Capítulo 104: -Chapter 100-
-Chapter 100-
-POV Rhaenyra Targaryen-
'How dare he continue speaking to me this way after everything I've accomplished since Father granted me a seat on his small council?' I thought, simmering with anger at the contempt I had faced from Alicent's father, who clearly hadn't changed.
Since his return, he had done nothing but oppose me in everything, and the worst part was that he always managed to get his way, as he was generally…
My thoughts instantly evaporated because right in front of me, where my daughter's cradle was, stood Laenor.
'He's really getting better,' I thought, relieved that he was coming out of the dark period he had been immersed in since the tournament.
I approached him silently from behind and said, placing a hand on his arm:
"We did well, didn't we? She's so beautiful."
'It's the only thing that's managed to give him a renewed taste for life since the death of his lover,' I thought, slightly happy to see him smile again.
'Even though she's not really his daughter,' I thought, looking at my daughter, who now had slight tufts of golden-silver hair.
'Thankfully she took more after me than her true father,' I thought, noting all the same the absence of violet eyes in my daughter.
'Thankfully Laenor's mother found a way to explain how our daughter could be born with brown eyes, by referring to the case of Good Queen Alysanne,' I told myself, gently caressing my daughter's belly as she tried to grab my fingers.
"She is," Laenor said softly, giving his finger to our little dragon, who swallowed it in one gulp.
'There's still a long way to go before he fully comes out of his stupor, but it's still a step forward,' I thought as I took my husband's hand and placed it on my already well-rounded belly.
"And this time, we'll have a son," I said, looking at him intensely, trying to see if he would share my joy.
A small, happy smile appeared on his face before it suddenly faded, his eyes avoiding mine.
"What's wrong?" I asked my husband, taking his hand to reassure him so he could speak openly to me.
"Father is back at it," said Laenor.
"Again?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.
"Yes, and this time he didn't give me a choice," said Laenor.
"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling a sense of foreboding.
Laenor briefly closed his eyes before saying, with a heavy sigh:
"He asked me if I was afraid to fight for my house and, I quote, that if that were the case, he would pass his inheritance to the son of Aemon and Laena."
"He can't know if it's a son," I said.
"Yes, he can know," said Laenor, pulling a crumpled letter from his clothes.
I grabbed the short message, which was nothing other than a message from my cousin announcing the birth of the son of Prince Aemon Targaryen, Lord of Runestone, Prince Viserys Targaryen.
I narrowed my eyes at the choice of name, for no one could ignore the blatant favoritism my cousin enjoyed from my father, and this would only strengthen the bond between them.
'He's completely laid waste to the Vale for over a year now, and Father remains just as inactive,' I thought, feeling inwardly jealous of the relationship between my father and my cousin.
'The only thing he did was send a message to ask Aemon what was happening and if he was involved,' I thought, inwardly frustrated by this favoritism.
What was most serious in this story was that Aemon had the audacity to simply reply that it was the mountain clans causing trouble and that the lords of the Vale were pressuring him to help resolve problems for which they alone were responsible.
He added that he wouldn't do it, for in his view, those lords were using Father to force him to commit a massacre among the people of the Vale, who still looked to the Old Gods, something he would never do, given his very good relations with the Warden of the North, Rodrik Stark, himself a follower of the Old Gods.
And the worst part of all this is that he dared to imply that the lords of the Vale were lying and that, even if the mountain clans were causing trouble, the lords of the Vale managed their lands so poorly that they blamed robberies and massacres committed by groups of bandits on the mountain clans.
"You seem upset; isn't it good news?" Laenor said in a hesitant tone.
I smiled, trying to pretend, but I couldn't, and I said:
"Aemon will return in a few days to take Aegon back with him to the Vale."
"And?" asked Laenor, confused.
I furrowed my brow and sat down on our bed, exhausted even before my cousin arrived:
"And he'll probably take eggs with him."
"Only the king has the right to give or take eggs," said Laenor.
'In theory only,' I thought, with a very particular memory of Aemon's last visit less than six moons ago.
"You didn't see him last time, since he became the Dragonmaster," I said in a tone of disdain but also deep envy.
'Even with an honorary title that didn't give him much power, he managed to have us all at his mercy,' I thought, doubting that he hadn't requested this position with full knowledge to gain control over the kingdom's dragons and future dragonriders.
"He thinks all dragons are under his command, and the worst part is that my father supports him in practically all his whims. Did you know that every time an egg is found, it must be recorded and entrusted to the dragonkeepers, most of whom are under his control?" I added, repulsed by the power he wielded over me when I was his superior in the line of succession.
'I am the heir, and no one respects me, even though I do everything to be even better than them, but none of it matters because I'm a woman. If I were born with a cock between my legs, I would have everyone's respect for that alone,' I thought, outraged to always have to swim against the current for something I couldn't change and over which I had no control.
'It's indecent the respect they all give to Aegon when he's just a child, and since his return from the Vale, Father spends even more time with him, as if he wants to see if his son will absorb Aemon's talent by being around him,' I thought, disdainful of the 'change' in my brother.
"It can't be as bad as you seem to think; Aemon supports you, and Laena would never turn her back on me—they support us both," said Laenor, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Outwardly, certainly, but who can say what he truly thinks? He's far too close to Alicent and her children for me to be certain he won't turn against us when the time comes," I said, skeptical, as I had begun to understand my cousin, and his views were guided by the direction of profit.
'If Aemon feels he'll gain more with Alicent, then he'll turn to her, and that's unacceptable,' I thought.
Laenor furrowed his brows, then said, "In any case, it doesn't change the problem. I'm going to have to fight, if only to restore my father's esteem. The Velaryon fleet has lost too many men for me to sit idle."
"What use is Daemon if he can't protect our ships?" I said, furious at my uncle's inaction, which emboldened our enemies.
'Now that he's gotten what he wanted, he'll demand more for his help; he's just like his son in this regard,' I thought, taking a deep breath to avoid harming the baby by getting needlessly upset.
"As long as Prince Daemon remains inactive, the Triarchy and pirates will continue attacking us at sea with impunity," said Laenor.
'I know it perfectly well. Daemon will only agree to help if I beg for his aid, and I am practically certain he will want me to relinquish the 10% I receive from his taxes,' I thought.
Daemon had repeatedly offered to pay me large sums of gold dragons or even to cede a small fleet of about fifty warships in exchange for those precious 10%.
'But even if I had only received 65,000 gold dragons this year, each month the amount of gold dragons increased.'
'If I have to beg for someone's help, it might as well be Aemon; he now has two dragons nearly 300 feet long,' I thought, hesitating to ask for my cousin's help.
"Let me ask Aemon once he arrives in the capital. I think I'm capable of convincing him," I said.
'It could also be a way to seal our alliance permanently.'
"How?" asked Laenor, confused.
"I have a daughter, and he has a son, doesn't he?" I said, aware of the enormous allure of marrying the future princess heir to the Seven Kingdoms.
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N.A: Wow, it's already the 100th chapter of this fic! I thank you all for your support. Time flies too fast. Next chapter, we'll witness Aemon's arrival in the capital.
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