was afraid of my mother, but after nearly two years I am finally seeing her again with my own family, I wonder what her reaction will be like. Not to mention, I haven't sent that many letters.

"I have exchanged many letters with her since our marriage. I don't see the scheming woman you have told me stories about. She has been very kind and concerned in her letters," She said with a little innocent smile of a minx.

That innocent smile hid a very devious mind, Shiera had a green thumb for poisons, and growing up in both Tyrosh and Volantis meant that she knew the dark underbelly of politics. I won't be surprised if within a week rumors start to circulate that she is a witch.

To ensure that there wouldn't be much of a hassle in Westeros over her being Saera's bastard daughter, Colio Odorys had her legitimized. In Westeros, it was the King who legitimized the illegitimate children from all noble families but in most of the Free Cities and Slaver's Bay, it was the head of the family, the Pater Familias of sorts who legitimized the illegitimate children of the family, or even the other way round. Except for Norvos, that city was a theocracy.

Of course, people would still whisper but then again, they have been whispering about me as well.

"Do you think that she will be upset when we have him?" She asked confidently as she took our sleeping bundle of joy from his nurse's arms and cooed over him as she held him.

I found myself smiling at the sight of my wife and my son Gaemon Targaryen. He was beautiful, large, lusty, and strong at five months. Contrary to my worst fears, Shiera did not have a difficult labor, it was over within an hour and there were no worries about Gaemon's health whatsoever. Born with a tuft of silver-gold hair and lilac eyes that might darken to a deep purple. My son was a pureblooded Targaryen, through and through, no questions asked.

Then the doors opened, and a blast of trumpets was sounded as a herald announced, "Prince Maekar Targaryen, Master of Ships and Governor-General of the Stepstones, and his wife, the Lady Shiera of Tyrosh with their son, Gaemon Targaryen."

We walk down the central aisle of the Great Hall with the Dragon's Teeth walking down behind me, as the Iron Throne loomed over us with Viserys sitting above it amongst the blades and barbs of the Iron Throne with Blackfyre in his hands, still fat as ever.

I noticed my mother standing with a poker face a bit forward to the center by the foot of the Iron Throne next to the Lord Commander while Rhaenyra stood on the right and Alicent and her children were on the left. This is yet another sign of the growing rift between them that will one day consume the realm.

Targaryen guardsmen in black steel burgonent helmets with cheek guards and maroon-red cloaks stood guard along the walls and the central aisle while the Great Hall was jam-packed with nobles of every tier, high, middle, and low.

It was a sea of jewels, furs, and bright clothes. The Lords and Ladies who stood beneath the high windows of the hall and were jostling with each other stopped to watch us. I spied from the corner of my eye that the gallery was thronged with squires, lower knights, and rich townsfolk. Along with that, I noticed that the entire Velaryon family was in this crowd as well, and now that was unexpected.

And then we arrived at the foot of the Iron Throne and we kneeled, "Your Grace."

Viserys comes down the Iron Throne with Blackfyre and bids us to rise, "Rise, brother, and welcome back," he said before embracing me as the crowd inside the Great Hall erupted into loud cheers and celebrations.

As the people celebrated, Viserys embraced Shiera accepted her, kissed Gaemon on the forehead, and acknowledged him as a member of the family. It's a pity that my son won't be titled a Prince for only the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in the direct line of succession of the sitting monarch will be styled as Prince and Princess.

Then comes my mother before I can say anything she hugs me, "You have done well, my son and you have made me proud."

Hearing those words was something I had never heard in my entire life, either my old one or this one. I felt a wave of calmness wash over me, I thought I was immune to emotions in Westeros after my transmigration but I was wrong, I was still human and I still longed for approval just not for the throne.

My mother then turned to Shiera and Gaemon warmly embracing them before taking Gaemon in her arms for a moment it felt as if I was living in a dream, in the part of the happily ever after, the adventure was over and then I was rudely brought back down to hell.

Both Alicent and Rhaenyra approached to greet me and almost immediately it began to explode into my face.

"Goodbrother, welcome back home. You have been missed and your nephews would love to -" Alicent began but before she could finish Rhaenyra interrupted.

