An excerpt from Grand Maester Vaegon's
Head of the Dragon
Volume 1
Early life of the Bronze Prince
Chapter 12
Crisis in King's Landing
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During the week dedicated to the birth of Viserys I Targaryen's son, Prince Baelon Targaryen. Prince Aemon's retinue finally arrived half by ship and half by caravan. He had brought an unusually large number of people from Runestone and Runetown.
However, the reason for this soon became apparent as the caravan quickly flooded the city with new shops and goods. The streets, which just weeks before had been flooded with crime, were cleared by the gold cloaks during the event later known as the golden night or the night of the gold cloaks. After which it was easy for these new transplants from Runestone to turn a profit.
During this time many foods, drinks, and other items that would later be in nearly every noble household were first invented and sold. For example, the item known as the baby carriage was presented and first sold. It gathered its fame from being presented as a gift to the king by Prince Aemon in celebration of the tournament. The carriage itself had been made from ironwood, carved with dragons, embedded with rubies, covered with accents of gold, painted black, and embroidered with several symbols of house Targaryen and old Valyria.
After this, several more were commissioned by many of the great lords soon after and later on. Most famously they were used continuously by the royal house going forward as well as houses Lannister, Tyrell, and Baratheon. Though not much by houses Stark, Tully, and Arryn due to the terrain differences.
Still, this and many other inventions turned a great profit for the Prince and House Royce, which is said to surpassed multiple great houses in wealth at this time. However, his wealth was not the only thing my great-nephew improved.
The city itself was suffering from numerous problems during the reign of King Viserys. Prince Aemon's people began founding a guild akin to the maesters and the alchemists' guild known as the dragon hand, which opened up its doors in King's Landing.
It had several branches each known for different things such as the Helping Hand, which specialized in improving the lives of the least fortunate in King's Landing. Specifically, the children purchased a large area in Flea Bottom near the street of sisters where an orphanage was beginning to be built.
This building would later be known as the Grand Dragon Orphanage. Later it would be directly sponsored by the crown and continue to expand into the largest Orphanage in Weastsros. The orphanage would later be home to several influential figures and become the largest in all of Westaros.
But all of these changes came to a head during the first day of jousting. Though Prince Aemon participated in multiple competitions and even events. For example, he won a horse race up and down the street of the Sisters on his infamous steed the horse Belarion.
However, the horse and rider displayed their true prowess the day the black stallion arrived in the capital city.
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111 AC
Third-person POV
King's Landing, Dragon Gate
XXX
Timmold didn't know what to expect today things had been relatively calm in the city ever since that crazy dragon prince and his son killed a whole bunch of criminals the other day but that had little to do with him.
So instead he got up got dressed and went to work. Now he was standing at his post just outside the dragon gate of King's Landing. For weeks now new lords had been flooding into the city for the birth of the king's new heir.
But he has seen nothing like this before. He stood frozen in his armor staring at the procession. He was shaking although he couldn't tell if it was from fear or the thumping of hooves and paws on the crown.
In front of him, orange banners waved in the air carriages and wagons all made with orange cloth and covered in black runes. But what caught his attention were the knights. Each was in shining armor covered in runes that glowed a slight orange in the sunlight. Even their horses all had black and orange armor covered in those same glowing runes.
But above all that what stunned him was the seven fully grown cave bears covered in armor. Runic armor at that but that only added to the terror of seeing six armored men and a woman riding the terrible beasts and literally glowing with what could only be magical power.
Feeling the panic start to seep in Finmold decided to resort to his training and called out to the lead riders.
"Holt! Anounce yourselves in the name of King Viserys Targaryen!" Timmold was shocked by the sound of his own voice in the face of beasts. To his surprise, they actually stopped and stood still staring at him.
Timmold didn't know what to do as he looked around at his fellow guards. Then a single rider approached him on a brown stallion and proclaimed who they were.
Proclaiming with a booming voice them man spoke "House Royce of Runestone and its lady regent, Lady Rhea Royce!"
Timmold shook as the man waved back an arm to point at the woman at the top of the back of one of the bears. Timmold gulped his Adam's apple dipping up and down with nervous energy. His fellow city guards didn't fare much better either.
He gulped again mouth dry, words almost catching in his throat. "What purpose do you have in the city?" He knew it was standard procedure for guests who were not being personally welcomed but even so he it was quite obvious why they were here.
