Chapter 7

Early 99 AC, Tarth Mountains

The sounds of Mīsaragorn's and Liāzmariña's wings flapping and their screeching were echoing as Mīsaragorn landed down with a heavy thud onto one of the few flat areas on the mountains of Tarth. 

His eyes swept across and smiled as he looked down towards the west where Evenfall Hall was located. Even from here, the famed clear blue waters of Tarth could be seen.

His eyes roved around and he could see the high meadows and the shadowed vales that the island was famed. He heard Liāzmariña land next to them and saw Gael smiling beautifully as she spoke inaudibly to her dragon from atop Liāzmariña's back and he let off a sigh.

Gael got off from Liāzmariña and Aegon could see the wariness in the she-dragon as she peered over to them despite Gael soothing the smaller dragon.

He climbed down Mīsaragorn's back and tapped him gently on the scales when the dragon craned its neck and growled softly at him. 

« Don't unsettle Liāzmariña » Aegon said as he met his dragon's great big eyes.

Mīsaragorn growl grew a little louder and Aegon pinned him a hard gaze « Mīsaragorn… » Aegon began warningly. Mīsaragorn relationships with other dragons weren't the best save for one – Meraxes.

As a drakeling, Mīsaragorn had been the smallest and the few interactions he'd had with other young dragons hadn't been the best at all from what he'd been able to piece together over time.

And then, of course…there was Cannibal. 

The beast had almost caught Mīsaragorn and Aegon during one of their first flights over the Dragonmont and only through chance and some skilful flying by Mīsaragorn had they been able to avoid the maw of the great black beast.

Never again had either of them, alone or together, approached the Dragonmont from that side or anywhere near where it was known the Cannibal feasted.

Mīsaragorn huffed, his huff blowing his hair slightly but Aegon smiled at the acquiescence « Thank you. We'll hunt in the Shivering Sea for some whales. » Aegon promised and he laughed when Mīsaragorn let off a deep low rumbling growl that was pretty much as close to a satisfactory purr as a dragon could get.

He tapped Mīsaragorn's scales one more time before he walked away towards Gael.

She looked a little hesitantly at Mīsaragorn before she looked towards Liāzmariña who looked ready to fly away in a moment's notice but Aegon smiled at Gael.

"Don't worry, Mīsaragorn won't harm her." Aegon assured her and she looked sceptically at him before she looked at Mīsaragorn who pretty much began to curl into himself. "See?" Aegon said with a teasing smile.

Liāzmariña seemed more relaxed when Mīsaragorn curled into himself and Gael smiled warmly at the sight before she practically clung onto his arm and dragged him away towards the cliffs that overlooked the western coast of Tarth island.

"Tell me everything about the royal procession!" Gael practically demanded as she led him away, her narrowed eyes boring into him "Your letters were entirely without detail!" she said and Aegon laughed before he launched and weaved a story that keep them talking for hours to come.

He talked about the seemingly endless blooming fields of the Reach, the sea of tilled land and countless livestock one could see in the distance as they made their way through the Reach.

He talked about Highgarden and its white stoned walls, the impressive and beautiful stronghold that was more akin to a palace than it was a fortress with its gardens and courtyards though he mentioned that it was deceptive in its beauty for it was not an easy castle to take with its maze like gardens and thick walls that would be difficult to bring down without dragons.

Again and again he would talk and answer her questions when she posed them as he spoke of all the castles and keeps that he'd visited, from the insane wealth and splendour that were within the bowels of the mountain that Casterly Rock stood upon, to the impressive fortress of Riverrun that was near unassailable without huge losses or trickery.

Throughout all of it, he had felt at ease, the worries of tomorrow melting away as they existed in the here and now and with a smile he continued on as he neared the end of the tales he had for her.

He ended with his story about his time at Storm's End and his duel with the Baratheon Heir and was touched to see her angry on his behalf as she tightened her grip on his hand when he spoke about the near fatal strike from the young man. 

