Finally Otto's trial. New things are revealed and proof is shown. We will also see a more manipulative side of Deirys, she knows how to manipulate the situation to make sure her family is safe. Viserys looses his head a bit and he surprises everyone. Valyrian is in italics. I hope you guys like it. 🥰
Aemond already felt a headache coming and the spectacle had not even started yet. He had spent the past two days avoiding his mother. He already knew what she was going to say and he was tired of hearing it. She had been acting more volatile these past few days, it was almost like she was on edge and just needed the tiniest push to go over the edge. Even his sister Helaena and her children had stopped visiting her. Jaehaera was scared of his mother and it did not help when the only thing she did was talk badly about Visenya, who was Jaehaera's best friend and cousin. Aemond knew without any doubt that his grandsire was guilty, but it would need to be proven if the king was to believe it. Deirys had told him about some of the evidence that had been gathered against his grandsire, she had also let him know that there were other things he did not know and would find out today. He knew she had something planned but would not tell him what it was.
Thinking about Deirys brought a smile to Aemond's face, especially remembering what she had done two nights prior. His body hardened in response when he remembered the way her mouth had felt around his cock. This was not the best place to think about it, especially because her father was sitting a few feet away from him. He was convinced Daemon would kill him without a second thought if he discovered what they had done, but it would be worth it. He looked towards Deirys, who was standing next to her mother and two brothers. She looked beautiful in her red and gold gown, even if he preferred her naked. Daemon and Rhaenyra had decided their two older sons were old enough to be present during the trial. Aemond suspected they were there to keep their mother calm and safe more than anything else. He had noticed how tense Daemon and Rhaenyra were, and it was not just because of the trial. Something had happened, Daemon would not stop glaring and had been in an awful mood for the past day.
"All hail Viserys Targaryen, first of his name King of the Andals, and the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm."
Everyone stood as his father entered the room. Men bowed and women curtsied and he walked past them. This time the trial was being held in the throne room out of respect for Aemond's mother and his old friend. The king did not know how people would react once the evidence was presented. Once the King sat on the throne the judges also sat down. After a few minutes Otto was brought in, he was flanked by four unsullied and looked awful. His clothes were dirty and ripped, and he had dried blood on his face and also his clothes. Aemond was aware that Daemon had questioned Otto and he really had not been gentle about it.
Aemond and Daemon had decided to let Lord Corlys do most of the talking, people would not believe anything coming from them since Aemond was Otto's grandson and Daemon hated him. If Aemond said something people will think that he was trying to save his grandsire and if Daemon said anything people would think he was trying to get Otto killed. Corlys would present the charges and do most of the talking, except for any questions they had. Otto kept glaring at Daemon.
"Ser Otto Hightower, you stand accused of high treason, for attempting to usurp the throne, conspiring with Dorne to assassinate the royal family, and providing critical war plans to our enemies." The entire court was murmuring to themselves. "How do you plead?"
"I am innocent." Even after being in the black cells for over a sennight, he did not seem to realize the amount of trouble he was in. "None of you have the right to be judging me."
"Ser Otto, you will address the judges and the rest of the court with respect." Viserys's voice was firm, but he looked torn. "You will only speak when spoken to. The faster we get this over with, the better."
Otto just glared but did not say anything. Then the letters Princess Alandria had provided were brought in and given to all three judges to check. Aemond knew immediately that it was his grandsire who had written them, he recognized the handwriting and it had the same tone Otto used when writing. The letters had some of the strategies Daemon and himself had used during the war at the Stepstones. There were also some of the letters Otto had sent to Prince Qoren telling him about the trip to Driftmark, the number of soldiers that would be present, and a map of High Tide. He saw Corlys's hand tighten when he saw the letters describing his home. Then a maester was brought forward, and he bowed to the king.
"Who is this?" Lord Corlys frowned and looked at Aemond, who shrugged. "What is your name?"
"I am maester Mikal, your graces." The maester bowed to them also, before lifting his head. "I am one of the maesters at the citadel, I have been there for over three years and I have some information."
"What kind of information?" Aemond asked before anyone else could.
