[Chapter Size: 2300 Words.]
Third Person POV.
Stormlands.
...
...
Small growls sounded over the grassy hill in the Stormlands, near Storm's End, a little distance from the Golden Company's camp, which awaited its allies from Dorne and the Reach.
Aegon walked toward the hill where the three dragons were devouring dead cattle that had been given to them.
Behind him, his counselors followed, watching the scene as Aegon went on alone to the front of the hill.
As he drew closer, the dragons finally noticed his presence. Two of them growled at him and began to move away with their carcasses. Aegon saw this and seemed disappointed.
The green dragon and the black dragon moved away as if he were a plague, but the cream-colored dragon did not move and continued eating.
Aegon looked away from the two dragons that were retreating and went to the one that recognized him as its rider.
Aurion, that was the name of the dragon that had chosen him.
The counselors exchanged glances when they saw the other two dragons moving away.
"They were more united when they were younger," Jon Connington tried to speak, amid the awkwardness of seeing Aegon being ignored by two of his own dragons. His voice sounded hard now, as if he did not want to accept the fact, or at least that those two did not hold such regard for Aegon. "But as they grow, they become more independent."
"Certainly, dragons always accept only one rider, my lord. There is no embarrassment in that," Varys tried to reassure him, while the others nodded in agreement.
"Then it will be for his children, future princes and kings," Harry commented.
"The future of the house and the war is secured at the end of this campaign," Varys added.
Aegon approached his dragon, checking how it was doing. The creature continued eating, looked at him for a moment, and returned to its meal, unbothered by his presence.
"Aurion... We will fly today," Aegon said in Valyrian, touching the side of the dragon's head.
Meanwhile, in the distance, the other dragons were also devouring their food. After all, dragons need to eat too.
Aegon returned to the group shortly afterward and headed toward the castle to discuss a few more matters. Varys stopped him in the courtyard of Storm's End, as he introduced someone to him.
"This is Jorah Mormont. He is a knight loyal to the cause and is here to serve you with his sword," Varys introduced the somewhat older man, while Jon Connington and Harry raised their eyebrows.
"Was this not the man who handed Viserys over to the king while serving Illyrio?" the question was obvious. The knight frowned at being questioned that way.
"He handed Viserys over because I asked him to do so. After all, he has always served well, seeking to serve the true King of the Seven Kingdoms, Aegon, and has helped me greatly in my plans to place the Seven Kingdoms under Aegon's command, since he returned to Essos almost two years ago," Varys explained.
"Well, if Varys says he is trustworthy, there is no reason to doubt it," Aegon said, even though the two commanders at his side seemed quite reluctant about it. Even so, Aegon trusted Varys, his secret uncle.
Despite the clear reluctance visible on the faces around them, the knight knelt and began to swear his oath to the king.
"Very well, Ser Jorah Mormont. You are now my first Kingsguard," Aegon said, as everyone moved inside the castle, having other matters to discuss.
He stopped at the entrance when Edric Storm appeared to greet him.
"Tell me, Edric Storm, have the lords of the Stormlands answered my call?" Aegon asked Robert's bastard, who nodded, though with a certain hesitation.
"Some did not take your summons very well, Your Grace, but others are coming to Storm's End and wish to join their forces with yours," the young man replied.
"Aegon did not ask, it was a king's order," Jon said beside him with dissatisfaction, while Edric nodded.
"Of course, an order." He said in an apologetic tone.
"Well, they still have fathers and sons in the North, with Stannis. And soon we will be fighting them, so it is obvious they would be reluctant. But that does not matter. We will crush their armies and then proceed to the Throne. We will deal with the rebellious lords after that," Aegon said casually.
Thus, they went inside, having the first meal of the day while talking a bit about their plans. Later, Aegon went back to prepare for his dragon, now wearing leather armor and carrying the sword Blackfyre, which had been delivered to him as Illyrio's last wish, after spending a fortune to recover it when the market found it across Essos.
He mounted his dragon under everyone's attentive gaze and took flight, heading straight west. His objective: Highgarden.
The time had come to negotiate directly with the Tyrells, and there would be no better way to do so than by demonstrating his power.
As soon as he arrived at Highgarden, the dragon's roar echoed throughout the place, drawing the attention of the entire castle. The creature began to descend toward the entrance, landing on the ground with its wings spread wide. Aegon dismounted with pride as the gates opened and the men organized themselves.
He could see Garlan Tyrell alongside Loras Tyrell, judging by their ages to suggest who they were.
"Your Grace," said the older one, while the younger analyzed him closely, casting constant glances at the dragon, keeping a certain distance. Admiration and fear mixed in his eyes as they returned to Aegon.
"You must be Garlan, and you, Loras Tyrell, correct?" Aegon asked. Both nodded, though somewhat impressed.
"Please, come with us. You are welcome to Highgarden. I wish to introduce you to the rest of my family," Garlan said, as he led him through the gates, where the Tyrell family waited gathered together.
Mace stood beside his wife, Alerie, while a man using a cane remained close to him — certainly Willas Tyrell, according to the information Aegon possessed.
His eyes, however, settled on the young woman who stared at him more intensely than all the others. She was very beautiful in Aegon's opinion, and her gaze seemed to return the same interest. Perhaps Aegon was not so reluctant to marry after seeing her.
He also looked for the matriarch, who, according to Jon, was the one who truly ruled the family, but she was nowhere to be seen. A rather arrogant attitude toward the one who would sit on the Iron Throne. Still, that did not matter now. He moved forward, while Mace Tyrell puffed out his chest. But none of them knelt, not yet.