It was sudden when Gael leaned forward, his eyes falling towards her puckered lips and for a moment and he froze before almost by instinct he leaned away, a feeling of aversion rising from within that warred with a feeling he tried to stifle to death.

"Gael…we cannot" Aegon said to her with a pained look on his face as he carefully unpeeled his hand from hers, her face shocked before it morphed into face stricken.

"It's only a kiss." Gael said with a fragile tone to her voice, her body hunching into itself as if to physically reciprocate her mental withdrawal from his rejection.

God…he was such a fool. It should never have gotten to this stage. Never.

"A kiss is never just a kiss, Gael. We cannot cross that line." Aegon said quietly as he got up and walked a distance away from her. He couldn't.

"But…" Gael began and he turned around and saw her looking at him with a hurt expression before her eyes widened and her face split into a tentative smile as she got up as well, closing the distance between them.

"If you're concerned about dishonouring me, do not be concerned. We are to…" Gael trailed off, her voice dying on her lips.

Aegon looked at her sadly, conflict brewing in his stomach as he hardened his resolve "marry?" Aegon finished for her and she looked at him with surprise etched into her face and Aegon smiled wryly, his expression soft as he spoke

"I know that our fathers are plotting to marry us to each other"

Gael looked at him with conflicting emotions on her face and he knew what she was thinking. He almost wanted to flee than to have this conversation, to do this to her.

"But I have no intentions of marrying you Gael." He finally said without the intention of cruelty yet it was cruel all the same, his voice teeming with a sternness that he did not feel, a resolve that was cracking under the weight of her hurt expression and the near betrayed glaze her eyes bore.

He wanted to sweep her into his arms, to apologise to her, to soothe her but it would only make this more confusing for her.

 "Why?" Gael asked in a crushing whisper deepening the small crack in his resolve.

Aegon grimaced and looked pained as he turned away from her entreating gaze, a gaze that seemed to beg him to change his mind, a gaze that spoke so much of her vulnerability in this moment. He couldn't. He wouldn't.

There was so little left of his old life, his life that he'd been happy with, a life where he had meaning. Where he knew how the world worked.

Where he knew what he wanted. 

And all that he had left were his painful and all too real memories…and the values he was taught and the morality that he was brought up with.

Values and sense of moralities that he had to already shed in significant amounts and that he would need to shed more in order to truly numb himself to the realities of the world he'd been made to re-incarnate into.

A world that he was cruelly afflicted with without rhyme or reason or meaning with all of his ever reminding memories of a blissful, insignificant life no longer available to him.

…a world where he knew he would end up having to kill in order to simply survive.

His hands wouldn't remain clean.

Not even being a prince would allow him the luxury of his hands remaining clean. 

But with the choice he made, he would be travelling the world with seas infested with pirates and slavers, and find himself in places crawling with murderers and rapists and that was easy to live with. Of what he might do to those enemies, for himself or for innocents, in the name of decency…or in the name of self-interest.

Hands stained, yes, but with the blood of few of the truly wicked.

Insignificant. Meaningless. Easy.

Free.

Free from real responsibility, free from the realities of this world where he knew he could make a lasting difference, free from the deep binds of humanity.

He found reasons to live in Mīsaragorn and he had forged a purpose to live for – discovery, knowledge, magic – but that meant that nearly all of his sense of morality, his values, had to take a backseat in the name of pragmatism and simple survival.

And this…this was not necessary to his survival, this temptation of irredeemably separating from his old values and morality instead of bending it or ignoring it as he would have to in order to survive. It was a vice that he should not wish to accept.

A bind that he could not afford to have.

He closed his eyes momentarily, his mind warring with itself. No…he would live his life as pragmatically as needed and there were lines that he would not cross.

And Gael…his aunt…was a line he would not cross.

