28 Chapter 28: A Knight & A Husband. 123 AC

King Viserys sat upon the Iron Throne as he held Blackfyre with his one remaining functioning hand. On the left of the Throne stood Queen Alicent, and on the right of the Throne stood the hand of the king.

5 Kingsguard stood in front of the Throne, their backs facing it, while the other two stood besides the door, guarding it ever vigilantly. The members of the small council were also there, standing at the corner of the room, waiting for someone to enter the throne room.

Suddenly, the huge door opened, two individuals entered the place, one was a man, wearing bronze armor and a red cloak, the other, a girl, wearing a bronze-coloured dress.

As the queen saw the girl wearing the dress, she frowned ever slightly.

"Lord Maegor Targaryen, Lord of Runestone, and his betrothed, Princess Helaeana Targaryen!" the Kingsguard announced loudly.

The two individuals walked towards the Iron Throne, their backs straightened. Both of them then bowed towards the king, paying their respects.

"My dear nephew." smiled the king. "It's been almost three years since I last saw you, you look… different."

"Indeed, your grace," said Maegor. "These years have been… Life changing, to say the least."

The king just chuckled awkwardly. "So I presume that you are here to report?"

"Yes, your grace." Maegor nodded. "I am also here to do my duty, to marry Princess Heleana."

"Ah yes, as I understand, you're supposed to marry her last year." the king hummed. "Very well, we will talk about that after you report about the war."

Maegor bowed again, and he spoke about what had happened in the stepstones. "During these two years, we have managed to get the Triarchy to collapse. As of right now, your grace, the three cities are fighting each other for territory over the disputed lands and Tyrosh itself, as two of the three powers have essentially collapsed."

"And how did you manage to do that?" asked the hand suddenly, seemingly already knowing its answer.

"I've burned the city of Tyrosh," said Maegor flatly. "And in doing so, the rest of the cities wanted a piece of what was left of Tyrosh. That, and coupled by the fact that the alliance was already fragile, triggered a series of events that led to the downfall of the Triarchy."

"Isn't that too… drastic?" asked the hand again.

"As I see it, it's not." Maegor answered. "The war has been going on for a decade, the soldiers and sellswords are tired, over a barren piece of land that can only stir up conflict. There are no "Drastic Measures" in this situation, only whether or not that measure will bring peace or not."

"And where is Lord Corlys right now?" asked the king, trying to stop the hand from speaking again.

"He is still at the stepstones. Enforcing the treaty that we have signed."

"And what is the content of the treaty?" asked the king.

"The three cities will have to pay 20 Million Gold dragon's worth of treasures and goods to the crown." said Maegor. "Of course, almost half of it will go to Lord Corlys, seeing that the Crown barely supported the war."

The king nodded, seemingly trying to ignore the last part.

"And what of Dorne?" asked the hand. "As I understand, this war has been going on this long because Dorne joined the war."

"Indeed, Lord hand." Maegor answered. "For Dorne, we've used some simple tactics of scorched earth and raiding. We've burned their fields and cattles, but not killed the smallfolk, to make them refugees. The fleet also raided the coasts of Dorne, to prevent any trade and fishing around the seas."

"And you think that it isn't cruel?" asked the hand. "Do you know how hard it will be in the future to negotiate unification because of what you've done?"

"Unification and this war does not correlate each other, Lord Hand." answered Maegor. "Prince Qoren said himself that while the smallfolk will bear hatred, he himself does not bear any grudge, because in the first place, he was the one who joined the war."

"But burning an entire nation's worth of food supplies?" asked the hand. "You've starved them for two years."

"I did what I had to do." Maegor answered calmly.

"There are other methods, lord Maegor." the hand continued. "This should be the last resort."

"We've reached the last resort, lord hand." Maegor frowned. "Do you not hear what I said? The war has been going on for decades. Gold and men were thrown away for a barren piece of land."

"Of course. But that doesn't justify you burning an entire city with your dragons." said the hand. "Do you not feel pity? Innocent men and women died during your 'Night of Terror' as the maesters call it."

"It's war, Lord Hand."

"You've gone too far." The hand continued.

Maegor looked at Otto in amusement, he then turned to the queen, smirked at her, and spoke. "I? What have I done but what was expected of me? Forever upholding the kingdom and the law…"

At those words, the queen's face dropped, and so did the other people in the room that were present on the driftmark.

"I have done my duty as a lord," said Maegor. "I have sacrificed my childhood for my people. Yet you accused me of going too far?"

"There are lines that you should not cross, Lord Maegor." said the hand, frowning. "And that line is madness."

"King Aegon, first of his name, burned Dorne to the ground for a whole two years." Maegor pointed out. "You think they didn't starve? You think their smallfolk didn't hate us for what he did? And yet you glorify him as a conqueror."

