《The Worthy Targaryen》


 Chapter 01: New Beginning, New Burdens

    <u>Chapter 01: New Beginning, New Burdens</u>


    Dornish Marshes, Ruins of Summerhall


    Beginning of the 2nd Moon, 259 AC


    Aerys Targaryen


    I woke up with a gasp, looking around and finding myself in what appeared to be a tent, I tried to get up only to fall back into my bed (or what can pass as a bed) from fatigue.


    I tried to pull my thoughts together to figure out what was going on, only to be assaulted by a killer headache and a surge of memories, from what I can tell I am no longer in my body (as weird as that sounds), and not even in my world (as far as I remember there is no place on Earth called the Seven Kingdoms).


    I tried meditating to facilitate the integration of my newfound memories, but from my current circumstances, it appears that my experiment has gone wrong, you see I am what you might call a Wizard, someone who can tame nature itself and play with the fabric of reality, or that''s what most wizards think, I on the other hand like any rational person would say that I am gifted with ability of taking shortcuts to achieve what any civilization can achieve through scientific and mathematic advancement.


    So to put things in perspective I was experimenting with magical wormholes or what is known as portals in the magical world, to try and cross worlds or planets, as you can see it didn''t go well, and instead of creating a stable portal, my experiment failed and caused the destruction my body and the transfer of my Soul into the body of the recently departed Aerys Targaryen.


    After taking a well-needed rest and sorting my new memories through the use of the mind arts, I came to know of the circumstances of my new body, The King (who is my grandfather) had gathered the entire royal family, to celebrate the birth of my child, and using that as an excuse to (according to my memories) hatch the remaining "Dragon Eggs" of our House, but things have gone extremely wrong and a raging fire has eaten through everything and everyone present during the ceremony, excluding me and my parents, whom I was on my way to call to attend it.


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    The cursed fire has consumed everyone, my Grandfather, my Uncle and his wife, the Kingsguard who were inside, and the most devastating amongst them all, my Wife and our inborn child, which is the reason for the passing of my predecessor, losing his wife and child above losing the rest of his family proved too much to him which caused him to pass and for me to replace him, or rather merging with what remained of him.


    Now trying to access my magic proved to be a nightmare because my magical pathways were in a mess, which is a fatale to any teenage wizard, and yes I am a teenager as I am barely fifteen years old, or as the natives say ten and five names old (quite the literals if you ask me), as is the norm for Wizard, our magical education and therefore our intentional access of magic began at eleven, and for those who don''t get an education and don''t start using their magic, they will face either one of two fates, first their magic get dormant and keep diminishing till they lose the ability to using it, the second and the terrifying fate is that their magic goes on a rampage and create an Obscurus killing them in the presses and any of those close to them before they put down by experienced wizards, but my case is weirdly different, even though the previous owner of this body didn''t access his magic because he does not knowledge of it, he is a wizard, but show no signs of turning in an Obscural, or even lost his access to magic, as I clearly can access it, but my body is a mess, which may or may not be because of incest, as my parents are siblings, as was my departed wife herself my sister, Siblings incest was theorize by some as a reason for Squibs, but here it''s different, the reason why I did not face the aforementioned fate is that magic in here is not the same as my previous world, which in hindsight should be obvious, here it is more primal, more present, and most definitely more obscure to the eye, even for an inexperienced wizard let alone the Non-Magical, as I can now feel having a better grasp of my magic.


    Now keeping myself occupied with accessing my magic is the best way to not think about all of this transmigrating thing, as losing my body and getting my soul to another world and inhabiting the body of a recently passed prince who just lost most of his family (in a very stupid and completely wrong magical ceremony) is a lot to take in.


    So taking a deep breath and entering into deep meditation through the Mind Arts, I need to process all of that, first thing first the idea that I died, I have to say that going into that experiment as I did, knowing all the risks that go with it was my choice and I have to accept that, secondly, the fact that I am in a completely new world can be explained by the nature of my experiment, third, is the fact that my soul not only survived but also inhabited a new body isn''t something that I can explain, as I would remember if I knew of a body possession ritual or spell, and not like I can perform any of them while not in control of myself, to that end I shouldn''t burden myself with this problem for the moment, as dwelling in it will only waste my time.


    Now, the most important point is how to deal with my new situation, I am now in a new body, and with that comes a new chance at life, but as I have possessed the body of ten and five names old Crown Prince of the Realm, and with it all the burdens that he carried, and considering that I am in his body which is now MY BODY I have to deal with them as mine because they are.

 Chapter 02: Making Sense of This Mess

    Chapter 02: Making Sense of This Mess


    Dornish Marshes, Ruins of Summerhall


    Beginning of the 2nd Moon, 259 AC


    Prince Aerys Targaryen


    After having a night full of rest and sorting through all of my memories, I had a very good grasp of my new situation, I am Ten and Five name days old, and my name is Aerys of House Targaryen, I am the Heir Apparent to The Iron Throne, my father Jaehaerys Targaryen is now the King after the death of my grandfather Aegon V Targaryen, my mother Shaera Targaryen, and we are the last of House Targaryen, a Dynasty that ruled the Seven Kingdoms, a continent-wide kingdom for 259 years, and full of fools and madmen, chief amongst them my grandfather, who in his infinite wisdom decided to gather the whole family to witness the futile effort of hatching Dragon eggs, using the most volatile and dangerous substance in the Known World "Wildfire".


    The only reason my parents and I survived is due to my father''s frailty, you see, he was born with a weak body, and that is what made him unable to attend the whole ceremony and my mother was supporting him in his chambers, and as the ceremony was approaching its final stage my predecessor run to their chamber excited to bring them to witness it, but before they reached the site everything exploded in a green inferno of Wildfire, it was a scene out of nightmares, with the screams of the people inside as they were dying in agony.


    After everything calmed down we were confronted with the fact that no one survived and were forced to make camp outside the burned ruins, and that is where I come in after the poor boy gave up on life, and died from grief.


    I have gone over his memories of arms practice and I have to say that he was average, not too bad, not too good, but that is mostly his disinterest in putting effort into anything substantial, his pool of knowledge left much to be desired, apparently seeking knowledge is not encouraged in this martial oriented society, the less said about economic the better, as most nobles consider it beneath themselves to count coper as they label it with their overinflated egos, the dynasty itself is a mess of huge proportion, as in the span of 259 there was only two competent Kings (Jaehaerys I, Daeron II) and few mad ones, the others were either fools or just figureheads who changed nothing.


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    The Capitol is a monstrosity and so is the Throne, each Lord Paramount is like a King in their domain, and the Crownlands which are directly under the royal rule are the smallest if we ignore those rocky isles filled with pirates, The North is the biggest and yet barley populated, the Southern kingdoms are full of schemers and oaths breakers, and the royal family even before this catastrophe didn''t have that big of an authority.


    As I was contemplating my bad luck, I was interrupted by a sound from outside the tent.


    "Your Grace, my I inter," a feminine sound said.


    "yes, you may" I replied, and the tent was swarmed by a couple of maids who helped me bath and change before telling me that breakfast was ready and that my parents were waiting for me, as I exited the tent I found Ser Gerood Hightower waiting for me, as it is with the death of most of the Kingsgaurd he is by default the Lord Commander, the only other survivor is Ser Cristan Crabb the last addition to the order, from the look on Ser Gerold I can tell he is feeling a huge deal of guilt over what happens, our walk went in silence until we reached my parent''s tent that was guarded by Ser Cristan and some man-at-arms, I entered the tent to find a somber scene with mother red-eyed from crying and father sporting eye bags from doubtlessly staying up most of the night.


    As soon as I entered my mother hurried to hug me and started crying, while my father looked at me with the eyes of a haunted man, I sat at the table and we barely ate anything, only for father to tell me that we would need to make it to the Capitol with all hast before the word of what happened spread across the realm, and I have to agree as with all the tension that the kingdom is facing we can let any opportunity to more trouble than what we have.


    During our brief and somber breakfast, I took the opportunity to examine my parent for any magic residue, only to come up with nothing, it appears that their magic has gone dormant, but I need to have a closer look to make any definite conclusion.


    After breakfast, we hurriedly made our preparations to go back to King''s Landing, we took the remains of our deceased family and the other victims of the tragedy for the funeral and burial and brook camp and departed with all hast.


    On our way to the Capitol, we''d only made the necessary stop to rest, we avoided stopping at any castle or big town and made it in 10 days after leaving most of our unnecessary load to catch up later with most of our staff.


    Once we reached King''s Landing we were welcomed by the Hand of the King Lord Ormund Baratheon and members of the Small Counsel, and we took with all hast to the Red Keep under the sound of the Bells of the Great Sept of Baelor announcing the death of the King.

 Chapter 03: Making Preparations

    Chapter 03: Making Preparations


    King''s Landing, Crownlands


    2nd Moon, 259 AC


    Prince Aerys Targaryen


    As soon as we entered the Red Keep Father called for a Small Council meeting, Father sat at the head of the table, Lord Ormund Baratheon by his right, Lord Aethan Velaryon the Master of Ships, and Lord Samwyle Tarly the Master of Law on his side of the table. I sat on my father''s left, and to my left sat Grandmaester Pycelle, Lord Alan Marbrand the Master of Coin, and Lord Jon Rosby the Master of Whispers next to him, while Lord Commander of Kingsguard Gerold Hightower stood behind my father.


    After Father recounted the events of the Tragedy of Summerhall, Lord Ormund said in a somber tone: "My condolences your Grace, it is a true tragedy that befell the realm, and with the passing of the previous King and the situation of the Realm, we have to make hast with the coronation".


    "Indeed, we must" replied my Father.


    "If I may your Grace, I think it is paramount to secure the royal line, so the Prince needs to marry", said Lord Aethan Velaryon no doubt wishing for his daughter to become the princess consort.


    There was a hush in the room as the other members of the Small Council started thinking about how to use this to secure their blood on the Throne, while my father looked on with cold as stone face toward his advisors.


    Before anyone could speak any further I said with a calm voice "You are correct indeed Lord Velaryon, as regardless of my grief, I must do my duty to the Realm and my House and secure the Royal Bloodline", I paused a little to let my words sink in while making sure to look sad yet keeping my calm so to not invite any suspicion to any perceived change of behavior, I continued "And for that to happen, I intend to take advantage of the gathering of the Lords of the Realm to swear fealty to my father, to choose a bride" and turning my attention to Grandmaester Pycelle and said "Make sure to include in your letters to the Lords an invitation to any eligible Lady, Grandmaester, and make it clear that the Heir to Throne is to choose his future Consort from the gathered ladies" as I finished saying that everyone was thrown out of the loop, as this was not expected, and as they started to think over the consequences of such a decision.


    Father had a calm look at my declaration, as we''ve already gone over this subject on our way to King''s Landing, seeing as this way of choosing a bride may not be the norm but will open many possibilities and will make the Lords of the Realm busy plotting over how to put their blood on the Throne rather than plotting how to weaken the Royal House now that we are in a vulnerable position, as not many will pass such and opportunity.


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    As a matter of course, we''ve gone over many important things concerning the Realm where I made sure to inquire with my father and mother about everything of importance from the martial state of the Royal House and our vessels, the politics of the Court to the economical state of the Kingdom and the Capitol, I even made sure to go over other related matters with Ser Gerold, such as his opinion of possible replacements to his deceased brothers of the Kingsguard, I have also gone on a deep discussion with my Father over what we may face upon our arrival at the Capitol, from the Small Council meeting to the politicking and scheming of the of Lords and Ladies of the Court.


    The silence was broken again by the voice of Lord Velaryon who sported a troubled look "Your Grace that will prove highly inappropriate, as this is an unprecedented way of choosing the Royal Consort".


