The aftermath of Daemon's arrival in Kings Landing. We get to see a glimpse of how the other Daemon is doing at the Stepstones. I hope you guys like it. 🥰
In another world.
Alicent was dragged to the courtyard as other lords and ladies were dragged there also. By the time Daemon made it to the courtyard all the Kingsguard, except for Cole were present and so were all the members of the small council members, including Larys Strong. Since they returned from the other world Daemon had investigated everything the gods had shown him and Rhaenyra. He had discovered that a lot of those things were true in his world also, like Mysaria's betrayal. He made sure to kill her quickly and without fuss, not wanting people to suspect him. Even while Otto Hightower had been dead for years, he could not trust the woman and would not risk it. He also had Larys Strong watched, and the man was as evil as they came. Even in this world, he was planning to have his father and brother killed just so he could become Lord of Harrenhal. Not that Daemon was going to allow that to happen, but the man deserved to die.
"I am happy to see all of you," Daemon smirked at the people who were supposed to lead the kingdom and did nothing more than attempt to fill their own pockets and hold on to power for as long as possible. Not all of them were the same, but most of them were useless traitors. "You cannot imagine my and my wife's surprise when we received that news that my brother had died and you all decided to hide it." Some of the men paled and looked down, while a couple looked him straight in the eye. Lyonel Strong was one of those few. "I arrive here and find out that all of you decided that my wife and I did not need to know that she was now the queen."
"Your grace," Tyland Lannister looked like he was about to be sick and Daemon knew he would give nothing but excuses. "Your wife is large with child, we did not want to give her any distressing news."
"So all of you were planning to wait until my wife gave birth?" He could not hide the disbelief in his voice. "What if she still had another moon to go? Who was going to rule the kingdom then?"
His question was rhetorical, there was no right answer for that. They all knew they betrayed Rhaenyra and now they would have to pay for that betrayal.
"Your grace, if you will allow me." Lord Lyonel stepped forward, the expression on his face was harsh. Daemon nodded his head. "Immediately after the king's death, the dowager queen called for a council meeting. After informing us of the king's death she then advised us that it would be best if we kept the news of the king's death a secret until there was time to come up with a plan. She then made the comment that women were not meant to rule and you would not be a good king."
"Why did you stay quiet?" Daemon did not look away from Lyonel, attempting to see if he was lying. "Why did you not send a raven to let us know?"
"Because when Lord Beesbury and I protested, we were confined to our chambers." Daemon looked at Beesbury who nodded in agreement. "We have not been allowed to leave since then."
"It is true, your grace." One of the gold cloaks stepped forward. "We found Lord Strong and Lord Beesbury locked inside their chambers."
"Take Lord Strong and Lord Beesbury to the throne room, I will meet with them once I am done here." Two of the gold cloaks nodded and followed the two older men. Daemon looked at the five men remaining, who were now looking even more pale, except for Larys, he was under the impression he would get out of this one. "All of you are traitors and as everyone knows the punishment for traitors is death."
"Your grace..." Lord Wylde looked terrified and shook his head. "We did not mean any harm."
"Yes, you did." Daemon's smile was not pleasant. "You all believed you could overthrow the Targaryens and put someone else on the throne, let me assure you that it will never happen. My wife and I will not accept traitors in our court." He glared at the five men and signaled the gold cloaks. "Kill them all, except for Larys Strong."
One of the gold cloaks yanked Larys to the side, who still had that annoying smirk on his face. Daemon would make sure it was erased shortly. The gold cloaks did not waste any time before beheading the four men in quick succession. Once it was done, Daemon turned to look at Alicent, who looked as green as her dress and was shaking uncontrollably, and Larys who was standing near her.
"Harwin, approach me please." The large man moved closer, looking towards his brother before looking at him. "Did you know that your brother planned to kill you and your father?"
"What?" Harwin looked so shocked Daemon felt sorry for him. He knew that man loved his brother and had spent his entire life protecting him. "He was going to kill you both to prove his loyalty to Alicent and to become lord of Harrenhal."
"That cannot be true." Harwin turned to Larys, his eyes pleading for his brother to tell him it was not true. "Tell me you would not do something so horrible."
"But he did." Daemon was not enjoying this, he did not wish to hurt Harwin, who had been a loyal friend for many years. "He hired two men who were locked in the black cells and cut out their tongues so they could not speak. What he did not know was that one of the men knew how to write. I was able to intercept them both before they could carry out their plans."
Daemon handed Harwin the letter and watched as the man read it. At one point the other man was holding the letter so tight he was ripping part of it. By the end, there was fury written all over Harwin's face and his body was so tight it looked like it would snap at any moment. Finally, Harwin crumpled the letter and looked at Daemon, his eyes were as hard as steel.
"Do as you please." The other man gave a last disgusted look to his brother before walking away.
"Well, you heard him." Larys's face had changed and he did not look so confident now. "I believe your time has come and I have decided to give you a similar death as the one you planned for your brother and father."
Larys paled as Daemon dragged him close to Caraxes, he could feel his dragon's pleasure at the idea of killing a few people. Daemon let go of Larys and stepped aside as the man fell to the ground.