The man in runic bronze armor stared at Timmold as if he were the stupidest man in the entire realm before simply stating they were there for the king's tourney. Timmold nodded and called for the gates to be opened and soon enough the procession was passing through.
Then Timmold was greeted by a sight that he would never forget for the rest of his life. Passing by as if nothing special was happening. Hundreds of men and women entered the city. Some on horseback some in a carriage, some with carts of goods with unique smells and scents each covered in Runic design most were orange or white but a few were black, red, and even blue. There was even a carafe full of caged birds, some of which, Timmold had never seen before.
Some of them even soared overhead in no insignificant number and flocked with seemingly no distinction for species. He spotted ravens or crows all with eagles or hawks and even white ravens
There were some men on horses with massive black and white beasts that he could only assume were shadow cats and others with packs of hounds and even a few wolves as well. Timmold had no idea if the city even had room for such animals much less kennel space for all the horses.
But that's not all as he realised one particularly large group of white carriages with the symbol of a red and black hand holding a fire in its palm. He saw that the men and women in this group all wore the same red and white robes with black runes embroidered all over them.
[Dragon Hand Logo Image]
Some of them wore red hoods others had them down and clutched strangely shaped silver pendants in their hands. He wasn't close enough to tell what they were but he almost felt like the men and women were praying to something.
The seven perhaps? The seven were rather popular in the Vale but they didn't look at all like Scepton's. In fact, on the back of one, he saw the symbol of a strange-looking tree. A weir wood he realized, followed by the realization that on the back of their robes, each had symbols that seemed to group them.
But the last group that passed by him the most was a group of what seemed like mummers. He heard music, singing, and the clattering of metal objects from them, and even spotted one woman nearly fall out of her carriage almost fully naked after a bump in the road. Luckily for her, a tangle of limbs reached for her and pulled her back in.
From the wagons came the scent of wild flowers and things he had never smelled before. The city didn't stink but it wasn't exactly pleasant either. But these were things he had never even thought of at all.
Then Timmold turned again to look at the last few members of the train only to see his death barreling towards him. He leaped out of the way as fast as he could. Some of the others weren't so lucky however as the black nightmare struck them. Men went flying like dolls into the air and then the black shadow leapt over them almost like it flew.
It took a few minutes staring at the black creature to realize what it was. It wasn't a demon or black spirit of death. It was an animal the largest of its kind he had ever seen. He wasn't sure if his friends were dead or not but he couldn't think about that right now because the question of what that thing was invaded his head.
"W-what was that?" He croaked out. A voice to his left responded.
"Bloody hell if I know I think it killed Harry though." The man coughed.
Soon enough the rest of the caravan was gone and entered deep into the heart of the capital. It took a few minutes for him to calm down and realize what happened. Then a thought occurred to him that hadn't before.
"Maybe I should switch to the night shift." I sat up groaning as his thoughts slowly began to return to their normal speed. He needed to speak with his people and especially with his master. Yes, Lord Sidious and Lord Krayt needed to be informed of the presence of that monster and these people. He stood up and attempted to dust himself off to the best of his abilities. Most importantly he now realised he had a fear of horses and was driving his next encounter with the creatures. He hoped he would never see that beast from the depths of the seven hells again.
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111AC
King's Landing,
First-person POV
Aemon Targaryen
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So I was having a normal asss morning right? At least for the most part I did have another long night dream but other than that nothing special.
Got my ass up out of bed, took a bath to wash off my sweat. Did my hair routine and admired myself in the mirror for a few minutes. Had my maids from Runestone dress me this morning since I had to dress myself the past few days.
Said good morning to Anna, whom I had brought here from Runestone as well. Ate breakfast with Viserys, Aemma, and Rhaenyra. Went to the training yard and slung some steel with Gawain, Harwin, and Brynden. Hit my usual heavy exercise with the weights I had brought over from Runestone as well.
Did a morning swim in the bay shirtless of course. Spied Laenna and Laenor watching me from a window which I decided to ignore until I finished. Then I looked up and clearly waved at them with a big grin which sent them scurrying like rats. It was funny and made me go from a casual good mood to a great one. Plus there was the bonus that nobody tried to kill me while I was swimming right outside the castle.
Plus there was the benefit that it was very warm this time of year and much like Bobby B said the ladies love to where this thin dresses or even swim completely naked.
Sure they weren't the only ones swimming but spotting the occasional bear pear of tits was quite the mood brightener. So after dressing again and fixing my hair I took a nice run out into the city to check out all the stalls I had set up.
