172
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299 AC
Dragonstone
Eragon Targaryen
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"I see." I mutter as I sit with my feet kicked up on the desk in the Lord's Solar, a Solar that many Targaryens have sat in for hours on end making various 'important' decisions.
I am sure there have been at least ten children created right here on this desk... one of my own might join that rank if Nata 'accidentally' enters in that outfit again. But ignoring one of the random history trips I tend to take since we landed here on our ancestral land I lock eyes with Ciri and smile.
"You see?" She asks with a hint of annoyance. "He is plotting right here under your nose, I want this settled before he gets my Sister killed in a Targaryen rage." I purse my lips as I drop my feet off the table and lean forward toward her.
"That is not what you said, what you said was a bit different." Her face twitches as she crosses her arms. "You said he is trying to add the both of you to my 'growing army of wives' which is much different." I could have sworn with how many people I am involved with I would not have to deal with marriage offers once arriving in Westeros.
I guess the 'Great Game' as my Mother called it really does not take it easy on anyone.
"Which will lead to things that could very well end up with a fit of rage and Dragon fire burning someone alive." I snort and sit back in my seat with the aged wood creaking.
"Ciri let me put it plainly, if not me then most likely no one will be marrying the two of you." I certainly am not going to allow Viserys to snatch up the Blackfyres... I could see Aegon settling this for me but I have not seen him in a while. "I would have thought you would have come to that conclusion on your own at this point." Her jaw drops a bit making her mouth open slightly before she clenches her teeth.
Her face goes slightly red but from experience in the training yard, I know it is anger and not embarrassment. She gets this red hue to her cheeks only this deep when she is getting frustrated or very annoyed.
"Eragon." I bite back a slick response as she chews on her words carefully. "That is..." She seems more surprised about my words than I expected from her.
To be honest it should have been obvious to everyone the moment they got the pass and their heads remained on their shoulders. In no way is House Blackfyre going into the next generation, the only way to ensure that is the death of all the carriers of the blood or the name perishing. By her own admittance, Varys is a Blackfyre and has no stones so he can't make kids, and their brother died without any kids so it is only these two.
So they need to die which I decided to hold off on or their name needs to die which I have thought long and hard about. I can say all I want about their name being dead, but it won't matter if they had support that could contradict that, but dragons solve that. Which won't in the end matter since they are actually nice people, the time I have been in their company has been very pleasant. I know they have no 'real' plans for the throne and just want survival. So I don't expect any rebellions from these two so long as they do not have any kids with the name Blackfyre which is already a done deal.
But to ensure nothing is rearing its ugly head down the line it's best if they either never have children or only have Targaryen children. They could marry anyone with a name to replace their old one and for their children to take, like Arryn or Royce. But then there is Blackfyre blood in those House and I refuse to let it spread and would rather see it die off or rejoin with the House that created the line and gave it 'legitimacy' to begin with.
"Calm down, I am not forcing anything." To be honest, it's likely a bad idea anyway to have two more jump into the mix but my life as far as romance goes is a forest fire.
Good thing I love fire.
"I know... I am just not sure how to respond to that." She responds a little heatedly before uncrossing her arms and gripping the arms of her chair. "What will you tell my uncle?" I shrug not really caring about the man, it might just be best to cut off his head if I am honest.
"Let's sit down with him together and hear him out, I will decide what to do from there." She nods slowly and I catch sight of Arrax looking through the window which makes my eyes widen.
We are at the top of the tower... which means he is hanging on the side of it.
I shake my head as I stand up and head for the door with Ciri following after a moment of silently thinking. We will get this mess with her uncle sorted and then I will go spend some time with my mount and see what is bothering him. He has been shedding a lot of scales along with his siblings since we landed here.
I do not know if it's the heat of the caves they are skulking about in or if it's something else but they are dropping scales like snowflakes. The various towns have been celebrating since we arrived and I have seen children collecting all the scales they can find. I would not doubt there is some Targaryen blood in a few of the silver-headed people I see out there, no doubt they love dragons as much as I do. It is probably like seeing some story before their eyes seeing dragons return, both the scaled kind and the fleshy kind.