"Dracarys."
Caraxes's flames were a thing of beauty as the man was burned to a crisp in front of everyone present. The man's screams were a balm to Daemon's soul, now he would never have the chance to do the things the gods had shown him. Once he was dead Daemon turned to Alicent, watching as the woman turned so pale that for a moment he believed she would faint, which would annoy him because he wanted her to suffer. Daemon moved to Alicent before he dragged her to Caraxes. He had barely let her go when the woman vomited as her body shook uncontrollably. Alicent had always been terrified of their dragons and now it worked in Daemon's favor. He waited until she was done.
"Dracarys."
Caraxes must have felt Daemon's deep hatred for Alicent because his flames came out much slower and softer, almost like a burning caress. Alicent screamed as she was burnt slowly, some of the lords and ladies present looked away, others vomited and some looked completely horrified. Once Alicent was dead Daemon turned to all the people present, he wanted to make sure they understood him.
"These past events have been most unfortunate and I am sure that while there might still be some people that do not agree with having a woman as a ruler, well, to be honest, I do not care." His gaze moved around the courtyard. "My wife is the rightful heir to the throne and she will be queen." Daemon crossed his arms behind his back. "Now all of you can kneel and swear fealty to my wife or you can die. Whoever decides not to kneel I will give them an honorable death. But if any of you betray your oath I will make sure you suffer unimaginable things." No one moved, they did not appear to be breathing. "What is it going to be?"
Everyone's knees hit the ground as they swore fealty to Rhaenyra. He knew this would not be enough. Once Rhaenyra arrived they would have to call every lord to Kings Landing and have a proper coronation. All the lords would swear fealty to the new queen, or he would kill them all.
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The other world. 3.5 years later.
While Daemon thrived in war and chaos, he was tired of living in a tent, no matter how luxurious it was, and eating rationed food. His father had made sure that they did not lack provisions, but the stupid pirates were trickier than Daemon had believed at first. They were smart and used the caves to their advantage. Daemon's dragon was too large to fit in them and so was Seasmoke. Every day was another attack and while they killed a few men, they were not near enough to win the war. He received letters from his father, stepmother, niece, and brothers almost every day, but he missed them. He wished he could be home with them. He had missed the birth of his last brother and twin sisters. He imagined that Aelyx, Maekar, Aemon, and Alysanne must have grown a lot in the past few years. Rhaenyra was a woman now, she would be six and ten in just a few moons.
The image of the grown Rhaenyra he had met had faded a bit through the years. He remembered she was beautiful, but could not recall specific features any longer. The last letter Rhaenyra had sent said that his father had started sending invitations for Daemon and Rhaenyra's wedding. They were supposed to wed as soon as Daemon returned from the war. He adored his niece and thought her to be an adorable child, but that was all she was, a child. He still had a bit of trouble imagining he would be wedding and bedding her.
"The soldiers are not happy." Daemon looked up from the map he had been staring at for the past few minutes without really seeing it and stared at Corlys Velaryon. "They are displeased that the war is taking so long and are starting to question if this is worth it."
"I do not think they will be any happier if we return home and raise their taxes to pay for all the merchandise the pirates steal from us." Daemon did not blame them for not being happy, he was not happy either. What Daemon did not like was people who complained about things when everyone else's situation was the same. "My father will be sending reinforcements in a few days."
"I do not think that will be enough." Corlys poured himself some wine and sat down.
"Is your brother causing trouble again?" Daemon noticed the way Corlys's body tensed for a moment. He knew he was in the right, Vaemond Velaryon had been inciting the soldiers. The lord was tired of the war and thought that Daemon was reckless and dangerous. It amused Daemon how people always said he was reckless and dangerous when he did not react like they expected him to. Thanks to his recklessness he had saved several lives. "If he incites a mutiny I will have to kill him."
"Do not worry about it." Corlys was annoyed with his brother, but Daemon knew he did not want him dead. "I will handle my brother and make sure he does not step out of line."
This was getting tiresome and he would have to come up with a plan to defeat the crab feeder. He was attempting to remember some of the things that the other Daemon had said about his time at the Stepstones when Laenor walked into his tent.
"There is a letter from Kings Landing." Laenor approached him and extended his hand. "Is from the king and it appears to be urgent."
Daemon took the letter and opened it immediately. He had to read the words over again, feeling his heart slam inside his chest. For a moment it felt like he could not breathe and he placed a hand on the table to steady himself. As much as things had changed in his family, he had not expected this and he had not wanted it either.
"Daemon?" He looked up to see Corlys looking at him with concern. "What is the matter?"
"Viserys is dead." Even the words seemed foreign to him.
His brother who had always complained about how much Daemon drank, had been staggeringly drunk. He had fallen off one of the piers and drowned. It was a humiliating death for a Targaryen prince. Daemon felt the loss deeply and was saddened that this was how it had ended. His father was without a son and his niece was without a father.
Even while Rhaenyra barely spoke about Viserys and she did not seem to remember him much, he knew she would be saddened by the news.
Daemon Targaryen (31 years old.)