"Uncle, it has been ages since I have last seen you," Rhaenyra said in a very loud and dramatic fashion which angered Alicent more than anything, and then Rhaenyra quickly clung to my arm. Not so surprisingly, Viserys found something very important conversation to have with Lyonel Strong, the cunt. I have a feeling that for the past few years, Lyonel has had helping Viserys escape uncomfortable situations between his wife and daughter as part of his job description.

Suddenly I was stuck between women who would love to do nothing more than tear the other person apart with their own hands and I had no idea what to do but then my mother came to my rescue from the other and took me out of Rhaenyra's arms.

Viserra hissed for only us to hear, "For the love of the Gods, is it too much to ask the two of you to be amiable for at least an hour? Today is my son's day and I will not have you both ruin this day with your inane drama," Go Mom.

She then turned to Rhaenyra, "Rhaenyra, you are the heiress so you know full well what is the proper protocol when it comes to this. The Queen comes first and you know it so learn to wait for two seven damned minutes."

After a very awkward five minutes, I left the rostrum and headed to meet the Small Council with my mother, I whispered to her, "Let me guess, this happens every day."

"You have no idea," She whispered back, "It became much worse after Alicent gave birth to the second son."

"Let me remove everyone's attention from them for a while," I said to her before I went straight to my men.

"Brother," I called out to Viserys who turned to me from his 'important' conversation with Lyonel, "I can't believe that I almost forgot this," I went over to Jon Fletcher and Donnel Baker, and with a nod they brought forth the very important package.

"Behold, the Harbinger," I said as I brandished my battle axe, to the stunned silence of the crowd, they all must have heard the news about the Valyrian steel weapons that were given to me and my squires as candy but as they say, seeing is believing.

It wasn't the Dane axe that the Dragon's Teeth used or the Tomahawk axe that the Fire Watch used, this was a one-handed horseman's battle axe best used from horseback to deliver killing blows to running foes, but I was well trained with all forms of axes. And I could be a very deadly killer with regular steel battle axes in melees and with Valyrian steel I would be near unstoppable.

As the people applauded I pulled out the next one to silence them once more, a Valyrian steel greatsword, "Behold, the Adjudicator." It was a greatsword like that of Heartsbane or Dawn, it could be used in combat provided the person knew how to properly wield the sword.

And all the clapping and cheers woke up my son who began to cry.

Royal Apartments

My mother could be a right bitch when needed and that was usually most of the time, a Queen of Thorns in a way and my wife was a mistress of poisons. Looking at her interest in the arcane and her library which was filled with books on poison and arcane subjects that I haven't dared to touch, I can say she does more than dabble in the dark arts.

The two women made small talk in our chambers while I pointedly didn't pay attention to them and rather focused on my sleeping son, I looked at the greyish-black dragon egg that my mother placed in Gaemon's cradle.

I wished to have him bond with a full-gown dragon but my mother wanted to give Gaemon a dragon egg for it turned out that Silverwing had laid a clutch of dragon eggs a few months ago, nearly right after Gaemon's birth. She believed it to be an omen.

I wonder if this dragon egg will hatch, to the best of my knowledge, since my grandparents, no cradle dragon egg has hatched so maybe this egg may not hatch as well, or if it does it will be after Gaemon bonds with an older dragon and the hatchling will be taken to the Dragonpit.

My mother spoke to Viserra in a serious tone, "Shiera, dear, I can be the villainous goodmother that most stories depict. I have suffered under such myself," By that, she means her mother and mother-in-law Alysanne, to the best of my knowledge, Alysanne kept Viserra at two arm's length ever since the incident and Viserra did the same so I don't quite understand what she means by suffering under Alysanne.

My mother continued, "So I will make it simple for you, be honest with me and I will be honest with you and we will have a very long and happy relationship. I am hoping you and Maekar have decided on being honest to each other as well."

"We have for that was the first that we agreed to on the first day we met," Shiera smoothly replied and it was true. That was the first thing we agreed on before the conversation topic somehow went to poisons.

"Now that you are a member of the Targaryen family, you need to worship the Seven. I could care less if you worship other gods or don't worship any at all. But for the sake of appearances, you must be converted and be seen as a believer in the Seven. Since you are a foreigner you will be held to a higher standard."