"Your Grace, it is a pleasure to have you here at Highgarden. We are very excited to seal our alliance," he said.
"Greetings, House Tyrell. It is good to meet you for the first time, and even better to hear that you wish to remain loyal to House Targaryen," Aegon replied.
Mace Tyrell seemed even more pompous upon hearing that, making the atmosphere slightly awkward, but Willas was quick to step forward, as if he wished to prevent his father from looking foolish before them.
"It is a pleasure to have you here, Your Grace. My name is Willas Tyrell. You have already met my brothers, Garlan and Loras, and I am the heir to Highgarden. This is my mother, Alerie, and at my side is my sister, Margaery," Willas said.
Aegon greeted them all, but the young woman was certainly different, noticing that she never took her eyes off him with a constant fire as he met each of them.
"Your Grace, I have heard stories about you. You certainly look like a warrior taken straight from the old legends," she said. There was flattery in her words, but Aegon did not mind. The girl clearly desired him with her gaze.
After that, Aegon shared bread and salt with the Tyrell family. They did not take him inside the castle, but instead to the garden, where the old woman was. This made Aegon snort lightly when he found her seated, eating grapes, without bothering to introduce herself first.
She seemed uninterested, but her eyes never left him, as if she were studying him the entire time. For a moment, she narrowed her gaze, as if she had identified something in his true identity, something that had nothing to do with the old prince and Elia. If she noticed it, she hid it well, for in the next instant she showed only a calm smile.
"Ah, Your Grace… I do not remember the last time a Targaryen was here. Perhaps your father? Ah, it has been so long..." she said casually.
Aegon remained silent for a moment, and the woman's smile widened even more.
"I apologize for not going to greet you at the entrance, if that offended you," she said, in a clearly sarcastic tone. "But you must forgive an old woman. I am no longer of an age to show off my little body around, you know? I only hope my idiot son did not displease you."
Aegon was visibly surprised by that personality. He looked at the young Tyrells at his side, who shrank back at their grandmother's comments.
"Well, in any case, you are here to negotiate, aren't you?" she continued.
Aegon nodded. "Very well. Let us be quick about it, after all, our time is short," she said.
Aegon raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Is something happening at Highgarden?" he asked.
"There is nothing of importance. Only the Ironborn taking Oldtown and threatening to burn the Citadel. We must move our armies to protect the city," she said, while Aegon could not help but frown.
"I thought we had an alliance," he said carefully, as the atmosphere grew more tense.
"Oh, we certainly do. But I also cannot let my people die, can I? Perhaps we will send only part of our men… perhaps twenty thousand," she suggested, keeping the same sarcastic tone. Aegon did not like that at all.
"We had agreed on one hundred thousand men."
"One hundred thousand before the Ironborn pests simply destroyed our shores. You must understand, Your Grace, that we cannot fight for a king while our land is being destroyed merely out of loyalty." The meaning between the lines was clear, and Aegon understood immediately.
"What do you want in return for sending the one hundred thousand?" he asked, and she opened a satisfied smile.
"Oh, straight to the point. I like that," she said, looking at him with a more serious gaze.
"I want what we have sought since the beginning of this war. I want our blood on the Throne. You know what I am talking about," she said.
Aegon turned his gaze to Margaery, who remained silent, yet could not help but blush slightly under his look and her grandmother's suggestion.
"Very well," he finally replied. "I will marry her," he said, turning his gaze back to the old woman.
"Excellent. That is very good," she clapped her hands cheerfully, but her eyes, in the very next instant, made it clear that this was still not everything.
"Even so, we still have a problem with the Ironborn. We need to keep part of the army here and send the rest. The truth is that the entire army is already camped on the border of the kingdom, with Randyll Tarly in command, alongside his son."
Aegon had passed through there and seen at least eighty thousand men gathered in a massive camp.
"So you want me to go to Oldtown and clear out the Ironborn?" he asked at last.
"Exactly. We cannot allow the Citadel to fall. And I am certain that that winged creature of yours that you displayed over the castle can make them quite frightened," she said.
Aegon could not help but sigh. He remembered the teachings he had received from Jon: it was not enough merely to conquer, one had to rule and deal with the problems of the realms. After all, he was the king and needed the trust of the people, if he did not wish to end like Joffrey, whose reputation across the Seven Kingdoms was marked only by cruelty. No one wanted him as king.
"All right," he said at last, though he clenched his teeth.
The Tyrell children looked quite worried, but Olenna did not care. To her, Aegon could deal with the Ironborn while mounted on a dragon, simply burning every ship of that band of scum.
Aegon remained only one day at Highgarden. Despite the irritation, he believed it had been the right decision to make, and he took advantage of the time to get to know the young Tyrell better during walks. He certainly liked her and, although he had not done the same with the matriarch, he made good use of the time he had.
The next day, after eating the food the Tyrells offered him, Aegon went to his dragon. He donned the armor he had received the day before, mounted the creature, and soared into the sky.
His destination was Oldtown.
For him, eliminating a band of raiding ships would be an easy task, and so he departed with confidence. However, fate would not make things that easy, even though he did not know it.
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Raccoon Here:
Well, I think that is enough talk about Aegon Blackfyre. I believe his introduction and what is happening further south are better established for us to continue the story.
You can already imagine what is going to happen, so I will return to Daemon and begin conquering King's Landing and eradicate the Lannisters once and for all.
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🦝 Raccoon here: 🦝
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