18 Treasure Hunt 2/3

Author's note: 3.25k words! Aegon about to go into his rant mode on his analysis of the Targaryen loss of power.

Finally a confirmation of a character we've met a few times as well, and more of a certain conspiracy.

I don't really know if I'll be able to reach the deadline though. I've just gotten a shitty case of food poisoning, and everything just feels like shit to be honest.

20.05k/40k words - Deadline: 6/11-22 at 10 pm CET.

Guess I'll just add 10-15k to the word count each week, until I reach it :p

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

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Winterfell, The Crypt - 289 AC Robb's nameday

POV | Aegon Targaryen

'The war started because of my mother... Bullshit. It was just like the first World War on earth. The whole kingdom was a powder keg that was just waiting for that same spark that ignited World War I in Sarajevo, Bosnia, where Archduke Franz Ferdinand - heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire - was shot to death along with his wife, Sophie, by the Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip.'

'Westeros was one large cauldron of Wildfire built on power-hungry men who had forgotten the horrors of war, and the Mad King, my grandsire, was especially helpful in nurturing such an environment. The spark was the so-called kidnapping of my mother and execution of my other grandfather and uncle.'

"The war was never about Lyanna Stark." Their eyes bulged at the absoluteness of the remark. He raised a finger and an eyebrow to keep them quiet before he proceeded.

"The Targaryens had lost their dragons and wide influence through marriage due to The Tragedy at Summerhall, which left only Jaehaerys II, Shaera, Aerys II, Rhaella, and Rhaegar as surviving members of a once glorious family. Everything else was burned to the ground. Their screams of despair and pain, the only thing left for the rest to reminisce."

All the boys gulped as one, they all knew their history, but the way the flames danced in the eyes of Aegon as he told the story was as if they were there. Watching a Dynasty burning to the ground in Wildfire.

"Jaehaerys and Shaera were the start of their downfall." Whispered Aegon as the others scrunched up their eyebrows in confusion.

"But wasn't it the Mad King and The Rapist Prince who caused it?" asked Eddard.

Aegon shot him a dark look, and the boy looked properly chastised. "No. Robb, tell me, who allied against the Targaryens?"

Robb's eyes widened for a second due to the sudden question, but recent history was drilled into his mind, and he answered without further ado. "Stark, Tully, Arryn, and Baratheon."

"And who stayed neutral until the end of the Rebellion?" asked Aegon, with a slight smile.

"Lannister and Greyjoy. Both families raped and killed in King Roberts name after Rhaegar's death. The Tyrells might as well have been neutral with their general lack of effort during the war as well."

"Good answer. Now tell me boys, what family fought for the King until the bitter end?"

Domeric whispered. "Nymeros-Martell." Aegon nodded encouragingly and looked Eddard and Torrhen straight in the eyes. "Now, what does that tell you?"

Eddard was absolutely lost, and it looked like Torrhen's brain was physically straining as he tried to come up with an answer. It ended up with Robb feeling slight pity for their lack of historical knowledge as well as analytical and political abilities.

"The only family that helped them was the one with marriage ties to the Throne. Princess Elia Martell and her children being of the Royal family as well as hostages of the Crown during the Rebellion, forced Prince Doran to support the Mad King."

'Thank The Old and The Valyrian God's that Robb is the heir, and not the Karstarks…'

"Exactly, now. Who can tell me why Jaehaerys and Shaera were the start of their downfall?"

Rodrik being the only one who had not participated, was eager to show off his knowledge now. He had finally understood Aegon's point. "They married each other and made their children marry each other as well. Two generations of allies were lost by their choices."

Aegon smiled predatorily at that. "Yes, if they had still held tangible power through dragons, no one would have been able to do anything, but they did not. Now, does any of you know who Jaehaerys and Shaera spurned by going against their father's wishes and marrying each other?"

Aegon looked straight at Robb to give them a clue. By Robb's slightly confused look, he realized that he had probably filled Robb too much with knowledge of the North and not The Riverlands. None of the other boys knew either, which really showed how little The North cared about the rest of the Kingdoms.

He sighed slightly, and the boys cringed at their lack of knowledge of The South. "Through Jaehaerys and Shaera, The Targaryens spurned an army of 140,000 soldiers." The boys' eyes grew wide at the absolutely insane number.