Shiera nods, "I understand and I have been expecting this, I have visited the Sept in Dragon's Deep a few times. I am willing to be seen as a convert."

"Good, we shall go to the Great Sept tomorrow and meet with Septon Eustace," Viserra said satisfied with Shiera's answer.

"So I hear that you are proficient in poisons, normally I wouldn't listen to rumors spread out by sailors but I have a feeling that this time it is true," My mother then remarks after some more small talk. Looks like the gossip about my wife reached King's Landing before she reached the city.

Shiera nods, "Yes, it is true. I have studied poisons extensively under the teachers in Volantis, My mother first introduced me to poisons and I took to it like fish to water."

"So I am assuming that you are giving Gaemon here small doses of poison to make him resistant to poison," Viserra knowingly asked to which Shiera nodded, "And not just to Gaemon but also to Maekar as well. With so many enemies in the Free Cities, I felt it imperative that Maekar be protected against plots that would undoubtedly come against him."

I notice that Shiera's mother is conveniently left out of the conversation.

"True," I said as I walked over to them and sat next to Shiera on the couch, "It took a while before she convinced me and it was and still is an unpleasant experience." I shuddered thinking of all the poisons that I ingested.

Shiera chuckled, "Poison is never pleasant and if it is then it is more deadly." The only poison that she hasn't tried to immunize me against is the Strangler but it can be dealt with by a wine taster. One sip of the poisoned wine is enough to begin the death coughs.

"Since you both have such great trust in each other I am assuming that you both lay together every night or perhaps even during the day," My mother just casually mentions while I find my eyes bulging out of the sockets.

Shiera laughs before she says, "Several times a week, at first it used to be several times a day."

Having your mother and your wife talk about your sex life is more than a little weird, "Should I leave?" I awkwardly ask as I get up while Shiera smirks.

"I think not, Maekar, I am about to ask the most important question of them all," My mother says as she points me to sit back down.

"Tell me Shiera, do you want Maekar to claim the throne," There we go again.

"I thought we were over this," I exasperatedly remark as I fall back on the couch.

My mother says in a very bitter tone, "No, we are not, Maekar, not until Baelon's sons with Alyssa are dead, not until you are my parents' last living grandchild, the one whose line will continue the main Targaryen line, not until my mother's worst fears come true and there is nothing she can do but wail about it in the afterlife." Now that is a bitter woman, more than bitter. She really does know how to hold a grudge against three dead people.

"Yes, I do hope that my children sit on the Iron Throne, if nothing else but to pay back the old king for how he treated my mother," Shiera answered to Viserra's delight. She had the talent of knowing what to say to people to mollify and butter them.

"I have said this before to you and I am saying it again, your mother had it coming when she compared herself to Maegor to one person who hates Maegor the most," I retort to which Shiera rolled her eyes.

"Tell me, Shiera did you tell Maekar about your ambitions?" Viserra then shrewdly asks her.

Shiera nods truthfully looking at me, "I did, I told him as much on the first day we met during the feast."

"Then why did you marry her, Maekar, I assumed that you have no intentions for the Iron Throne and yet you married a woman who desired the Throne," My mother says with a glint in her eyes that makes me gulp, I have walked into her trap.

"Because Shiera is beautiful," I weakly answered as I kissed an amused Shiera on the cheek.

"Then why didn't you marry Laena when you had the chance, you still had the final decision not to declare a rebellion," My mother pounces on that.

"Because Shiera is more beautiful than Laena," I lamely replied to which Shiera snickered. I wasn't wrong when I said that Shiera was more beautiful than Laena but the argument simply didn't hold up.

"Maekar, tell the truth," She tells me in an amused tone and teased, "Is it because she has a bigger dragon than you."

"No, nothing like that," I said and more was expected out of me so decided to tell a shameful part of my life that even my mother didn't know.

"It's just that there was an incident between myself, Laenor, and Laena during the Great Council," I confessed. It was best to get this out right now itself.

"What incident?" My mother asks in a deathly silent tone. Even Shiera's smile died.

