Baelon talks to Hobert Hightower about Alicent's future wedding. Rhaenyra attempts to help Viserys, not that he realizes it. I hope you guys like it. 🥰
Damon resisted the urge to laugh as Hobert Hightower attempted to keep his composure while speaking to his father. Since his grandsire was very ill, Baelon was the one in charge as heir to the throne and hand of the king. It had been two days since Otto's death and Hobert had already sent his brother's body to Oldtown, he had stayed behind to resolve Alicent's wedding. The man had not been expecting Baelon's amendments to the contract and had been shocked. Damon was a bit surprised too, but he was also happy about the changes.
"This was not what we agreed on, my prince." Baelon just lifted an eyebrow and looked amused. "Prince Viserys and my brother decided that the prince would wed Alicent as soon as appropriate after his divorce."
"My lord, your niece is too young to be wed, she will not be of age for three years." Baelon's expression did not change. "I would think that as the person responsible for her well-being you would not want your niece to be in danger."
"Of course not, my prince." The man swallowed. "I just want to make sure people will not attempt to take advantage of my niece now that her father is gone."
"Are you making some kind of accusation, Lord Hobert?" Baelon narrowed his eyes at the man and Damon hid his smile behind his cup. "I would advise you to tread carefully."
"Of course not." The man knew he had overstepped and attempted to save face. "My niece informed me that Princess Aemma requested her as her lady in waiting. Is that such a good idea?"
"Do you have something against my wife?" Damon's smile left his face and he could tell that his father was truly upset. Baelon looked like he was about to leap over the table and attack the other man. "Because she is a Targaryen princess and a dragon rider, your niece would be lucky to be under her care."
"Of course, my prince." Hobert looked terrified and even Damon was a bit worried that Baelon would attack the lord, especially because they had nothing against Hobert Hightower to justify killing him. "I did not mean any disrespect."
"I am sure you did not." Baelon's voice was calmer, but he was still glaring at the other man. "Your niece will be treated like the lady she is and we will review this contract once she has turned six and ten, and not a moment before."
Hobert nodded but did not say anything, he knew he had lost. The lord bowed and walked out of the room. Damon turned to his father, who still looked a bit annoyed.
"For a moment I thought you would attack him."
"I knew what he was thinking as soon as he mentioned Aemma's name." Baelon shook his head. "I cannot believe he had the audacity to come to me and ask about his niece's wedding when his brother just died."
"For them, power is more important." Damon shrugged. "I am surprised Aemma asked Alicent to be her lady."
"Aemma believes she is innocent." Baelon looked at him for a moment. "What do you think?"
"I am not the person to ask." He would not lie to his father. "I believe all Hightowers should die, but I am sure my wife will have a different answer if you asked her."
"I thought Nyra hated Alicent?"
"The Alicent in our world." Sometimes it was hard to explain certain things. "But she sees this Alicent as innocent, this girl has not been corrupted yet. She does not know what it feels like to be queen, to have that power in her hands."
"Aemma also wants to be able to watch her."
"That is smart." Damon agreed with Aemma. "We should make sure Alicent stays innocent because the moment she stops we will need to kill her."
Damon had no problems killing that bitch, but he knew his wife and his good mother, or stepmother, gods this was all so confusing, would have something different to say about it.
Daemon Targaryen (33 years old.)
Baelon Targaryen (43 years old.)
*********************************************************************************************************************************************************
Nyra was a bit surprised when she found Viserys walking on the beach, he did not notice her, and she took her time to study him. He looked older and the way he carried himself was almost defeated. He looked like someone who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. She could not help but feel bad for him, even after all the mistakes he had made, there and in her world, he was still her father and she had always loved him. After observing him for a few minutes she walked closer to him and waited until he noticed her.
"I have never seen you walking out here." She smiled. "I actually do not remember seeing my father walking on the beach either. I was starting to believe you were afraid of water."
