111 AC
King's Landing, The Red Keep
First-Person POV
Aemon Targaryen
XXX
Baelon was alive. And that was a problem. A serious, problem.
Perhaps it was less like the show and more like the book timeline? Maybe the boy would live for just a few days before passing on naturally. But it's been two days already and I'm honestly not sure if the boy will live or not.
But if not, then this threw a wrench so massive into my plans it was bigger than the fucking Burj Khalifa.
I didn't want to kill the boy. I didn't want to hurt or kill any of my family if I didn't have to. All I really needed to do beforehand was kill Viserys before his children with Alicent were born and make sure Daemon didn't get both of us disinherited.
Sure killing a king was hard work, and I take no joy in killing my uncle for I know he is a good man. Still, it must be done but now Baelon stood in the way of my ascension.
So instead of pondering the mentally exhausting moral complications of potentially murdering a child I chose to focus on another mission.
A much more fun more pleasant mission. For you see I've been going through puberty for the second time and it's been really annoying.
Why?
Well, that's simple because it takes extra effort to control my emotions. I am always either horny or angry, and controlling those emotions has been extraordinarily taxing on me.
So in other words I need a woman and what better woman to lose my virginity to than a princess?
Tonight probably wasn't the night for that though so instead the goal was simple. Make her fall in love with me. I would then use that love to make my way one step closer to the Iron Throne. Honestly, it shouldn't be too hard we already had a solid relationship and I've put in the effort.
So the main goal for tonight was a simple one. Our first kiss. If more than that happens though then it's only to my greater advantage though her age does kind of make me feel a bit uncomfortable about it.
So there I was, inside the tunnels, hidden in the Red Keep's walls. Knocking on the back of a passageway directly into Rhaenyra's chambers. I used a combination we'd established long ago so she'd know it was me and after only a few moments the hidden passageway opened itself.
Of course, I could have done that myself but what better way to make your very distraught cousin feel better than to bring her out for a night on the town.
So as the wall peeled open to reveal Rhaenyra's face streaked with tears of exhaustion I was about to ask her the obvious questions you do when someone is grieving. Instead, she simply tackled me into a hug and we stood therein the half-lit darkness of the tunnel for who knows how long.
I wrapped my arms around her delicate figure as she began to shake with a brand new wave of sobs and I could only imagine the pain she was feeling. I know that the hollow ache of grief never truly disappears, just fades with time. I've felt that same grief myself over and over throughout both of my lifetimes.
Although I may not love Rhaenyra I do care for her in my own way. So even as I sought to take advantage of her emotional state for my own gain, the least I could do was offer her some genuine comfort. After a few minutes her stifling her cries into my chest I pulled back from her.
"I-I'm sorry that was… unbecoming of me," She said quietly lowering her head to look at the floor of her room.
"It's fine Rhae, I wouldn't expect you to act any differently right now," I said going over to the side of her bed and taking a seat next to her.
"I know there's nothing that I could say that could describe the pain you're going through," Taking her hand in my own I looked at her eyes and I could see the despair behind them. If I were going to do this, I was going to do it right. No bullshit or emotional manipulation through mana.
"But I can promise you this. If you need me I'm there for you," I pulled her hand up gripping it with both of mine now. She smiled slightly it was a fragile thing gone in mere moments. I'd had the time to take in the pitying whispers and the meaningless condolences of the court serpents. I highly doubt any of them were at all genuine. But perhaps somehow she was able to sense how genuine I was.
I did care for Aemma, she was my aunt, and a good woman who was kind to everyone including me. Even my father liked her well enough, and he's an ass.
"Thank you," She whispered leaning in and laying her head on my shoulder and closing her eyes. I didn't know what to do for a moment before leaning my head onto hers closing my own. We stayed there for minutes before I broke the comfortable silence. It was warm and touched something in my chest I wasn't sure I could feel for her before. There was something undeniably human about her touch.
"Hey, how would you feel about going out?" That caught her attention as she turned her head to me. She looked up at me with dark purple eyes like twin pools of twilight. But those same eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, no doubt she'd been crying for hours on end.