    "I am confused whether you forget your history or have no knowledge of it, my Lord, as such a way was used by Aegon III when he called for all the unmarried Ladies of the Realm to attend a Royal Bell so that he choose a bride, and he ended choosing Lady Daenaera Velaryonm as his Queen Consort" was my reply in a calm voice.


    There was a troubled look on Lord Velaryon''s face as he was not expecting such a reply from me, for the previous me was known of his fanciful ideas and his hurry to lose interest in them, he was expecting me to stay silent or even agree with his opinion, he was ready to counter me only to be silenced by a raised hand and a strict look from Father who ignored him and turned to the Grandmaester and said in a strict tone leaving no room for debate, "as my son said Grandmaester, include the invitation to every Noble House that has an unmarried Lady of age, and Lord Rosby will help you fill any gap in this regard".


    Then my Father turned to Lord Rosby and asked about the situation of the Band of Nine that was taking the Disputed Land and the Stepstones by storm lately.


    "Your Grace, the situation is still yet to be clear, as there is still strong resistance from both Myr and Lys as well as the pirates of the Stepstones to this so-called unification that the Band of Nine state".


    "Keep your eye on them, and keep me informed, I don''t want them setting their eyes on Westeros after they establish themselves, and with the Blackfyres and their Golden Company chief amongst them, I don''t believe in their claim in just carving a Kingdom out of the Stepstones" then he turned to Lord Velaryon and said in a commanding voice "Make sure the Royal Fleet is prepared for any escalation Lord Velaryon, and send out trusted men to Bravos and Pentos, as well as the Lys and Myr to see if we can find ourselves any allies in them, as I am sure no one will want a repetition of the Triarchy in the Stepstones".


    "Lord Marbrand I want you to prepare for a Royal Bell two moons from now for the Lords to swear their fealty and find a bride to my son, and make preparation for our intervention in the Stepstones that might escalate to a prolonged war", was Father''s orders to the Master of Coin who nodded and replied with "yes your Grace", then he turned his head to his Hand "Lord Ormund preparation for the coronation tomorrow to be brief, for the funeral to be performed this evening, and for the remains of the Kingsguard to be sent to their families", Lord Ormund nodded his head solemnly and replied with a brief "As you will, your Grace".


    After that, my father dismissed the Small Council and we both made our way to the Royal Quarters to take a well-needed rest after an exhausting 10 days of a hard ride.

 Chapter 04: Training, Politicking, More Training

    Chapter 04: Training, Politicking, More Training


    King''s Landing, Crownlands


    2nd Moon, 259 AC


    Prince Aerys Targaryen


    It was unusual for a royal funeral to be so rushed, as it left no time for anyone to attend but those who were in the King''s Landing, it was a necessity to finish the coronation and secure the line, as the Royal Family has never been so vulnerable since the end of the Dance.


    The next day was a flurry of activity, everyone was busy preparing for the event, and it came and went in a blur, with the coronation finally coming to an end, we can now rest and grieve, not that I was doing any grieving myself, as after fully assimilating my predecessor memories any attachment left from him was extremely dulled, not that I don''t care about my new family, but I have no time for the dead, so I buried myself in studying the history of my family and this world to discover anything that can be helpful in any way.


    I made many discoveries by just studying the books of history available at the Royal Library and inquiring from the Grandmaester, chief amongst them is how lucky this dynasty is, as I was shocked by how incompetent most of the rulers were, the most hated and feared Targaryen King which is Maegor the Cruel, was the best thing that happened to our dynasty after Aegon I folly of leaving the two most powerful political institutions in Westeros in the hand of the vessel of a vessel "the Hightower", as with his death the first institution made their move by the hand of their military arm "The Faith Militant", and honest to God if not for Maegor the kingdom would have fallen by the time of the Dance of the Dragons, so in my humble opinion Maegor was a necessary evil, and he was evil no question asked.


    The Dance itself is another catastrophe that deprived us of our most powerful weapon "The Dragons" (yes My House used to ride dragons, and the entire civilization that we hail from) and it could have been avoided by a simple act, which the fool Viserys couldn''t even do, and I consider him the worst King to ever grace this Dynasty if not the whole Continent.


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    The less said about all of this Blackfyre shtick the better, as it still hunts us to this current moment, not that I intend to let fester any longer, but I need a lot of plotting and dedication to deal with this mess.


    And acing the cake would be my Grandfather''s folly that nearly killed us all if not for a stroke of luck, or I should say the machination of fate, because if I didn''t come here this dynasty would have ended with my very frail father.


    But I also read some very interesting things about the legends of this land, because if those stories are to be believed then this land has many secrets that are waiting to be discovered, alas I need to sort out a lot of problems before I can go on any adventures.


    Saying all of that, I didn''t spend most of my waking hours in the library even if I wanted to, but I spent a healthy amount on the training grounds of the Red Keep sharpening my armed skills, as after all this is a martial society and we were on the verge of an unavoidable war with an enemy that wants all of my family dead and Throne for his House of bastard pretenders, under the tutelage of the Red Keep''s Master-at-Arms Ser Edric Dayne, I wasn''t left unattended as he was pleased that the Prince is finally putting the much-needed effort into his training, he was a Godsend gift that kept on giving, as apparently, he was the in-runner for the title of the Sword of the Morning, he was a terror with the sword and a master of every weapon on the armory of the barracks of the Red Keep, I didn''t pay any attention to jousting because of how irrelevant it''s at real war, and I worked especially hard on archery and weapons of war, such as the mace, morningstar, and war axe, of course I can''t be master of all of those weapons in such short notice but it paid well to be prepared for many occasions.


    Following this pattern days turned into weeks and Lords kept trekking into King''s Landing in preparation for Royal Ball, during this time I made sure to make myself acquainted with every person of import in the Red Keep and King''s Landing at large, from the Small Council members to the Red Keep staffs, the Men-at-arms, the nobles of the court, and the City Watch Commander and Officers, during those meetings, dealings as well as every interaction I''ve had with people at the Capital I was applying a mild Charm that works by making people more prone to suggestions, as long as they don''t go against their self-interests, I was also applying more specialized charms in my meetings with important people according to the situation, ranging from minor mind probing to a powerful Confudus curse, such as the case with the High Septon to make him talk the Most Devote into the possible relocating to the Grand Sept of Baelor, of course, that will be a long term project, as I need to meet most of them to personally ''convince'' them of the merit of this endeavor, and the the coming Ball once again prove as an excellent opportunity to do this, as this Ball is proving to be the most congregated gathering since the formation of the Iron Throne.


    As I was Politicking and training my body and skills at arms, I didn''t forget to tame my magic, so spent some of my learning time acquainting myself with what is known of the flora and fauna of this new World so that I could find ingredients to potions and rituals or at least a replacement of them, I wasn''t so lucky with magical creatures but found a lot of magical plants.


    As a courtesy of no industrial pollution, nature is still strong and thriving, and the lack of an apparent magical community helped preserve the magical plant life, so I was able to gather the ingredients for a very useful ritual, which will help me regain complete control over my magic as well as unlock any magical ability dormant or otherwise in my bloodline.

 Chapter 05: Rituals Are Cool

    Chapter 05: Rituals Are Cool


    King''s Landing, Crownlands


    3rd Moon, 259 AC


    Now that I have all the ingredients for the ritual, I need a place to perform it, I can''t do it anywhere, and I''m not foolish enough to perform it where I can be seen.


    Luckily for me, my paranoid and quit-the-mad ancestor, Maegor is said to have ordered the construction of an extensive system of tunnels under the Red Kepp and killed all of those who were aware of their location.


    It didn''t take a lot of effort to locate an entrance to the tunnel, mostly because the bloody thing was in my chambers, which proved the fact that most of my ancestors were either fools or mad, how could no one have tried to find those tunnels and either collapsed or made use of them.


    From my investigation, it appears that no one has used them for an extended period.


    Using the entrance I mapped a safe road to the unused part of the cellars, setting the ritual site wasn''t hard as the ritual I was performing wasn''t anything complicated.


    As far as the purpose of the ritual goes, it''s akin to a helping hand, that will facilitate my complete assimilation of this body, its main function is to hasten the natural work of a magical awakening, it''s a very old but very important ritual that was and still in use by most old and powerful magical families and clans in the Magical World.


    The ritual would be performed at the coming-of-age ceremony of in most cases the main branch children, its main job is to fasten the stabilizing of their magic which will take years in a normal setting, this will give them more time to develop their magic, and as a bonus, it will raise the probability of awakening of magical skill of said bloodline, as the sooner your magic stabilize the better the chances.


    I have layered another ritual along with the first, and this one is more important and exponentially rarer, and its requirements are more specific, as it requires a very strong and old magical lineage, for the sole purpose of assimilating and adapting, its function is to assimilate any magical traits, skills and/or curses, and it requires a strong magical lineage because if not, the host of the ritual will lose his magical bloodline if it faces an opposing stronger one, lucky for my Targaryen lineage is both strong and old, and adding my very powerful Soul, I believe no other bloodline will overpower mine.


    After preparing the site, I went immediately into the circle making sure I carried no item on my body.


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    After an agonizing couple of hours, the layered rituals were finished, and I collapsed down tired. But feeling the sweet complete control of my magic back is something that wouldn''t give up for anything.


    Taking a few moments to collect myself, I stood up and went immediately into cleaning the site of any traces of any human activity whatsoever, as well as wearing back clothes, and headed back to my chambers.


    Laying comfortably in my bed, I start reviewing my gains.


    First thing first, the magic here is easier to control than in my previous world, adding my very strong Soul, which practically means I have less need for Magical Focus, but that doesn''t mean that it won''t be infinitely easier and way stronger with one, but I will hold on that till uncover a good deal of magical creatures and materials.


    Secondly, the bloodline abilities that I awakened when I underwent the ritual, are heat resistance was the product of a Major affinity for Fire and Light Magic, the first from my Targaryen bloodline and the second from my Great-Grandmother Dyanna Dayne lineage, I got a minor Blood Magic affinity, as well as some prophetic gift from my Targaryen lineage, and from my Grandmother Betha Blackwood side I got a Major affinity with Druidic Magic, which includes many skills that need to be tested and cross-referred between the local magical discipline and my previous world knowledge of this branch of magic, but one skill which is specific to the Blackwood line is a Hawk like eyesight that I felt can be easily mastered, this explains their producing the finest longbow archers in the history of the Seven Kingdoms, and lastly and most surprisingly I got a minor affinity for Water magic that comes from my distance Martell ancestry.


    The next morning after going through my usual schedule from the morning rituals to having breakfast with my family and training with my twice-removed cousin Ser Eric Dayne, I attended the weekly Small Council meeting and spent some time attending court and hearing appeals alongside my father.


    After luncheon I went to the Royal Library in Maegor''s Holdfast, which is separate from the Library of the Red Keep, as this one is specific to the Royal Family, as I entered the library I started using my magic to look for any hidden compartment or passage, and soon enough I found my goal, behind some shelf there was a hidden passage.


    With deliberate use of several repelling charms on the entrance of the liberty, I levitated the aforementioned shelf away to find a spell-locked door that looked to be made of obsidian, using some diagnosis charms determined that it was a blood lock, an obvious fact in consideration of my family history of being from a magical civilization.


    Walking into the new room after lighting it with a lighting charm that looks way stronger than usual, thanks to my newly awakened Light magic, I was met with a study that contained a sturdy-looking desk made of Ironwood, a relatively small shelf made of the same wood, and torches lining the wall that I saw no point in lighting considering the strong source form my handy charm.


    The shelf was lined with books that after inspection were written in High Valyrian, and most of their covers were made from Dragon leather.


    The first books from the right of the shelf were on the history of House Targaryen before the conquest and the second book was an introduction to the family magic that was written by Visenya Targaryen the mother of the Cruel, it sells that the rumors of her mastering Valyrian Magic were founded on some facts.


