Gaemon Targaryen (109 A.C. Second Moon)
King's Landing - Royal Luncheon
Life, he thought, was dreadfully boring. As a babe and toddler, he remembered little of those early years, though they had shaped him nonetheless. What he did remember, and what he cherished most, was his mother's affection. In Alicent, he saw a woman who longed to love, though not always by choice. He had overheard enough conversations between her and her father, now his grandfather, to know that Otto Hightower had urged her to entice the King, to win his hand through charm.
The man he disliked most, however, was his supposed father. Viserys paraded him about like some prized treasure before the lords and ladies, yet in their daily life, he paid little mind to him or Aegon. His visits were fleeting, his affection perfunctory, leaving their true care to Alicent, to Otto, and to the maids.
His musings were broken as one of the lords spoke up. "He has his father's hair, Your Grace, though there are red streaks like his royal mother's." The man wore the badge of House Estermont upon his chest.
Viserys smiled proudly. "Well, my queen has wonderful hair. I like the combination of us both in the boy."
"He has his grandmother's eyes, Your Grace," added another, Lord Jasper Wylde of Rain House, a broad man with black hair and a thick beard. Gaemon remembered the name from introductions. A man much like Viserys himself, who seemed to think the making of heirs was the highest duty of a husband. Four wives before his own death, if memory served.
"Yes, he does," Viserys said warmly. "A fine reminder of my mother. Though she had eyes of green and purple, my little dragon's are purple and brown."
Gaemon sighed inwardly. The words were kind, yet they meant little, for they were only words. The King rarely spoke to him beyond pleasantries. His affection was as fleeting as wind between stones.
"Prince Aegon, however, is your likeness entirely," another lord noted, and all eyes turned to where Aegon was being held by a maid.
"Indeed, he is," Viserys said with a grin. "He will be more handsome than I ever was, all thanks to my queen."
Then came a bow and a serious voice. "Your Grace," said Tyland Lannister, "I bring urgent news from the Stepstones. The Triarchy and the Crabfeeder have entrenched themselves within Bloodstone. They slip past our ships and raid under nightfall, gathering supplies."
Curious, Gaemon thought. The Stepstones, if brought fully under the Crown's control, could fill its coffers richly.
Viserys sighed. "Not today, Tyland."
Tyland's face tightened. "The matter is regrettably urgent. Trade routes are still disrupted; sailors demand higher pay; and the cost of sea travel has steadily risen these past years. If this continues..."
"It has been three years," Viserys interrupted sharply. "It can wait another three."
Tyland bowed his head, disappointed, as the King turned away toward the table, where the scents of roast and spice beckoned.
"Come, eat," Viserys said, spreading his arms. Alicent followed, taking a few grapes in hand as her maids trailed behind. "Fortify yourself for the journey."
"Is the baggage train ready?" Viserys asked Lord Lyonel.
"They are massing at the River Gate, Your Grace. Lord Jason and the others await us in the Kingswood before midday," the Master of Laws replied.
Gaemon looked upon Lord Lyonel with a kind of childlike contentment. The man seemed good, steady and fair, from what little he had seen. Yet Gaemon knew from memory what would come: Lyonel would serve well until his death at Harrenhal. If only Father had kept him as Hand, the Dance might never have come to pass.
Still, Rhaenyra had shown little interest in befriending the lords or standing beside her father. Instead, she nursed anger toward their mother, anger misplaced though perhaps not entirely without reason. Alicent could have told her the truth, yes, but that would have meant defying Otto's commands, and a daughter was expected to obey her father.
As though sensing his thoughts, Viserys asked, "Has anyone seen Rhaenyra?"
"I have not, Your Grace," replied Lord Lyonel.
Viserys sighed and looked about the hall. Tyland spoke again. "With nightly raids and the Triarchy sheltering behind the walls of Bloodstone, a fortress is like Casterly Rock, a fortress with a hill, and with it the threat of the dragons is blunted."
"They are pirates, not soldiers," Viserys said dismissively.
"Perhaps, but the setbacks have led to desertions among Prince Daemon's and Lord Corlys's men," Tyland pressed.
Viserys sighed again, spooning food onto his plate. "If this continues, the Stepstones campaign will fail, and the islands will fall permanently to the Triarchy."
Tyland's tone turned almost pleading. "If the Crown wishes to prevent that, now is the time to act."