"How?! That's almost the entire size of Stark, Tully, Arryn, and Baratheon!" gasped Robb in mortification.

"Easy. Jaehaerys was betrothed to your grandaunt, Robb. Celia Tully. The sister of Hoster Tully. One of the most well-known allies of House Targaryen due to them giving the family the title of Lord Paramount of The Trident. That's at least 40,000 men, the heir of the Throne, Aerys II, could have called for, if he had been born of Celia Tully instead of Shaera Targaryen. Better yet, The Northern Army would have had to fight the Riverlanders to join their Liege Lord, Lord Eddard Stark at The Vale."

"All that from one marriage?!" Exclaimed a flabbergasted Rodrik Forrester.

Aegon nodded. "Indeed. Not to mention 100,000 willingly and actively fighting Tyrell soldiers. Shaera was engaged to one Luthor Tyrell, the father of the current Warden of The South, Mace Tyrell. Now imagine those two forces joining hands with the Dornish."

They boys looked almost pale despite the orange light of the torch. The North, The Vale, and The Stormlands could approximately raise 120-130,000 fighting men, yet the King could, through those three Kingdoms, have had 180,000 soldiers just because of two marriages.

Robb had a deep frown on his face at those implications. The boy knew that his father had married for free passage into the Riverlands and an army, but he had never thought about how huge the implications actually were. He asked tentatively, even though he was sure that he had grasped the why.

"Why did the Tully's and the Tyrell's betray the Targaryens?" Aegon smiled proudly and the other boys raised their eyebrows at that question. His eyes glinted with something undecidable, but it made Robb gulp, nonetheless.

"The Targaryen betrayed their marriage agreements to them." Aegon looked straight into the eyes of Robb as he said it, and Robb swore to himself that he would never do something so stupid. "You can't do that. These families are strong and prideful. Spurning a marriage after the deal has been made is foolhardy, and it sows discord, which eventually grows into treachery."

Domeric tilted his head slightly to the side as he thought this information through. "You've only talked about Jaehaerys and Shaera… What about Aerys and Rhaella, what could the Targaryens have done here?"

Aegon gave Domeric a proud smile as well, and the young boy looked a foot taller after. "Good question. Let's say that Shaera married the Tyrells and Aerys II was a son of Celia Tully. If Aerys and Rhaella had been allowed to marry whom they wished, the power structure would have been vastly different. Or at least if Jaehaerys had married them to others."

The young dragon prince took a breath as he looked into the fire, a faraway look in his eyes, as if he was a Red Priest who could gleam his God's wisdom from the fires.

"Aerys could have married a Lannister woman, it was said that he was smitten with the late Lady of The Rock, Joanna Lannister. Though this could have been dangerous due to Tywin's love for her. He could instead have married a Royce, to split the power structure of The Vale or a similar family from The Stormlands."

He had a sad smile on his face as he looked upon the statue of Lyanna, no magic in sight, before he turned towards the quietly listening boys again. "You see… King Aerys II was great friends with Lord Baratheon and Tywin Lannister, he would not need a marriage to secure his cousin's alliance, and he could have secured Tywin if he had married Viserys to Cersei as was Tywin's last offer to Aerys. The Tyrells and Tully's would be in hand as well. The Starks have been the most loyal house of them all, and the rest could be put under control through the earlier mentioned methods."

He looked at Robb as he continued. "Jaehaerys could have married Rhaella to Lord Rickard Stark and honoured the pact of Ice and Fire made by Cregan Stark and Aegon III. Their first daughter could eventually have married Aerys' II first son, and they would have secured their power well into the fourth century after Aegon's Conquest. They wouldn't even need Dorne at that point."

"Shit." Said Torrhen.

Aegon laughed out loud dispelling the tension that had grown in The Crypt. "Indeed. Another thing I did not touch upon was the madness created by generations of incest. The Valyrian magic in their blood was ruined due to too much inbreeding. Had they done it through cousins and or with gaps of two-three generations, then we could have had peace and stability."

The boys stood in silent contemplation as they looked upon the statue of the woman whose name was being used to justify the Rebellion.

Domeric whispered contemplatively. "The Rebellion was never about love, but power."

Aegon nodded slowly. "It's the Game of Thrones, my dear friend. It's always about power. Though, for Lord Stark it was definitely love. For the rest of the rebels? Power."