I decide to come clean, "A few weeks into the Great Council, one night while nearly everyone was asleep I slipped through the guards and began to wander around the castle, when I met Laenor and Laena also wandering. It was obvious that they too had escaped their guardians. And no one was there in that corner of the castle."

"I still don't understand why there were no servants or guards around that moment I don't know which floor of the Kingspyre tower it was but it was in the tower itself, it was the hour of the wolf I think but when I met them I was in a foul mood for throughout the day Daemon had been annoying me twice as before when you were gone and he was teaching Rhaenyra to call me a bastard while Aemma had gone to the Sept to cry for her dead children or something like that."

"What happened when you met them?" Viserra quietly asked.

"We talked at first but then when I told them that there was a good chance that Laenor would lose, Laenor called me a bastard and that snapped something in me. I am not proud of what I did, it was a moment of weakness but I had endured enough from Daemon that to get it from a pipsqueak like Laenor was the last straw."

"I took out my knife and I grabbed him by the neck and I threatened to cut out his tongue, gouge out his eyes, and cut off his balls." Both my mother and my wife winced.

"Laena tried to slap me but I threw Laenor to the ground and I caught her arm twisted it behind her back placed my knife at her throat and threatened to slice them into pieces if they dared to tell their parents of what I did. I think my threat worked because they didn't tell their parents anything. That is the same threat and same arm twisting with a knife at the throat that Daemon used on me a few years before after he got Dark Sister."

That was the first time that I genuinely got scared of Daemon and I ended up emulating him. After being relentlessly bullied by Daemon I became another version of Daemon that day and I found out that the evil dragon in me loved to savor their fear and since then I have done my best to keep it under control. Though during times of war when I unleash Vermithor I unleash that dragon within me as well.

"Since then, the three of us have pretended like it never happened, it was just a bad dream but ever since we haven't been able to look each other in the eye," I finish my tale.

For the next few minutes, we stayed in silence before Gaemon woke up to be fed. Shiera didn't allow wetnurses for Gaemon, she wanted to breastfeed Gaemon herself and I found no problem with it for it was healthier. As Shiera went to Gaemon's cradle to nurse him, my mother came near me.

"You should have told me what Daemon did," She said but I shook my head, "No, I should have told you what I did."

"If Laenor casually called me a bastard without thinking it means that Corlys and the Velaryon family have always considered me as a bastard just like Daemon, it's just that they had the sense to hide it in public. Corlys didn't see me as much other than a pawn until I got Vermithor and the Fire Watch and the office of Master of Ships after that. The man had the gall to expect me to champion him in the Small Council."

Corlys was genuinely worried when I began to build a proper fleet, he came to me offering to restart the old scheme of Velaryon ships serving under the Crown on a yearly contract at half price of what it was before, I told him to fuck off.

"I believe that it is time for the Small Council meeting," She points out, "But before you go, Maekar you need to know this. Viserys is at the peak of his unpopularity, his decision to not go to war against Dorne has made him loathed amongst all the Lords of the Stormlands and the Reach. Some of whom are in his Small Council."

"People will approach you to convince Viserys to go to war, as for whether you should or not it's up to you. I know not the matters of war, that you know but I think that you should know this that people are whispering that you would be a better fit for the Iron Throne."

Small Council Chambers

As the Small Council goes about its business, I think about what my mother said, it made sense why people would prefer me as King, it wasn't Daemon or Corlys that won the Stepstones, it was me and everyone knows it. I subjugated Tyrosh for the Iron Throne, something that was as unprecedented as Viserys naming Rhaenyra as heir.

The Fire Watch was still loyal to me, the officers and the rank-and-file united in their loyalty to me while the City Watch was united in their fear of me. The fortress/ Naval Base on the other side of the Blackwater named Fort Blackfyre was filled with soldiers loyal to me. There were around two thousand men in that castle along with twenty dromonds permanently stationed there, whoever controlled Fort Blackfyre controlled King's Landing.

I controlled one of the largest dragons alive, if I wanted to then within a day I would be sitting on the Iron Throne. And with the mood of the court and that of the nobles as of late, if I gave them a war with Dorne, they would accept me as king.