"Is this because you want to sail the seas?" Gael blurted out, unwilling to stand the silence that crept between them. "Seven have mercy, you can sail the seas all you wish, you can even take me with you!" she said hastily, almost desperately and he had to use all of his willpower to resist the wince that burbled from within.

'He didn't deserve her…and she didn't deserve the mess he was'

He smiled dimly at her. He could lie to her. He could tell her that it was the sole reason why he didn't want to marry her. He met her gaze and realised then and there that there was only person here that he knew he could never truly lie to.

He broke away from her gaze. 

He would fall back to the easy choice, the easy half-lie.

Finally, after moments of silence "You are my aunt, Gael." Aegon said as he stared out into the distance, the orange and red rays of the sun painting the horizon, the distorted light from the sun falling onto the clear blue waters like tapering red streaks made from fine and broad paint brushes alike. 

Tarth really was a beautiful island.

"That is why." He finally said, his gaze fixed onto the coastline, his mind traitorously whispering things he didn't want to think.

She wouldn't understand, nor would she understand any other reasons that he might have save of telling her the whole truth and that…would never happen, no matter how tempted he was. She would think him insane and he didn't want her to doubt him like that. He doubted his sanity enough for the pair of them.

"I don't understand, Aegon" she said as she walked up to him and forced him to look at her as her hands gently swivelled his face to hers. "Why does that matter?" she asked him with a tone of confusion, her deep violet eyes boring into his own.

"It matters because it's everything. We are family." Aegon looked away from her, his stomach unsettled as his mind whirled of the ugliness of his existence, their existence.

He worked around it by simply not thinking about it but honestly it was hard not to. 

Gael might have been born from his grandparents but given that he was born from the union of a second generation brother-sister coupling, Gael practically was as close as a sister genetically speaking as one could get. And that was without factoring in how much of a circle his family tree really was for at least two centuries.

Generations of Targaryens might have been generally fine without illness or insanity because of magic despite generations of brother-sister marriages unbroken for nearly two centuries and while Aerys – who was definitely mentally ill – might have been a wild outlier despite future generations continuing the practice, it wasn't enough in his mind to accept and commit something he thought was wrong.

It was wrong, no matter how 'normal' it was to this family. 

There was an arrogance to House Targaryen that they were closer to Gods than they were to men – perhaps that was truer than not given that they should have ended years ago if it was only nature at play – but they were still only people, however 'magical' they might be.

He knew that bitterly.

After all, he was here, wasn't he? 

This…extended existence of his, an existence that some might think a blessing – a second chance, was obviously not natural and it was as close to having proof of the divine as one would get other than facing the divine directly.

And it was proof that God was apathetic and unpredictable and cruel beyond imagination. Not only to rob him of peace but also to place him in a world that should just be a story without even once answering his questions of why.

He'd lived a decent life, hadn't he? Short, yes. Did he have regrets? Yes. But ultimately, he'd accepted death and now…now he didn't know what it was all for. 

Was there any real purpose to existence or was it just a game to a cruel god?

He did not want to play, he did not want to participate in the story they'd…he'd written. He'd rather nuke it all than to give whatever made him reincarnate the satisfaction of being pulled into the game. 

He'd live a life driven entirely by the whims of his want, a life without meaning, one that see him build what he wanted to build, see what he wanted to see and help those in his adventures path who wanted and deserved and needed his help. And then he'd pray for the abyss on his deathbed.

He would do all he could to make his fate his own, and only his own making.

What else was there for him here in this world?

"You are my aunt, the person who I consider family above most everyone else." Aegon said as he turned to look at her with look of sadness but firmness resettling in his chest "It is wrong and I cannot see you that way." It was better for the both of them that they remained nothing but friends. She deserved to be happy.

Gael stepped back, confusion and hurt on her face. 

"But our family…"

"I know." Aegon said as he looked away from her confused look. "All the same it would not be right. I cannot marry you Gael." He once more said with firmness.

