After leaving the council chamber, Aemon paused at the corner of the corridor for a moment, then turned and headed in a different direction.
Not long after, he arrived at the attic of the Tower of the Hand. Aemon walked in rudely, without knocking.
"My prince," a young maester said, looking flustered.
"Get out," Aemon said lightly.
The young maester did not dare to hesitate, quickly packing up his herb box and leaving. The person he had been treating lay weakly on the bed. Otto Hightower was wrapped in bandages, and one of his legs was in traction, suspended from the ceiling by a rope.
"Are you here to kill me?" The bruises on Otto's face had not yet faded, and his expression was full of fear. He tried to prop himself up on the bed. He wanted to remain calm, to feign gravitas, but the beating he had received days ago was so severe that he was still suffering from the trauma.
Aemon ignored him, walking to the bed and surveying the room's layout. The Tower of the Hand was, as the name suggested, the residence of the King's Hand. Typically, the Hand resided in the tower's attic, with rooms for servants and guards below. Otto, no longer the Hand, should have been residing outside the Red Keep. However, due to the severity of his injuries, he had been placed in the tower for treatment. A quick glance revealed the cramped rooms and poor lighting, a common drawback of all tower residences.
"Does Viserys know you're here?" Otto struggled to sit up, grimacing in pain.
Aemon's gaze was fixed on the soft red carpet covering the floor. It was an expensive Myrish carpet. Due to the difficulty in obtaining the materials and the time-consuming production process, even the most skilled Myrish craftswomen could produce less than a dozen in a year. The carpet beneath his feet seemed to be the very one he had given to Alicent as a name-day gift after seeing the worn wool carpet in her chambers. It had found its way here.
Aemon scoffed, snatched the candlestick from the bedside table, and tossed it onto the red carpet. The lamp oil spilled and immediately burst into flames.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Otto exclaimed, taken aback.
Aemon sneered. "How undignified, using a gift I gave to your daughter."
Upon hearing this, Otto's face darkened, his features contorting in a mask of fury and shame. The flames spread, illuminating the entire room with a hellish glow. The stench of burning oil filled his nostrils.
Aemon let the flames creep closer, calmly sitting on the edge of the bed and staring into Otto's terrified eyes. The carpet was made of a fine material, both flammable and durable. The temperature in the room climbed rapidly.
Otto's pupils shrank to pinpoints, believing Aemon was determined to die with him. He struggled desperately, but with one leg still dangling in the air, he was completely immobile.
Aemon grabbed Otto's hand and pressed it against his bandaged ribs, applying gentle pressure.
"Ah!" Otto's face paled, and he couldn't help but scream. The maester had diagnosed five broken ribs.
Slowly but steadily increasing the pressure, Aemon said calmly, "It was you who came up with the idea of marrying Helaena off, wasn't it?"
"Ah... hah..." Otto, sweating profusely from the pain, denied it flatly. "I don't understand what you're saying."
Gurgle.
The wound beneath the bandage gave way, and the white linen quickly turned red. Aemon, having used Otto's own hand to apply the pressure, avoided staining his own. He smiled. "Do you think you're the smartest man in the world, and everyone else is a fool?"
Otto's abilities were impressive, to be sure. Working alongside Viserys, he had successfully pushed aside both Daemon and the Sea Snake, personally elevating his daughter Alicent to the status of queen. But his weaknesses were also obvious. As the second son of a noble house, he had no true power of his own, only a multitude of calculations. Without the protection of his family and his daughter, he was nothing.
"Hiss!" The pressure on the wound intensified again, and Otto gasped, his body twitching.
"You recommended your own kin, Ormund Hightower, as Helaena's husband. It seems you value your family very much," Aemon said with interest.
Otto's expression changed to one of panic. "Impossible! You wouldn't dare."
"Look at you, getting anxious again," Aemon shook his head helplessly, then smiled. "For Alicent's sake, I will give you one last chance. If you keep playing these self-righteous games of thrones, I will wipe House Hightower from the map of the Seven Kingdoms."
"Do you understand?" he asked, pressing Otto's hand harder against the wound, feeling the man's body tremble. Otto shook uncontrollably, sweat streaming down his forehead. He dared not speak; he could not speak. A deep fear clouded his heart. Facing the young man's smile, he imagined a roaring, ferocious dragon.
"Very good." Aemon released his hand and stood up. "It seems you understand." He stepped toward the blazing fire on the carpet and doused it with a flagon of wine from the table. The flames hissed and retreated. Within seconds, the fire was completely extinguished. Aemon replaced the flagon and pushed the door open, politely closing it behind him.