Gaemon gazed at the man with quiet intensity. Yes, he thought, act. Command your vassals. Mount a dragon. Do something, King.
But Viserys said nothing.
Otto Hightower spoke instead. "Prince Daemon and Lord Corlys began their war without His Grace's leave. To intervene now would make the Crown appear weak."
Gaemon frowned. No, he thought, they should have act before als this it would have made the Crown appear united, and show the Crown's strenght. Now it only looked divided.
Viserys glanced about again. "Can someone in the seven hells tell me where Rhaenyra might be?"
No one answered, save his mother.
"Let me, husband," Alicent said softly. "I have an idea where she is." Viserys smiled at her, his mother then turn to the maids. "Please, bring the children to the carriage. I shall meet you there with the princess."
As she left the hall, Gaemon smiled faintly. Good woman, he thought.
The Carriage
"Well, isn't this splendid?" Viserys declared cheerfully. "My wife and children, all off to celebrate and adventure in the Kingswood!"
A maid handed him a cup of sweet milk, which Gaemon happily drank. Then the carriage jolted over a rock, bouncing them all. Aegon began to cry, and Alicent winced in discomfort.
"Should you, be traveling in such a condition?" Rhaenyra asked with a frown, though a teasing smile followed.
"The maester said the fresh air would do me good," Alicent replied gently.
Viserys, oblivious as ever, beamed. "You'll soon have your own child, and make me a proud grandsire!"
Gaemon glanced between his father and sister. His mother tried to soothe the mood. "The days are long, but even though Gaemon and Aegon were twins, they came without fuss."
"Ny-ra," Gaemon said through his toddler's speech, reaching toward his sister.
Rhaenyra smiled, and Alicent praised him softly. "Good boy."
Viserys chuckled. "You should ride with me today, Rhaenyra, join in the chase."
But her face stayed composed, cold. "I'd rather not. Boars squeal like children when they're slaughtered. I find it discomforting."
Viserys looked at her sadly. "It's a royal hunt, Rhaenyra. You should take part."
Come, sister, Gaemon thought. You should stand among them, show them you belong.
But Rhaenyra only sighed. "I don't see why I must."
He squealed softly in irritation, squirming toward his mother.
"Stay with your nurse, sweetling," Alicent said, brushing his hair. "We'll play later."
Viserys's tone grew heavier. "Because you are the Crown Princess, and there are duties that come with that."
Gaemon studied his father, uncertain if Viserys truly believed his own words.
Rhaenyra gave a weary sigh. "As I am ceaselessly reminded."
Viserys huffed. "You wouldn't need to be reminded if you attended to them."
Perhaps he was right, Gaemon thought. If she neglected her duties, what future would the realm see in her?
Rhaenyra smiled tightly. "They're not here for me, Father. They're here for the boys."
Gaemon gurgled in annoyance. I wish they weren't here either, he thought, but if you would only speak kindly of us, of unity, they might yet love you for it.
Viserys fell quiet, and the carriage rattled on. Beside him, Aegon reached for their father's cup again, giggling.
Kingswood
After their carriage enter and stop, carried by Viserys. The crowd erupted in applause. Calling him Gaemon the first, the Glorius reborn. Gaemon pouted as small child would, if they only knew his was reborn indeed. Indeed this damn crowd and looked behind seeing his sister step out the carriage. Looking miserable and looking at him with jellousy.
Soon enough him and Aegon where place near playing aere, with toys and other things. Gaemon not knowing what else to pick up a dragon toy, and began pretting it flew. Aegon giggle and picked up another toy, as much is was child play, he enjoy seeing Aegon laugh. Childeren laugh where one the most pure things in the world, and the delight he saw in Aegon's eyes was worth.
Yet soon enough he, heard Viserys and Rhaenyra's voices rise a bove the rest. "Is that what I am to you?" She began.
Gaemon looked at them Aegon still playing with his dragon toy. "A prize to proffer about to the great houses."
Gaemon looked at his sister strangely then. Well, that's how you are too, too arrogant and self-absorbed. You don't see the potential in Jason or the Westerlands, or the benefit of gaining a good match for yourself.
Viserys's face turned into a frown at his daughter's words. "Well, I thought you two had that in common."
