170
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299 AC
Kingslanding - Small council
Cersei Lannister
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"The people have amassed at the gates and refuse to leave until they are given food after the Gold Cloaks went around rounding it all up for 'proper distribution'. There have already been multiple riots with casualties, the numbers are sure to grow as their hunger emboldens them." I nod while clenching my hands into fists, the 'small council' a shadow of its past self as only the Grand Maester and Lord of the Kingsguard are still in the city.
The rest ran to hide in whatever holes they could find, gone to the winds the whole traitorous pack of them. My son seems unbothered even as his siblings are likely being nailed to trees with faces on them in the North. My Father and fool brother both rode out with the Westerlands army and got sent back before drawing Northern blood.
The Ironborn crawled out of the sea to sack Lannisport and even made off with a few Lannister bastards the last I heard anything. Things are going to shit as we are surrounded on all sides, even Blackwater Bay is being blockaded and no ships get in or out.
"Any word fro-." The door is thrown open and a guard walks in quickly with a rolled-up message in his outstretched hand.
I guess that answers my question.
Taking it from his hand I rip the seal off after seeing it was a roaring lion and pull it open to see a simple message. I crumble it and throw it across the table before slapping away at the guard still standing beside me. My hand hits his armor and it stings immediately but I bite my lips to stop from shouting.
"Dismissed." I grit out and the man runs from the room with the Kingsguard closing the door behind him. "Jaime ran with a small number of men to divert the attention of the Riverland forces the Tullys managed to raise... he was captured by the Vale forces he failed to see." How did it all come to this... everyone turned traitor to aid the ones they worked to rid themselves of.
All because of some stupid flying beasts.
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299 AC
Crownlands - Dragonstone
Varys Blackfyre
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Walking through the halls of the nearly abandoned castle the Targaryens ruled from for hundreds of years I can't help but feel the 'history'. I have only been here once before but never inside as I am right now, it feels like a foreign place even using both Westeros and all the places in Essos I have been to. The sleek cold lifeless walls carved with dragons that Stannis left even after all this time give it the only life present.
It feels more like a stone beast than a place for anyone to actually live, but I am sure it will regain some life soon. A single little bird almost left intentionally by the Martells sun a song of the Targaryen fleet heading to Dragonstone a few days ago. It won't be long and they will be here, it is unknown if my nieces are being dragged around or not. It would be smart to leave them with the Martells to safe keep them but smarter to keep them in hand.
It won't matter either way, my only purpose left will be decided after I talk with the Targaryens in person. I will lose my head or they will find something for me to do, I do hold a bit of hope that it will be later as I prefer my head on my shoulders. I have done things against their cause so I would find it natural if they decided I was better off dead but the same could be said about my nieces.
They still live.
I hold little hope at this point in anything resembling the goal left behind after my sister died, her dream so far out of reach it's almost laughable. But at least she can hopefully live on in her remaining children and then through their children. I have no idea yet what agreement the Targaryens forced upon them but I have no doubt the speculations I have heard and made on my own are not far from the truth.
The Blackfyre name dies out and the sword returned to the Targaryens.
Those are unnegotiable if I myself was a Targaryen and I expect like many others do that those have already been agreed upon. But I would like to at least see the blood flow into a new generation... no word of what I hope to happen happening. It is known Eragon is quite 'greedy' all things considered when it comes to the women around him. I can always hope my nieces will be treated the same and my family will live on through turning from black back to red.
I just can not even begin to imagine how the Targaryens plan to handle their current succession with how many silver-haired children there will likely be within a few years...
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299 AC
High Heart
Yohn Royce
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Looking around at all the flat lands I can't help but feel this location is perfect in just as many ways as it is haunted. The stumps of the weirwood trees cover the ground giving the place an unnatural feeling but the great wide expanse of flat lands around makes it good for watching out for enemies. Exactly how we spotted Jaime Lannister and his force trying to lead the Riverlands on a wild chase as they attacked and then fled keeping the Riverland army on its toes.
They delivered the Golden Lion right into my hands almost as if we planned it.