I gathered a few of my friends but I couldn't find Laenor for some reason so I went on without him. Harwin had his morning duties with the watch and Larys didn't feel like going. So in the end it was just Daeron, Daemion, Gawayne, Bryndon, Myles, and me. We ended up going out into the city for some fun and games.
I said hello to some of my saluting gold cloaks who were patrolling the streets and the men of Runestone protecting many of the larger stalls set up on the street of seeds. My guard detail was rather small today but it was safer in the city than it had been before the purge.
We did a bit of axe-throwing and played the medieval mimicry of as many carnival games as I could think of. After that, we split up for a while and promised to meet up for some drinks. So after that, it was just me, Daeron, and Daemion while Gawayne, Bryndon, and Myles went their own way.
At one point we ran into some orphan kids watching one of the upper shows that had been set up and I ended up getting pointed out. So I had fun talking with them and the mummers and we ended up escorting the children home to the orphanage.
It was very run-down so we each handed over a few gold dragons and we asked about other orphanages in the city. After they gave us an answer as to where they were we decided to check them out.
So I did a quick visit to a few smaller ophinages and made some donations of a few gold dragons. I told the kids a few stories and moved on to the next. It was very much a kissing babies on the forehead and giving my blessing to the less fortunate type of experience.
But I could tell that Daeron and Daemion were both just as appalled at the state of them as I was. I had already had the idea of starting my own crown-sponsored orphanage to foster more support for House Targaryen in future generations. Now I realised that those plans had to be accelerated and I would need to speak with the members of the dragon hand about this.
We went back out into the city in order to get some food as all agreed that we were hungry and soon enough we were back on the streets.
Most people of my status wouldn't be so safe in the streets and would be drowned in a crowd of people. However I happen to be the son of the "Prince of the City," and I've also ensured that everyone knew who was responsible for such festivities. Hell, I was even surprised by the speed we managed to set this all up.
So at some point, the boys and I made it to the Great Square where most of my things were set up includingthe best new foods. So we split at food stalls in search of something each of us liked. Daeron ended up going for some pizza while Daemion went to get some fried chicken and fries. Side note their just called fries in this world since France doesn't exist here.
Eventually, I made my way to a kabob stand and the seller and his daughter recognized me immediately. He didn't want to pay after all I was sponsoring all of this and to his own admission I was basically the reason the man could eat every day. I insisted however and handed over a few silver coins more than it actually cost.
After that, I winked at the seller's daughter whose face went fully red and I was about to step back from it when I heard a psychic roar followed by several real-world screams.
I turned my head only to see the one part of this tourney I was both dreading and most excited for. People screamed and dived out of the way and ducked for cover as a black cloud with burning red eyes came charging directly for me.
I sighed, stepped away from the horrified kabob merchants, and put out a single hand. The storm made flesh charged towards me fearless and unrelenting. I didn't flinch just waited as the storm of darkness approached me.
I heard people calling out to me to dodge and my two guards were too far away to help me get out of the way. I wasn't worried about this though. I was probably the only person who happened to know
Then just as the monster reached me it stopped. Dead still as if inertia had no hold over it. Then he called out to me mentally this time in a way I could understand.
'AAAAAAEEEEEEMMOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNN!' The beast now slowly being reviled from the cloud of howled with something between rage and joy. The beast or rather stallion, kicked up tons of dirt and shook in glorious fury as he continually reared up on his back legs.
"Hello to you too Ball," I said sarcastically as the stallion slowly calmed himself.
'IT HAS BEEN FAAAAAR TOO LOOONG MAAAAASTERRRRR!!!! I HAVE MISSED YOU AND SUCH HAVE ARRIVED IN YOUR TIME OF GREATEST NEEEEIIEEEEED' The dragon-blooded horse Belarion also known as the dread stallion neighed loudly, practically vibrating with energy.
Now you might be wondering 'Aemon why does your horse act like he just sniffed a brick of cocaine?' Well, the answer to that is simple.
I used a combination of the animal bond skill and the dragon warrior body on my horse just to see what would happen. Turns out you get the most bloodthirsty horse in the seven kingdoms. Which also happens to be the exact reason that I am still undefeated in the lists.
"It's good to see you too Bal," I said petting the horse so that he could calm down a little. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the stall owner shaking in fear and his daughter hiding behind him.
"I do apologize for the disturbance," I said nodding at them before taking out a gold dragon and flicking it out onto the stall.