Yet, I found the Iron Throne repulsive, it was a curse that I had no desire to touch all the while hundreds of others would kill themselves trying to touch it, oh the irony.

Viserys is not present today, since the tourney to celebrate his fifth wedding anniversary was tomorrow.

Lord Lyman was an honorable man but he really needed to stop being so stingy. "The sixty ships that you have placed in the Narrow Sea and Tyrosh are becoming a burden, surely not so many ships are needed," Lyman complained.

"Sixty ships are the bare minimum, everything that you are paying for in both the army and the navy is the lowest it can go without threatening the peace and security of the Seven Kingdoms," I replied nonchalantly as I looked over the ledgers detailing that years expenses from the army and the navy.

"The bare minimum," Lyman asks aghast, "Four thousand men are currently stationed in Tyrosh and its hinterlands. Two thousand alone in the Stepstones that are controlled by the Iron Throne along with another two thousand right across Blackwater Rush, plus the five hundred here in the Red Keep and five hundred in Dragonstone. Twenty ships each in both Dragonstone and King's Landing along with the sixty in the Narrow Sea. Do you know how much money is being spent on this?"

"Quite a lot I would say," I quipped.

He stops to take his breath before continuing, "During the days of your grandfather we never had to spend so much money in the name of security for King Jaehaerys was the security that the Seven Kingdoms needed. I see no reason why that cannot continue under your aegis."

"Those days are long gone, Lord Beesbury, the realm faces new threats and the Crown needs to adapt to these threats in these new conditions else the Crown fails," I evenly replied. I wish we were like the Roman Empire, where half the yearly budget goes to the Army.

Though I don't blame Lyman for his way of thinking, living in a decadent and peaceful time where war is seen more as a game than something that changes the very perception of one's life, investing in security when you have flying lizard nukes would be seen a foolish.

"I don't understand why you are so upset Lord Lyman, for the next ten years, Tyrosh is to send a yearly tribute of more than six hundred thousand gold dragons," I replied. After ten years, assessors from the Iron Throne will go to Tyrosh conduct a census, and tabulate the tribute for the next ten years. Lyman should be happy, I have improved the economy of the Seven Kingdoms almost singlehandedly.

The economy of King's Landing skyrocketed after I received my gift of twenty thousand pounds of gold which amounted to more than three hundred thousand gold dragons for I invested all of it into the Royal Trading Company, news of such a massive influx of gold skyrocketed the value of the shares that the shareholders held which made many people rich in King's Landing and beyond. To the point that a subsidiary of the Trading Company began to function as a bank by giving out loans at low interest rates to nobles and commoners who had collateral of sufficient value.

This act also sunk every other wannabe Trading Company, most aggrieved was the Seasnake. He threw off the yoke of the Triarchy in a bloody war over the shipping lanes only to find his ships and traders at a disadvantage compared to mine.

The other wounded party was the Iron Bank, they didn't care much for the Trading Company at first but once we jumped into the banking pool it was too late, the RTC now had a monopoly over all of Westeros, even the western coast. Lords Botley, Harlaw, Mallister, Farman, Hewett, Redwyne, Rowan, and Cuy were the first to join in and then soon enough both the Hightowers and the Lannisters accepted the RTC domination.

In the end, I grew even more rich to the point that I was one of the richest men in the realm. all the more impressive since I had no official holdings of my own.

I was the Master of Ships but along with it I inadvertently became the Master of the Army while preparing for the campaign in the Stepstones. With nine thousand men and a hundred state-of-the-art warships, the Royal Armed Forces were a solid fighting force. A lean and mean machine that could take on any enemy you could throw at it. Well-trained, well-armed, and well-organized it was the army that could be compared to the Byzantine army.

And this is probably what saved Viserys' ass when it came to refusing to go to war. Officially it was Viserys who was in charge but in reality, I was the one who held their loyalty and their respect. If I rose in rebellion, they would too.

In retrospect, nine thousand was too low, I would have wanted around twenty thousand men but alas I couldn't raise more men because the bloody Crownlands didn't have that many free men to be recruited. The rest were either serfs or street urchins from King's Landing, undesirable in the world of military recruitment. Dammit Aegon.