    Looking through all the books I found myself with mostly books on Valyrian magic from Pyromancy to Blood Magic as well as a compendium o of sacrificial rituals of the Freehold, and some history books about the Targaryens and their vessels the Velaryon and the Celtigar, as well as the now extinct Qoherys, two particular books, were written in two different languages that I can''t recognize, but my guess goes to Roynish and Ghiscary, and I was proven right when I found two sets of notes containing translation of the said languages.


    Upon examining the desk I was faced with what appeared to be two candles made of glass-like black material, which from what I remember reading before is called aptly Glass Candle, a well-known Valyrian artifact.


    I made my exit from the chambers after taking a couple of books on the fundamentals of Valyrian magic and one about the use of Glass Candles, after securing the entrance and returning the shelf to its previous location baring it, I headed back to have my dinner and then to my chambers to rest for tomorrow I have a very busy day ahead of me.

 Chapter 06: Wards and Alliances

    Chapter 06: Wards and Alliances


    King''s Landing, Crownlands


    3rd Moon/4th Moon, 259 AC


    I was headed to my father''s Solar to have our bi-weekly Cyvasse game, which I started after returning to the Capital as a way to help my father with his mental health, he was always frail, and the tragedy that hit our family was too much for him, the only reason he seem to be okay is because he realize the precocious position that the royal family is in and that he needs to be strong in front of the court.


    He was most devastated by Rhaella''s death, he blamed himself for forcing us to marry because of that damned prophecy, and now he regrets making her unhappy for the short amount before her death.


    Our bi-weekly games helped a lot with his state, as the mental challenge and the talks that we had assisted with processing his grief in a positive way instead of bottling it in, we talked a lot about family and remembered the good times and the fact that I was not depressed and was handling myself better than him made the process easier and encouraged him.


    After the game, I went to my mother''s chambers to read books together as in my games with my father, I found my mother more relaxed with books so I made it a habit to read books of all subjects with her daily to lessen her grief, and the three of us made sure to have all of our meals together alongside Aunt Rhaelle and Good-Uncle Ormund, and lately with cousin Steffon who arrived from Storm''s End, we all agreed to talk no politics on meals time, all of those activities helped tremendously with both of my parents health.


    The recent awakening of my bloodline has shown wonder today in the training square, as my physical abilities were enhanced to a knight level as Ser Edric stated, not only that but my handling of of the longsword has risen by leagues, and as expected my archery skills reached the level of a veteran, the men-at-arms started talking about my talent and how I was the Dragonknight born again, Ser Edric was pleased that my increased effort and discipline is showing my before wasted talent as a future Knight.


    Regaining my perfect control over my magic, along with the arrival of a shipment of goods I requested from Dragonstone at the port saw me heading to Maegor''s Holdfast straight away without dallying accompanied by a carriage carrying said goods.


    Entering my chambers I regarded the chest that was carried inside by some servants, it was made of some hardy Oakwood and painted with the Three-Headed Dragon of House Targaryen to show the owner of the goods, after securing the door I opened it to find myself staring at various chunks of Obsidian that were procured from the abundant mines of Dragonestone.


    As for what I need this material for, Officially I am starting a new hobby of carving, which I let slip during a Small Council meeting so that it spread around masking my true purpose which is creating Wardstones, as obsidian from Dragonstone showed a great affinity for conducting magic, courtesy of the Dragonmont housing my family Dragons for centuries.


    Making Wardstones wasn''t that hard, it only required knowledge which I have in abundance, and great focus which can be said to be my middle name, warding my chambers was my first goal, so I could sleep more comfortably at night, my second objective was my parent chamber, which requires more discretion, but will go long way in not only assuring their safety but will further improve their health and even increasing their fertility, as despite my father health he is perfectly able of producing children and so is my mother, the only reason they didn''t try after Rgaella was that they thought is enough to have two children, now with our state, it was easy to plant the idea in their heads and to be honest their nightly activities has improved their relationship, because after father forced me to marry my sister against our desire, while he married for love ignoring the fact that he compromised our


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    House relations with two Paramount Houses, my mother didn''t agree with him, and their relationship cooled after that, now with all that happened and my intervention, I hope I will be having a little sibling soon enough, as for the risks to Mother''s health, let''s just say that mother will have the easiest pregnancy and labor in the Seven Kingdoms.


    Following this routine, another moon passed in this busy manner, during which Nobles from across the Realm kept pouring into King''s Landing, and I was busy again politicking and making connections, to be honest, I was most pleased with my interactions with the Northern Houses, as dealing with them was easy because their lack of political nuance (except for few) and they weren''t desperate to please me with fake words and promises.


    Ironborns were the least pleasant to deal with, except for their Lord Paramount Quellon Grejoy who from probing his mind proved his genuine dislike for their Iron Ways, and the want for change, another Lord that pleasant to deal with was young Rodrick Harlaw who was one of the few Nobles of Westeros who has a genuine interest in knowledge to the point it got him the moniker of the Reader, that was demeaning in their cursed Isles, the rest of their Lords had heads full of lust and greed for the riches of the mainland, a problem that I intend on helping Lord Greyjoy deal with.


    Most of the Reacher Lords Riverlords were stupid and greedy waste of space who were lucky to be born nobles, others like the heir of Horn Hill who was a martially inclined and a man of duty who doesn''t think the World owes him like the rest of his countrymen.


    The Westerlander were divided into two camps one loyal to House Lannister, led by House Marbrand, and the other camp led by House Reyne wanted more influence to usurp their overlord, which is something I talked about in length with my friend and heir to the Westerlands Tywin Lannister.


    The Vale Lords are vain fools who have a flawed view of honor, and the notion that only they know honor, especially the Andal Houses led by their Overlord House Arryn, some of them were of the good sort, chief among them are First Men Houses, such as House Royce and House Redfort, that I shall find allies in.


    The same can be said about three Riverlords that were the kind that uphold their oaths and don''t have a foolish look on honor, those three were Lord Roger Blackwood, Lord Rodrick Darry, and Lord Petyr Mallister, whom I made sure to listen to their complaints and ideas as I see them as our best chance of securing the Riverland, and with how useless and overambitious Houster Tully, I don''t think I can make amends with him and win House Tully loyalty back, as he blame House Targaryen for his House weak hold of the Riverland, because of the broken betrothal, conveniently forgetting their never had a strong hold on the Riverland that was granted to them by House Tragaryen.


    The Dornish as always are the honorless snakes that hold no regard for oaths and have no dignity, except for House Dayne, who kept to their First Men tradition, and with their familial relation to my House, it''s a safe bet to make the Daynes stronger so that they will be a deterrence against House Martell, as their most problematic Lordly House the Yronwoods are a known Blackfyre supporter that I don''t want to see rise beyond their position, and I don''t want to antagonize the Martells I just want to warn them not to cross the line, something which will they understand loud and clear.


    House Tyrell is the most worrying of our Paramount Houses, as my family didn''t just wrong Lothar Tyrell, but his wife Olenna Redwayn, by two broken betrothals, and Olenna from what I gleaned from her mind is someone who holds a grudge and is overly ambitious to see her blood on the throne.


    My strategy against them is to strengthen their Lordly Houses by granting them some positions at court and some boons using the coming war as an opportunity, another strategy is to use my mind arts to convince the Reacher Lords to start selling their food products directly to the North as they do with the Stromland, by sending their goods to the King''s Landing to be shipped to White Harbor, and not rely on Houses Tyrell and Redwayn to sell their food, taking House Tyrell leverage on food prices, thus lowering the prices of foods that the Tyrells and Redwayns have been keeping at as high as possible knowing that with how harsh the Winters in the North, House Stark and their people will have no option but to purchase so that they can survive, the thing that made the North population and infrastructure keep declining since the Conquest, especially since the taking of the New Gifts wrongly by my ancestors.

 Chapter 07: Helping a Friend and More Meetings

    Chapter 07: Helping a Friend and More Meetings


    King''s Landing, Crownlands


    4th Moon, 259 AC


    The problem with having all of the real Nobels at King''s Landing at the same time is security, as all of those highborn sauntering their wealth around will allow the desperate smallfolk to commit some bad deeds, and there was a lot of desperate smallfolk in the City, the same can be said about the huge number of hedge knights that seek employ under the many Lords, who will cause a lot of troubles.


    So we decided to take two birds with one stone and started recruiting a lot of those hedge knights and desperate smallfolk into the City Watch, expanding its number from two thousand to three, and the officers from 100 to 300.


    I made sure to design a thorough recruitment system alongside Ser Eric Dayne and the newly promoted Lord Commander of the City Watch Ser Robert Darkwood, because the previous Commander Ser Boris Stokeworth had a very unfortunate ''accident'' at some whorehouse, I made sure to be present at the recruitment of Officers as I was present in the investigation and the purge that was carried by Ser Robert after receiving his post.


    With the new recruitment and the thorough purge of the City Watch as well as a very intense new training system, the Order was transformed from the lousy bunch it was to an Elite policing force that made any low-breaker tremble at their sight, the training program was divided into two types, one for Watchmen and the other for Officers, the latter which was implemented by the Red Keep men-at-arms, it was a mixture of physical conditioning and endurance training for their bodies and a Westerosi version of MMA and weapon training for their fighting skills.


    These improvements were carefully implemented in a way that shows a minimum intervention on my part, as I made sure to appear as more of a supervisor than the hand behind the scenes, as I didn''t want to be thought of as some kind of over-the-top genius, a reputation of a prodigy is enough for me.


    The security improvements were followed by improvements in trade, as merchants were eager to sell their products to the coming Lords, especially the luxury products which had a high tax return, and with such gatherings must come to a great tourney, one that made sure to carefully plan with Lord Marbrand and his chosen master of games, we need for the tourney to not only cover its expanses but to provide a further profile that will hopefully cover some of the Royal Ball expenses, and with the prospect of joining the Kingsgaurd, the finest Knights of the Realm have gathered at the Capital.


    Lord Commander Gerold Hightower was stretched thin with his duty of guarding the royal family, so I proposed to assign some of the finest of the Red Keep''s men-at-arms to him and Ser Cristian temporarily until to induction of a new brother, fully intending to make it a permanent arrangement once he realizes how useful they are, thinking of making a full unit of ten men under each Knight of the Kingsgaurds and fifty more under the direct command of the King and the Heir to the Throne, naming this new regiment the Royal Gaurds.


    During my meeting with the arrived Lords, I made sure to create a thorough profile of every one of them, like the extent of their loyalty, their allies, devotion to the Faith, the amount of their reliance and trust in Maeters, their mercantile in line and avenues, and so forth and so on, this way I will be having an easier way arranging for trade deals, betrothals, and most urgently army distribution in the upcoming war, so I can give some blows to those I want to weaken and to have a reason to grant boons to those I want to strengthen without receiving legitimate complaints from their rivals.


    Meeting Tywin again was a joyous occasion made sour by his father''s folly, as his latest stunt was wedding his 12 name-days daughter Genna to the second son of a Lordy House from the Riverlands, a certain unpleasant Lord Walder Frey, whom according to Tywin has announced the betrothal of Genna Lannister to his second son Emmon Frey on an event that happened 7 years ago when she was 5 name-days old, the event was attended by most the Westerlands Nobility and was not something anyone has known of before, not even Tytos Lannister himself, the announcement made such wide outrage amongst the Westerlanders and Tywin personally disagreed, and it was supposed to be broken but Lord Lannister in his cowardice and quest to please everyone didn''t break it, and the wedding was something that further smeared the Lannister name in the mud.