Rhaenyra's face grew angrier as Viserys continued. "Since you came of age, I've been slowly drowning in a lake of parchment sent from every corner of the realm. Marriage proposals, all."
Viserys's voice became louder. "And I have tried often to discuss it with you, but you have refused me at every turn!"
Gaemon looked on as they argued in front of the court. Fools, he thought.
Rhaenyra shouted, "That is because I do not wish to get married!"
Doubt that, Gaemon thought. The ones you wish to marry you cannot, Daemon or Criston, if the tales in the histories are to be believed.
"Even I do not exist above tradition and duty, Rhaenyra!" Viserys shouted in frustration.
Gaemon gave out a giggle at that. Come now, you yourself married my mother, when you should have married Laena, to unite the Crown with the blood of Prince Aemon. Yet you chose the friend of your daughter and that of your Hand. A match that, even if I must say so myself, wasn't a benefit to the Crown. Apparently, Otto paid no dowry to the Crown.
Rhaenyra wanted to say more, but Otto interrupted their squabble. "Excuse me, Your Grace."
Both father and daughter looked toward him, and then around at the people near the tent, realizing they had made a mistake.
Viserys turned back toward Rhaenyra. "You must marry."
Rhaenyra only gave him a cold look before he turned to Otto.
"Yes?" he asked.
"The royal huntsman has sent a report. They spotted a white hart — the stag is King of the Kingswood, Your Grace. A regal portent for Gaemon's and Aegon's nameday."
Viserys nodded and didn't notice his daughter furiously leaving.
Gaemon just sighed and went back to his toys. Here I am, in the time of the Dance, yet I can do nothing to stop the coming storm. Even now, the court was being split into two camps, and Rhaenyra herself wasn't playing the game, as Tyrion liked to say. She's not using this to ally herself, or to learn, or to sharpen her mind as one sharpens a blade with a whetstone in the ways of ruling.
No, instead she embarrassed herself in front of the court and many noble families. Pretty Rhaenyra might be, but currently, she wasn't acting smart.
The Next Morning
A blaring horn split the dawn. Gaemon jerked awake, startled, his small hands clenching the blanket. Aegon began to cry beside him. The maids rushed in, cooing softly as they changed the twins' soiled loincloths.
He hated it, every moment of it. The helplessness of a child's body. The indignity of it. I once rode into battle and faced death, he thought bitterly, and now I cannot even keep dry through the night.
When the maids were done, Alicent lingered, smoothing his hair with a tired smile. "I'll stay a while," she said softly. "I want a moment to myself."
She wasn't granted it. Otto entered the tent, his expression grim.
"The king was not swayed," he said.
Alicent turned toward him, frowning. "Not swayed? About what?"
"Neither betrothing Rhaenyra to Jason Lannister, nor to Gaemon."
Both Alicent and Gaemon made a small sound of shock. "What?" she exclaimed. "You suggested Rhaenyra marry my son? She's five and ten years his elder—and his sister!"
Gaemon blinked, stunned. Me? Wed Rhaenyra? By the time I'm grown, she'll be nearing thirty. Still, stranger marriages had been made. His own mother's union was proof enough of that. Age mattered little in the game of succession.
Otto's face was calm, almost calculating. "It would unite the claims, Your Grace. Down the line, the realm would look to him, not her, for guidance."
Alicent's lips thinned. "Perhaps. But next time, discuss such things with me first. I am their mother. If Rhaenyra has a daughter one day, perhaps our lines may be joined then."
Gaemon giggled softly, clutching his toy dragon. I married my aunt once before, he thought wistfully. What difference would it make to be the uncle this time? But as soon as the thought came, it turned to sorrow. Dany... His heart clenched painfully. And our children... what became of you?
His throat tightened, and tears welled in his eyes. He could not stop them. His small body betrayed him, and he began to cry.
Alicent hurried to him, gathering him into her arms. "Shh, my boy," she whispered. "It will be all right."
Her words soothed him, but the ache remained.
Later That Day
Apparently, his father had found a white hart and had proclaimed the hide would be for his two sons. Yet not much later, a blood-covered Rhaenyra rode into the camp with a bloody boar carcass behind her.
The camp gasped at her arrival.
"Ye, Nyra!" he babbled, and the court clapped for him.
Viserys, seeing his reaction, clapped too. "A daughter, a fine kill! Come, let's all feast for my daughter and the bounty of the white hart!"