"The festivities are still going and I know you might not feel like going out but maybe it'd help take your mind off things? I made a few plans but I understand if you don't want to go,"
For a moment she looked down platinum blonde locks covering her weary eyes.
"How would we even leave here the guards-"
"Won't notice a thing I promise," I cut her off quickly standing up and walking back over to the secret passage. Picking up a bag I'd left in the darkness I walked back out and opened it quickly.
"In here is everything we'll need to go undetected in the city, as for getting past the guards there are ways out into the city from the tunnels," I said taking out two cloaks as well as a pair of black wigs made from Balerion's own dark horse hairs. Of course, I just had to break out the crime hoodie it's a family tradition after all but more than that the two of us were going to be out all night, and not getting caught was paramount.
"What's this?" She reached into the bag quickly picking out a black masquerade face mask.
"That is for something far more interesting we'll be doing later," I said with a mischievous smirk. The words seemed to lighten her mood a bit as she looked up at me quizzically. I slowly reached over to brush a hair away from her face and lock eyes with her once more.
"Trust me Nyra, tonight we're going to have enough fun that you'll forget all about your problems. I'll show you a whole new world, another side to King's Landing you've never seen," I held her gaze there, my hand cupping her cheek my thumb slightly brushing against her face. She leaned into my touch ever so slightly and for a moment I as she leaned in, I thought that I'd get the mission accomplished before I'd even truly started working my magic, metaphorically speaking of course.
"Ok," she nodded as I took her hand once more and after only a few moments of changing into our peasant disguises we were staring at each other again.
"We're disguised well but what about our eyes?"
"What about them?"
"They're purple not exactly a lot of people in the city have purple eyes Aemon," She frowned at me, a gesture I repaid with a sly smirk followed by another question of my own.
I was about to take a big risk here but if it made sure tonight went off without a hitch I would just have to take it.
"Are they?" I said switching my eyes to reveal the crystalline blue of the sky dragon's eyes. Rhaenyra gasped, her eyes went wide and for just a moment she stared at me. Then I took her shoulders and stood us both up straighter.
"Y-your eyes," she looked stunned and confused as if she was suddenly looking at me like a total stranger. I ignored that for now and instead moved to reassure her.
"There's so much more to this world you don't know Nyra. So much more magic, so much more strength, so much more I can show you. But tonight is about having fun, so come with me," I took her hand once more, and in moments we were walking through the darkness of the tunnel.
"Shouldn't we bring a candle or something?" She said huddling closer to me as we stepped through the dark. Of course I wasn't having anywhere near as much trouble seeing in the dark as she was, so guiding her by hand was relatively easy.
"Don't worry the way out isn't too far," But the moment I said that a loud rat scuttled past in the dark.
"What the hell was that?" She yelled and hugged my back.
"Just a rat, hmph don't worry my darling princess, I your brave and valiant knight in shining armor, shall protect you from this foul beast," I said teasingly, she huffed and rolled her eyes.
"More like Florida the fool, now get us out of these damned tunnels," She said softly hitting my shoulder with a fist. I chuckled and kept moving, after a few more turns through the tunnels we were just outside the gates coming out of one last hidden stone door.
Once we were out I started to pick up the pace taking her hand and marching us quickly through the streets. Unlike usual where all sorts of randy nonsense goes on in the streets, tonight there were far more intrigues than usual. Of course, there were still one or two pairs of people we passed by who were rutting in all ways which mostly just made me laugh and chuckle whenever Rhaenyra stared at them. Her face was far more red than any ruby she usually wore and I had plenty of fun teasing her about it.
But as amusing as calling her a tomato dragon was it was also meant to break any awkwardness in the atmosphere.
Making our way down the hook and along the muddy way brought us past plenty of brightly colored stalls and amusements with several new snacks I'd been selling to the people of the city. By the time we made it to our first major stop at the town's square, we'd already been having fun for over an hour.
From eating far more sweets than what we ought to and having her try out all sorts of new foods I'd managed to replicate. The list included all types of things like popcorn, sweet berry Crapes, chicken fingers, popcorn chicken, funnel cake, casadieas, and different types of chocolate that were especially hard to get my hands on.