"Can't or won't?" she asked him with a tremulous voice, her soulful staring deep into his own as he met them. The silence was stifling before he finally answered.

"Does it matter?" Aegon said quietly, more a statement than a question.

Gael laughed with a deep sadness that sounded almost hollow and she gave him a look that said that it did matter and that she also knew the answer to her question. 

She turned away from him, her back towards him and she remained silent for a while. The silence, as painful as it was, very much welcome in only for the slight reprieve it gave him from this conversation. 

"I think I understand now." She said, breaking the silence.

"Understand what?" Aegon asked carefully, his sense of unease growing amidst her almost vacant look.

"Why you have felt so distant to our family…we disgust you." Gael laughed sadly as she turned towards him with a look of despair and sadness "You feel disgusted with yourself." And the look she gave him said 'and you're disgusted with me'

"No!" Aegon half-lied defensively and convincingly as he paced over to her, his tall figure looming over her as he grabbed her small hands gently "I am not disgusted with our family…or with you" he said with as much force as he could. "Or myself." 

"Never believe that, Gael. Please."

"Then make me understand" Gael said pleadingly as she clung to his words, guilt filling him for lying so easily to her. "Then why not?" she asked in a whisper. 

She looked at him with eyes that bore the beginning of tears. "I know you care for me, more than one cares for an aunt…more than one cares for family." She said with a muted whisper.

Aegon swallowed harshly as he looked away from her entreating eyes all but confirming that what she was accusing him of was not without kernels of truth.

But what could he say about why he simply couldn't? 

That his denial was rooted in the fact that he just didn't belong in this world? He wasn't truly Aegon, son of Baelon but rather someone born and shaped by a world that was alien to her and to all of the rest the people of this world?

Even if he could somehow get over his sense of wrongness that was this entire affair, even if he was able to get over his…aversion like he tried not to want, the withered vines of his belief in the divine was restored ever since he understood the implications of his existence here in this not-so-fictional world. 

No matter how much he truthfully loathed God whom he'd cursed countless of times. No matter how much he resented the silence to his prayers he'd made to Him in his darkest of times.

And truthfully...

Aegon feared Him or whatever it was that brought him in this world. He'd already shown his cruelty not only in the robbery of his peace in death but also in His silence.

What was to stop Him from exacting so called Judgement and destroy everything he'd come to love and cherish within a flash? Perhaps it even wasn't his God either that pulled him into this world, a consideration that he hated and feared even more. 

In the end, existence was proving to be unfree and Aegon would do all he could to be absolutely free of everything so that his very existence was an act of rebellion.

Gael wouldn't be pulled into his madness and she'd live a happy life with his father Baelon and hopefully that set of chain of events would delay the Dance of Dragons to beyond hers and Viserys' lifetimes.

Gael continued "Make me understand why you're so against this when we're the blood of Old Valyria…when this has been our way for thousands of years. Not even the Faith stands against our right as Valyrians." 

Aegon latched onto her words of 'how things had always been like'. It was cowardly but he was tiring of hurting to see her heart break so undeservedly. "What do either of us really know of Old Valyria and its ways?" Aegon said as he broke off his gaze.

The fascination of his life and yet simultaneously the bane of his life.

Whatever was Valyria really like, beyond the kernels of truth from tales of cruelty and horror that existed in the public well of knowledge, was lost to the sands of time. 

Old Town's 'historical' books were not to be trusted as factual and the fact that much of what they knew and were brought up with were identical to what Old Town reported made him doubt that his grandfather knew all that much about Old Valyria.

"I doubt even grandfather knows any more about Old Valyria than the Maesters of Old Town do." Aegon said with a distant sigh. 

Though he was very sure they knew far more than the few scrolls and books that remained at Dragonstone or the books they lent to Elysar.