    Tywin was very upset at the state of his House, a state that I won''t allow to continue much longer, and for that, I had a lengthy talk with Tywin about the strategies I devised to reverse the situation, at first he was reluctant to accept my help thinking it will paint him as another weak Lord that needed the Crown help to deal with his problems, something his pride can''t allow, it took a while and delicate use of compulsions to convince that my plans don''t involve a public interference or even something that can be pointed the Crown, some of those plans if not the most important of them rely on the coming war, chief amongst them the distribution of the Westerlanders troops, which will logically will be left to Lord Rogar Reyne to command as he is the most capable and influential Lord of the Westerlands, but I intend to ''convince'' Lord Tytos Lannister to appoint his son and Heir Tywin, something that will not be thought of as possible but will be supported by many Westerlords that either support House Lannister like Lord Marbrand, or others who don''t want to see House Reyne gain more influence like House Farman, of cource those lord with my help will conveniently ignore the fact that Tywin have no experience, which he really lack but from my observation will not hinder him with his talent for warfare.


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    Following several days of exhausting scheming and forging an invisible web of alliances and plots to strengthen the very shaky foundation of my House there was a call for an emergency Small Council meeting by my Father to discuss the matters of the swearing ceremony, the Royal Ball and it''s accompanying tourney, as well the matters of the upcoming conflict.


    I made my way to the Small Council chambers alongside Ser Cristian and two of the newly appointed ''royal guards'', we reached the Small Chamber that was guarded by another two royal guards, and they opened the door for me as I entered alongside Ser Cristian leaving the guards outside, I was faced with the usual attendants with the recent addition of my mother the Queen, that I convinced my Father to allow her attendance to those meetings like both Jaehaerys I and Daeron II used to do in their days, I took my seat facing my father at the other end of the table.


    We waited for the Lord Commander of The City Watch to arrive as he was another addition that I proposed to join these meetings to allow for more practicality, he arrived shortly after me and took his seat at the table by my side while metering a quiet "I am sorry for being late your Grace" to my Father who replied with "there is no reason to apologize Ser Robert"


    After that, the meeting started with some reports on the state of the City and the preparation, "everything is going according to the plans Your Grace, there is no problem with the preparation" said Lord Ormund.


    "If I may your grace, the trusted men that I sent to the Free Cities to look for allies against the emerging Band of Nine and their troubling move in the Stepstones have returned" he stopped talking for a moment taking a deep breath, and continued "the responses from the Free Cities has been at best lukewarm, and some even dismissed this as a Westerosi problem".


    There was a hush at the table for a moment, only to be broken by "This is most outrageous, how can those Essosi Magisters ignore such an apparent danger, does no one of them see the danger of the Stepstones falling into the hand of Sellswords and Pirates" the Grandmaester annoyed voice, for a moment there was a chorus of an agreement to his statement by other members of the Small Council.


    Lord Rosby said in his raspy voice "To believe that the Essosi will think that this is merely another Blackfyre Rebellion is the height of folly, if the Band managed to take control of the Steptones they will cripple the shipping lanes that go through there with high tolls just to fund their war on Westeros and the Free Cities will endure a lot of loses to their trade".


    Once again there were nodes of agreement, so I said in a calm voice " It''s not that they don''t understand the danger, quite the opposite, they do more than many of the Lords of the Seven Kingdoms, who think that it will be like the last Blackfyre Rebellion, the Essosi understand the danger but they are willing to wait and let the Seven Kingdoms handle it while they conserve their strength and wealth so that they can take advantage of us after this war", there was some disbelieving face at what I said, and no one was able to respond.


    I continued "You have to remember my Lords that such a thing happened 250 years in the past, Bravos and Pentos didn''t move a bit against the Triarchy when they occupied the Stepstones, even when they imposed outrageously high tolls on the Ships passing through, even when most of Pentos trade was to the south" I stopped for a moment to let my words sink a little.


    "Neither Bravos nor Pentos made a move without even coming to an agreement on that, as they were enemies at the time, but they did the same thing for one reason, and that is because they know that Corlys will make his move, and he will seek and aid from the Throne, and even when Viserys I refused to go to war against the Triarchy, Corlys still made his move, proving the Free Cities point".


    There were flashes of understanding on some faces to my statement, so I continued "The Free Cities won''t make any moves now more than anytime, as they see that the Iron Throne will most certainly not wait for the Blackfyre pretender and his Band of Nine to make a foothold on the Stepstones, so why would they waste their resources on what in their thinking is a waste of time, as they can wait for us to finish the job, and they will have to do with their inland trade with Norvos and Qohor".


    "The most they will do is for the Iron Bank to offer us a loan to finance the war, which is one of their ways to take advantage of us, and after the end of the war I believe the Free Cities will start making contracts with what remains of The Golden Company to make them recover easily so that they will stay a dagger in our backs, like they did every single time they were near destroyed by us"


    There were looks of recognition on all the faces in the rooms at my words that were soon replaced with pure rage, there was banging on the table by Lord Ormund "THOSE F**** COPPER COUNTERS, HOW DARE THEY TRY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF US" his sound thundered showing the meaning of his House words, he took a deep breath to regain his bearing and sat back and said: "This can''t le be happen, Your Grace, we need to respond to this".


    There was a furious nodding from Lord Samwyl Tarly as he looked at my Father and said "Indeed Your Grace we mustn''t let those despicable Essosi go away with this", there was some silence from Father followed by "And how you suppose we respond my Lord, as they didn''t do anything to provoke a public respond from us, the most we can do is after the war to raise taxes on their goods, but that won''t do us any good my Lords as most of our trade with them is necessary for the Kingdom to recuperate, and after the time it will take for us to recover any move from us will be meaningless" the Council descended into silence after the word spoken by The King as no one had anything to propose.

 Chapter 08: Dealing With A Permanent Headache

    Chapter 08: Dealing With A Permanent Headache


    King''s Landing, Crownlands


    Late 4th Moon, 259 AC


    The Small Council members were thinking of possible ways to solve the problems that would inevitably come from the war on the Pretender in the Stepstones, but dealing with the Free Cities when we are economically inferior is not an easy matter to overcome, especially to the Westerosi Lords who look down on the mercantile ways as counting coopers.


    Looking around the table to only be met with confused or angry faces at a simple problem was not a scene that I wish to have in the Council that dictates the fate of a kingdom that I live in let alone The One that I will rule in the future, which further enforced my conviction to start on the project of building proper institutions to help me and my family rule this kingdom with more efficiency and competence, but that need to wait for me as I need to deal with my current problems.


    Getting tired of waiting for these hopeless people to start using their heads to solve the problem, I cleared my throat to gain their attention and said: "My Lords, there is a very simple solution to solve the problem of Bravos and other Free Cities taking advantage of us during and after the war", those word of mine got me their attention, to which Grandmaester Pycelle asked in a slightly doubtful tone "And what?/if I may ask is this solution, Your Grace", "Why of course Grandmaester, it''s the Stepstones" I said, hoping to get some understanding to my words only to be disappointed by the confused replay of Lord Velaryon "I don''t understand Your Grace, the Stepstones are the problem, how can they be the solution" , you would think that the descendant of Corlys Velaryon would understand such a simple matter, but apparently he is not only a overreaching sycophant, but also an incompetent fool, and the only reason he got his position is because of a name he didn''t earn, it appears I have to look for a replacement soon enough.


    There was a semblance of recognition on the Grandmaester''s face, which proved that unlike someone else he didn''t get his position by his connections alone, his haughty attitude though, is something that needs to be dealt with, and I think his love for extravagance and his unseemly activities can be used to control him, just like the High Sopton has been dealt with.


    Lord Ormund sported the same confused face as Lord Velaryon''s, which proved another one of the many mistakes that my ancestors kept on committing, favoring Baratheons and Velaryons just for the deeds of some of their ancestors is plain stupid, especially the latter as they get favored way too much, that instead of creating new loyalties while giving favor to some loyal but minor Lords, chief among them are the Celtigars, who never gained Royal favor despite their internal loyalty, the same can be said about Northern and Vale Lords, who never broke their oaths no matter how much the Crown neglected their needs and interest, while the Baratheon showed not once or twice but trice their willingness to rebel against the Crown, and mostly to further their self-interests as with Rogar Baratheon and Borros Baratheon, and that in time where they were shown royal favor just like Lyonell Baratheon rebelled over a broken betrothal, and while something needs to be done about this, now is not the time, as we have to not only whiter this upcoming conflict but to come out of it stronger.


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    The rest of the Council members showed varying degrees of understanding, and I was proved right by Lord Marbrand when he said "Your Grace you don''t mean to hold the Stepstones permanently do you? It was tried before to no success whatsoever", Lord Velaryon was fast to add after getting back his bearing: "I must agree Your Grace, Lord Corlys the Sea Snake himself deemed it a fool errand to hold on to those barren rocks" he finished adding in such a cocky way that proved that he is more pride than intelligence.


    My face became as cold as the Northern Winter as I said to him "Corlys Velaryon didn''t abandon his effort to hold the Stepstones, because he ''deemed it a fool errand to hold on to those barren rocks'' as you say, but because of his inability to do it, despite his legendary seafaring achievements, Corlys Velaryon was but a one Lord, and his wealth was massively depleted on his war efforts, and he was opposed by a united Triarchy while he lacked the most crucial thing to hold them, which that we have in abundant".


    Lord Velaryon''s face was heating up from the embarrassment and anger as he asked the simple question "And what is this thing? Your Grace", My face split into a shit eating grin as I replied "Why of course my Lord, the answer is in your question is simple as daylight and that is the Royal Authority" he was left astounded at the my simple answer, while I continued "It is no secret that Corlys Velaryon overreaching ambition at the time gained him no favor and no friends at Court, and his declaration of war on the Triarchy with no Royal permission put the nail in the coffin to his ambition to hold the Stepstones, as he can''t possibly handle the pressure of the Free Cities as well as the pressure from the many Lords of the Realm who were either envious of his wealth or were his rivals", I stopped talking as I observed the reaction of others, both Lord Rosby and Lord Marbrand were nodding to my words, Lord Tarly on the hand was showing appreciative looks on his stoic face as he thought of the possibility of such endeavor from a military perspective, Lord Baratheon was showing contemplating look while he was thinking of the ramifications of such move on his kingdom, as he no doubt was factoring the proximity of the Stepstones to his domain and the opportunity to maybe annex them if he played his cards right.


    My Father''s face was as calm as a lake on a sunny day, as we discussed this option as we always do in our Cyvass time, and My Mother God bless her was looking at me with a look of immense pride.


    Ser Gerold''s and Ser Cristian''s as well as Ser Robert''s faces were all impassive as men of their positions should be.


    Grandmaester Pycelle showed a contemplating face as he was probably thinking as to whom the Crown would grant the Stepstones after taking hold of it, and the same could be said for the other Lords after a while as they started thinking of ways to benefit from this opportunity.


    My next words put a damper on their thoughts as I said "Obviously the Stepstones need to be under the direct jurisdiction of the Crown, as we are the only one with enough authority to not bend under the pressure of the Free Cities".


    The Small Council Lords'' faces were colored by disappointment as some started looking to my father as if to start complaining, the King''s response was swift as he said "Well spoken Aerys, I couldn''t have said it better myself, the Stepstones after we purge them of the Pretender and his band of pirates and sellswords, would be under the Royal demesne, and as for how to handle the different Islands, that would be left to after the end of the conflict where they would be awarded according to the contribution to the effort of claiming them", the faces of the Small Council Members except Lord Jon and the Grandmaester''s lit in joy at the prospect of such an opportunity, ths idea was completely my Father''s, as he saw this as a way to entice the Lords of the Realm to contribute to this coming conflict, which I wholeheartedly agreed with.


    Besides that, I needed to only appear as I was proposing ideas and not the one making decisions for the Kingdom, because that would only show my father as a weak King who is nothing more than a puppet, and I have no intention of undermining my Father, nor do I want or need to control his decisions, because my Father is a capable ruler who''s only negative point was his weak body, something that shouldn''t interfere with his role as a King, but we live in a martially inclined society and we need to show the part, therefore we agreed that no matters what we discussed in private he always needs to have the final word in public as his should as King.

