111 AC
King's Landing, The Red Keep, Small council chamber.
First-person POV
Aemon Targaryen
XXX
I waited seated in the small council chamber. Chopped cheese sandwich in hand. Sitting still at the back of the room. At first, my presence here was protested by the other lords but Father insisted and so here I am. Waiting for my uncle to enter so we could get going.
Soon enough the chamber doors were opened and two King's guards stepped through. I could hear Ser Otto's stupid ass rantings about what we did last night with the city watch. The fools rose when my uncle entered the room. My father and I being princes and all didn't have to so I stayed seated.
Frankly, I was a little too tired and hungry to care so I just took another delectable bite out of my sandwich as the old man ranted on and on about our impunity.
I hadn't slept but that wasn't the true cause of my fatigue. Rather my body apparently produces far higher levels of adrenaline than that of a normal human so I've started to crash a little. Nothing that a good sandwich can't fix though! Most things in the world can be solved by a proper sandwich. Hungry? Sandwich! Angry? Sandwich! Is your wife constantly complaining about your bastard son? Give that bitch a proper sandwich so she'll stop talking and get one for yourself so you can continue to ignore her wants and desires!
"Deamon." My uncle said if to anounce my father's presence. Then tilting his head he noticed me behind him at the back of the chamber.
"Brother," Daemon responded and I could feel the genuine warmth and joy he felt at seeing his elder brother even without my skill activated.
"And my dear nephew Aemon." He said and I gave him my own proper polite greeting in turn. He smiled and crossed the rest of the chamber.
"From what it sounds like you two were rather productive tonight." He said taking his seat at the head of the table. The other lords took the seats as well my gaze flicked between them. I wasn't worried about them though. The only one of slight concern was Corlys and he seemed rather quiet today. I'd make sure to soothe his emotions to keep it that way.
"Indeed your grace all for the greater good of the city I assure you." I paused looking from my uncle to the Hand of the king. Otto Hightower was one of my first true obstacles to my goal. Luckily for me, he has two blatant weaknesses.
The first is his reliance on having Viserys's favor. Without his position as hand of the king, he's practically a nobody in the realm. Just a random second son even if he is from what is currently the strongest Reach house after House Tyrell. Although that's mainly because House Tyrell commands the loyalty of the other Reach lords. Plus when it comes to wealth they're not far off either but lord Matthos Tyrell is still healthy and can keep them in check. Not to mention my own wealth is not too far off from both houses.
His second weakness is his children. His sons Gawayne and Bryndon are both friends of mine and I've kept up our correspondence throughout the years. Along with that his daughter poses an even bigger threat than both of them but also a bigger weakness. A political glass canon if you will. I've considered what to do with her for years but I'm just not sure yet. My first idea was to try to drive a wedge between her and her father. I'm not sure if that has totally succeeded yet though. My other idea was to try to seduce her. Although I wasn't sure how well that would go either.
Putting my ego aside I'm objectively one of if not the most attractive man on the continent. So it frankly shouldn't be that hard if I try but I'd rather avoid that path if I can. There are far too many variables and it'd be far too easy for it to go wrong. I could end up having to marry her which would be a net loss in my opinion.
Although it's not my worst prospect there were definitely a few other significantly better ones out there. Preferably dragon riders but I could always marry Jeyne Arryn. Old Gods know in my heart of hearts I hate the bitch a little but that was more me being petty than anything. Still, those two years I spent fostering in the Eyrie and getting to know her side of the family were useful. At least I got some quality blackmail I can and have been using on her.
Enough about that though because either way the green hand of the king posed a major issue for me and the realmBut I had a plan for Otto that might make it easier to move forward. The only issue is the timing of its implementation. I focused back on the meeting stretching my manipulation and what it could do. In truth, I didn't have the mana to use this skill for an extended period of time so I needed to make it count.
Then my father spoke. "Go on lord hand, you were saying something about my impunity," Father said, I couldn't see since I was behind him but I could hear the smirk in his voice. Otto stopped talking shit and finally asked my father to explain his dealings with the city watch.
So he did, we had actually planned this part so it was important that I paid a little attention. Mainly because if my father is good at anything it's self-sabotage. But more than that I insisted on being here so I could manage the emotions of the council members. First I targeted Viserys I sensed a slight bit of bemusement he felt at our actions and started to amplify it.
'Yes, yes, good, very good, you wouldn't want to get too angry now. You know how Daemon is he'll listen if you treasure him and set some proper boundaries.' I thought of causing Viserys to let my father off with a light warning. Then I switched to Otto whose anger I could feel growing at the light sentence.