For a dragonlord family such as the Targaryens, one of the fabled forty, even if it was a lowly House, to not have more on Old Valyria was suspicious, especially considering that all that remained was little more than a few scrolls and books that offered barest of details and most of it was consigned to familial history and a few accounts of deeds during the wars that Old Valyria fought in the few hundred years before the Doom.

There was nothing on Valyrian society beyond the few entries on the forty and their infighting, nothing substantial on its culture and its society and what remained was largely about the evils of the society. 

There were no mentions of how alliances were formed, on marriage practices beyond the vows he found and how magic was involved in the daily lives of the Valyrians.

Even Carthage, an empire razed to ashes and its ground salted, had accounts of its society and its practices a thousand years later before even the time of archaeology.

He turned back his gaze to Gael "We say we're the blood of Old Valyria but we do not even know what that means, Gael. What do we know of their practices, of the way they lived their lives? We don't even keep to the same Gods anymore." 

Aegon the Conqueror had long converted to the Faith of the Seven and only hints of the Valyrian Gods and religion remained now. At least in Westeros. He continued "What do we know of their magic and how they may have used it to bind dragons?" 'and to remove weaknesses and illnesses in their blood?' he left unsaid.

Whilst it was true that the Targaryens practiced incest since before the Doom – the marriage of Gaemon and Daenys the dreamer was proof that this certainly was a practice not alien to them – but for all they knew, this might not have been a standard practice, at least not to the degree House Targaryen had practiced it.

He shook his head as his shoulders slacked in weariness.

In truth, it didn't matter if it wasn't a standard practice and it didn't matter if it was.

"I cannot marry you Gael…please." Aegon said, his voice tired and worn down. "I know it doesn't make any sense to you but I have said why. Please…accept it."

He didn't want to think on why he needed her to be OK with his refusal but he simply needed her to accept they had no future together. It was for the best. It was.

Gael looked at him with eyes that were red with unshed tears, the silence stretching for moments longer before her hand went up to her eyes and whisked away the drops of tears.

She didn't look at him before she walked towards the edge of the cliff and he followed her carefully just in case but he need not worry for she sat down on the patch of dewy grass amidst bountiful rocky earth. He watched for a moment as she glanced momentarily towards their dragons who were avidly but silently watching before she looked away back to her front and he joined her silently on the ground.

He waited with almost bated breaths for her to say something, anything, and when she looked at him with a strange look on her face, one that he couldn't quite read, she spoke "There is nothing anyone can do to change your mind, is there?" she asked as a tremulous and sad half smile took hold on her face.

He returned a weak smile understanding what she meant before he shook his head. 

"No. I will not change my mind" he ignored the way the words tasted like ash in his mouth. It was for the best. It was the right choice. It was right.

"Even if banished never to return? Even if they say they'll take Mīsaragorn from you?" She said as she looked away from him, her watery eyes glistening under the light of the dying sun.

The mere thought burned within him as his eyes hardened before he lost it knowing that anger was not needed in this situation. "Mīsaragorn will never not be free." 

She smiled at that even if she didn't look at him. 

"He was born to be free." She said minutes later, her voice almost melancholic and Aegon instinctively placed his hand on top of hers in a bid to comfort her.

"I will speak with grandfather. He will listen to me when I-" She placed her other hand on top his and she shook her head as she smiled sadly at him and any words that might have fled from his mouth died in his throat.

Her violet eyes were almost twinkling like twin stars amidst reflective gaze from the light of the dying sun. It was beautiful, the way he could see entire shades of purple in her eyes just as her silver hair struck by its rays gave it an ethereal glow that danced in the narrow yet wide spectrum of gold and red.

He'd never seen anything more beautiful than her in this moment and he felt never more hollow when she looked away from him back towards the west.

"Tell me a story." Gael whispered as she fixed her gaze out to the horizon.

Aegon closed his eyes at the sound of her voice that seemed to carry a pain that he was stifling to non-existence in his bid to ignore his own ache.