'MY BEST FRIEND IT IS A WONDER TO SEE YOU ONCE MORE! TELL ME IS IT TRUE THAT WE SHALL ONCE AGAIN RIDE AGAINST OUR FOES IN GLORIOUS COMPETITION!!!' He neighed loudly as I continued to settle him. Most of the crowd stared in awe at the two of us. The dragon prince who stopped the viscous beast and said beast, which was the biggest fucking horse anyone had ever seen and comprised of almost pure unadulterated muscle and testosterone.
"Yes, we'll ride together in the lists once again," I said rolling my eyes and starting to guide him away from the crowd a little. At this point, my guards started to rush back to me and weren't sure if I'd be able to make those drinks with the rest of my friends again.
'ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL PERHAPS NOT AS GRAND AS SPILLING BLOOD AND CRUSHING THE FRAGILE SKULLS AND SMOOTH BRAINS OF OUR ENEMIES IN RIGHTOUS FURY BUT A CLOSE SECOND INDEED.' He let out whatever the draconic horse equivalent of a laugh is and I squatted down before leaping up onto his back. Ignoring my guard's calls of my prince I almost started heading back before I heard Daeron calling for me to wait.
"Aemon! What the hell is that thing and where are you going?…. Uh, my prince." Daeron's eyes were wide and he was breathing a little hard from running over at full speed.
'FOOLISH MORTAL YOU DARE IMPEDE THE PROGRESS OF MY MASTER AND ME! I SHOULD SMITE THEE WHERE THY STAND!' Balerion snorted loudly before stomping his hooves at Daeron. He stepped back eyeing my stead wearily and for good reason.
Balerion was my all-purpose horse. If I were riding into battle it would usually be on a dragon's back or sometimes one of my bears. But in all other cases, Balerion was my chosen mount. Tested both in and out of battle Balerion was always a genetic miracle of an animal in the first place. Now as a part dragon creature, I can only imagine the havoc we could cause together.
"I'm heading back to the Red Keep for now. Tell Myles and the others I won't be able to make it to drinks tonight. I'll have to see them in the first round of jousts tomorrow." I said looking down at my distant cousin. He nodded dumbly and without further adu I angled back towards the street of seeds.
'ONWARDS MY BROTHER BACK TO THE RED KEEP!' Balerion neighed again before dashing full tilt faster than any other horse in the realm back in the direction of the castle. On one hand, I would have to deal with this for the rest of the day and speak with my mother as well. Which would probably go easier if I don't smell like alcohol but I'll smell like a horse instead so I'm not sure that's better.
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111AC
King's Landing, Heir's Tourney
First-person POV
Rhaenyra Targaryen
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The tourney grounds breathed with life and merryment. It had been a day since the Royces had arrived and the very first of the tourney itself. Supposedly they had immediately gone to work enhancing the event as Aemon had requested my father to be allowed to do.
He said he would turn this from a tourney into a true festival. At first many held doubts, including me. Seeing his work know however I couldn't help but agree with his words.
Alicent and I had seen the new stalls along the streets and mummers' shows that had quickly been set up along the roads of the city but even here at the tourney grounds. From axe throwing to horse races being set up on the street of sisters and supposedly if she had overheard the lords correctly a particularly popular gambling ring had sprung up.
A few of the games that Aemon had set up at Harrenhal had even seen a return as well.
She hadn't remembered them from when she was younger but she had heard of them more and more as she got older. But there was this one called soccer that had grown very popular. She had seen children with faces painted with the Targaryen sigil playing in the streets.
And the paint! How could she forget the paint! She had no idea where the rouces had sourced so much paint and dye from but it had been used to great effect. Children had painted faces and ladies painted nails. Some had even taken to dyeing their hair just as the Tyroshi do though not in nearly as large a number.
I hadn't gotten the chance to enjoy much of it myself yet as I hadn't left my carriage yet. You would think they would have let me ride a horse since the grounds were only right outside the city but no.
So now Ser Herold, Alicent, and I have been walking around the tourney grounds for what little time we have. I'm sure father and mother will call me to them soon for the joust so I've been having as much of a look around as I can.
But then to my surprise, I saw something I never thought I would see here of all places. Outside a massive orange tent covered in runes were two guards in large black and orange armor. Each of their suits was covered in glowing runes but what caught my eye was not the two men. Rather it was the massive Bear that lay between them guarding the entrence too the tent. Judging from there's and the colors this tent could belong to only one man as well. My cousin Aemon but just how exactly did he gear such a creature to play bodyguard for him?