In that moment, Otto stared at the charred remains of the red carpet, a chill running through his body. The sharp pain in his ribs was a stark reminder of the threat. He felt faint, perhaps from the blood loss.
The Queen's Chambers
Aemon dusted off his clothes to dispel the lingering smell of smoke and knocked on the door. Soon, Alicent's soft voice came from within.
"Come in."
Pushing the door open, Aemon saw Alicent kneeling on the woolen rug. Helaena and Aemond sat opposite her. Aemond, a bandage wrapped around his nose, saw Aemon and fearfully moved to shield his sister. He knew he had to be cautious. The maester had said Aegon was lucky; if the blow had landed differently, he would have been made a eunuch.
"Aemon!" Alicent's face dropped, and she abruptly stood up.
Aemon glanced around the room. "I just got back. I came to see you and the children." He was betting that Otto would never change his ways. If Otto could exploit Alicent and manipulate her children to incite conflict between the factions, then Aemon could do the opposite. He would turn the Targaryen conflict into a Green one. Fight fire with fire.
"We don't need you to see us," Alicent said sternly, blocking the doorway.
"I'll just have a cup of tea," Aemon said helplessly.
Alicent refused to budge. "Go find Rhaenyra and have her bring you tea," she declared, pushing her hands against Aemon's chest. She was furious. He had severely injured her father in front of her, and on the same day, had broken Aegon's leg and Aemond's nose. She knew, deep down, that none of it was truly Aemon's fault. Her father was so selfish that even she had grown tired of his schemes. And Aegon and Aemond's cruelty to their nephew had deserved the beating. What she was truly furious about was that her father and her sons had all failed so spectacularly, leaving her, the Queen, with no ground to defend them. Their weakness was her humiliation. Seeing the imposing figure of Aemon before her, she felt ashamed and utterly isolated.
"Don't be like this, Alicent." Aemon gently grasped her hands, seeing the bloody scabs where she had picked at her fingernails. He felt a pang of helplessness and distress. Alicent had suffered enough, but it was the failing men around her who had caused her the most pain.
"Get out, get out," Alicent said sullenly, withdrawing her hands and pushing him out.
As Aemon was shoved back, he said hurriedly, "Have you heard that the council is selecting husbands for Helaena?"
Alicent paused, then her anger flared even hotter. "That is not something a woman like me can manage," she said, slamming the door shut. She had assumed Aemon was here to talk politics, just like her father always did. But she knew she held no real weight in the Red Keep. She was not Viserys's first wife and had never been treated with the respect a queen deserved. Even her son, Aegon, who should have been the kingdom's eldest prince, was ignored by his own father. The entire court knew of the Black-Green conflict, whispering that she was the Green Queen and her faction was doomed. But facing Rhaenyra, how could she not gather her own supporters? If Rhaenyra became the next Maegor, she would be at her mercy.
Living this way, she had at least maintained a modicum of dignity. Aemon's outburst had shattered that veneer, revealing her powerlessness to the entire court.
"I can offer you some advice, as compensation to Aegon and the others," Aemon said through the door, his tone playful to soothe her bruised pride.
"I... we don't need your charity," Alicent replied, wanting only to bury her head in the sand like an ostrich.
"Can you bear to see Helaena repeat your fate, marrying an old man who does not love her?" Aemon declared decisively.
Alicent was stunned into silence, completely bewildered by his audacity. Was that something he could even say?
Aemon shrugged on the other side of the door. Whether he should have said it or not, he had. He and his uncle were at a political impasse. Viserys was content with the status quo, obsessed with a false peace. Aemon had expanded the kingdom, becoming a king whose achievements rivaled those of Aegon the Conqueror. With his work done, his uncle had lost his ambition and begun to stagnate, acquiescing to Otto's reckless proposals to strengthen the Greens. This was a hidden danger, one that would not only intensify the conflict between the factions but also cause infighting within them. If this continued, the Targaryen family would be dismembered. The price would be far more terrible than the civil war in his original world.
In simple terms, his uncle was growing foolish in his old age. Aemon had the strength, and he had to apply the brakes, fast. He would have to forge a path where there was none, redirecting the family's internal conflicts outward. Instead of letting the family destroy itself, it was better to turn that destructive energy upon their enemies.
"What do you want, Aemon?" Alicent asked through the door, her voice hard.
Seeing that she had put aside her prejudice, Aemon smiled. "I need you to cooperate with me."
---------------
You can read +100 advance chapters on my Patreon
Patreon(.)com/izan24
•TIER 1 you'll get +15 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
•TIER 2 you'll get +40 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
•TIER 3 you'll get +60 ADVANCE CHAPTERS
•TIER 4 you'll get +100 ADVANCE CHAPTERS