"Alright everyone, I have received important news from Dorne," Lyonel announced, "The civil war there has now boiled down to the last two, Yronwood and Uller, for now, there is an unspoken truce between them as they recover from the fighting. Ever since Yronwood married Lady Dayne, they have managed to capture nearly all of the Red Mountains on their side while Uller has captured all of Dorne's deserts and its coasts."

So basically it's now going to be a showdown between the Stony Dornish of Yronwood-Dayne alliance and the Sandy and Salty Dornish of Uller.

The new Master of Laws, Jasper Wylde grumbled, "What's the point of hearing news of Dorne when we aren't even attacking those sand-eaters?" And nobody had anything to return to what he said, not attacking Dorne was an unpopular choice with all, even with Lyman who wasn't a man to support gold-sucking ventures.

Then Jasper looked at me, "All these years, the King put off invading Dorne saying Prince Maekar and Prince Daemon were not present. Now that you are here Prince Maekar, what do you have to say about invading Dorne?"

Then with every eye in the Small Council chambers on me, I poured myself some Arbor Gold and took a long drink, all the while they were waiting for me and then I spoke.

"If we are to invade Dorne, I can win the war within four months. Yronwood, Starfall, Hellholt, Plankytown, and Sunspear. Once we capture these five places, all of Dorne will bend the knee and to ensure that Dorne keeps its knees bent, we can burn and destroy the farms and villages along the Greenblood and the same can be done with both the Torrentine and the Yronwood rivers. Within a year, I can make Dorne into a broken, bent, and groveling dog."

"But the problem is the insurgency that would undoubtedly begin the second you leave Dorne," Lyonel pointed out while Jasper Wylde seemed quite pleased with what I said.

I simply shrugged and answered, "Simple, we will kill everyone before we leave, ergo no one is there to rebel. We wipe out entire villages and towns and replace them with people from across the Seven Kingdoms, we give incentives to make people settle in Dorne like no serfdom, free landownership to the first person to each plot of land something like that. The soldiers who are stationed in Dorne can marry Dornish women and within a generation, we wipe out the old Dorne with its customs and culture and make a new one under our image."

I continued, "As for the nobility, we can wipe out entire noble families like how I did in Tyrosh, or we have our knights and second sons marry Dornish heiresses. We can take their sons as squires and marry them to our daughters and take their daughters and marry them to our sons and soon enough there will be an entire new nobility in Dorne that will be loyal to the Iron Throne."

My proposal is met with satisfaction and agreement by the members of the Small Council, no wonder I am the dragon with brains compared to my brothers, one who is a dragon without brains and the other a dragon without both brains and balls.

"All I need is time, money, resources, and men and I can win the war for you even without dragons in less than a year," I declared, "But as for convincing the King to go to war, I am afraid I am not the Prince you need to ask. That would be Daemon."

The Next Day

"Are you sure that you don't want to participate in the tourney," My mother asks as the three of us sit down to watch the jousts. This was going to be the tourney that defines this generation and the one after it and maybe even after that. It was a good crowd, much more than what I saw for the Heir's Tourney, maybe because they expanded the stands for more people to sit and watch.

"No I do not, perhaps I will participate in the axe throwing competition and also in the melee but not the joust," I replied as I watched Ser Criston Cole wearing Rhaenyra's favor ride into the grounds in the white enameled armor.

My mother wanted me to participate in that silver armor that she commissioned for me, it was ornate and costly as fuck and it took characteristics from both Rhaegar and Daemon Blackfyre, how fortuitous that my mother gives me armor from two tragic fallen heroes. She had commissioned that armor after being horrified upon seeing the original armor that I ordered for myself upon attaining knighthood.

My original armor was plain grey but well-made just like my idol, Aegor Rivers, he was a man to emulate, and his loyalty to Daemon and his family was next level that you don't see anywhere else. Not to mention, he established the Golden Company, what's not to like? I use my grey armor for actual battles while I use the silver armor for tourneys and declarations of surrender.

"I haven't quite understood the point of a joust, what does it prove to when you win a joust?" Shiera asked me as Criston lined up to joust with Gwayne Hightower.

