Chapter 47
Chapter 47
GWAYNE HIGHTOWER
The Sun shined on the capital, basking the largest city of Westeros in its light as Gwayne Hightower found himself sitting with his wife-to-be in the blooming Godswood of the Redkeep. The Godswood was peaceful as always, with its silent trees and humble grass, unlike the rest of the city, which lay disturbed by the death of Lord Lyonel's crippled son. The whole thing had been somewhat of a mystery. The man had been a rather silent and obscure fellow, frugal with his words, though he did seem rather odd to him.
Well, it did not matter; the death was not really his concern now, especially with how the whole castle was bustling with servants rushing to prepare for the upcoming wedding between himself and the Princess.
The very Princess who had asked him for this meeting yet seemed rather distracted as she sat opposite to him, sighing every minute or so as she glanced through him with dazed eyes.
Dressed in a simple white dress with her hair tied behind her in a simple braid, the Princess looked breathtaking as always, and it ailed him greatly that he would not be able to see her for a week since she was set to leave for the Eyrie on the morrow to attend the wedding between Lady Rhea Royce and Ser Joffrey Arryn.
And the news of the match, and then the hurried wedding, had the whole court talking.
In the end, he decided to ask her.
"What is on your mind, Rhaenyra?" he questions gently, and the Princess shakes her head as if roused from a wandering thought as she looks up at his face with a complicated expression.
"Nothing," she replied, obviously lying. He indulges her as he continues.
"I don't believe nothing has the power of making a Princess sigh as much," he japes and she smiles, the guilt and apprehension never dying even as her lips turned up, as she relented to him.
"No, it does not," she replied with a smile, and he raised a brow as he leaned forward and placed his cup back on the table.
"Then tell me what thoughts ail you, Rhaenyra?" he questioned softly, and she looked into his eyes. Those amethyst orbs narrowed before she spoke softly.
"We agreed to marry each other, unaware of the tribulations waiting for me due to my position as heir," she began slowly, and he realized what she was talking about.
This was about Daemon and what had happened at the tourney. This wasn't the first time they had talked about it, and truthfully, he had thought of it many times alone. Prince Daemon's assault during the tourney had been a message, a message that he would not let her ascend the throne while he still lived. And if the rumblings in court were any indication were any true, then the man was making ploys to gain allies for his cause, though who would be foolish enough to follow a man like that beguiled him?
"And now that you are aware of such tribulations," the Princess added slowly, looking down.
"Would your answer be the same?" she added.
"Yes," he answered, for why wouldn't it be? And saw that the pace of his answer had surprised her as he saw her cheeks redden as she glanced down with a smile.
"And what if I wasn't the heir? What if my father decided he wished to change the succession?" she suddenly added, and he felt the air halt with tension as those amethyst orbs stared at her, examining him from head to toe with the gaze of a ruler.
"It wouldn't matter, Rhaenyra. I chose to marry Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, not the heir to the throne. Whether you be Queen in the future or not, I shall stand by you in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, as a husband should," he replied with a gulp. Her gaze didn't relent with his answer, as she continued to look at him, and then he saw her shoulder relax, as the tension evaporated.
"Thank you," she said with a soft smile, and he stood up from his seat and walked up to her, and knelt down by her side, taking her hand in his as he questioned.
"Why did you ask me that question?" he asked and saw her hesitate for a moment before she spoke up.
"Though, he has not agreed to my offer…." she began as she looked into his eyes, as she bit her lip halting.
"….but I have decided to abdicate my position to my uncle Aenys Targaryen," she replied and he stilled for a moment at her words, and then it all began to make sense, the constant meetings between herself and his sister, and the subtle tension between her and Aenys.
It was all because of this.
"May I ask why?" he questioned cautiously. And she nodded, as she replied in a soft voice.
"Right now, the heirship is a poisoned chalice, and with my father's health being the way it is, it is likely that a Council shall be called to decide on the succession," and the truth was that he had not thought like this, yet it made sense, for there was already precedence in the form of the Grand Council of 101.
"And no matter what anyone says, the Lords will be reluctant to vote for a woman," he tried to argue, but she stopped.
"It won't matter what Daemon has done or not, but he is a man, a tested warrior, and the ruler of a kingdom. There will be those who shall find him more appealing, and Seven forbid if he were to win the vote, the realm and our family will be doomed," she said, and he could see her reasoning.
Prince Daemon was becoming more and more unhinged, and he could see the Princess's worry. And as much as it loathed him, he held little power to change this.
"Aenys is the perfect choice. He is a man, pious, married with already a son born to him, with him against Daemon few would dare chose the other," she replied, and her words were true. Gwayne could hardly name any lord who didn't sing praise of the man. Only fools would choose Daemon, over him.
"Are you set on your decision?" he questioned after a second and she nodded.
"I am," she replied, and he gave her a smile as he kissed her hand.
"Then I shall support you in this," he replied and saw her eyes soften, as she glanced at him, and their faces neared as her lips crashed onto his, the warmth of her body melted into him, as they both forgot to take their breath, and separated seconds later with flushed faces and heaving chests.
"You told me Prince has yet to agree to this," he questioned and she nodded, as both of them decided to stop at that, lest they lose all sense of propriety.