 Chapter 09: Ceremony and Tourney

    Chapter 09: Ceremony and Tourney


    Having the many Lords of the Realm gathered at King''s Landing for the swearing ceremony and the royal ball created some accommodating issues, but it was concluded to host only the Lords Paramount and their immediate family at the Red Keep, as for the rest of the Nobles, they were spread across their mansions, if they had ones, or in previously prepared mansions.


    It was one of Mother''s ideas during one of the earlier Small Council meetings, to rent some inns and mansions in the name of the Royal House to accommodate the various Nobles and their immediate families in said mansions while providing the inns to their retainers and any extended families at an appropriate price to recuperate some of the funds spent on the Nobles, it was an ingenious idea indeed, as at this rate the royal treasury will see some increase instead of the usual decrease that come with such events, with the tourney paying for itself and generating further profit and with this idea along with all the increase in trade flow, the economy of the city is seeing an increase not seen since before the Blackfyre Rebellion according to the records, and may even extend to the level of before the Dance.


    And so we took advantage of this economic boon to further strengthen the City Watch as I mentioned before, and to further increase the numbers of the Royal Guards after Ser Gerold was convinced of their usefulness, from the previous ten under each Kingsguard and fifty under the direct order of the King and the Heir, it was increased to fifteen under each Kingsguard and twenty under the Lord Commander, and hundred under the King and the Heir, fifty each, and now beside the twenty under Lord Commander Ser Gerold, the fifteen under Ser Cristian and the fifty under the King the other are still yet to be inducted, as no other Kingsguard was selected yet, and as for the one assigned to me, I decided to put them under further training for preparation to the coming war that I was going to lead the Crown forces in, as it was agreed that Father won''t be leaving King''s Landing till the end of the conflict and dealing with the consequences, as for Mother, it was decided to permanently assign her two Kingsguards and their accompaning Royal Guards when they are inducted until further expansion of the royal family.


    1st Day of the 5th Moon, 259 AC


    Today was the day, the swearing ceremony would start after lunch and would go well into the evening, and will end with a feast.


    I woke up early like every day, had my breakfast with my family and the Baratheons, and headed to the training ground to have a quick practice because as they say "practice makes perfect" Afterward, I took a bath and changed into something official to have the big lunch with all the Lords Paramount before the ceremony, the lunch was a brief affair, and after it, the Lords started to trek into the Big Hall, and God was it crowded, what with all the Lords of the Realm and their Heirs present to swear their Oaths.


    This was the biggest gathering in the history of the Seven Kingdoms and not even the Great Council of 101 had this many attendants because in that event not many Lords brought their Heirs and wives as well as their extended families, but with this being a collection of multiple events, My Royal Father swearing ceremony as King, and mine as the Heir to the Throne, as well as choosing my bride, and the Tourney to celebrate the Ascension of Father and the choosing of new Kingsguards, not to mention the talk and preparation of the incoming invasion of the Stepstones, all of those events culmination into one made the Lords of the Realm bring their heirs and families to seek the many opportunities and connections that come with such gatherings, and so my Royal Father told the Lords to bring the heirs along to the swearing ceremony so that they affirm their loyalty to the Crown, in this tumultuous times.


    The Ceremony was long and trying, and the arrangement for who would swear first was a sensitive affair, so to avoid scratching the Lords'' fragile egos we decided to arrange it by the proximity to the Crown domain, so it started with me taking the knees and swearing my fealty to my Father, followed by Father affirming my position as his Heir, and then with the Lords of the Crownlands swearing to both my Father and me.


    The first to go after the Crownlords were Lord Ormund Baratheon Lord Paramount of the Stormlands and his Heir Steffon Baratheon, followed by the Stormlords.


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    Second in order was Lord Axel Tully Lord Paramount of the Riverlands and his Heir Hoster Tully, followed by the Riverlords.


    Third was Lord Jon Arryn Lord Paramount of the Vale and Mountains, followed by the Vale Lords, (being young and recently married Lord Arryn didn''t have an heir).


    Fourth was Lord Tytos Lannister and his son and Heir Lord Tywin Lannister, followed by the Westerlords.


    Fifth was Lord Paramount of the Reach Lord Luthor Tyrell and his Heir Lord Mace Tyrell, followed by the Reacher Lords.


    Sixth was Lord Quellon Greyjoy Lord Paramount of the Iron Isles and his son and Heir Lord Balon Greyjoy, followed by the Iron Lords.


    Seventh was Princess Miriam Martell and her young son and Heir Prince Doran Martell, followed by the Dornish Lords.


    Last but not least was Lord Edwyll Stark and his son and Heir Lord Rickard Stark, followed by the North Lords.


    The feast after the swearing ceremony was full of laughter and noise from the drunken Lords who had to endure the boring and long ceremony, and when the dancing ground was emptied I had already danced with many of the Lords'' wives, as this was not the Royal Ball to celebrate my father ascension and choosing my bride only the wives of the Lords were present along their husbands.


    The Next day was the first day of the tourney and the start of the Melee, and it was a glorious yet gory event with the Northmen emerging victorious, as the melee was conducted in groups with each Kingdom forming its group, the Dornish were the first to disqualify followed swiftly by the Ironborn and wasn''t their participation a surprise to everyone! as they never participated in a tourney before, which proved to the rest of the realm the genuine desire of Lord Quellon Greyjoy to abandon the Old Way, and it was an idea ''suggested'' to him by me when we discussed his plans to fight his people outdated ways, the Ironborn fought hard, but they were ganged up on by the Reachers and the Westerman so they were dispatched quickly, with the added benefit of the death of some ''poor'' Lords and captains who were vehemently in their support to the Old Ways, something that wasn''t hard to arrange with them going into the fight heavy in their cups.


    The Reachers and Westerman disqualified each other, and the Stormlanders were dispatched by the Crownlanders after they were tired from disqualifying the Dornish, the Northmen, Valemen, and Riverlanders fought in a three-way battle, where the Riverlanders were the first to succumb, and then the Crownlanders joined the fight that ended with few Northmen remaining thus claiming the victory in the name of their Kingdom.


    The Archery contest was the next day alongside the first round of the Jousting, The Archery contest was won by Lucas Blackwood the younger brother of Lord Roger Blackwood, and the runner-in was a cousin to Lord Glover, named Jordan Glover, both the winner and the runner-in were invited to that night feast to celebrate their victory, where I asked them to join my personal Royal Guards after I checked their loyalty and personality using my ever helpful "Mind Probes", both agreed to my invitation and consider it a great honor.


    I was going to give them the responsibility to start training an elite force of longbow users like the legendary Raven''s Teeth of Lord Brynden Rivers my great-great-great-uncle, so I untrusted both of them five archers each and gave them the mission of training them in the intricate art of wielding Longbow, and I will see who among them will be the better teacher after a period of one moon.


    The third day of the tourney saw the continuation of the joust as well as the axe-throwing contest, and surprisingly the winner was the elderly Lord Hoarfrost Umber who despite his advanced age still had good aim and strong grip, the runner-in was one Cotter Pyke, apparently the oldest baseborn child of Lord Quellon Greyjoy, from my interaction with him I found his desire to be away from his people and that was thinking of maybe joining the Night''s Watch, something which I found wasteful, so I asked him if he is interested in joining the Royal Navy during the coming war on the Stepstones and the possibility of gaining a captaincy if he showed competence and accomplishment, to which he told me he needs to think about it and seek counsel with his father.


    On the fourth day of the tourney, the joust was entering its final stages with fewer Knights left competing, and because of the lack of the numbers of the Kingsguard both Ser Gerold and Ser Cristian did not participate, and the same went for Ser Eric Dayne and Ser Robert Darkwood who were tending to their duties.


    There were a lot of knights participating in this joust to get the chance of getting recognized and inducted into the Kingsguard, but the selection of the Kingsguard wasn''t going to rely on the jousting alone, the melee, politics, and my mind probes were going to play a big role in it, so I was paying extra attention to every knight who showed promise, and I was thinking of finally having a Northern Knight in the Kingsguard for the first time to sow some unity amongst the Kingdoms, so I took notice of both Ser Bernard Cassel bannermen to House Stark and Ser Merlon Manderly cousin to Lord Wyman Manderly the young Lord of White Harbor.


    Prince Lewyn Martell the brother of the princess of Dorne showed great potential from his Kingdom alongside Ser Arthur Fowler.


    Ser Tybolt Crakehall the younger brother of Lord Sumner Crakehall, and Ser Tyland Lefford a brother to Lord Stafford Lefford were the candidates from the Westerlands.


    This leaves one Knight from the Vale or the Stormlands, as I saw no good knight from the Riverlands except a young Brynden Tully who may be a good future candidate when he is Knighted and gains more experience, so I am still undecided between Ser Barristan Selmy who while talented is the heir to his House and Ser Alenn Crorbray the wielder of Lady Forlorn and brother to Lord Lucas Crobray.


    All of those candidates will be met one by one by me to get a measure of their loyalty to the crown and their mettle a disposition, but all will wait until the end of the tourney.

 Chapter 10: The Champion of the Day

    Chapter 10: The Champion of the Day


    The fifth and final day of the joust was a thrilling experience for the audience. The finest knights from around the Realm gathered to show their mettle, and the event culminated with eight contestants who would face off till only one champion emerged.


    The first joust of the day was between SER Barristan Selmy and SER Merlon Manderly, the two knights faced each other on their horses wearing their resplendent armors and holding their lances waiting for the start, as soon as the horn sounded they launched like raging bulls towards each other only for both of their lances to break with contact, and for the few following moments it was an enchanting back and forth that entrapped the audience in a song of galloping horses and broken lances and shields that ended with SER Merlon on his back ending the joust and making the audience go wild with clapping and cheering, and in a show of sportsmanship, SER Barristan helped SER Merlon to his feet while smiling at each other.


    After SER Barristan headed for his tent to rest for his next match, the next two contestants, SER Tybolt Crakehall and Prince Lewyn Martell, entered the jousting field, and after seven tilts, SER Tybolt was unhorsed, and much like the previous joust, this one was amazing.


    The third joust was between SER Tyland Lefford and SER Yohn Royce, and it ended in Yohn Royce''s victory. His bronze armor was intriguing because I felt a faint trace of magic emanating from it. It appeared that the rumors of his family''s experience in inscribing First Men Runes were not mere rumors after all, but I needed to personally inspect them to verify their authenticity.


    The fourth joust was between SER Tyland Lefford and SER Alenn Crobray, and it was a resounding victory for the Westerlander, proving yet again the irrelevance of jousting in proving someone''s martial capabilities, as SER Tyland showed in the melee what a fine Knight and a warrior he is.


    After the lunch break, the participants in the semi-finals paraded around the jousting ground carrying their heraldry, which worked as a way to show the prestige of the Houses they represented.


    The first two contestants were SER Barristan and Prince Lewyn and man was it an intense competition, but after a grueling ten tilts, SER Barristan proved to be the better jouster and unhorsed Prince Lewyn from his fine sand steed, which looked like an Arabian Horse from my previous world.


    The next match of the semi-finals was between SER Yohn and SER Alenn, two Valemen, yet again proving that the legendary reputation of the Vale Knights was not unearned but a hard-cold fact. Simply put, their joust was the most fascinating of them all, which impressed even me and made cousin Steffon who was sitting beside me in the Royal Box, jump like a five-name-days-old kid. The joust ended only after eleven tilts, a number that was rare to be reached in tourneys and that went in favor of SER Yohn.


    The two finalists were given time until the evening to rest for the final joust, a time that was used by Nobles to mingle and discuss the chances of each contestant winning while each placed their bets on their favorite. The betting pool was run by a steward who was arranged by Lord Marbrand upon my suggestion to make more revenue to cover the tourney expanses.