"I am aware Ser Otto Hightower has been accused of treason for his involvement with the Dornish prince. While at the citadel, I discovered a journal in one of the secret chambers. It talks about a plan that has been enacted by the faith and Oldtown since before King Maegor's reign." Everyone started talking at once and his father looked like he would faint at any moment. "They have been poisoning several of the Targaryen queens to make them lose their babes, and they have also not provided the right care at the time of the birth so most of the mothers die or are left barren."
"Silence!" This time it was Daemon who yelled and the entire room was quiet. Daemon had fire in his eyes as he looked at the cowering maester. "You better have proof, or you will be joining Otto in the gallows."
"Yes, your grace." Maester Mikal moved forward, handing Daemon the book, who was looking at it like it would take a bite out of him. "I also procured some letters between maester Mellos, some of the maesters at the Citadel, and Ser Otto, planning Queen Aemma's death and the death of her children throughout the years."
The entire room descended into chaos.
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Deirys Targaryen (Otto Hightower's trial.)
Deirys held her mother's hand in hers, giving her an apologetic look. She had spoken to her mother and father the day before and had given them an idea of what was to come, but she had not told them the whole story. She made sure her mother knew what had happened to Queen Aemma was not an accident or bad luck, but the work of traitors, but she had not told her what had been done. Deirys hated causing her mother pain, but she knew that if her mother or father showed any signs of knowing what was happening no one would believe it. They would think her mother and father had planned the whole thing to make Otto Hightower look guilty. They would have been correct in a way, Deirys had planned this, the only thing was that none of it was a lie. She had just made sure all the evidence and witnesses were in place for this moment.
Deirys stared at the king, who looked pale and terribly sad. Her grandmother had been the love of his life, and in a way, he had felt guilty for her death all these years. In a way, he was guilty of her death since he was the one who authorize her to be cut open and married another woman not even a year after her death, but he had been manipulated into making that decision. She knew it would be a blow for him to find out that his friend had been the cause of it all, he would be devastated and that was what she was counting on. One thing her grandsire would not forgive was the murder of his children and the murder of his beloved queen. He finally seem to come out of his shock and glared at the maester.
"That is impossible, my late wife passed while in the birthing bed." He looked at her uncle and father before looking back at the maester. "How can Otto be guilty of that?"
"Ser Otto had maester Mellos give the late queen a tincture that would cause her to lose her pregnancies and weaken her. As the years passed, and the queen was not worsening fast enough, he had maester Mellos give her greater quantities, when queen Aemma fell pregnant her body was not strong enough to carry the babe." The maester gave the king an apologetic look. "Ser Otto wanted his daughter to be queen, so he order the maester to make sure the queen would pass during the birth or soon after. Since the queen was so weak, and had trouble bringing forth the babe, the maester had her cut open without any need."
"What are you saying?" The king looked like he was about to burst into tears.
"The babe was not breached, the queen would have been able to give birth to the child, if she had been given more time." As the maester spoke, her mother's hand tightened in hers. "There was no need to cut her open. Once the queen was dead, Ser Otto sent his daughter to you. He was aware that in your grief she would be able to talk her way into your bed and heart. I have several letters between Ser Otto and his brother, where Ser Otto explained his plans to his brother and they spoke about sending maesters to Dragonstone."
Deirys saw her father's hand tighten around Dark Sister and caught his eye. He was furious and she knew he would do something foolish and ruin everything if she did not get him to stop. She gave him a small shake of her head and looked at him with pleading eyes until he released the sword and sat back down.
"Maester Mikal." Lord Corlys brought the maester's attention back to himself. "Are you saying Queen Alicent was aware of her father's plans and went along with them?"
"No, my lord." Deirys saw Aemond sigh in relief. They both knew that the queen would have been executed if it was proven that she had conspired with her father to kill Queen Aemma. "Queen Alicent did not know of her father's plans. She had no idea that what happened to Queen Aemma was the work of the maesters and her father. She went to the king's chambers because her father ordered her to."
"I do not believe we are here to talk about the queen." Aemond's voice left no room for arguments. He gave the maester a hard stare. "Is there anything else you would like to say?"
"Yes, my prince." The maester pulled out a small vial, which contained a light green liquid. "Ser Otto and maester Mellos have also been conspiring for years to kill the king. They have been poisoning him slowly so his death would appear natural. Once Princess Rhaenyra insisted on her healers attending to the king and checking all the medicines given to him, maester Mellos had to change strategies and being to poison him using a different medicine, he would put it in the king's food so the healers would not know."