'Nope can't have that.' So I calmed him, his fists unclenched, his teeth stopped gritting, and a small sigh escaped his lips. I took another crunching bite from my sandwich and his gaze flicked to me. His anger rose again and I had soothed him once more. Even so this time his remark was still aimed at me.
'Damn you, my delicious sandwich, your toasted bread and melted cheese have foiled me once again.'
"Yes, and one more thing it seems to me we have another here who has no right to sit at the council table, your grace. Tell me Prince Daemon why is it that your son is present?" He said in that frankly, rather annoying voice of his.
"Well technically speaking lord Otto I'm not seated at the small council table I'm just seated near it. Small distinction I know but there is one." I said moving my chair so that I might face him whilst sitting backwards. He frowned further at my casual remarks. Father chuckled and Otto levied a glare at him. Then he looked back at me.
"Prince Aemon perhaps it would be best if you departed for now," Otto says shifting his glare into a quiet scowl. I smirk and prepare my next barb.
"Perhaps it would be best if you minded your tongue. But what's best is often not what happens now isn't it?" As the joke lands I suppress the surprise and even mild outrage of the lords exchanging for the amusement they feel. From that point on I push it. Push it hard enough that the faint amusement becomes a circle of chuckles around him.
To his credit, he keeps his temper and doesn't tell in outrage or anything stupid. He just sits there and fumes. Less to work with than I had hoped but it seems that was not so.
"I had been informed that the two of you were in the Vale with Lady Rhea, shirking your duty to the city watch. Now you reappear a moon later and commit a massacre in the streets of the capital. Would it not be my duty to question such actions?"
"Well, it's good to know your information is both out of date and inaccurate lord hand. Mayhaps it would be better if I explained what occurred. My father and I, have been training the watch, and outfitting them with new gear, as you can see." I gesture over to my father's new armor covered in the blood of the slain criminals. He smirks turning to face me in his black and gold attire.
[image of Daemon's armor here]
"Moreover I have only been in the city recently as my father retrieved me from the Vale only a few days ago. We had to make up for lost time after the men's training was completed. My father is right. My uncle's child will be born soon and countless lords will attend this celebration tourney. Would you have them arrive in this city and be harmed, Otto?" I said try to turn his own questions against him. Otto spoke up trying and frankly failing to defend himself and his stance.
"Thats not what ~" Before he could finish Viserys cut him off swiftly.
"Enough! I understand the two of you have made extra efforts. I just hope you don't have to maim half the city before it's safe enough for your standards. I believe that's enough for today." He said dismissing us for now. I think this just might be the shortest session of the small council to date. Daemon nodded smirking at the lord Hand as he rose from his seat.
"Your grace would it not be more prevalent to discuss a few more matters before~" Otto said and I could feel that a few other lords in the chamber agreed, especially lord Corlys but with a wave of my will I pressed down any boldness they felt. Then I invigorated Viserys' annoyance at being contradicted by Otto and flared it into anger.
"I said that's enough! This week my child shall be born! I will not have this council bickering like children during this tourney do I make myself clear?" He said with more fire than even I had expected from him, not that I didn't think he had any but still it was surprising. The lords of the small council all answered and Viserys gestured for us to leave. I just nodded deactivating my skill greatful for not running out of energy from its high consumption.
I rose and turned to walk out with the rest of the group. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Otto staring at me. No, not me, he's not staring at me at all but rather the runes that cover my armor. I ignored him for now I had one last thing to set up today. Before I walked out with my father I turned to look at my uncle who was still sitting.
"It was good to see you again uncle. I'm rather tired today but we should spend time together tomorrow. It's been far too long since I've seen my favorite uncle."
"Of course Aemon I'm glad to see you as well and welcome you back. I'd be delighted to spend tomorrow with you." He said as I sparked tge joy in his heart and the warmth he felt for me.
"Excellent I shall retire to my chambers for a few hours," I said and with a bow, I left the council chamber. Daemon waited for me outside the chamber and turned to walk beside me as we left.
"Do you think leaving the blood on the armor was too much?" I asked him as we reached a corridor.
"No it worked just as planned." He huffed wiping a bit of almost dried blood off a shoulder pouldren.
"So I assume you'll be making your way back into the city for now?" I asked, he nodded, and smirked at some unknown thought.
"Right well meet again in the lists then," I said nodding and turning to leave. He did the same turning down the opposite corridor. I didn't look back instead I started thinking about my next steps. First, get out of this bloody armor, maybe go take a nap or something it's still early so I can spare a few hours.
Making my way to my room I had a few of the servants strip me of my armor and clean it with soap I brought with me and hot water in my chambers. After that, it wasn't long before I slipped into bed shirtless and a little bit tired from the excessive use of my manipulations. The skill had a high mana cost and a key part of mana I discovered is mana costs stamina to use. Obvious but that doesn't make it any less true. So I'm a little tired. Soon though my mind drifted away under the blankets and into unconsciousness's grasp.