"In the beginning…" he began, his eyes still closed, her hand yet still atop his.

"In the beginning, in the Timeless Halls before time became time and before existence became existence, there was only Eru Ilúvatar, the Timeless One. He That is Alone and Father of All." Aegon said, his voice quiet as sounds around them deadened to near nothing but the faintness of the world around them.

Lord of the Rings was always a comfort to him in his old life. Where right and wrong were black and white. Where there was simply Good and Evil. 

"Before time was time and before the Flame Imperishable kindled existence from nothingness, the Father of All weaved the first theme of music yet it was not pure for Melax would strum strings of discord into the first theme as he hungered for power and hungered for discord.

The second theme began with a smile from Eru Ilúvatar amidst the storm of the first yet Melax thrashed and raged before he rose again and seeded discord into the second theme of Eru's music dismaying the others who danced along the notes of Eru Ilúvatar's music.

Finally, with a stern temperament, Eru Ilúvatar tempered Melax who calmed under Eru Ilúvatar before the Father of All weaved his third and final theme. And from this theme came the Seven, the Seven beings of great power, who, from his thought, before aught else was made, were born to be with the One who was no longer Alone."

A moment passed the sun's last rays of light illuminated the world before he continued, the coldness that he felt a distant ache compared to the ache that was from within, an ache that lessened with each word he spoke that weaved a grand story that sparked their imagination into a wondrous world away from their sad one.

"After the music was weaved, the Father of All showed the Seven his vision of what was to be after time became time and existence made ablaze from nothing…."

Aegon weaved the story well into the night, his quiet words a blanket of comfort.

And…

As his quiet words sailed through the world that lessened but had not driven away the disharmony strung from what had been a difficult night, unbeknownst to either of them, history had begun to harmonise into a different song, a song born from pain and love and righteousness and defiance, a song that with time would kindle the icy winds into a summery breeze as the great music was sung with the voices of those who came after those who could not sing.

Such was the importance of this night that would be lost to history as easily as Aegon's woven story was lost to the winds.

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Late 99 AC, Kings Landing

Baelon POV

Baelon watched the chaos with eyes akin to a hawk, scores of boys and men fighting together before turning on each other just as quickly once alliances had run their course.

Though, amidst all of that chaos, he only really had eyes on one of these boys and men, the one who was in armour of crimson, blue and yellow, distinctive colours that were soon becoming known as that belonging to Aegon and Aegon alone.

And with the way Aegon fought, fighting nought like a boy but a man grown, his hard strikes struck with calculation and his parries hard and controlled as his movement remained quick and decisive despite wearing plate armour, it wouldn't be long before all in the realm would know the colours of Aegon the Young Dragon.

 "AND THE WINNER OF THE SQUIRE'S MELEE IS PRINCE AEGON!" 

As Baelon stood and clapped alongside his daughter-in-law, his sister and Viserys, riotous bellows of cheers rang around the ground by commoners and nobles alike, the booming chants of 'Aegon, Aegon, Aegon' deepened as his son heaved his arming sword into the air. 

His father rose from his seat and the cheers turned louder as his father clapped his hands in appreciation and chants of his father's joined in union with calls of his third son. "He's ready for the knightly tourneys." His father said to him as Viserys left when Aegon was led away towards his tent to recover and to be seen to by a maester.

Baelon shook his head. "He needs to grow. He's got the skill but not the strength. He is only five and ten." The melee was dangerous and he didn't want his son fighting before he was strong enough to win.

"You coddle the boy." His father said reproachfully before he sighed and made to walk away. Baelon said nothing as he followed, the Kings Guards but a few paces away. "Mayhaps it is for the best. It would require Aegon to be knighted after all." His father said with a glance at him before he turned away.

Baelon held his tongue knowing it would do very little good. Knighting Aegon at a younger age than even Daemon was knighted would only bruise his second son's growing ego as much as Baelon would want to deny it.

