Chapter 15
OTTO HIGHTOWER
The capital was abuzz with the news of this new Hospital, and though the King had denied any support for the venture from the Crown's coffers, the truth was that all of it was nothing but a big fat lie.
The Lords and the Ladies praised the Good Queen for her generosity and benevolence, but Otto saw both the hidden hand and the hidden intentions of the King behind this whole affair.
And he was not the only one.
"This is a ploy," Mellos joined him in his office late into the night, as the Crown slowly began to turn that wretched proposal into action.
"Visenya's Hill is a land too massive for a simple charity venture," and this was the absolute proof of the Crown's intentions behind this affair, for the King had allocated the entirety of Visenya's Hill for this venture.
"Indeed," Otto shared his fears as he sat opposite him, reflecting on his failure to stop Galen's plans.
In the end, Otto had underestimated the boy while overestimating his own influence on the Spring Prince. Otto had managed to succeed against the boy at the Citadel, for he was a Hightower and he wielded much influence there.
But here in the capital, it was the Targaryens who ruled over the land, and the boy had somehow endeared himself to them through lies and cheats.
"We underestimated the Crown," he whispered, for both the Prince and the King had not spoken in favor of the proposal at all, and before the Meeting of the Council, it was rumored that the proposal would be rejected.
But the Old King had ruled over the realm for more than thirty years, and had played them all for a fool.
"The Citadel must intervene," he pushed, but Mellos shook his head.
"Elysar is not convinced," and though he was a Maester himself, the old man belonged to a different faction.
"He believes that the boy's venture will fail on its own," and if it were anyone else but that boy, Otto would have shared that belief. But Elysar did not know of the boy as he did.
"He is young, and while the land and the gold being offered are a substantial sum, the goals of this venture are equally ambitious," as Mellos continued to argue against any intervention.
"It took nearly a thousand years to build the Citadel, and every day nearly a thousand maesters and acolytes see to it that it may exist for a thousand more. But he is but a single boy, he has little to no allies, and most of all, he has no books, no records, no history or experience to rely on," and those were all sound arguments, and had stirred inside his own mind many times.
"You don't know him as well as I do, Mellos," he whispered as he was reminded of the miracle child that had taken the Citadel by storm, threatening the Hightower influence of centuries.
Otto had not forced him out of the place out of purely personal enmity. He had done so as a duty to his House and family as well, for it was obvious that if they allowed the boy to flourish, he could bring about a change that could unravel their very way of life.
"The boy is a genius unlike any that I have seen," and it was why he was nervous, and he was beginning to feel that he might be the only one.
"It is true that he lacks manpower, gold, and pedigree, but he does not lack for books, tomes, records, and histories," and Mellos frowned at his words.
"The Crown's library is impressive, but it is nowhere near as vast and expansive as the Citadel..."
"No," he cut in, as he tried to clarify his words.
"You don't get it, do you?" he realised as Mellos frowned.
"The reason that I fear the boy so much is not because of his ideas," and while they were scary on their own, many men had such ideas before.
"No, the reason I fear him is because of his one special ability, and though he does not speak of it anymore, the truth is that the boy is a walking Citadel," and Mellos raised a brow at his words.
"What do you mean by that?"
"He is a monster. Any book, any letter, anything at all that he has ever read, Galen can recall and reproduce in a second," and now finally Mellos understood the reason for his desperation.
"Impossible," he gasped, but Otto had witnessed it for himself.
"Then that means," and Otto nodded as the realization dawned on the future Grandmaester.
"While I have no way of confirming such a thing, it is believed that by the time we removed him from the Citadel, the boy had read more than half the books, tomes, and records gathered in those Halls," and for a young boy to know all that.
"Half?" Mellos whispered, his face paling as his mind contemplated the implications behind those words.
"That boy is the greatest not only to the Citadel, but our entire way of life..."
0000
ALYSANNE TARGARYEN
"No," Jaehaerys answered just as she had expected him to, and perhaps before she might have agreed with him, but Alysanne knew that she would have to stand up for her daughter as she sat across from him in their room.
"That is not the work of a Princess," he admonished.
"Is that so?" she asked scathingly, and he must have sensed her rage as his eyes moved up towards her face.
"And how exactly is that not the work of a Princess?" she asked.
"Our own daughter Maegelle was a Healer and saved thousands of lives," and she caught his lie, leaving him flushed as she countered.
"And you sent Vaegon to the Citadel, yet why do you stop Gael?" she countered, for she would accept no lies.
"We gave Maegelle to the faith, and Vaegon was a boy. Gael is a young woman of age who needs to be wed sooner rather than later."
"You promised Jaehaerys," she threatened, reminding him of the promise she had made to Gael, and she would not let him break it.
"You cannot expect me to let her be unwed for years," and yes, she expected exactly that.
"We are not young anymore, Alysanne. Do you not wish to see our daughter wed to a good man in front of our eyes?" and she had desired so for years, but Gael had made her decision, and she would not repeat the mistakes of old.
