69 The Apex Of Celebration
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~~~(POV: Raenon Targaryen)~~~
~~~(Current Age: 16 Years)~~~
~~~(Location: The Great Pyramid, Meereen, Essos)~~~
~~~(Date: 301 AC)~~~
We've reached the sixth day of the new year celebration this week. And even though it's earlier morning, the hustle and bustle of the streets outside The Great Pyramid are enough to wake the dead. Margaery and Dany are still trying to sleep.
As for me, I'm at my desk in our bedroom. Looking out the window. All the grown dragons are flying high in the sky. As if they're having a celebration of their own.
Rhaenys casts a large shadow over the city wherever she goes. By the time I'm an old man, she'll be as big as a city. I can see it already. Whoever out of my descendants tames Rhaenys after I'm gone will have their hands full.
I haven't received any news from Varys since his last letter explaining Robb and Stannis have an alliance now. Oberyn and his contacts tell me The Lannisters are outsourcing their shipbuilding to most of The Free Cities.
They're preparing for war. They'll be facing Robb and Stannis before I cross The Narrow Sea. I'm honestly curious about who'll win. Surely, all Robb wants is revenge against The Lannisters. He doesn't care about The Iron Throne.
Stannis is using that to his advantage, which I can commend. It's a somewhat symbiotic relationship. It's the same one I have with Oberyn.
The problem is if Robb gets to Tywin before us. Oberyn's original reason for helping my house disappears. Not to mention he's lost Sunspear and his brother.
"All the Kings left standing are moving against each other... Westeros will be on fire soon enough... Not from me, but from the people I'll be fighting in time."
One of the families I'd hope not to kill in my conquest was The Starks. But they've aligned themselves with an enemy of my house. Their fate is set in stone now. Well, perhaps not. But when the time for battle comes, they'll die too.
Arya likely didn't make it home in time to warn Robb about the dragons we have. Then again, Robb has seen them before. Rhaenys was the one that took Dany and me to meet Robb.
The stubbornness of the North is what will be their undoing. Perhaps Jorah can rule Winterfell when the time comes. Being from the North might make it easier. However, he was exiled for slavery. Would've been executed had it not been for his quick escape.
A gentle breeze blows through the window and cools the room. A breath enters my lungs with filled life. One thing I'll miss about Essos is the weather. When you're in the right place, it's paradise. There is only one place I know of in Westeros like that.
The Water Gardens. Dany and I spent time there during our first visit to Sunspear. Honored guests of The Martells.
Shifting from the bed takes my attention, and the sight that graces me shows how much things have changed. Margaery is spooning Dany. My lack of presence leaves the girls to use each other as a way to hold something.
"Most men only dream of such a scene..."
The luck I have when it comes to my situation is not lost on me. Everything has worked out in my favor. Well, almost. The loss of Sunspear and half of House Martells forces across The Narrow Sea is a setback caused by Tywin.
Everything else besides that has been perfect. I don't count The Burning Of Braavos as a low point. It was my way of getting rid of a deadly enemy and slowing down Westeros for a time. In the end, it depends on perspective.
Instead of staying in my room with my two Queens, I stand up and make my way to my children's room. Dany and I decided long ago that Aly and Jae should share a room.
Family shouldn't have any walls between them. Not our family.
As I open the door, Caelex raises his head with alertness. But seeing me, he releases a small snort in acknowledgment and lays his head back down on the stone.
Aly's head rises from her bed, and she smiles at me.
"Daddy? Why are you here so early?"
A chuckle escapes my lips as I make my way over to her bed. Jae stirring on his bed, tells me I have a perfect chance to spend time with my kids.
"How fun does a carriage ride through the city sound?"
Both my children are instantly out of bed. Time to get dressed.
~~~(POV: Margaery Tyrell)~~~
~~~(Current Age: 17 Years)~~~
~~~(Location: The Great Pyramid, Meereen, Essos)~~~
~~~(Date: 301 AC)~~~
"That was what I went through when I first suspected I was pregnant with Aly. It's something to be celebrated, Margaery. You'll be a mother in time, and you'll be bearing a child of House Targaryen."
Daenerys and I are on the balcony relaxing as I fill an empty wine castor with vomit. Morning sickness is so unsightly. When I was throwing up into a toilet, I thought nothing could get more embarrassing. But as of now, I need something on hand all the time.
It's humiliating, to say the least.
"How long is this supposed to last?"
I wish it to end today.
"It'll be a month. Maybe a little more. Depends on the woman, really... Doesn't Rae have it easy? All he has to do is fill us, and then we're stuck carrying people in us for nine months."
Rae...
I refer to Daenerys and Raenon by their full names. I've thought about giving their nicknames a try, but that seems like a line that I shouldn't be crossing.
Going off track. Another thing I've found is my mind wanders to places it doesn't usually go. Daenerys told me that being pregnant messes with the mind.
"I was hoping you'd say only a few days..."
A small chuckle escapes my sister-in-law. Her hands rest on her large stomach. The place where the third Targaryen child between Daenerys and Raenon rests.
My fellow Queen is about to give birth to her third child, and I'm barely starting on my first. When I said I had to catch up, I didn't think about it at the time.
"Speaking of Rae... Where is he? He's usually at his desk when we wake up."
Daenerys must not notice how low Rhaenys is flying to the city, especially in one spot. The massive dragon is patrolling a specific part of Meereen. My hand lifts and points toward Raenons dragon.
"I'm betting he's somewhere over there."
As Daenerys looks, we both watch Rhaenys land in the only clearing large enough for her. A crowd of thousands can be seen.
Raenon is there.
~~~(POV: Raenon Targaryen)~~~
~~~(Current Age: 16 Years)~~~
~~~(Location: Targaryen Park, Meereen, Essos)~~~
~~~(Date: 301 AC)~~~
I've taken my children to the only park in Meereen. It's more of a massive open courtyard with many palm trees. Rhaenys has landed behind us and is watching over us. The people watching from the encircled guard of Unsullied look on with many reactions.
All of them aren't what you'd call negative. There is wonder, joy, happiness, and freedom. People in Essos really treasure my house. They adore my family.
It's good for people to see my children. To see me with them.
"Are you sure it's wise to come out this far from The Great Pyramid? What if a riot happens?"
Oberyn's question isn't asked in a tone of concern. Only amusement and goading. I can't help but laugh a little at the idea of a riot. The people I'm looking at from here don't look anything close to start rioting. It's been a party in Meereen for the past five days.
Today and tomorrow are where the real fun begins, though.
"It's okay for the people I freed to see me like this. Not in my armor and not covered in blood. But as a father and King. Someone they can believe in. The Smallfolk need that."
That's something I learned from Margaery. It makes sense too. The powerful, wealthy, and noble don't know what it's like to be poor, hungry, and weak. That's why The Smallfolk believes so strongly in Gods.
It's one of the hopes they have. It keeps many going.
In Westeros, that is.
It's obviously different here in Essos.
"The Lannisters have me worried, Raenon. They're building fleets in the coastal Free Cities. Robb and Stannis will be moving South within the next six months. Our window for Tywin is closing."
His window. But I get where he's coming from. As I told him before, we'll begin preparations after my third child is born in a couple of days and when the new year's celebrations are over. We have everything ready to start the conquest.
"I know, Oberyn. Our timeline hasn't changed. I promise. We'll start making official moves with our military in two weeks. You have my word. Westeros is on the horizon, my friend."
Oberyn has been by my side since I started gaining power. He's proven himself loyal and someone I can trust.
When we take Dragonstone, we'll send out the letters, just as my ancestor Aegon The Conqueror once did.