"Why would he want to kill the king?" Aemond asked, frowning at the maester. "All the power Ser Otto has is owed to his friendship with the king, he would lose everything if the king died."
"Not necessarily, my prince." Deirys would have been surprised at what could be seen as Aemond's defense of Otto, but she knew exactly what he was doing. "Ser Otto was planning to put Prince Aegon on the throne."
"Me?" Her uncle Aegon had not said anything the entire time. He was across the room from her, standing next to his wife. "We all know Princess Rhaenyra is the heir. I do not want to be king, I do not have the aptitude for it. My sister will be a much better queen. We have all seen the good she's done for the realm all these years."
Alicent glared at Aegon so hard that had she been a dragon she would have set him on fire. Aegon did not seem to care how angry his mother was, smiling at Helaena when she place a hand on his elbow. Deirys was happy their marriage was doing much better. Her uncle had changed much in the years she had been away. The entire court kept whispering as her father, uncle, and Corlys looked at all the letters and the journals the maester had provided. They also checked the vial the maester had given them and had a second maester and one of the healers confirm it was poisonous. Maester Mikal had been sent to stand to the side once he had provided all the evidence he had with him and Deirys realized he had disappeared. Deirys had also been observing her grandsire, the more time passed the angrier he got. All she could see in his eyes was hate, he was furious.
"My Lords!" All three judges looked at the king but he did not look away from Otto. "After analyzing all the evidence presented and listening to the witness's testimony, what is your judgment?"
"Guilty, your grace." Lord Corlys was the first one to respond.
"Guilty." Daemon looked at Otto like he was an insect he wanted to squash.
"Guilty." Aemond looked at his mother when he gave his verdict and Deirys saw the queen flinch.
"So be it. I, Viserys Targaryen, first of his name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm, find you guilty of treason." Viserys walked down the steps until he stood in front of his once friend. His footsteps were sure, his face a mask of rage. Otto was glaring hatefully at the king, who just smiled at him and Deirys felt a chill run down her spine, for the first time in her life she saw the resemblance between her father and grandsire. Gone was the weak indecisive man, in his place was a dragon, a king. His voice was so soft the only reason Deirys could hear was because she was standing close to them. "You killed my wife and my children. You made me doubt my own brother and treat him horribly. You poisoned me for years, just so your grandchildren would take the throne. Let me make one thing clear, Aegon will never be king, Helaena will never be queen. I will arrest your entire family and make sure your Hightower is torn down to pieces, not even dust will be left behind. I will erase your name from history because Aegon, Helaena, and Aemond might possess some of your blood, but they are Targaryens before anything else. Your name will die with you."
Viserys put a hand on Otto's shoulder, it almost appeared to be a calming gesture, unless you were looking at the king's face. Then before anyone could react Viserys grabbed the valyrian dagger he always carried and stabbed Otto in the belly over twenty times. The only thing keeping the other man on his feet was the hold the king had on him. Her grandsire kept stabbing Otto until his hand and the front of his tunic was covered in blood. Otto's entrails spilled onto the floor. People gasped and covered their mouths, while the queen let out a blood-curdling scream. Viserys let go of Otto and looked as he fell to the ground, his eyes wide open and unseeing. Viserys looked at the four unsullied that had been guarding the man and it was the first time Deirys heard him speak Valyrian in years.
"Put his head on a spike and display it by the front gates. I want everyone to know what happens to traitors." The king looked at Alicent, but this time there was no sympathy or even hesitation. He looked back at the dead man. "Feed his body to the dragons."
The king walked out of the room before anyone could even respond or process what just happened. Deirys took advantage of the chaos and stepped out of the room without her family or the servants noticing. She was able to make it to the secret tunnels without being seen and walked to Balerion's skull. Master Mikal was standing in front of the skull waiting for her.
"You did a marvelous job." Deirys smiled at the man. "I appreciate getting the proof needed to condemn that traitor."
"It was my pleasure, princess."
"Do you need help leaving the city?"
"Do not worry princess, I will be fine." He bowed and gave her an amused look. "After all, I do not keep the same face for long. I will go and do what you asked."
The faceless man walked away and Deirys let out a relieved sigh. One of the biggest threats to her family was gone. Now she could focus on her wedding, there were still things that needed to be done, but those could wait for a while.