Aegon cracked his neck. "Well then, boys! Enough with the history lessons! Let's explore history for ourselves!"

"Aye!" they exclaimed as they moved down the stairs, walking deeper into the dark Crypts of Winterfell.

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Several hours later

POV | Aegon Targaryen

They had walked for hours, and except for the First Men Runes, allowing for fresh air and more special extension like his bags of holding, there was not much of value in these tombs. At least what he could check whilst the group was with him. He would have to check the small whisps of magic at Cregan Stark's tomb later. 'If it is what I hope it is…'

Aegon had finally started understanding how to use First Men runes through a serendipity created when he was trying to play wrestle with Fenris. The rune for water had been touched by some blood he had spilled when he was scratched by Fenris steel-like claws. The parchment it was written on turned wet and started disintegrating.

'It fucking always comes back to blood. The fucker who governs the magic of this world is a sadistic fuck. Heck, the sacrifices needed to perform magic without a medium were absolutely mad. Whatever the Valyrians did to cause the Doom… I can't even imagine the cruelty that must have found place for them to create the civilisation they did.'

Not that The First Men were any better. They had stolen the magic and knowledge from the Children of The Forest, else it would have been impossible for them to achieve Greensight and Warging, the two greatest strengths of The Children.

They had passed several legends like Bran the Burner, and Aegon had told the others what an absolute disappointment he was, the man who singlehandedly ruined The Northern Economy for generations. Another was the monster known as Theon 'The Hungry Wolf' Stark, and more. 8000 years of rulers was, interestingly enough, equivalent to so fucking many kings.

"I think we are reaching the end now."

The boys nodded tiredly, the intrigue had dulled quite a lot, due to a distinct lack of interesting things happenings. If one ignored the times Eddard had been scared shitless by Freke and Gere's pranks. It was as if the wolves wanted to pay him back for some perceived sleight.

They walked down what would seem to be the last set of stairs, and a well-lit room met them, leaving them all stunned.

"How is there light down here?" asked Rodrik. "We are so far down that it should be impossible!"

They took in the majestic room, housing the founder of the House of Winter Kings. There was no gold or finery, but the tree beams were built with distinct white wood of Weirwood trees, the wood itself was carved in intrinsic patterns of First Men runes, and Aegon marvelled at the incredible isolation of magic.

'It's almost tangible down here, but I couldn't discern it from the rooms above. Marvellous!'

By the end of the wall, a sculpture with ebony black locks of hair stood proudly, the statue looked to be 10'4" tall, and the massive Direwolf by the man's side was twice as large as Fenris, larger than even a mammoth.

Brandon the Builder's grey eyes seemed almost alive as they looked at the wall opposite to it. He had a monstrosity of a Warhammer in his hand, the head of it was resting on his left shoulder opposite to the Direwolf.

"Wow. Bran the Builder." They boys looked upon one the greatest heroes of House Stark in sheer awe. His statue was the most life-like they had ever seen. Every single strand of hair seemed real, his expressions solemn and lifelike, and his grey eyes glowing like silver in the light they reflected.

Aegon tensed as he looked at the statue's eyes. 'Star Steel. Holy fuck. The absolute madman used Star Steel for his damn eyes.' Aegon had seen Valyrian steel enough to know that the eyes weren't it. Besides, the only metal known to be as magically potent and still exist 8000 years ago, was the Star Steel used to forge Dawn.

Aegon thought it through as the other boys were moving around the chamber, trying to investigate it in search of treasure. Aegon's mage sight had already discovered two potential treasure spots exclusive the star steel. If the boys found it, they could look at it, if not, then he would keep the knowledge for himself for now. 'I can always show it Robb later on. That is his birth right after all.'

He remembered a game a part of him had played on Earth. The character had to find the treasure, and he did so by following the eyes of a statue. 'Can always try to do the same.'

He looked straight into the eyes of Brandon first. An aching pain almost brought him to his knees. A guttural sound echoed in his mind: "THE KING OF BEASTS, THE SUM OF OLD AND NEW."

He fell to his knees and clutched his head in pain. 'Fuck, fuck, fuck! That hurts!'

"Jon! Are you okay?!" was the last thing he heard before he blacked out.

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The Water Gardens, Dorne - 289 AC

POV | Nysreah Sand/Rhaenys Targaryen

Rhaenys 'Nysreah', was crying harder than she had ever cried in her entire life. 'It wasn't a nightmare.'