"Indeed," she replied with a sigh.
"Aenys hold immense wealth and power, even without a crown, and so the guile of the Iron throne doesn't work on him. In that sense, he would make the perfect King, yet he is noble and driven by duty, and holds no desire to replace me as heir," she complained, and he nodded, his own mind racing.
For she had already made her choice, now it was up to him to support her now, and as he recalled his discussion with his father from some days ago, an idea formed in his head as he added.
"I believe I might have an idea in that regard."
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AENYS TARGARYEN
Two dragons with their arching wings stood outside the dragon's pit, their wings arching, saddles bound and ready as Grey Ghost and Syrax were prepared by the Dragonkeepers for the ride.
His own dragon and companion of years had begun to grow with pace as he hit his growth spurt, or at least what Aenys believed to be his growth spurt. Grey Ghost, which had once been only half the size of Daemon's Ceraxes, was now set to overgrow the red beast by the end of the year.
The Dragonkeepers had been surprised by the pace of his growth, and in the end, the only thing that made sense to him was how he refused to let them chain him into the caves.
Given his docile nature, Aenys was against binding his companion who had accompanied him loyally all these years, and so he would let it roam freely, always aware of it in the back of his mind through their shared bond.
The pearly white beast flapped open its wings and roared into the sky as the small hoard of common fold that had gathered backed off cautiously. The children, though, couldn't take their eyes off the beast, much like the children of the various cities he had visited.
His dragon's blue orbs narrowed at the ground behind him, and he looked back and found Alicent standing there, their son in her arms, looking cautiously at Grey Ghost.
"He won't harm you, come close," he beckoned her over, and saw him glance nervously at his dragon before she began to step forward., still looking cautiously at the white dragon.
From their side, Rhaenyra began to chuckle at her friend's situation.
"Haha, didn't you tell me you have already ridden it," she questioned as she bound the saddle on Syrax, and Alicent's nose flared up as she turned towards her friend. The brown dragon lovingly ribbed its nose on Rhaenyra's extended hand, as the Dragonkeepers bound its saddle.
"Once, and even then, I was rather reluctant," said Alicent as she stepped near him, and Aenys pulled her close, holding her by his side as he beckoned Grey Ghost to lower its head.
"Come on, touch it. It will not do anything," he said as he gently led her hand to Grey Ghost's face, the warmth of it came as a surprise to his lady wife who frowned as her hand touched its rugged skin.
"It's warm," she remarked, as Aenys saw those blue orbs narrow onto his wife. his dragon examined her and, after judging her to be no threat, jostled into her, somewhat startling her, though thankfully he was there to hold her.
Rhaenyra had joined them by now as she started playing with Aenar.
"You should have come with us," she said to Alicent, who shook her head with a small shudder.
"No, I like my feet on the ground, and…." She continued after turning to face Rhaenyra.
"If I were to go as well, who would oversee the preparations for our little princess's wedding," she remarked, and Rhaenyra sighed as she shook her head.
"Ahh, at least this will be a respite from all that. I cannot sit through another dress fitting or all those other hassles," she complained, and Alicent smiled indulgently as she pinched her cheek.
"And that is why I shall be remaining here to deal with it, so you won't have to," she said.
By tradition, it would have fallen to her mother to help her prepare for her upcoming nuptials, yet Aemma's absence had been filled by Alicent, who was, although only a few years older than her, was still the most reasonable choice for this role. Viserys himself had requested this of her, though she would have been happy to do this even without that.
"Ok, that is enough. Let us be on our way," he said as he gave Aenar a kiss on the head. It had been some time since he was away from his lady wife and son like this, though he had doubled the number of people guarding them and had given them strict instructions not to let anyone remotely sketchy even near them.
"Do be careful, dear," he said to Alicent, reminding him of their earlier discussion.
She leaned forward and gave him a small peck on his lips as she wished him well.
"You as well, and do look after her," she said as she nodded towards Rhaenyra, who had now jumped upon Syarx's saddle.
"I will," he said as they separated, and he walked back and tapped Grey Ghost twice as the dragon lowered its back, allowing him to jump on the saddle. He tied all the knots as everyone backed off.
"So, how about a little race?" questioned Rhaenyra from the side, though sadly, her words were also heard by his dear wife.
"NO!" and she was quick to cut her off as Rhaenyra rolled her eyes.
"She has not changed a bit when it comes to flying," she said to him as she took out her whip and hit the ground.
CRACK!
"Syrax Soves!" Rhaenyra shouted, as the brown dragon stepped forward, and opened its wings, as it let out a roar, as it began to move them up and down while moving forward in a stride as it took to the ground.
Unlike Rhaenyra, Aenys didn't like using a whip, and neither did he need it. When it came to Grey Ghost, he gave his lady wife a single nod and closed his eyes as he leaned forward and slowly whispered the words.
"Soves!"
And then, two dragons would fly out of Kingslanding, vanishing into the clouds, they would race towards the East, and then hours later, when the Sun would have set and night would have fallen, they would land in the grounds of Eyrie itself, being welcomed by the Blue Jeyne and her retinue herself.
Yet a day later, in the cover of the night, another dragon would take flight out of the city and head in the same direction as the two had gone into days ago.
0000
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