Alicent's Chambers in King's Landing
He sat contently in the corner of his mother's chambers, playing with another dragon toy, a black and pale blue one. Those colors reminded him of Dreamfyre, Balerion, and the Cannibal. Soon enough, Aegon began to cry, and a maid took him away, as Alicent looked at Gaemon with love. When the rest of the maids had left, Otto walked inside and took a place beside Alicent.
"Did you enjoy the hunt, daughter?" he asked.
"The fresh air did me some good, and Gaemon and Aegon seemed content. The lords and ladies were quite taken with them," Alicent replied, looking at him with a bright smile.
"Good. Gaemon and Aegon are the future of the realm," Otto said as he sat down.
Gaemon looked at Otto then. What does the man want now?
"You yourself witnessed the scale of the celebration, and the glorious white hart in Gaemon's and Aegon's honor. They were all there, and it was a cause for unity. Unity that will break if Rhaenyra becomes the next ruler over Gaemon," Otto said.
At that, Gaemon gave out an irritated gurgle.
"Shh, it's all right," his mother said softly.
Otto just smiled. "When you bore the King a son, you ended fifteen years of uncertainty and doubt. Gaemon, like his namesake, can have a glorious future, to be King of the Seven Kingdoms."
At that, he fussed again.
"It's all right," his mother said, picking him up gently.
"If Viserys were to name him heir, the realm would thank him for it. The Great Council decided the preferred line of succession. If they wanted a woman to be heir, they would have voted for Rhaenys," Otto added.
His mother frowned at her father and looked at him.
"This would not please you?" Otto questioned. "Do you not want your son to be king?"
Gaemon felt his mother's heartbeat quicken. "What mother wouldn't?" she said, yet he heard the reluctance in her voice.
"You mustn't ignore a certain truth," Otto said. "If Rhaenyra were to step over Gaemon's claim to take his birthright, the realm would tear itself apart. Perhaps elder sisters to other lords might think the same, that they should rule instead, causing death and violence."
To be honest, the man had a point. If Viserys truly wanted his daughter to succeed, he should have put it into law. Although the King's word was law, it seldom held much weight after his death. Aenys's supposed heir had been supplanted by his uncle, and Robert's own will to have his father as Lord Protector and Regent had been broken by Cersei and the Small Council.
His mother looked uncertainly toward her father. "They all swore obeisance to her, our house among them."
Otto sighed. "That was before Gaemon, because the lords did not wish for Daemon to rule them."
"Rhaenyra will be a good queen," his mother argued.
At that, he giggled in approval. If Rhaenyra changed, she could be a good queen. He had seen what strong women could do if their minds were set toward the right purpose, thinking of his sisters and of Dany.
"It wouldn't matter if she were Jaehaerys reborn again," Otto began. "She is a woman."
His mother then looked at him, saddened. "What of Gaemon? Would you have me raise him to want to usurp Rhaenyra, his own blood?"
He gave out a joyful sound.
Otto smiled at the sight but countered still. "It is Gaemon who is being robbed. He is the firstborn son of the King. To deny that he is the heir to the throne is to assail all the laws of this land and those of the gods. She should not come before Gaemon."
Gaemon looked at Otto with interest. He has some points. If they went by Westerosi custom, or perhaps even Valyrian rule, he should come before her. Aegon the Conqueror had come before Visenya, and Jaehaerys had become King instead of Rhaena. Even Rhaenys's own husband had been expected to become Aenys's heir, though she was older than her brother. Currently, the Iron Throne had no true succession law, only precedent, which meant it didn't matter. The King, or the strongest hand, would decide who ruled after.
Otto continued, "The road ahead is uncertain, but the end is clear. Gaemon will be King."
Both he and his mother sighed at that. He wasn't so sure. At this moment, Rhaenyra could still change. If she proved herself capable of leading, he would follow her and protect her claim. Yet currently, he wasn't sure what he should do.
After his musings, he yawned loudly.
"It seems one is getting tired," his mother said softly.
"You must guide Viserys toward reason. He will never find it on his own," Otto said as he rose from the table and left them there.
"I will do my best for you. I might not have wished for this marriage, but you and Aegon are the light in this place for me," she said, kissing him on the forehead.
He giggled and tried to kiss her back.
Soon, he was taken to his chambers and fell into a thoughtful sleep.