Tywin certainly has gained enough ground to pull back his men to reclaim any land taken by the Iron born and will have fortified by this point. We just missed him by a few days or we could have ended this war here and now with the other half of the Vale force sieging Kingslanding. The Crownland lords are blockading the bay so the 'royal family' is good and trapped with only common folk allowed to leave the city.
There is no sense in starving almost a million people so long as they submit themselves to be checked over to ensure no one of note is trying to smuggle themselves out.
This war will not drag on for long now though, the Lannister cause is almost as good as dead. Tywin still has his other son and his grandchildren to worry about and he won't venture out now to attack, not without help at least. The Reach won't risk anything at this point and the Iron Born have already shown their steel to the Westerlands, they are on their own. So it is best now to send half of the men I have here to join the siege and ride myself to meet with Lord Tully.
I was tasked with ensuring everything also goes smoothly as possible with the Targaryen's return... an odd taste in my mouth thinking about it. We killed Targaryens and now we welcome them back with open arms and smiles on our faces. Robert was no good king but he also was not a bad king all things considered, it could have been worse. But dragons taking to the sky has changed the game and now it is time to kneel or burn... just like the mad King.
But I am nothing if not loyal to my vow to Lady Arryn and this is her will, so it will be done.
"Ensure no one even so much as talks to the prisoner while we head for Riverrun." I speak up and get a nod from one of my trusted knights beside me.
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299 AC
Narrow Sea
Eragon Targaryen
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"You look miserable." I speak up with a hint of amusement smothered in some concern as I look at my heavily pregnant twin.
"I refuse to give birth before we reach Dragonstone." She grits through her teeth as her dragon nudges at her belly curiously and gets swatted away off the ship and back into the sky.
Poor dragon just wants to know what she must have eaten to get so large...
"Wanting your babe to be born where you were born is nice and all but remember your Mother almost died birthing the both of you at Dragonstone." I purse my lips and try my best not to think about something like that as Oberyn leans against the ship's rail beside me.
"I hope there will be a storm..." Danny whispers and I can't help but smile as I shake my head.
Looking over at Oberyn I see him also smile at how Danny does not fear the birthing bed in the slightest and instead craves a storm to go along with it. I am more worried about men left behind by Stannis inside the castle but we won't know until we get there. We will sit at the table that our ancestors had made to plan the invasion soon enough and I can't wait. I have heard my Mother talk about it many times and I can't wait to see everything for myself.
"How long do you think they will last under siege?" Shiera asks and I purse my lips just now noticing her sneak up beside me.
"Maybe a few months... I have heard the poor folk can get rowdy when there hungry so maybe less if they charge the castle. Maegor apparently died like that so it would be interesting to finally arrive at the throne room and to see our enemies impaled on the throne." I smile imagining the Baratheon line impaled on the throne forged in Balerion's flames.
A thousand blades from Aegons enemies is the story but my Mother told me it is not even half that number in truth. She said it is quite the sight at first but soon it wears off as all things do as you get used to it and then it is just a pointy chair that has cut more kings than anything in the world.
"I know the dragons will like being able to explore the Dragonmont, it spews smoke and ash at all times and I am sure they will love its heat. There are many caves that they can get lost in for days so it might be hard to keep an eye on them as they get curious." Oberyn speaks up turning around to look off at the water and I nod with a small smile as I see shadows of the dragons on the water making them look much larger than they are.
But they will be that large... soon enough.
"If I pull they will show up." I answer cryptically and get a confused look from the Dornish man.
I don't clarify as I tug on the link to my soon-to-be mount and he roars above the ship as if calling out to me. They won't get lost in the caves should I reach for them, they will come flying the moment I do. But I am worried about when they start laying eggs and some will eventually get laid inside the Dragonmont out of sight. Wild dragons seem like a dangerous prospect and I hope to not have to deal with any trying to burn towns.
It will be hard enough to feed the ones we have as they grow let alone more that are riderless and do as they please when they please. It will be like petulant children without any concern for the harm they do if there is not a stable food source available. I hope to find records on Dragonstone on how our ancestors managed it and do as they did but without chaining any of them.
Some things they did right others they didn't, but from now on we will take what they did good and try to improve on the bad. Both as dragon keepers and riders and as Kings and Queens, we will move forward with their failures and successes in mind.