    Sitting at the Royal Box with my Family were the Baratheons and the Starks, as we followed the same order of the swearing ceremony to determine who would sit with the royal family each day, and with Lord Ormund being the Hand of the King, he sat with us along with his family.


    The Starks were honestly the most interesting of the Great Houses, as they were not only the oldest Dynasty in the Known World but also the only ruling family in writing history that was known for never breaking an Oath, whether that of a friendship, lordship, or even their most recent oath, which a vassal-ship to my House, their rich history and the legendary figures they produced especially in times of crises proved to be a most intriguing subject to speak of with Rickard, Lord Edwyle Stark was like most of the Northmen a hardy dutiful and disciplined man, his face most of the time was like it was carved from ice, which appears to be a trait amongst the Stark Lords and Kings in commonly known in the North, and after probing proved the result of training in mind arts, where I found it hard to penetrate his mental shields without risking him sensing it, something that made his mind safe from anyone but the most able masters of mind arts.


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    The thing that further raised my opinion of House Stark. This is the first sign of a disciplined practice of magic that I have found since I arrived in this World.


    Many people here showed the raw magical capacity that Wizard Children showed in My previous World, but none showed any signs of control, including my family, with the Starks by far showing the biggest reserve of raw magic of all, which dwarfed even my family and the Baratheons who showed magic with a storm-like feeling.


    The Starks, aside from their apparent practice of mind arts, further emanated an aura of nature that my druidic magic seemed to resonate strongly with, as well as an icy aura that appeared to be able to calm the fire magic inside me without a need for my fine control.


    All of those signs cemented my decision to choose my bride from House Stark. Luckily for me, they have two unmarried women of age, Lyarra Stark and Branda Stark, both of whom were the daughters of Rodrick Stark, the uncle of Lord Edwyle Stark. And from my interaction with Rickard, who has become my new favorite friend, I found out he had a crush on his cousin Lyarra when they were children, which may make him choose her as a bride, something that I don''t have a problem with, as I don''t have any preference as to which sister I will choose to marry. Both of them showed strong personalities and sharp minds, as well as comely faces.


    I tried to talk Rickard into considering courting another bride, making sure to point out his House''s need for making alliances outside the North to bring in more trade, something that would make procuring food for their people cheaper and easier.


    My idea was for Rickard to propose to Joanna Lannister, Tywin''s cousin, a marriage alliance that would provide his House with more gold and would open for them the door for more connections in the South, and for either Lyarra or Branda to marry Tywin Lannister, thus connecting two Great Houses I intend to build strong relationships with. And for that to happen, I needed to convince Tywin of the merits of allying with the same House that I chose to form my marital alliance with, something I managed to do with difficulty the other day after I made sure that Tytos Lannister wouldn''t be able to cause any catastrophe while he stayed in the capital by heavily relying on Confundus charm.


    All that remained was to talk both Rickard and Lord Edwyle into my idea when we meet in my Solar tomorrow, and from their positive reaction to the efforts I put into securing them great deals on food imports from the northern Reacher and western Riverlander Lords, I found my chances to convince them to be increasingly good.


    *****


    In the evening, after a well-needed rest, both contestants emerged from their tents, followed by their squires, who were holding the reins of their horses. Both knights easily took their positions and mounted their horses, waiting for the horn to blow.


    (SER Barristan Selmy POV)


    I took a deep breath to calm my raging heartbeat as I shifted to make myself comfortable on the saddle of my horse, waiting to hear the sound that would announce the start of the joust. As soon as I lowered the visor of my helmet, I heard the sound of the horn. I nudged my horse, and it started galloping. And I put my whole focus on my opponent. I raised my shield, pointed my lance toward him, and braced for impact.


    His lance impacted my shield with a thud, and I felt my whole body shake from the force of the hit, but I steadied myself and pushed my lance, only for it to break from the pressure.


    (SER Yohn Royce POV)


    I changed my lance after the sixth tilt and started heading toward my opponent with the determination to end the joust with this last tilt. As I faced my opponent, I felt my posture correct itself from all the training I had, and I positioned my lance to strike his left shoulder and pressed hard till impact, where SER Barristan flew away from his horse and hit the ground with a resounding thud, declaring the end of this event with my victory.


    (General POV)


    ?? AND THE CHAMPION IS SER YOHN ROYCE THE BRONZE ??


    There was a moment of silence, and then the audience exploded with a celebration in honor of the winner, as men, women and children, Nobles, and Small folk from all around the seven Kingdoms cheered for SER Yohn, and then he went to receive the crown of roses and headed back to stands to choose his queen of love and beauty, and he went to where to Nobles of the Riverlands were sitting and ended in front of the stand of House Darry as he looked to Lady Alyssane the sister of Lord Darry and said: "My Lady, I am honored to crown you my queen of love and beauty" and raised the crown on top of his victory lance to the Lady who took it with trembling hands and put atop her head that was going to explode from blushing a storm, and the crowd once again exploded with cheers for the champion and his queen.


    (Prince Aerys Targaryen''s POV)


    I watched with a smile on my face as the champion of this jousting competition was crowned his betrothed as his queen of love and beauty, while Steffon was destroying all of those present in the Royal Box''s eardrums with his thunderous voice as he was cheering for SER Yohn. I turned to Rickard and said with a polite smile, "I apologize in place of my cousin, he is a child at heart, but the voice of a storm", Rickard gave a hearty smile and said, "You don''t have to apologize, Your Grace, with how boisterous the Umbers are, we are used to such a booming voice", and we both laughed at this while the rest of the booth was all smiles at the spectacle.


    Steffon had the grace to smile sheepishly as he scratched the back of his neck and said, "You know how excited I get when I see a good jousting, cousin", I had a wolfish smile as I said to him "Both of the finalists were your age, cousin, you could''ve always participated in the joust yourself and showed us your might".


    Aunt Rhaelle looked at me pointedly and said "Hush now, nephew, you know very well that Steffon is not good at jousting, stop putting funny ideas in his head", and we again had a good laugh at cousin Steffon''s expanse, while he was twisting his face funnily at his mother for further embarrassing him in front of all the people present in the Royal Box, while both my father and good-uncle Ormund were smiling contentedly at the spectacle.

 Chapter 11: Problem of Faith

    Chapter 11: Problem of Faith


    Red Keep, King''s Landing


    5th Moon, 259 AC


    (Prince Aerys Targaryen POV)


    I was standing in the Throne Room by my father''s side as we were about to initiate the ceremony to induct five new Kingsguard.


    I kept my position by the Iron Throne as I watched my father stand up and descend the steps to face the Knights that were about to be inducted, where he beckoned to the first one to come forth and kneel.


    (King Jaehaerys II Targaryen POV)


    I watched as young Barristan Selmy kneeled in front of me, head lowered, ready to forsake his rightful seat as heir of Harvest Hall and don the White Cloak.


    I touched his shoulder with my sword and said:


    "Do you swear to ward me, your King, with all of your strength and to give your blood for mine"


    "I swear".


    "Do you swear to obey My commands and keep My secrets"


    "I swear"


    "Do you swear to defend My honor and serve at My pleasure"


    "I swear"


    "Do you swear to never flee or falter in your duty"


    "I swear"


    "Do you swear to take no wife, hold no lands, and father no children"


    "I swear, and I pledge to Your Grace my life and honor until the day I die"


    "Then rise as Ser Barristan Selmy Knight of the Kingsguard"


    (General POV)


    There was applause from the attending Nobles as the newly inducted Kingsguard stood up after saying his vows and headed towards the Lord Commander Ser Gerold Hightower, who handed him his white cloak, which he held with reverence.


    The next Knight to step forward was Ser Bernard Cassel who stood at the height of 7 feet, with black hair cut short and dark gray eyes¡ªa typical look for a Northman. He took one knee and spoke his oaths, thus becoming the first Northern Knight to ever join the Order of Kingsguard.


    After Ser Barnard, it was Prince Lewyn Nymeros Martell, who, like the two who preceded him, was young and of a strong build, he spoke his oaths and stood as Ser Lewyn Martell Knight of the Kingsguard.


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    The fourth Knight to swear his oaths was Ser Tybolt Crakehall, who was as tall and huge as Ser Bernard, and he even earned the name of the Strongboar after his House sigil.


    The fifth and final member to be inducted into the Kingsguard was Ser Alenn Crobray the wielder of his House Valyrian Steel sword, Lady Forlorn, and a fierce warrior and Knight.


    And thus ended the ceremony of the induction of the new members of the Brotherhood of the Kingsguard and the Order was completed again after the tragedy of Summerhall.


    (Prince Aerys Targaryen POV)


    Following the end of the ceremony, there was a buzz of activity as the Nobles in attendance were excitedly discussing the event and mingling with each other until my father, who had returned to his Throne and was talking with his Hand, stood up and declared the end of the event and that the Royal Ball was this evening.


    After his declaration, Father left the Throne Room and headed to the door that led to the Small Council room for a meeting. I was behind him along with Ser Cristian and a dozen Royal Guards, while Ser Gerlod headed toward the White Sword Tower with his five newly sworn brothers so that he may properly teach them their duties and assign each to his post.


    Entering the Small Council meeting room, my father took his seat along with his Hand and I too took mine, and we waited for the rest of the members to arrive.


    It didn''t take long for all the members to arrive, minus Lord Gerold who was tending to his duties, and Mother, who was busy preparing this evening''s Royal Ball alongside the Steward of the Red Keep.


    Once all the members took their seats, my father started, "My lords, I would like to say that all of you have done your duties splendidly so far to get my House from the vulnerable position that we found ourselves in, so for this, I thank you all"


    There was a chorus of "We only did our duties, your Grace" and "It was only right to do so, your Grace," and that kind of fake platitude, as if they did not expect to be rewarded, especially Lord Aethan Velaryon who was expecting me to name his daughter as my chosen bride, but what can I say, he was in for a big surprise.


    I think the whole realm would be in for a big surprise, as no one will ever think that I will choose a Northern woman for a bride, not even the Northern Lord will expect that.


    I made sure to show no indications as to whom I would choose from, except the Starks themselves, whom I had informed of my plans so that there wouldn''t be any sudden betrothal of one of their daughters to someone else.


    After the exchange of pleasantries between the King and his Small Council, there was talk about the various affairs of the Realm, such as the economic state of King''s Landing, which showed a continuous improvement, and the state of the readiness of the Royal Fleet in preparation for the coming conflict, as well as the security of the Capital, which, according to both Ser Robert Darkwood the Lord Commander of the City Watch, and Lord Samwyle Tarly the Master of Law, is under control thanks to the improved quantity and quality of the Golden Cloaks.


    The meeting ended without any fanfare, and the members of the Small Council exited the room one by one until I was alone with my father, who asked for me to stay. He looked at me with a smile and said, "Tell me, Aerys, who is going to be my good-daughter".


    Without waiting for me to say anything, he raised his hand and added, "And before you tell me you haven''t decided yet, I know you and I know you won''t wait till the evening to decide"


    Whatever excuse I was going to give him went away as I looked at him resignedly and said, "You know, Father, I was going to tell you before the evening anyway, but since you asked, I will tell you now. The one I chose is Lady Branda Stark, the daughter of Lord Rodrick Stark, the Wondering Wolf, and cousin to Lord Edwyle Stark"


    There was a slightly surprised look on Father''s face as he heard my choice, but it was replaced with a proud smile as he said, "With each day, you are proving to me more and more that I was blessed with the best Heir I could ask for." He paused for a little to let me digest his words and then continued, saying, "Not only did you make sure to secure the goodwill of our Northern Lords by providing them the best food trade deals they had ever had with the South through recent history, but now you are guaranteeing their undying loyalty by marrying a Stark and honoring them with the first Northern Queen in 259 years"


    My face was all smiles, and that was not because I was being complimented; no, because I was never someone to get happy at people''s compliments; I was always someone who took pride in my achievements without the need for approval; no, the reason for my smiley face is because I was the proud one, I was proud because my Father was able to easily understand my intentions, and was not blinded by the propaganda of the Faith, the propaganda that the vast majority of Nobles below the Neck believed in, that state about the North that it is a wasteland full of savages and heathens, and while from the perspective of the follower of the Seven, the Northmen are truly heathens, my House as the ruling dynasty shouldn''t start to follow those beliefs, for numerous reasons, chief among them is the fact that we are considered foreigners and heathens still in the eyes of the Faith, something that they believe in but don''t dare to state.


