Wolf of Númenor

Chapter 57: Conquest of King's Landing

About three weeks had passed since the battle in "Storm's End" and Aegon, along with his mentor Jon Connington, Haldon and Ser Rolly were taking the Roseroad bound for Oldtown.

His cousins Tyene and Elia stayed in the ancestral castle of the Baratheon's with Ser Daemon Sand and their companions awaiting the answer of their uncle Doran though Aegon cared little if he had the spears of Dorne for he had a far greater prize worth more than all the soldiers in Westeros.

With the ring of Valyria that Annatar gave him, the young dragon knew that his victory was assured; although he heeded the counsel of his advisors, they would secure allies before marching on King's Landing. Aegon's was eager to crush the Lions, who have proven to be treacherous and usurpers even though Aegon loathes to admit it his third cousin had won the crown by right of conquest while the Lannisters were treasonable tricksters who relied on betrayal, conspiracy, and manipulation of the court so much so that he was confident they had killed Robert.

But Rhaegar's son will put that aside for the moment; in his spare time, Aegon had learned the value in caution and strategy; while Annatar's gift was undoubtedly powerful, he could still be slain by an arrow or a very clever assassin.

Aegon truly hoped that Annatar's ring had shown him the sword of kings; otherwise, this journey would be for nothing. They had travelled along the Rose Road like common outlaws as it seemed the wisest course of action Pirates were prowling the coast of Dorne, and to travel by river risked their capture by stray Ironborn or worse, Paxter Redwyne.

According to their spies, Lord Redwyne had abandoned the siege of Dragonstone and recalled his fleet barring the mouth of the Mander and sending patrols down the rivers hoping to capture the Ironborn raiders, it seemed the Reach was preparing for the Krakens.

Travelling through Dorne was out of the question, as, despite Aegon's blood ties to House Martell, the deserts were home to many a scorpion and the occasional shadow cat, and if that didn't kill them, then perhaps some foolhardy Dornish lord would hoping to claim the bounties on their heads.

Fortunately for them, the vast majority of the Tyrell army was scattered throughout Westeros, helping the Lannisters solve the problems caused by the Cersei administration or preparing to drive the Ironborn from the Shield Islands and Randyll Tarly was still in King's Landing. So they were able to travel quite peaceably apart from the occasional bandit or poacher.

All to hopefully recover the lost sword of the Conqueror and with it begin to dispel doubts about his identity when the time comes to raise his banner ... Although having a dragon would be much better. But, unfortunately, there are none left, not since the days of Aegon III.

He and his companions toured several tiny villages and the ruins of Summerhall and the storied castle of Blackhaven; the former was the summer palace of his family built by his great grandfather six times over for his Dornish wife, alas it was a place of tragedy his forebear Aegon V had foolishly tried to hatch dragons with wildfyre. The resulting inferno killed him, Ser Duncan the Tall and his heir Duncan the small as for Blackhaven Aegon had heard its Lord was immortal.

Nonsense ... Or at least that's what Aegon thought until he had seen the magic of his ring.

When he recovers the Iron Throne, Aegon has every intention of restoring that place.

----------------------------

Oldtown is located at the mouth of the Honeywine in the southwestern side of the Reach. North of the city are the castles Honeyholt and Brightwater Keep. To the east lies Uplands, and to the West Blackcrown and Three Towers. To enter the port of Oldtown from the Sunset Sea, one first needs to enter the Whispering Sound. Thus, the Roseroad travels from Oldtown to Highgarden, from where it continued on to King's Landing.