"It does not matter what you and I desire? What matters is what my daughter wants, and she wishes to learn from Galen," she declared, and Jaeherys shook his head, yet before he could deny her again, she continued.
"And I have already given her permission to do so," she declared as his head snapped towards her, and if he was enraged, he took a few seconds to swallow his anger.
"You would entrust her into the hands of a stranger?" and Galen was no stranger.
"The boy has Barth's blood running in his veins and was raised by Maegelle. If there is anyone I would entrust her with, it would be him," for she knew herself to be a good judge of character, and could tell that he would never betray her trust in him.
"Temptations can be rather dangerous, they made even Barth forget his vows," and that was true, for Gael was still unwed and her close proximity to a young Healer, who had been elevated so suspiciously by the King, would definitely give rise to whispers.
"Let those tongues wag!" she thundered, for she had lost two children to these games and plots.
"And what if that rumor turns into reality?" and that stunned her, for she had not thought so far ahead, and his fears began to make some sense.
"What will you do then?" and despite her fears, she had made up her mind.
"Then so be it," she answered back, refusing to back down.
"You made a promise to me, Jaehaerys, the night she nearly died. I nearly lost her once, I will not suffer that fate again," and in the end, he could do little for he had given her complete autonomy over their daughter.
"It will be dangerous and tiring work," and it would be indeed.
"Galen will protect her," and hopefully, his words would not come true, but a part of her wondered if it would really be as bad an idea.
"Let us pray that he does indeed," and she knew why he feared him as much as he did, for he had wronged the boy and his mother.
"How is she?" he asked after a few seconds of silence, and as much as he may be frustrated with her, Gael was their daughter, and he loved her still.
"Better," and he nodded.
"I have been thinking of organising a great tourney," he whispered, and that would surely alleviate the doom and gloom encompassing these Halls.
"Viserys will definitely be happy to hear that," and her grandson's fondness for feasts and tournies was known to all.
"Yes, it would be a tournament to celebrate my new Hand and Council," though there was no need to give any reason.
"I will have to make the preparations," and it would help blow away the rumors and whispers as well, as Jaehaerys rubbed his chin.
"But I think you should wait until Aemma's given birth," she suggested, for she knew that noises and chores could harm the child in her belly.
"We can name the celebrations after the child," and Jaeherys smiled again and nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes, he is quite certain that the child is a boy," and in Galen's words, there was no way to be sure of that as of now, though perhaps that won't be the case in the future.
"It's been so long since the cries of a child have blessed these Halls," she whispered, and it would be good to hold a babe in her arms, for Rhaenyra had now grown too big for her to carry.
"Speaking of Viserys, have you talked with Daemon?" he asked, and she had wanted to but had not been able to find the time.
"Not yet," and his lips thinned at the mention of Daemon.
Balon told me that he tried, but the boy refuses to listen. He was quite harsh on him, yet he refuses to budge," and she felt responsible for this whole affair as she was the one who had brokered this match between Daemon and Rhea Royce.
"Lord Royce grows weaker by the day and wrote to Balon about Daemon and his actions," and her eyes lowered in shame as she thought of that girl.
"I could summon him and force him to be harsh, but we both know that it would do little to make this marriage more palatable," and she nodded.
"It will only make him hate her even more," and she would never understand what he did not like about her, for Rhea Royce was a beautiful enough girl with a good head on her shoulders.
"That is why it would be best if you speak with the boy," and she would, but if he had not paid any heed to Balon's words, she feared that her words would be just as ineffective.
"If there was a way to entice him," she murmured as she rubbed her chin, but Daaemon's interests lay in blades and spending his days in the Street of Silk, and she knew little about the former and did not wish to know more about the latter.
"He is quite good in the yard," Jaeherys whispered.
"Perhaps there is one thing that we can offer the boy...."
0000
While down below in the city, as rumors about the creation of the 'Hospital' began to spread all over the city, the man behind this whole affair walked the streets of a bludgeoning Flea Bottom as he visited one baker's shop after another.
"Healer Galen," Trisha, the daughter of the Baker, greeted him as she helped her father knead the bread, as the young man bowed to her and stepped into their little hut with no care for his pristine white cloak.
"Trisha, how is your son?" he asked, and the woman beamed.
"He is well, Healer, all because of your kindness," and the young man smiled.
"Here, we just baked a fresh batch," and she reached towards the table at the back, and was about to pick a fresh loaf until the Healer stopped her with a small gesture.
"Well, perhaps another day. I have enough fresh bread with me that it might last me a full moon," and he pointed towards Morro, who held a bag on his shoulder carrying the various gifts that he had received.
"Ohh, then what do you need?" she asked again.
"Well, bread actually," he answered, making the girl frown.
"But not the fresh one you have baked just now, I need you to give me your mouldy bread..."
0000
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