We'd also played enough games and shared enough jokes to finally get her genuinely laughing for once. But the town square was pure carnival vibes or at least as close as we could get.
From jugglers and sword dancers to fire eaters and fire blowers and fire dancers, there was actually quite a lot of fire involved probably more than what's strictly safe. I just know there was an OSHA violation in there somewhere. More importantly, though I was actually starting to have some fun of my own.
Then we got to the steps below the Sept of Kingslanding. The place had been built to replace the Sept of Remembrance burnt down by Maegor. The Great Sept of Baelor obviously wasn't there yet but what was more important was the memorial to the queen at the very base of its steps.
Candles were lit and a small crowd had been gathered around the memorial for hours now. I knew about it earlier and although tonight was about helping Rhaenyra forget about the pain of her mother's death she also needed to learn to process those emotions.
At first, when she laid eyes on it she seemed hypnotised by the display of love from the people. Gripping my hand tighter she led us over to it and as she began to read the heartfelt messages of the people tears began to spill into her eyes once more. There we stood together, leaning into each other's warmth for what felt like forever but was probably only a few minutes.
I wanted to break the tension but honestly I didn't know what to say so instead I just waited until I could help her dry her tears.
"Come on there's something I want to show you," I caressed her hand again and we made our way back to the square. Walking past corn hole games and lines of cheering small folk playing tug of war. We made our way to the middle of a crowd watching a stage where a play was about to start. A play which I had prepared beforehand.
"Wait here," I said quietly as I handed her a fresh bucket of popcorn which I'd ironically just bought from one of my own hawkers, and let go of her hand for what I realized was the first time tonight. Then I began to swiftly weave between the crowd of bodies.
"Wait Aem-" Rhaenyra's voice was cut off as one of the small folk accidentally backed into her cutting between us. I lingered a moment longer to make sure she'd be okay and then I kept moving.
"Watch where you're going, boy!" The man said before turning back to the stage. I chuckled at the misgendering but was glad the disguises were doing their work well enough. A few of the smarter people had been able to spot that Rhaenyra was indeed a girl, even with the wig and the purposeful dust and coal smeared on the more delicate parts of her face to help disguise her more prominent Valyrian features. Still, I'd managed to ward off any wondering eyes and hands with my presence alone and I managed to intimidate anyone who'd thought of giving her a try.
One man had almost been bold enough to grope her but a single hand holding him in the air choking him against a wall until he fell unconscious did the trick of course. I also managed to reassure Rhaenyra with one of my ever-so-charming smiles and she'd leaned into me much harder taking my arm more firmly for the next couple of blocks. Personally, it seemed like more than just me defending her that did the trick to get our mild flirting going a bit more but rather I think she might have a slight fetish for violence.
'I suppose I could understand that though. The ladies do love a winner,' I thought smirking at the times I'd gotten almost overtly lustful looks from ladies at court especially after the tourney. Not to mention all the offers of comfort and heartfelt condolences that were nearly disguised innuendoes some of which had happened directly in front of some of those same ladies' husbands including a particularly blatant attempt to get me in bed from Lady Merryweather that her husband nearly seemed to blink an eye at.
'Eyes on the prize Aemon, eyes on the prize,' I told myself shacking my head with a chuckle. There was only one lady who I'd prefer to hop into bed with for my first time and it just so happened that reckless attempts from entitled highborn ladies were not what I was looking for.
'Highborn princess though… well can you really blame me?,' Another chuckle slipped from my smirking lips as I finished making my way towards one of the stage guards standing off to the side, whom I had prepared to know the secret message when I gave it.
"Halt stand back from the stage," The guard raised a spear held firmly in his left hand at me causing me to stop in my tracks and speak the magic words.
"Darth Sidious sends his regards," I said just loud enough for him to make out the words, and when I did his eyes went wide and he nodded frantically before rushing back stage.
Of course I'd considered using the famous Order 66 as the command word but I'd wanted to save that for another more serious and special occasion so for now it was just this.