She had been about to turn three name days shortly after the Rebellion resulted in the rape and killing of her mother. For all her life, she had thought it was one of her weirdly detailed dreams, but Ser Eric had just told her the truth. He had decided she was old enough now.

'Even that is a lie. Ser Arthur Dayne, The Sword of the Morning…'

She continued sobbing. Her little brother had been squashed like a rotten fruit, and she had seen it all through the secret corridors she had been left in. She had been gagged so she could not make a sound that would let the killers of her mother know of the ruse.

'Why did I believe that it was just a dream?'

Then again, the consciousness of a two-three name days child is barely coherent, and the memories from that age are often forgotten and replaced by more recent memories, or at least more impactful memories. Another reason that she could not forget that dreadful night.

What could ever be more impactful than that?

And she was a princess! She had always though that she was a bastard princess of Oberyn Martell, but the Red Viper was her uncle. 'Hadn't that been an unpleasant surprise?' Though she would always consider him her father, because he had treated her as his daughter.

She remembered the poor little boy whose head had been squashed and sobbed again. 'He was not even a Targaryen and they killed him ruthlessly. Why did my parents drag him into our mess?'

She felt like a mess right now. She had always been the quiet sister of the Sand Snakes, and if she was honest with herself she also felt a little bit like an outsider. Like there was a lacking connection, like the one she had with her Dream Prince.

She took a deep breath as she turned on her bed and looked up into the ceiling. She had spent so many hours asleep and awake thinking of him. The mystery that he brought with him was driving her insane. If his eyes did not bring her such unfathomable peace, she would probably have continued crying for days, but the strong gaze she still met sometimes when dreaming, just seemed to better her mood.

For two years since the fight of good and evil, she had only had dreams of her memories of him, nothing new, and it had left her feeling empty and heartbroken when she could not see how he was doing. 'What changed?'

She put a hand on her forehead and closed her eyes. "I thought he died." She whispered. The thought had hit her multiple times during the last two year, and she had felt guilty because she thought it was because of her lacking healing skills, especially after she begged the Maester to teach her the craft.

The guilt had forced her to learn everything she could in the last year, to the point where Oberyn had even taken an interest in her studies and supplemented her healing with poisoning. She had not appreciated that until he told her what excruciating deaths she could save her loved ones from if she had the proper knowledge of various poisons and antidotes.

She thought back on what she did for the Dream Prince.

'My technique was so bad that it is a wonder that he didn't die because of it.' She did not know whether to laugh or cry at that but decided that it did not really matter now that she knew he was okay.

She still could not communicate with him, but she felt like she was getting way better at actually controlling her powers anyway. She could now control what she saw to some degree, or in other words, she could look at his face as he went through his different motions. It was almost like she had been given the ability to see him live his life, but without seeing his actual surroundings.

'It's probably my new favourite activity.'

It was just so incredibly comforting for her to see him healthy and going about his day. It was almost like she was his guardian angel, making sure that if he ever got hurt, she could give him her aid. 'If only we could actually talk… I just want him to look in my direction and actually see me, and not whatever is in front of him in the real world.'

Her breathing was slowing, more and more until she finally fell asleep.

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Author's note:

Jaehaerys II another example of a marriage based entirely on love, causing the downfall of a family. He did not have the power to hold onto his love, and his attempt to do so regardless, ended up dooming their entire family.

Hmm. Aegon got hit *literally* by a line from Arthur Dayne's prophecy. Wonder what that's about?

Rhaenys is alive for sure! Of course. No fucking way am I killing her. No way. I was so fucking close to saving Elia as well, but I didn't. The emotional impact on Rhaenys would be drastically limited if I didn't have her killed, and we can't have that, now can we? *Is there a resurrection ritual?* *No.* *Sobs in a corner.*

Another thing I have realized while writing this. I am bad at sticking to exactly when things will happen. The inspirational juices flow freely and in different directions at all times, so I am just going to write from now on and allow things to happen when they will happen. It will take the troops a long-ass time to reach The Neck anyway, and Aegon can do a lot of stuff in the meantime. Besides, he won't join them for the war in an ordinary way... I think you will like my plans for it.

Also: Robb will not join the war. Too weak and smoll. Will he be ready for war in two years? Maybe. Now? No.

Anyway, hope you liked the chapter:)