The talks went on as they did. And even the cupbearing princess arrived fashionably late like last time.
Regardless, it went on...
With the Master of Ships expressing his concerns for the Triarchy once again.
The Master of Coin gave accounts on all expenditure that is to be made in the next couple of weeks.
And the gold that would be lost when the Master of Ships had his way.
Accordingly, the Master of Laws was all about the reasonable enforcement of the law... and the regulation of the fervent City Watch who enforces it.
While the Grand Maester simply gave notices on the Queen's condition and scholarly insights when his opinion was needed.
While the Hand handled all that they brought up and proposed in accordance to what he saw fit.
Only with the King's approval, of course.
A dynamic that was only a bit different from meeting's past... yet still nothing out of the usual for the lot of them.
However... quite unexpectedly, the audience with the Young Bronze that the King had mentioned was happening sooner than expected.
As a matter of fact, just after the Small Council was wrapped up and the members were taking off their marbles to symbolize their exit... a Kingsguard opened the door to announce. "The Lady Rhea Royce of Runestone and Ser Ronan Royce are here, Your Grace."
"Ah, yes," the King noted, a faint note of apprehension in his expression, though he still added. "It is about that time, I see. And it would also seem that this discussion of ours ran long."
Meaning that one meeting's end bled into another's start... and Viserys could only begrudge himself for not managing time any better.
Consequently, instead of the council members making their way out to other responsibilities and duties... all of them stayed rooted where they were, quite curious of what this was about.
Viserys, who wanted to urge them away, stopped his tongue.
He had wanted this to be a private discussion with the Royces... but perhaps the presence of his council could be in his favor.
After all, this special audience was without precedent, and he was quite out of his depth.
Accordingly, as he was thinking so... a bronze-attired lady and her bronze-armored son walked in.
And one simple look at the boy made Viserys sigh quite heavily.
For his and his queen's worries rang true.
In a different way.
As the boy... no, the young man... stood proud beside his mother, tall and broad of shoulder, his bearing noble, his manner calm.
And yet, for all the whispers that spoke of him as Daemon's image reborn… Viserys found himself struggling to see it.
They said he was the spitting likeness of his little brother in youth.
But Viserys had seen Daemon as a boy... wild, sharp-featured, all Valyrian fire and arrogance even before the dragons took to him.
And this lad...
Well, this lad had none of that at all. He might even be something else entirely.
Maybe someone else's son as Daemon claimed him to be...
Dark-haired, gray-eyed, and mayhaps just Bronze features of Runestone written upon his face.
There were traces of Targaryen sharpness, yes... a tilt of the chin, perhaps, the faintest flicker of purple in his gaze... but nothing more. Nothing conclusive at all.
While the rest was most likely Royce... solid, earthbound, steady, far too tempered to ever be Daemon's reflection.
The gods could play cruel jests, Viserys mused privately in his head. For he was no witch who could read blood and lineage by just looking at a face.
So, quite frankly, he was stumped. At what to react and how to proceed.
And so he stalled.
He stalled long enough that the council exchanged glances... Otto stood straight in quiet expectation, Corlys raising a brow, while the rest studied the boy with intrigue.
He stalled so long that even the clueless Rhaenyra, who had been shocked at the young famous knight's presence, went close to ask softly.
"Father?"
Her tone was a child's confusion and a daughter's worry all at once.
Viserys blinked, as if waking from a long thought.
"Ah... yes. Forgive me." He apologize then, forcing a smile. "Lady Rhea of Runestone... welcome to the Red Keep, and to the Small Council, though I must apologize for the circumstances."
"Also I must apologize belatedly, for it was never my wish for the matter between my brother and yourself to have ended as it did."
He gestured toward a seat but alas, she did not take it.
"You are an honored guest, my lady. I am most pleased that you have come."
Making Lady Rhea incline her head slightly, her face unreadable of how she truly felt about the pretenses. For this was different to how she expected it to go…
Accordingly, Viserys turned to the young man standing beside her.
"And Ser Ronan... your name has traveled far across the realm, even as far as my own hall. A boy once called Stone, now the Young Bronze... your toys, crafts, and inventions have given amusement to the court, the nobles and the smallfolk alike. I daresay your fame has, at times, rivaled even mine."
A few listeners reacted faintly at that, though the King's tone remained warm.
"It gladdens me to see such talent in one so young. Runestone must be proud indeed."
And the bronze youth just gave a simple nod.
While the king meant the words as a gracious welcome... but in truth, his heart was still weighing the quiet uncertainty that he dared not voice.
This meeting was not the reveal of blood or lineage that he and the Queen might have expected... it was something unexpected.
Something stranger.
Something odd and inexplicable.
Something that made him all the more doubt.
And not at all the absolution and the unveiling of the truth that it should have been.