    During my meetings with the High Septon and the Most Devote, I figured out many disturbing things, one of them is that they believe that the Crown is below their status as the speakers of the Gods and that it should listen to them and follow their policies, another is that they were debating the idea of sponsoring a new uprising of the Faith Militant in case we didn''t manage to stabilize our hold on the Seven Kingdoms, the third and most disturbing is that the Faith still thinks of House Targaryen as heathen sorcerers who tries to meddle with the power of Gods, and despite several generations of devote believers that my ancestors portrayed themselves as to the Realm, the latest stunt of my Grandfather of trying to hatch Dragons has spooked the Faith among many others, which made them relieved by the tragedy that struck my family and pissed we weren''t all dead to leave them with the gullible Baratheons to influence as they want.


    Those revelations were not outside my expectations, as a matter of fact, and I was not intending to let them go unanswered as most of my ancestors did. Of course, I won''t be going Maegor on them, but they will be weakened till they can''t challenge or influence the Royal Family ever again, and marrying a Stark is the first step to ensuring my children won''t undo my work in the future, but till then I have to make plans, starting with having the big shooters of the Faith stay near my center of influence (King''s Landing), which I have made sure of with the many compulsions that I put on the High Septon, the Most Devote, and Lord Hightower to make sure he won''t raise any problems.

 Chapter 12: And The Winner is

    Chapter 12: And The Winner is


    Royal Ballroom, Red Keep, King''s Landing


    5th Moon, 259 AC


    The Royal Ballroom was buzzing with activity as Nobles from across the realm sat at their tables, enjoying their meals, and chatting with each other. The dance floor was soon to be opened, and that would be my battlefield for the night. Because I have to entertain a lateral horde of ladies who feel that they have a chance with me, and as the customs dictate, I can''t announce my soon-to-be wife, without seeming to interact with most eligible ladies, as that would be insulting.


    The meal soon came to an end, and the servants did their job of cleaning the tables and preparing the dancing floor.


    The music started announcing the start of the dance, and I was quick to turn to Mother for a dance. "My Queen, would you honor me with a dance?" I said it with a smile on my face. Mother took my outstretched hand with a smile of her own and said while standing up, "The honor is mine, my dear Prince", and onto the dancing floor we went.


    While I was dancing with Mother, I could see many Ladies looking at me with hungry eyes, which would put the fear of God in a lesser man, but I was anything but that.


    "So, my charming Prince, would you tell your old mother who will be the lucky Lady that I will have as my good daughter", I fake gasped at my mother''s words and said, "You are anything but old, my dear Queen, there is no woman in the Realm that would claim to be fairer", Mother''s face showed her amusement as she replied, "Flattering won''t get you anyway with me, dear Aerys. Now would you indulge me, or would I have to wait alongside the rest of the realm to know? And from your father''s content smile, I can tell he already knows", I made a mischievous smile and looked straight into her amethyst eyes and said, "But you already know, don''t you, Mother? I can''t imagine you didn''t get all the hints I dropped in our conversations"


    Mother''s face lit up in recognition as she put the dots together, which then morphed into a knowing smile as she said, "Which one of the sisters did you choose?", I replied with my knowing smile, "Why of course, the elder one". Mother showed a contemplative look that soon morphed into a content smile as she said, "I won''t take much of your time, dear, you need to go and entertain the many ladies waiting for you". She said the last part with a hint of mischief, as she withdrew, leaving me with a horde of hungry wolves looking for prey.


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    As I turned and started facing my most feared foes, I was thankful for my prior insight to prepare for this battle, where I made sure to enchant the musical instruments of the singing band, when I met them previously, under the pretense of helping the royal steward with his final inspection.


    My enchantment focused on making any Lady, but the ones most intent on becoming my wife, more hesitant to seek me out for a dance. This kept more than half of the ladies from bothering me as I made my way through the dancing floor, getting rid of the most annoying of the other half, by having the shortest possible dance that courtesy would allow.


    I was particularly annoyed by the Freys, as the disgusting Lord Frey brought with him five of his daughters, two of whom are 10 and 11 years old, something that made me realize how I underestimated the shamelessness of the old bastard, but I made sure to take a note of this and put him on my list of those I will deal with very thoroughly in the upcoming days.


    The Freys aside, there were a lot of young girls amongst the gathered ladies, a lot of which had been kept from approaching me by the enchantment, but some were persistent, speaking volumes of the deep desire of many Lords to see their blood on the Throne.


    The fact that my sister was just as young as many of them when we were forced to wed by Father, really put things into perspective and created a picture of what I am going to deal with in the future. Not that I will ever marry any daughter that I would have at such a young age; for me, I think the youngest age appropriate for marriage should be 14 to 15, putting in mind the fact that people here mature earlier than back on Earth, because of the harsher circumstances.


    Putting aside those distracting thoughts, I found myself heading toward Lady Branda Stark, the one I was going to take for a wife. I approached with a genuine smile on my face, as I outstretched my hand toward her and said in a soothing voice, "Would you do me the honor of a dance, My Lady", She responded with a smile of her own, as she took my hand after curtsying and said, "The honor would be mine, Your Grace".


    Soon we were dancing and having an amicable talk, "How had King''s Landing been treating you, my Lady", Branda showed a disgusted look before she schooled her face and replied, "Beside the smell of shit, and the Sothron backstabbing and face platitude, I think I am fairing well so far", I showed amusement at her statement, and said, "Believe me when I say, you can''t get used to that smell, because if you do, you will lose a part of you, and that part may be human dignity", my jest appeared to make Branda amused, as she gave a small laugh at that and said, "And I believe you didn''t get used to it, Your Grace", to which I laughed myself and I replied to that with, "What can I say, My Lady, I have a sensitive nose" and we both laughed at that. After more talking and jesting, I had to change my dancing partner.


    An exhausting amount of dance partners later, the feast was coming to an end, and it was time to make an announcement, so I stood up from my chair and gestured to Ser Barristan to silence the crowd, which he did by ordering the royal guards to hit the floor with their spears.


    After I got everyone''s attention, I cleared my throat and said, "My Lords, and Ladies, after the delightful dance and chat I had with the ladies of the realm, I am happy to announce that I decided whom I would choose for a wife", There was a hush over the crowd, filled with anticipation for my choice. I put a smile on my face as I said, "Lady Branda Stark, is the chosen one".

 Chapter 13: The Big Players Reaction

    Chapter 13: The Big Players Reaction


    Royal Ballroom, Red Keep, King''s Landing


    5th Moon, 259 AC


    (General POV)


    Silence descended over the hall as the Crown Prince announced his betrothed name. No one was expecting a Northern Lady as a bride to the heir, and how could they? Since not once after the coming of the Andals, had a King or Prince south of the Neck, chosen a Northern bride. Not even after the unification of Westeros, had House Targaryen ever considered a Northern Lady for their Princes.


    No one saw the appeal of tying themselves to the frozen wasteland called the North, especially with the cultural and religious differences, as well as the isolated nature of the Northerners.


    Most Nobles were at a loss for words for a while, moments later some people started talking in hushed voices, which quickly rose in volume until the hall became a mess of noises.


    (Lord Luthor Tyrell POV)


    I was momentarily stunned after hearing the words of the Crown Prince, after a while I managed to gather my wits, and with it came the unstoppable rage at House Targaryen, how dare they? Was it not enough to shame my House by breaking my betrothal to the then-princess? Now they choose a heathen barbarian over my young and beautiful flower Mina, what they take me for, I am the Lord Paramount of the Mander, Lord of Highgarden, Defender of the Marches, High Marshal of the Reach, and Warden of the South, my Kingdom is the strongest amongst the Seven Kingdoms, my House is the Strongest in Westeros, we feed the entire realm, and House Targaryen will woe the day they choose to insult us.


    (Lord Aethan Velaryon POV)


    This is it, I have had enough of this humiliation, House Targaryen has stepped over the limit, they have chosen a barbarian over the Old Blood. We are the legacy of Old Valyria, we are the most worthy to have our blood on the Throne. No one is more worthy to be a Queen but my daughter, House Velaryon won''t take this lying down, I will have my word with the King to cease this folly at once and to stop the princeling from playing king. If this folly won''t stop I will show them what it is to anger the Master of Ships, without House Velaryon the conquest of the Stepstones won''t be but a dream, and the Royal Fleet won''t have any Ships, and the Realm won''t have anyone fit to be a Master of Ships.


    (Lord Axel Tully POV)


    Hearing the Crown Prince''s announcement, I was baffled for a moment, this doesn''t go with what I know about the young prince''s personality, from what I heard about him he doesn''t strike me as a very committed person, he may be intelligent and studious, but persistent and far-seeing were not associated with his traits, but this change things, for maybe our ''neighbor kingdoms'' in the south look down on Northmen, and some of my bannermen as well, but I know that most of it, is septons and ignorant maesters spreading lies, I''ve dealt with Northmen during my reign, and as brash and frugal they are, but they are leal, truthful and honorable as well, and for the Prince to choose a Stark for a bride is very foresightful of him, gaining the loyalty of the North will come a long way to mend House Targaryen hold on the Seven Kingdoms. But this is a very opportune chance at hand, from what I know, Lady Branda''s younger sister is yet to be betrothed, and I have to secure her hand for my son and heir Hoster.


    (Lord Jon Arryn POV)


    This is it, this is the opportunity I was looking for, The Crown has neglected their Northern Kingdoms for so long, but with the Heir to the Throne marrying a Stark no less, this means that the Sountren Kingdoms'' hold on the Court will weaken significantly, as I don''t imagine any other reason for the King to choose a Northern bride for his but counter the ever-growing presence of the Reachers and Dornish on his court, this marriage open the door to any Lord north of the Crownlands to play the Game. I have to work hard to extend my alliances outside of my kingdom, starting with the Riverland, looking at the aging Lord Axel I notice the look of recognition on his face, this will make my job easier it seems, turning my attention to the Warden of the Reach inflating red face only strengthen my conclusion of the King''s intentions, Lord Stark face, on the other hand, is the ever frozen status, a face that many fools take as a lack of feelings as a result of the hostile environment of the North, but I know better, House Arryn didn''t manage to hold a stalemate during the thousands of years of conflict, by underestimating House Stark and the North. Heathens they may be, but inferior and incompetent they are not, and House Stark is full of ruthless and efficient leaders, Lord Edwyle Stark has been a ruler since his childhood, and he is a very sharp man, it was always my intention to bury the old grudges and forge an alliance with the North, but this present a one in a lifetime opportunity to not only establish good relation with my neighbors but to also get closer to House Targaryen, and rekindle the old familial relation we once had.


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    (Princess Miriam Martell POV)


    My oh my, if this is not the biggest surprise, then I don''t know what can be counted as one, I didn''t imagine a Targaryen to be this foresighted. And to this daring when in a such vulnerable situation, the easiest choice was to marry a Velaryon, a Crownlader maybe, could even choose a Reacher bride, but to take a Stark as a bride, this so absurd it''s not funny anymore. With this move, the Crown alienated the Realm breadbasket as well as their cousins, as I am sure, without even considering the looks of Lords Tyrell and Velaryon, most of the Reach and some Crownlords will perceive this a slight. But this is an opportunity for House Martell to gain some advantage over the Crown, with their soon-to-be sour relationship with the Reach and House Velaryon, it will hinder their plans for the Stepstones, and with it, they will have to rely on Dorne and especially My House to ensure they don''t fail their whole campaign. And boy will I suck them dry when they are in desperate need of that help.