I answered her, "According to the Master-at-arms while I was growing up, Ser Alfred Broome, it was a way for knights to see who had the superior horsemanship and to see who was best with a lance. Also, it is a way for knights to boast about their prowess to others though for most this skill only comes in hand during a battle when delivering a massed cavalry charge, a that usually happens only once in a battle, and as of late we don't have that many battles, sure a few raids here and there but nothing major."

"Why can't Westeros have chariot races like those in Volantis?" Shiera asked me and I shrugged, "That's Westerosi culture, everything needs to be somehow connected to the Seven and the principles of knighthood and chivalry." They may call her Shiera of Tyrosh but she was as Volantene as Volantene came.

After coming back from our impromptu honeymoon in the Summer Isles, we visited Volantis to see Saera and also to reassure the Triarchs that I had no designs on their city though my actions did cause quite a rumble, they were wise not to anger a dragonlord. As for Saera, we had a very not-so-stilted conversation, and after that, we saw the famous six-four-horse chariot race that is held every year on the Black Walls.

Then Criston Cole and Gwayne Hightower had the first joust of the day and after three passes Gwayne went flying off into the air and tumbled into the dirt and none cheered more loudly than Rhaenyra and of course her cronies. Most of her cronies weren't from families that genuinely supported Rhaenyra for her status as the heiress and more from families that did not like House Hightower at all.

Alicent rushed to her feet in worry for her brother but Gwayne managed to get back on his feet though he looked like Joe Frazier leaving the ring after the Thrilla in Manilla.

The rest of the jousts went pretty much the same way, Criston Cole kicking Alicent's supporters in the dirt, oh the irony is when Criston switches sides if that happens that is.

"So, mother, how exactly are Rhaenyra and Alicent?" I asked to which she turned to me surprised.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked confused to which I further explained, "How are they in general with people and their personality, attitude, and character to people who are not their Step-daughter/Step-mother?"

My mother thinks for a moment before saying, "Well, Rhaenyra is a pampered and spoilt brat even more than my younger self and more like Saera I would say. She doesn't understand that women are held to a higher standard and I won't be surprised if this girl starts sleeping with her beloved White Knight. Though knowing Viserys he is most likely not to even hear such rumors and even if he does he will cover it up."

Wow, my mother got it right with that, I am not sure about what happened with Rhaenyra and Criston Cole but it's obvious what happens after, both get their heart broken, one goes to Alicent while the other goes to Harwin Strong and they become the most bitter of enemies.

"As for Alicent, she doesn't know how to be a proper mother to her son, she is allowing her son to become a spoiled brat, then that little hellion is more than a handful. I would say that I lucked out with you, you were a silent angel compared to all the hellions that I see around me, hopefully, Gaemon will be the same." He will not.

"So, umm, are you helping Rhaenyra become a better heir by explaining to her the responsibilities that come with being an heir or are you helping Alicent become a better mother so that her son doesn't go around throwing tantrums," I ask and I immediately feel like a fool because I already know the answer.

"Of course not, Maekar and you know it. They need to learn it on their own, I know I did and so did you. Tell me Maekar, did Baelon, or anyone else for that matter, teach you how to lead men?"

I shook my head, "No, not really." Somehow I took five hundred unemployed men from the streets of King's Landing and I made them into Firefighters.

"Exactly, you were not taught to lead but when it came to it you led the Fire Watch and rather well I might say, they still rule the streets, not Daemon's Gold Cloaks. Some people are born with the inherent ability to rule and to lead and that is not something that can be given or taught. If they don't have it they don't have it. If Rhaenyra doesn't know how to be a proper heiress that is her fault."

"I would disagree with that, not everyone is naturally talented to be a leader, some have to be taught how to lead men into battle and I will be teaching Gaemon that, I won't just throw him into battle expecting him to lead men to victory."

"Of course, you can teach him but unless he has the talents to grasp what he learns and only if he learns to improvise on his own without having you around will be a proper leader in his own right. For by what you said, shouldn't Alicent be a good mother, she had a mother to watch and learn from, a far better one than what I had but she isn't a good mother and that is because despite seeing her mother raise her along with her brothers and sisters she isn't able to grasp those lessons then she never will."

I doubt that Alicent's mother had to deal with entitled Targaryen Princes and Princesses but I digress.