"Walking helps me clear my head." He did not return her smile. "It is peaceful out here, not so many people watching and laughing at me."
"Who is laughing at you?" Nyra asked with a frown.
"Everyone." Viserys gave her an annoyed stare. "Do not act like you have not noticed it. They all talk behind my back, the man whose wife left him for his father, and then her screams of pleasure could be heard down the halls."
"She did not leave you." Even as bad as she felt for what he must have heard, she would not allow him to play the victim. "You left her. If I remember correctly, you are the one that asked for a divorce repeatedly."
"I did not know she was being poisoned." The way he said it angered her.
"Why is that important?" Nyra glared at him, seeing the man she had grown up with. The one who liked placing blame on everyone but himself. "She went to you and spoke about her fears, she did not know she was being poisoned either. She was reaching out to you, for help and understanding and you left her."
"We had a duty." She wanted to hit him over the head and see if that would clear his mind. "She had a duty and she refused to do her part."
"And is duty making you happy now?" Nyra crossed her arms over her chest. "You have a young woman to whom you will wed in a few years, she might be able to give you sons. Is doing your duty making you any happier?"
"No." He admitted. "But it will secure the kingdom."
"It will?" Nyra gave him a curious look and moved closer to him. "Are you certain? Because in the future, your children will kill each other and they will kill the dragons. When all is said and done, there will not be anything good left. Magic will die, it will be erased, and when it is needed to save the world once more it will be too late."
"What are you saying?"
"Did you not listen to anything we told you?" It surprised her how blind and stubborn her father could be. "We told you the gods sent us back to stop the death of the dragons and to stop magic from being extinguished from the world." Nyra shook her head. "When you made me your heir you told me about Aegon's prophecy."
"Aegon's prophecy?"
"Yes." It took Nyra a moment to realize he would not know what she was talking about. At that time he still had not been told about the prophecy. "You do not know what I speak of yet, but believe me when I say it is worse than even we can imagine. When that time comes it will be a fight between humanity and horrible dead creatures that will come from the far north. Magic and dragons will be needed, but the fight will be lost because of what happened years earlier. We killed the dragons and magic died with them."
Her father looked at her with a strange look on his face, he was attempting to see if she was telling the truth. Her father had always been one to believe in prophecies and dreams, he had believed himself a dreamer at one point in time. Nyra could not understand why her father was ignoring the biggest miracle that had happened to the Targaryens for over one hundred years. It was not like people traveled through time and space every day.
"Why are you having such a hard time believing us?" It took her a moment to see it on his face. "Does this have anything to do with the fact that I am wed to Damon?"
"It does not give me any confidence that my brother wed my daughter while she was still a child."
"I was wed to Damon when I was six and ten." Nyra reminded herself that slapping her father would not make anything better. "And I will not remark on the hypocrisy of your statement."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what I said." She glared at him. "You just requested to wed a girl who is only three and ten. Let me tell you something about my husband because you seem to have forgotten and chosen to believe all the lies Otto Hightower fed you. Do not bother to tell me he did not say anything." Nyra said when her father opened his mouth the defend Otto. "Damon always loved you, he would have done anything for you, in fact, he did. He was the one who worked the hardest to make sure you became king, and you thanked him by exiling him time and time again. Even after all of that he still supported you and wanted to protect you. Damon did not look at me as a woman until he returned from the Stepstones and by that time I was already of age. Before that, he never looked at me with anything other than familiar love."
"I still do not like it." It was like speaking to a child.
"You do not have to like it, you just have to be happy for me and for him, because we are your family." She stood up and let out a sigh. "You have already lost Aemma, and you keep pushing away the people who love you. I would advise you to think long and hard about the decisions you are making because if you keep going down this path you will be all alone."
Nyra walked away, upset that after everything her father refused to listen to what they were attempting to tell him. They were his family and they wanted him to be happy, but he just kept fighting them every step. Sometimes it felt like he wanted to be miserable.
Rhaenyra Targaryen (17 years old.)