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111AC
King's Landing, The Red Keep
First-person POV
Otto Hightower
XXX
Up in my office in the tower of the hand, I met with two people. It was almost night so I had managed to sneak them into the keep with relative ease.
"Do you know why I've called you here?" I say taking a seat as one of the two crosses their arms.
"Does it matter why? You only call us if there's a task to be completed." One of them asks and I give him a false smirk before returning to a colder expression.
"I suppose the only thing that matters is the task itself then." I suck a deep breath through my nose and breathe out before continuing. I'll let his disrespect slide for now as his mild frustration is understandable. From what my men told me he was interrupted during his intimate time with a woman and no man likes that. Still, I need to elucidate my point before we can go any further with this meeting.
"Today Prince Aemon has set up an entire festival in a matter of hours. As he's done so he also brought into the city an order of unknown origin. Just two days before this he purged nearly every criminal group and smuggling ring in this city alongside his father. Almost immediately after I heard whispers of a new gang starting a war to fill the power gap." I stop pouring myself a cup of wine and take a sip to wet my throat.
"Its the hour of the wolf right now and fir all we know he could be doing even more of his heretical magics," I said venting my frustration with another slightly larger sip of my wine.
"To continue with that. He has brought an unusually large retinue into the city by both land and sea. Many of them are wearing these same blowing symbols that resemble the first men runes." I say as the other one speaks up much more calmly as he hadn't been doing anything of import when I summoned him.
"The boy has been making quite the moves indeed. I assume that you wish to put a stop to this then?" He says, but I am no fool I'm sure he wants to stop the boy as much as I do if not more.
"The boy is already one of those damned tree worshipers and now he's brought more of them into the city with him," I say trying not to let the anger at the thought of those heretics bleed out of me.
"Troublesome indeed but what exactly would you have us do about this?" The other questioned raising a hand to strike his bearded chin.
"What we should have done when the boy was born," I say coldly, and from the looks on their faces at my shift in tone they realise what I truly mean.
"So what? You want us to kill him?" He says the last part sarcastically, as if this were just some game to him.
I shook my head at his answer "No, although the idea is tempting it's just not a viable solution right now."
"And why is that? It shouldn't be too much of an issue to have one of his opponent's lances swapped. It would be easy to tip it with poison just as well or make sure any wounds he suffers get infected. Hells we could even get both princes at once," He smiles slyly at me, an expression I do not return.
"Because any man who does so would be captured and interrogated as well as all those who interacted with them. There would be a trail which could lead back to us in one way or another. Not to mention the king's fury at the deaths. As glorious as it would be to finally kill Daemon and his son we must find another way." I said cutting through his idea. The other man however raises a solid point which must be addressed.
"And what if something were to happen to his grace? Daemon would inherit the iron throne most like and it would be all too easy for him to start… making changes to the court." He says as a cold silence fills my office. I grimace in displeasure as the other major problem was brought up.
"There is another issue my lord. We already know that his grace wants a son. But if he does not have one. He may choose to let whoever marries his daughter become the next king."He said with a sigh before taking the pitcher and pouring another cup for himself. Taking a smaller sip he hummed and set the cup down I took another sip from my own cup. He raised the pitcher and looked at the other man who shook his head deciding not to partake this time.
"Thats unlikely but not impossible if the queen loses another babe and yet lives. But there are only a few true candidates and prince Aemon is one of them. It was already hard enough driving a wedge between the two brothers with Aemon there to constantly smooth over any disagreements, but now he may inherit the Iron Throne if he marries the princess." I say saying my options before the realization comes to me of what we must do in order to stop this from happening. The dark thought had already crossed through my mind once but I had held back due to my friendship with Viserys.
Now however it seems I may have no other choice than to take the realm's fate into my own hands. I already have all the tools that I need and soon my rise will be at hand. I did feel bad for my old friend but at the end of the day, a sleeping dragon is still a dragon.
"Perhaps there is a way… Perhaps it is not the princes who require poisons and death. This time the realm will not just be deprived of a new heir." I said folding my hands together and their faces darken once more as they take my new meaning.
'I am sorry Viserys but I do what I do for the realm and for House Hightower.'
[Chapter image here]
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Feel like I reused a few details but I'm honestly not sure since I couldn't find them anywhere but I'm sure it's nothing.