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If someone told me 'Think of someone who is plotting the return of the Blackfyres' I would likely imagine this man's face and looks. Bald so no one sees his silver hair even if he cant hide his purple eyes it surely draws a bit of attention away from those lilac orbs. The plump seemingly powdered cheeks also help draw attention from his eyes so that helps him as well.
But for the sake of everyone in the room, the man could certainly use less perfume, I heard from Ciri it was bad but...
"It is nice to meet you, Your Grace." Raspy and humorous his voice certainly is one trained to kiss ass and quickly be forgotten.
"Spider." Got to give him some respect though, without dragons and everything that has happened with House Targaryen in the Summer Isles he could have won.
His plans could have seen the Black dragon onto the throne and that is something I can respect at the end of the day. But it is only a chance at the end of the day, he had a long way to go and the Golden Company crumbled, and he lost. So now he wants to scavenge anything he can, but the problem is once things calm down and it's time to prepare for the future he is likely the biggest threat.
Which is why I want to kill the man and be done with it... but he also knows that and came here anyway.
"Why are you here?" I ask after the room goes silent for too long, his hands in his sleeve shuffle making me wary if he somehow got a blade past the guards.
"I will be open and get to the point, I do not want to see the end of my family's blood even if it means doing something no one likely saw happening. I can't help but think back to the founder of House Blackfyre and how it is said he loved Daenerys Targaryen who was married off to get Dorne to join the rest of the Kingdoms. Daemon did not get the Targaryen wife he wanted and it could have been one of the biggest motivators for taking the throne." I purse my lips and cross my arms as I wonder briefly about that seemingly distant past.
I wonder how different things would be if Daemon had gotten married with Daenerys, would they to this day be loyal vassals, or were they destined to rebel? Blackfyre the king's sword giving them a cause to gather people to even if a weak one. Maybe even a Blackfyre would sit on the throne now if he had... but we will never know.
"But I believe everything can be settled with a marriage between our two houses." It would also ensure your blood lives on, who would Varys be if he had his balls?
Likely pressing his own claim.
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299 AC
Dragonstone
Rhaella Targaryen
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My son has talked with the Spider and yet the man lives... something I need to talk to him about. But for now, I am focused on him putting a makeshift saddle on his dragon and binding it on with straps. Some kids from the village and the saddle maker stand on the side luckily being ignored by the dragon as it shifts with the added weight on its back.
"He is going to get himself killed." I mutter with dread building in my chest watching him sling a leg over the dragon as it lowers its neck painfully against the ground.
"YOU SAID WE WOULD ALL FLY TOGETHER!" I look over at an annoyed-looking Rhaenys who has her arms crossed and a heavy frown on her face.
"Arrax changed the plans, my love, I have to accompany him or he will keep climbing on the castle walls." I almost screamed in fright when I looked out the window in the hallway and saw a dragon's eye looking back at me.
I will likely never be used to how silent they can be even with how big they have gotten.
Arrax has seemed to have had enough of waiting as he shifts in place and lifts his head high, his powerful back legs pushing off the ground. My son yelps as he latches onto the neck of his mount who manages to lift off the ground with a mighty push. Wings beat like drums and send wind to lay the grass flat and even knock a small child over who squealed in joy.
"AHHH!" Eragon yells at the same time Arrax roars and with powerful flaps of the dragon's wings they slowly get higher and higher off the ground.
"That is not fair." Daenerys huffs and I pull her to my side with her belly brushing against me tempting me to place my hand over it.
"You will fly soon enough my sweet, you need to bring your babe into the world and then you can pester your own mount to try and lift you. The way you are swollen it would be an act of the gods to get you and the babe both into the air..." She huffs but does not refute as I press a kiss on her brow.
Watching what could be the first dragon flight since the Dance I can't help but smile even though it is ungraceful. They will learn and grow, the more they learn the better it will be, and the more they grow the higher they will go. I can't wait to see them fly through the clouds and maybe one day take me up there as well... something to look forward to.
But for now, I need to focus on my daughter's upcoming birth and dealing with a Spider spinning his webs.