XXX
??? AC
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First Person POV
Aemon Targaryen
XXX
I soared through the air upon the back of my dragon. Ancalagon's wide wings flapped flushing us forward through the cool night air. Suddenly I heard a strange noise. Was it Ancalagon? A trick of the wind perhaps? No this was another sound. A sound I had become familiar with.
I looked up and nothing but black clouds and stars were above me. So I banked the dragon to the right and peared downwards. Still nothing. How odd I thought to myself as my younger brother carried us through the air. I circled again and looked down again this time spotting a strange city like none I've seen. It was dark yet somehow glorious and I was about to turn on my sky Dragon eyes to make it out more when I felt the thing.
Whatever that thing was that had been making the noise from before had grown closer. Somehow I hadn't noticed the dark clouds growing closer to me. So preemptively I cast a spell shouting with a muffled voice. It was at that moment that I realized that I wasn't controlling my own body.
Runes shot out from my hands and circled me and formed a bubble. It vaguely reminded me of Doctor Strange's magic from marvel and the surrounding barrier manifested just in time. Why? Because a black cloud roared towards me and a flame surged out striking into the barrier. Runes spattered out like flaming saliva and sparking away into the black mists.
I commanded Ancalagon upwards and so we soared rapidly. Wind kissed my skin gently despite the extreme speeds at which I soared. Faster than I had ever pushed my brother before, we flew up, and up, through the darkness. Calling out my dragon didn't breathe fire, he gathered it in between his sharp obsidian jaws. It shifted from his natural purple and black to far brighter blue and shimmering white.
I looked down at the racing black cloud spring up at me like a breath of doom. Another spell was woven between my fingers like a spider's web. I barked an order to Ancalagon and without hesitation, the dragon blasted the bolt of plasma out of its jaws. It landed like the strike of lightning shivering out power in a thunderous wave of energy. A loud crack hit my ears and despite the bloom of blinding light I didn't look away instead I glimpsed the faint silhouette of a monster in the cloud.
My arm lifted up and with another call of power surging through me a wave of runes exploded from my fingertips. The soured out around like raindrops slipping through my barrier. Another word, another wave of magic and crackles of light fanned out in a light show akin to fireworks.
To my surprise, several more silhouettes revealed themselves in the clouds. Monsters perhaps? No they were something else. Something that I knew and was familiar with. That made me laugh because they were far weaker than I recalled. Then I felt it, an eerie presence riding up from below. It was a being that could only be described as sinister and angry.
The other lesser creatures circle like sharks smelling blood but they did not approach. Not yet, for they waited for it, the beast from below. A monster that did not belong in this world. I made my black beast lower from the air to meet it. I grew closer and so did it until I landed with a thump.
My claws etched into the ground that seemed to heat with each moment. The heat of old Valyria and the fourteen flames roiled in my belly. They began to gurgle up in my throat with an angry growl. I readied my black wings to take flight once more as the earth beneath me rumbled.
I saw its aura now, the shadowy creature that had made a pact with the vile city behind it. Its servants fell to earth in a shadow circle around us. My spiked tail swished back and forth ready to claim the head of any of the dark bastards who would dare try me. The black monster rose with a rumble of earth that could be mistaken for one of the bronze fury's.
Earth parted with a raging glow and spewing out fire and spitting lava like hate-filled vitriol. We could feel the beast's rage and irritation at being challenged for the first time in centuries. But there was also a hint of excitement and salvation at the thought of battle after so long. Something we had thought the beast not capable of. Then the black monster freed itself of the earth entirely and spread its soul black wings.
The thrill of starting what it had been born for once again, filled the monster and it's death red eyes stared into mine. Not my larger body, not the body of the younger brother but rather the elder, the rider, the sorcerer, the warrior made flesh. The silver-haired warrior who sat atop my back was also me. Our mind bond strengthened each moment we rode together.
My silver hair spanned out behind me like a river in the midnight air. My heart thumped not in fear but anticipation of the battle to come. Yes, a worthy challenge indeed, the trip here had not been wasted at all. My purple eyes shifted to a glowing shade that imitated my bonded dragon's slit ones. I almost recognised the beast that stood across from me but it was missing something.
The black behemoth lifted its great horned head into the air and stopped its massive hooved feet. Wrath filled its eyes as it bellowed a challenge into the sky around. The surrounding shadows ceased their pointless hissing whispers and roared with it. An ordinary mortal might have their eardrums burst at the sound. It was more than thunder, it was the sound of slaughtering the innocent, and the hate of one denied its purpose.