"That is—"

"He burned the whole Harrenhal, roasting everyone who's inside it." Maegor continued, not allowing Otto to speak. "He slaughtered armies using the Black Dread, yet you call him Aegon the Dragonlord, not the cruel. But now, now that I've done the same thing as him, you call me what? The second coming of Maegor the cruel? A tyrant?"

"Those were different times." Otto answered. "They're in a state of all-out war."

Maegor smirked. "Indeed, lord hand, they're in a state of war."

"Enough." said the king suddenly, he was frowning deeply, not liking the fighting at all. "As I see it, you've done a marvelous job at the war, nephew. Now, kneel."

Maegor was confused. "Your grace?"

"The king commands you to kneel." the king repeated.

Maegor could only bow, and he knelt in front of the Iron Throne. The king stood up from his throne, and one of the kingsguard helped him climb down the steps, before finally standing in front of his nephew.

He raised his Valyrian sword Blackfyre, but he didn't strike Maegor, no, the tip of the sword rested on Maegor's right shoulder.

"In the name of the warrior, I charge you to be brave." the king announced, he raised his sword again, and put the tip of the sword on Maegor's left shoulder.

"In the name of the father, I charge you to be just." the king continued, and the sword moved again to Maegor's right shoulder.

"In the name of the mother, I charge you to defend the young and the innocent." said the king, although he hesitated in his voice.

"And…" the king continued, seemingly getting tired just standing.

He turned his gaze towards his daughter Helaena, and spoke again. "In the name of the maid, I charge to protect all women…"

When the king finally spoke the vows, he put away the sword, and the Kingsguard gave him his walking stick. "Arise, Lord Maegor Targaryen. A knight of the seven kingdoms."

Maegor then stood up straight in front of the king as Viserys coughed. Maegor bowed to him once again. "Thank you, your grace. I forgot that I haven't been knighted yet."

The king just chuckled weakly. "It is not normal for a boy on his 16th name day to be knighted. But because of achievement, you deserve it. Now, let us discuss how the marriage will be."

Maegor turned towards Helaena, who was just standing casually this whole time, she bowed to the king slightly, and spoke her wishes. "I wish to be married in the ways of Old Valyria, father, in the godswood, in front of the weirwood tree."

"Helaena, what are you talking about?" the queen frowned, quickly walking up to her. "You are to be married in the ways of the faith of the seven. It is highly frowned upon to do that—"

As the queen neared Helaena, the girl uncomfortably stepped back, making the queen froze.

"I do not wish that my marriage will be watched by many people." Helaeana said. "I only want— we only want a simple ceremony."

"But dear Helaena," said the hand calmly. "We can do a small ceremony in the ways of the faith instead."

"No, I do not want it." said Helaena firmly, surprising the hand and her mother, as she is usually not this talkative and stern. "Those kinds of weddings only wrought bad luck."

"Who told you that?" the queen asked, slightly turning to Maegor.

"No one. It is my own observation." Helaena continued.

"Then it's wrong for you to think like that, Helaeana."

"The wolves were hunted on the bridge by Lions." Helaena refuted. "A mad lion was strangled by roses in his own den. The wolf choked when he was trying to feast on a trout. A sword of coal pierced through the tide's kiss. There are many examples, mother."

Her mother looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Enough, enough…" the king sighed, sweating. "Very well, we will do as you wish, daughter. Maester, set up the ceremony for tomorrow evening, when the sun is setting. I—"

The king didn't finish his sentence, as he passed out mid sentence. His body was quickly grabbed by Maegor who was standing in front of him, and the audience was finished.

—

In front of the weirwood tree, Helaena and Maegor stood in front of each other. They were wearing simple clothing, with Helaena wearing some Valyrian headdress. Only some people were watching, Helaena's brothers, Aegon and Aemond, the hand, the maester, the queen, and the king who was sitting on a chair.

Maegor was holding a small dragonglass dagger; first, he slit Heleana's bottom lip, where he proceeded to use the blood to mark Helaena's forehead. Then, Heleana grabbed the dragonglass dagger, and slit Maegor's bottom lip, doing the same thing to him.

Maegor then took the dagger from her again, he cut open his palm, blood dripping to the ground, and he cut open Heleana's palm.

When all is done, both of them hold each other's hand, their blood mixing together. A priest then spoke in Valyrian in the background, reciting vows and words as he tied Maegor's and Heleana's hands together using a fancy piece of cloth.

Their bloods dripped to the ground, nourishing the dirt, and both of them smiled at each other.

The priest then gave both of them a cup of wine, where they proceeded to drink from it.

Then, when the priest had recited all the vows and prayers, they kissed, sealing their fates and lives together.