Making my way back to Nyra after that she scolded me for leaving her which I promptly apologized for by stealing her popcorn and digging into it with voracious hunger. The two of us joked around for a little while longer before this more special play began.
It was a rather long one telling the tale of House Targaryen all the way from the doom skipping to the rise of Aegon which was obviously played as rather very good propaganda if I do say so myself. I did write it after all, and the mummers were all trained by my own people, who were in turn trained by me, and if the modern era taught me anything about cinema, it's the difference between good and bad acting.
Then the play continued on to the reigns of both Aegon's sons after the conqueror had heroically saved the continent from the vile cruel and strange era that came before the unification, even if his work was left undone. Something which the crowd seemed to appreciate, considering how much worse I depicted life to be before the conquest which was nice, and also technically true.
After that was the reign of Jaehaerys the Conciliator and of course, the woman I loved most in this world my beloved great-grandmother whom I will always cherish. I'd even gone through the full trouble of finding training and coaching out each and every single mummer who would be playing Allysanne. Because I will be damned to the fiery pits of whatever hell comes after this life before ever allowing some random tramp to do my good queen a disservice with her performance.
All of this was of course, interspersed with extremely well-performed renditions and parodies of songs that were totally not directly ripped from a combination of both Hamilton and Epic the musical, I don't know what you're talking about.
Following that was of course the tragic and epic deaths of all of the royal couple's children until the new age and introduction of characters like Rhaenys, Viserys, Corlys,!Daemon, and of course the two of us as well as a few others. I of course made sure to place deliberate emphasis on the rainbow halo that occurred with my birth.
Something which had made Rhaenyra giggle and smile more beautifully than I'd seen all night. She teased me about the self-glorification, of course as I'd already told her I was the one who wrote the play.
It was a rather quality work if I do say so myself, and thanks to a little help from my personal dealings with the alchemists' guild, there were some rather excellent pyrotechnics interspersed and of course, sparklers which I bought for both of us to wave along with the crowd during the songs.
A little-known fun fact about one of the lead singers is that he was actually the bastard son of the man who seduced my grand aunt Gael. Of course I tortured and killed that guy, but I recruited his son who did indeed have a remarkable talent for the arts. I do forget his name though, but whatever, it's not like it actually matters.
Lastly, there was of course the depiction of the Great Council of 101 AC and Rhaenyra had grown particularly silent ever since her mother was introduced to the story. I held her hand more firmly than ever and once again she leaned into my shoulder but she didn't cry this time.
The show ended with another song specifically a love song combined with a bunch of different colored fireworks. We'd been lucky enough to get to this play earlier than most so we managed to be fairly close to the front out of the probably thousands of people watching. But as the candle flames went out and the entire crowd basked in the light of stars and the flashing rainbow colors of the fireworks I wasn't looking up at the sky like everyone else.
Instead, I was glancing down at Rhaenyra. Our eyes locked and hers reflected every single magical sparkle of the sky above us. I turned my body to face her. She did the same.
Taking our joined hands up I brushed away another lock of hair from her face and cupped her cheek. She leaned into my touch tilting her head ever so slightly and her eyes grew dark and cloudy.
Then slowly but gently, I leaned forward. I gave her plenty of time to back out or turn away but she didn't. Instead, she leaned forward.
And there almost fifteen years since we first met, kissed Rhaenyra for the very first time.
That wasn't the end of our night though instead I had so much planned for us to do tonight.
[Chapter image]
XXX
Just started watching My Adventures with Superman let me tell you this shit was 🔥I mean cooking with gas and electric. Honestly way better than I thought it would be. Damn near marathoned all of season one in only one day.
Also, I've been hearing things about some sort of play about the mad king but I've yet to find a reliable source of details about what exactly is going on with it so if someone could point me in the right direction that would be great.
Most importantly though the real question is should Aemon sleep with Rhaenyra yet? Personally, I feel like it's way too early for that in their relationship yet but if he pushed, I feel like she'd go for it.
To smut or not to smut that is the question.
Anyway, see you all in the next chapter.