Then a very familiar screech is heard, bringing everything to a halt, and then a shadow comes over the grounds, and a long serpentine red beast lands right on the jousting lanes, it is quite lucky that nobody was jousting at the time.

Daemon then descends from Caraxes and walks up to the Royal box, I come closer to the balcony railing to see the action as do my mother and wife.

Daemon takes off his crown and offers it to Viserys, "There is but one King, brother."

For a moment nothing happens and then Viserys comes down from the Royal box and takes the crown and embraces Daemon leading to a lot of cheers and celebrations from the crowd. I believe it was six months after this that he was kicked out yet again.

"Maekar," Daemon cooly greets me and I return it in kind, "Daemon."

Upon reaching adulthood we were both of the same height and build, we both had the windburnt and tanned faces one gets in the Stepstones along with our hair cut short. The only difference was the color of our eyes, his were lilac while mine were a deep purple.

"I hear that you are a father now, and yet you didn't visit Bloodstone to tell me the news brother, you didn't even invite me to your wedding," Daemon said stiffly. No doubt the fact that I have a son and he doesn't have a son burns.

"You should have come to Dragon's Deep, if you wanted to see my son, brother, as for my wedding I am afraid that it was a rather rushed one," I respond evenly. If I ever have a daughter, I am keeping her away from him, he was a pervert through and through. He loved to take the virginities of girls about to become whores in King's Landing back when he was the Commander of the Gold Cloaks, in a way it was a tax on all brothel owners to give him their fresh whores.

He turned to Shiera and smirked, "So, this is your wife, from Volantis or perhaps Tyrosh, doesn't matter but I hear that she is our cousin from Volantis. No wonder you married her, kind marries kind." His insinuation was clear.

"Perhaps but she is Valyrian which is far more than what you can say about your Bronze bitch, any luck having children so far," I taunt back and he clenches his teeth. That hit a sore spot for him. Now that I have subjugated Tyrosh and gained a Valyrian steel axe along with a bigger dragon and a Valyrian wife and son, I have outshone his achievements in every aspect that he could think of.

Before this can go on, Viserys comes in between, "That is enough, for now, we must celebrate this joyous occasion. Both my brothers are back together with me."

Later that Evening

"Any particular reason why are we wearing purple?" I asked my wife and mother as we walked to the Great Hall together.

Both my wife and my mother wore amethyst purple gowns with silver Myrish lace and pearls while I wore a fine purple silk shirt and pants over a black doublet with a bronze three-headed dragon stitched on it.

"Because we need to show that we are united and a separate faction of our own, not the ones who will bow to the others," Shiera replied as she straightened my doublet. Fortunately, Gaemon was soundly sleeping and the nurses could take care of him, perks of being a Prince I suppose. You could foist your kids onto the maids instead of carrying them around with you everywhere.

We walked into the Great Hall together, and everyone looked at us even that wretched dwarf Mushroom was silent as we walked over to the High Table where Viserys was sitting there alone in white clothes. Sometimes you feel bad for him but then you remember that he made his choices to walk into all his problems.

I found Corlys' stony gaze upon and I returned it in equal measure, I also found Laenor pointedly not looking at me while Laena defiantly glared at me. The entire Velaryon family was wearing the turquoise blue color in their clothing. It was like watching a flock of blue-colored birds huddle together.

After we reached the High Table and took our places, Daemon arrived alone, the wuss and he wore exactly what I wore except it was red instead of purple and bronze and he took his place on the other side of the table. Whoever did the placing arrangements did them well.

Then came the stars of the show, both Alicent and Rhaenyra approached at the same time walking at the same length ensuring that the other person didn't overtake them but still maintaining the calm dignity that noblewomen are taught to maintain.

Alicent wore an emerald green gown trimmed with golden Myrish lace while Rhaenyra wore a dramatic black gown with red highlights in the fashion of House Targaryen.

Looks like the lines have been drawn.

Once they reached the High Table, they both kissed Viserys and sat on opposite sides of him, he knew exactly how bad the rivalry was going to be between them but he had made himself blind to it.

He then stood up, "LET THE FEAST BEGIN."