It was already bad enough, this perception of slight that Daemon held that had taken place once news of Aegon's prowess as a warrior spread across the Kingdoms.

By now, it was only for the best that they were kept away from each other lest they forget they were brothers and in the back of his mind he knew he had done little to nothing to mend this broken relationship of theirs. 

'Alyssa, you would be so disappointed in me, I know' he briefly thought himself.

"Go see him." His father said to him before he stopped for a moment "Inform him I will have words with him after our small Council meeting tomorrow morn"

Baelon parted from his father with Ser Crabb following his steps. He eyed the man for a moment before he looked forward as they made their way down towards the field where the squires pitched their tents. 

"Do you think he is ready for knighthood?" he asked the aging knight before he peered from the corner of his eyes. "Speak freely."

The Kings Guard took a moment longer before he answered. 

"It would not be untoward if he gained his knighthood, my Prince." The man said carefully before he added "There have been plenty less deserving of it."

Yes, there have been more than plenty that are undeserving of the title 'knight' than his youngest son. "But…" Ser Crabb continued "I would say that he needs more experience fighting others outside of the confines of a tourney. I would see him blooded, my Prince."

"You would see him blooded before knighthood?" Baelon questioned lightly.

Before the realm was at peace, before his father's reign and the later years of his father's grandsire, it was not uncommon for men to be knighted after battle or hunting down bandits. In times of unparalleled peace however, it was common for boys and men to be knighted after they were deemed worthy of knighthood by either the lord or knight they were squiring under.

"I would, my Prince." Ser Crabb confirmed as a look of hesitation clouded his face.

"You feel it necessary." Baelon said as he showed an inkling of surprise in his expression and Ser Crabb nodded firmly.

"The sooner he takes a life, the better it is, as grim as that may sound, my Prince." Ser Crabb said "Prince Aegon may hesitate when he should not."

Baelon glanced at Ser Crabb for a moment before he looked away as they made their way towards his son's tent in the field. He knew the hesitancy.

Most men knew of that same hesitancy. 

Most lost that when they were mere boys pretending to be men grown. This generation…he doubted many of them had even been in such circumstances. 

Even Daemon was markedly different when he returned from the Vale after his hunt of the wildlings in the Vale. Viserys…well, Viserys had never been one marked for the life of a warrior.

Very well, Baelon thought. There were some reports of trouble brewing around the towns near the path to Duskendale. Mayhaps he would task Aegon to clear out the trouble with Ser Crabb and three dozen of their household guards.

They came into view of Aegon's tent separated away as it was from the other tents. Even scores of paces away he could hear the revelry from within the tent.

The guards are the front end of the door hastily bowed before him though he paid no mind as he entered the tent and the sight that greeted him struck him dumb.

There were men drinking from stew pots bound to their arms, trails of wine flooding down their front as they poured down the liquid down their gullets with Viserys alongside Aegon cheering them on.

It was only when one of the other squires, mayhaps the Sunglass boy, called out 'It's the Crown Prince' that the revelry died an ignominious end.

"Leave me with my sons." Baelon's voice rang with authority and like scattering rats, they fled the tent post haste and more than a few, particularly the ones with the pots tied to their forearms, left without much dignity as they stumbled and crashed out of the tent.

Once they were alone, Baelon pinned his sons who had the decency to at least look somewhat abashed. "Who came up with that nonsense?" he said as he looked over his shoulder towards a passed out fool in the far corner of the tent.

Aegon looked a little embarrassed as he raised his hand almost meekly. "After the tourney at Casterly Rock…we began to find new ways to celebrate."

Baelon looked at his son with naked surprise. He knew from the reports that Aegon was a lot less…distant he had been and more like a boy of his age should be.

Still, to see him like this was…not unwelcome.

"Father, it was all in good jest. Surely you can't begrudge us to celebrate my little brother's victory?" Viserys said with a boisterous laugh as he wrapped his arm around the youngest of his sons. Viserys' laughter died in his throat as Baelon pinned his heir with a look and soon an awkward silence filled the tent.