The beast lifted a clawed arm into the air and with another unholy roar, it ignited itself. Its wings, its arms, its feet, every single inch of the monster caught fire. Or rather spewed it into the air around itself. It did not act like an animalistic predator, no it was an intelligent hunter. It did not hide like a lion in the grass before striking. Instead, it declared itself, not with words, but with actions.
In its hand appears the thing that separates man from beast in many ways. A weapon. A tool. A whip of pure fire and hate manifested in one of the creatures' hands. It whipped its weapon around in a pattern that had ended civilizations twice over. In its other hand, an axe of flame burst into existence with an unending thirst for blood. The cruel creature roared again, and without further ceremony charged with all it hate filled heart.
It boomed forward and the lesser daemons around it dispersed their dark clouds of malevolence and cheered a sound that was the ripping of war and the rending of fresh flesh. The scene before them was nothing more than the greatest entertainment they had seen since the doom. Now however their vile master had underestimated its opponent.
Me! Or rather us! Dragon and dragon lord! But as my mind, which I now realized was dreaming this event drifted away. I see my body grin prepping more combat spells, and Ancalagon's maw fill with plasma as we charge forth with a wrath to match the demonic creature's own. A spray of rune magic and blazing draconic fire streaked around us as we met the creature. A blazing light of plasma exploded in a rippling wave so bright that it seemed to be daylight.
As I gaze upon the sight and drift away one thought fills my mind.
"IS THAT A FUCKING BALROG!"
XXX
111 AC
King's Landing, The Red Keep
First-person POV
Aemon Targaryen
XXX
I woke up with a start. Jolting forward in a cold sweat thanks to the alarm of my own system. I quickly dismiss the beeps and stand up. I take a few deep breaths and shake my head. Its not the first time I've had a strange dream. I already knew I was a natural dragon dreamer.
But never have I ever dreamed of facing something not from this world before. Or have I? A strange sense of deja vu filled me but I couldn't quite place it. It was strange, almost as strange as the dream itself. I've had reams of war, of the people I've killed, will kill, I've even had dreams of women I will or want to bed. I am a teenage boy after all. But more than anything else I've dreamed repeatedly of the long night.
This could have immense repercussions or it could just be another nonsensical dream. But I seldom have random dreams. In fact most nights I don't dream at all. I dream maybe once or thrice per week but most of them are simple events that will happen that day. Sometimes it's what's for dinner. Other times it's the moves, my opponent in the training yard will make.
On the eve of battles, it is often visions of my impending victory celebration. I never let those dreams make me lazy though because of the dream I have at least once every two weeks. I'll often see cold or white walkers or even the Night King himself, or at least who I think is the Night King.
Sometimes rarely I think of a beast of pure ice. It's huge form shifts gigantic glaciers and its eyes are blue. More blue than anything else I've ever seen. It's not one of the giant ice spiders, but something else and I often hear the crashing waves as well during those dreams. I shook my head ridding myself of the line of thinking.
'I'm spiraling again I ned to focus. I made a promise to my mother that I would be king and that's what I'll do.' I took a few deep breaths and began to clean myself up. But as I did so another thought occurred. The me of my dream was far more magically advanced than the current me. Mainly the runes he could cast in the air. If I could somehow mimic that ability it could certainly make my cute plans easier.
'Cute plans.' I chuckled and shook my head again. Yes because usurping a throne I don't actually want via assassination is cute. I sighed and started cleaning myself up. I had some warm water brought by a servant and used some custom-made soap. Then I toweled off, redressed myself, and finished my sandwich from earlier.
'Perhaps I should take a quick break.' Looking out the window of my room I saw it was still relatively bright out.
'Yes, I'll go out maybe have a little picnic in the king's wood. Maybe I'll even invite Rhaenyra or Laena. Maybe both. I don't know I'll have to think about it more.' I leave my room after ensuring nothing is out of place. My carvings are stacked in the correct order. My notes and blueprints are hidden. Checking my face it's clean skin clear and no baggy eyes.
'Lets go enjoy this lovely day.' I said stepping out of my room trying to ignore the pit of dread in my stomach.
[Chapter Image Here]
XXX
Hey so has anyone guessed what Aemon's new favorite skill is yet and what it does?
Also, it has come to my attention as of late that I've been complaining far too much about my life at the beginnings and endings of my chapters, so from now on I'll leave that out of the chapters. Mainly because I've realized that I honestly really shouldn't give a fuck about what anybody thinks except for me. I'm going to write whatever the fuck I want from now on. Read it or don't I couldn't care less. Because at the end of the day, I started writing because it was fun and I liked it. So I'm just going to do what I like and who cares it's just webnovel anyway. I think I've just been letting the words of others both irl and here to get to me too much. I probably could have gotten this chapter out days ago but irl stuff has been going on so yeah.