"I would have words with Aegon alone."

Viserys startled at that, his eyes darting to both him and Aegon. He made to speak but one more look from Baelon halted anything Viserys might have to say and stood up. "Father" Viserys said before he left without any further words.

Baelon looked to Ser Crabb who bowed and left to guard the entrance of the tent. Baelon returned his gaze to Aegon who was watching him with an inscrutable gaze before it flashed away as a look of wariness settled across his face.

Baelon sighed before he took a seat opposite to his son and he eyed Aegon's naked torso. There were patches of black and blues on his pale skin though nothing that indicated any breaks or sore bones. 

'Alyssa, you would be proud of our strong boy' he thought with heaviness.

Still…

"Any injuries?"

Aegon looked a little surprised before he shook his head slightly "No injuries. All this will disappear within a sennight." Aegon said calmly and Baelon nodded slightly in acceptance before silence overtook estranged son and father.

"You fought well." Baelon began, no longer able to bear the silence that made things only tenser yet somehow his words didn't seem that impactful in lessening the tension. Still he pressed on. 

"I was particularly impressed with the trick you had with the feet." 

Aegon still looked wary as he answered with slow nod "Something I came up with in practice. I noticed that it was a common trait of many people to be lax in their footwork and balance in favour for strength and impressive strikes" his son said with traces of amusement before he clammed up again, his back a little straighter.

"I just took advantage." His son finished and once more the conversation dried up.

Baelon wasn't sure what else he could say but all he knew was that he wanted to say more. Perha-

"Father…" Aegon began hesitantly and Baelon nodded to Aegon to continue, resisting the urge to seem too keen for him to do so.

"Was there anything you wished of me?"

Baelon looked at Aegon surprised, not expecting him to ask him this, as if it was so strange that they were alone together for any reason and yet, as he thought on it, he realised that it was mayhaps truer than not. 

"Your grandfather wants to see you tomorrow morn."

As much as he never knew what Aegon was thinking, he never failed to see Aegon's emotions that came across his face as Aegon's expression shifted from wariness to a look of tense guardedness.

"I see." Aegon said slowly as he nodded his acceptance "I will go see him." and once more silence descended upon them before Aegon cleared his throat.

"If that is all you needed from me father…"

"It is not Aegon." Baelon said before he continued, pressing on "On the contrary. I came mostly to wish to say that I am…" 'full of pride about your accomplishment' he trailed off, unable to say what he felt amidst suspicious eyes and for a moment he thought of leaving it there but somehow he managed to find other words, lesser words "impressed." Baelon stood up from his seat.

"It won't be long before you are knighted, my son. Mayhaps you will be share the title of youngest knighted Targaryen with Daemon before too long which will be quite the achievement" he said and Aegon smiled at him though it was clear that it was not quite genuine.

"Thank you father. It is what I strive for." Aegon said, his face tight before it was once more shrouded in false pleasantness with Alyssa's eyes looking at him blankly and only then did Baelon realise how his words could be taken as. 

Before he could say anything further Aegon also got up "I feel an ache around my ribs, I will go see the maester if I may be excused." Aegon said, Aegon's gaze almost looking past him and Baelon only nodded after seeing how wound up Aegon was and as soon as he nodded, Aegon left post haste.

Baelon watched him go and for a moment he did nothing, nothing but watch the flaps of the tent from whence Aegon left settle down into total stillness.

"Alyssa…" Baelon said with a sigh. She had always been better one with words. Sharp of wit and sharp of tongue, he thought with an unconscious and sad smile before it fell away and he shook his head slightly as his face settled into neutrality as he walked towards the exit of the tent.

Ser Crabb was waiting for him and followed him as he walked away towards the direction of the main tourney grounds where Daemon was set to fight in the Jousts.