    (Lord Quellon Greyjoy POV)


    Now, I may not be as knowledgeable about the Greenlanders'' politics as I now wish I am, but the fact the Andals don''t like the First Men has been known for the Ironborne since we took hold of the Riverlands, the Valyrians did inherit that disdain, and House Targaryen didn''t care about House Stark only when they f****d up and needed their army to wipe their shit, that is something the Ironborne made sure to know, so they could raid and take wood from the North, knowing the Iron Throne won''t do shit about it, of course, I made it explicitly clear that such behavior won''t be tolerated by me, as I saw the North as a viable trade partner if I wanted to change my people ways, something young Rodrik Harlaw did wonder about, but my reasoning is simple, the only people who have any constant contact with us in the North are the Mormonts, other Northmen don''t have that much of contact with us, and that because of the barren west coast of the North, which while may be our fault, but it''s been a some time since the Ironborne had any big contatc with the North not since Gradfathef Dagon Greyjoy folly 50 years ago, and while 50 years isn''t really that long, especially with the blasted Northmen long memories, but my strategy was to bank on the fact of the Northmen much bigger disdain for the fat and foolish Reachlen, what both the Ironborne and Northmen lacked was food, so we had a mutual need, but what the North lacked was a fleet to facilitate trade, trade that will bring the much needed gold, that in turn will bring much more food, we had that fleet, but on the other hand lacked the wood needed to maintain and expand that fleet, and , while the usual raid will keep our fleet functional, to go further East where we can both raid slaver and pirates, as well as trade with the Free Cities for food that the Reach will not provide or sell at an outrageous price, and by making an alliance with the North, we will be sloving our mutual problem. Sadly for me and my Lands, I had a lot of opposition from my unruly Lords, while I managed to tame many of the Iron Fleet captains, my Lord''s stubbornness made it difficult to implement my plan, and to convince Lord Stark of my sincerity was another problem, so I was in dilemma. But then all of a sudden, the Crown decided to start a campaign on the Stepstones, and half of my problems went away, the Crown''s coming campaign presented an opportunity to legitimately move my entire fleet without causing everyone to be on guard of me, thus I will not be afraid of any interference. But now, with this new development, I have a golden chance to establish successful contact with House Stark, my recent meetings with the Crown Prince have raised my hopes of eliminating my people''s unsightly ways, and his unexpected choice of a bride has further strengthened my opinion of him as kindred spirit who is seeking to eliminate the negative aspects of his people culture, he is the Targaryen who will finally make the Seven Kingdoms a united One, and I will be there alongside him to accomplish such a dream.


    (Lord Tytos Lannister POV)


    This is a marvelous piece of news, and to think that my young Tywin was jesting when he told me about his plans for both his cousin Joanna''s marriage as well as his intentions for seeking the Stark girl''s hand for himself, but it seems our dear Prince was truthful in his concern for House Lannister position, and not like those friends I had who turned to be fake, just like what both of my son and brother had been telling me about, I didn''t want to believe them, but now even the Prince told me the same thing, and not only that but he made me see them for who they are. And to think I did my best to please them, but it all was for nothing, even a minor Riverlord has declared I betrothed my daughter to his second son, thus forcing my hand to wed her to him, less those who I thought were my friends think of me as an oathbreaker, but it was all to humiliate me, now I see everything of what it is. And for the prince to not only tell me of this but also secure my son a betrothal to the sister of the girl he chose for himself, will go a long way to repair my House standing, the standing that I by my foolish decisions had brought low, it''s about tile that I will stand down and give Tywin my seat, but before that, I need to let him make a name for himself, and by making him the leader of the Westerlands army during the coming campaign, as the Prince suggested, will go a long way to ensure that, and putting my brother Jason and Roger Reyne as his advisors, while depriving Roger younger brother Reynard and his good brother Walderan Tarbeck from gaining any merit by assigning them the reserves, and I will make sure to send cousin Damon with enough gold to the House of Black and White, and let''s see how that conniving snake Ellyn will survive the Faceless Men. ''Forgive me, my dear Jeyne, I will make sure our son will be the man you wanted him to be and will make that snake Ellyn pay the price of all her transgressions against you and our House, I will not be a coward anymore''.

 Chapter 14: Thorns and Roses

    Chapter 14: Thorns and Roses


    Royal Ballroom, Red Keep, King''s Landing


    5th Moon, 259 AC


    (Lord Ormund Baratheon POV)


    What I just heard has left me wondering for just a few moments, not that I can be blamed, honestly, for it is most unusual for a Prince of the Blood to be given the choice over the selection of his bride, and not any bride, it is a daughter of Lord Paramount.


    It would seem that my good brother still feels guilty over the anguish he caused his late daughter, by forcing her into a marriage to her brother, the Prince, for whom she has nothing but a sister''s love.


    The King is giving his son the choice over his spouse so that he doesn''t lose him, his only remaining child, over a bloody prophecy a second time.


    And what a choice Aerys has made! It was a damn brilliant choice, and I used to think of Aerys as a boy with too much ambition and little determination to go with it. But as much as Summerhall was a tragedy, it gave both Aerys and Jaehaerys a drive to change for the better, and Aerys took it in strides; he had shown remarkable growth through the previous months, and now he showed the backbone to go with it.


    Nowadays, you can see that aforementioned growth at every Council meeting, every morning at the training yard, with his interaction with people, and now even at court, surrounded by hundreds of Lords. This move of his will makes every one of those Lords scramble to either take advantage of the situation or even make sense of it. And with the expected conflict with the Blackfyre pretender at our gates, no one will have the time to scheme against the House of the Dragon, at least, not in any fruitful way.


    This inclusion of the North, which is by far the most isolated region of the Seven Kingdoms in the Crownlands-Stormlands alliance, will make the Lords of both the Riverlands and the Vales look for a way in, lest they be trapped in the middle of a Royal-Northern coalition. This will work wonders in curbing the ever-increasing influence of the Tyrell on the Reach, which will overall weaken their presence at the court, thus completing the late King''s plans that started by appointing loyal Lords from southern regions to important positions in the Red Keep, and King''s Landing at large. Making the Tyrell tight-knit network of alliances fall, as many of their Lords will start seeking Royal favor henceforth.


    (Lord Edwyle Stark POV)


    It was about time for the North to finally get some recognition in this new regime, and while it was not exactly what my ancestor Cregan has asked for hundred years prior, Prince Aerys has shown keen interest in solving some of our most glaring issues.


    Unlike his ancestors, who only knew how to call for the North when they needed to solve their fuck-ups, Prince Aerys has not only chosen a Stark to be his future queen, but also secured us some of the most profitable deals on timber, furs, and wool, that we''ve ever had with the South.


    Had he stopped at that, I could''ve attributed it to him seeking profit, but he has gone even further and provides us with the fairest deals for food that we could ask for, deals that won''t cripple us, leaving us with no spare coin for even the simple thing as the maintenance of our Towns and Keeps, deals that started after the taking of the New Gift, where the North was left with no choice but to purchase food from the South, or die of hunger when Winter Comes.


    He did what no previous King showed any concern about; when House Stark complained, he did his duty by the North, and the North will do their duty by him with pride.


    But ''The North Remember'', and as we remember Prince Aery''s honor, we will remember the Reach dishonor, and House Tyrell will sooner or later pay their debts.


    (Olenna Tyrell ''born Redwayn'' POV)


    What in the Seven Hells did just happen!? Did the boy prince just choose a savage heathen harlot over countless proper ladies of the South?


    I lost my composure there for a moment, and just as I turned to my oaf of a husband, what did I find doing? The bloody fool was looking at the prince with such venom in his eyes that I didn''t know it was there, and his face was as red as a ripe tomato. Looking around, I noticed that a couple of people or so had seen my fool husband''s reaction, and now it is too late to get this under control.


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    The boy prince has committed a terrible mistake by choosing a Northern barbarian for a bride, while he needed all the support he could to get his House from the ruins his more fool of a grandfather brought upon them, this shows that every Targaryen is a bigger fool than the other, first Aegon the Unlikely killed most his family by his futile effort to revive myths, then Jaehaerys II gives his spoiled child the freedom to chose his bride, and I thought he was following their accursed tradition when he had children to marry each other, but it appears he is just a fool who believes in love, what a waste of King, and now lastly the boy prince choose a Stark for a wife, he most definitely think himself smart, and dream of taking the North out of their isolation, what a fool, there was a reason none of the previous Kings didn''t care about the North, it is because it''s a frozen wasteland full of heathen barbarians, there is nothing good coming from them.


    Now that House Targaryen has nailed the last nail in their coffin, I have to make sure to get back to them for the humiliation that I suffered when that sword-swallower Daeron refused to marry me. House Targaryen will pay, but first, it''s about time my oaf of a husband will have a riding accident. I can''t plan my revenge while he draws attention to me, so he has to go.


    (Prince Aerys Targaryen POV)


    Wow, what a surprise! That was intense. Who could have thought that the Lady of the Reach has so much hate for my House, huh? Honestly, I knew that Uncle Daeron''s actions would have slighted House Redwayn and Lady Olenna, just as Uncle Duncan''s slighted the Laughing Storm, and just as Father and Mother''s actions slighted another two Lord Paramount.


    But Lady Olenna took this to another level. It is one thing to hold resentment over a broken betrothal, but it is entirely another to plot the fall of the Royal House over it.


    If I were a betting man, I would''ve put both my arms on her aspirin to be the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms when her betrothal to Uncle Daeron was made. Because, in my opinion, for a woman as her, who so lightly decided to take her husband''s life, it wouldn''t be too farfetched to plot the demise of my family, had she married Uncle Daeron.


    And in hindsight, his decision to break their betrothal was a lifesaver. I wouldn''t imagine my predecessor surviving long enough for me to arrive here and inheriting his body.


    Coming back to the presence, someone would wonder why I have gone for such a dramatic way to announce my choice of wife, Right? Typically, such an announcement has a protocol of some kind. Some protocols involve a lot of politics and formality, and while what I did was against protocols, it has a few advantages for me to go and do it anyway.


    First things first, that''s how Northerners traditionally announce a betrothal at a feast; thus, what I did won me more respect from my unruly subjects. Second of all, the element of surprise in the unusual way I did it made it infinitely easier to infiltrate the minds of the most important players, and see their opinions on this matter, and further on me and my House, as they wouldn''t usually gather around to think about those kinds of things. Last but not least, the way I did it will make the prideful ones amongst the Players think less of me, as a spoiled boy who doesn''t understand or doesn''t care about subtleties, thus, underestimating me, which in turn will make it easier for me to either manipulate them to fit my plans, or to plan their demise in peace.


    Lord Quelon Greyjoy''s faith in me was touching, and would go a long way in helping to implement my plans for the Ironborn.


    Good Uncle Ormund''s reaction, on the other hand, has confirmed my original impression of him, as someone who hides his intelligence and cunning behind a facade of brashness.


    The thoughts of Lord Tully were some welcome surprises, to be sure, as I thought he would still feel slighted about the broken betrothal like Lord Tyrell is, but he seems to be more of a pragmatic man, which will get him far in my planned future.


    Lord Arryn proved to be a complete surprise. For someone as pious and proud as he is, I thought he would be the one who would find it the most disagreeable for the future queen consort to be heathen, just like how many Reachers did, but he seemed to be more focused on the practical side, rather than the social one, proving to be a talented politician.


    Others'' thoughts were as I predicted them to be, which was good. Being predictable makes them easier to handle, which will go a long way toward making my goal of a life of adventures and knowledge-seeking closer.


    I was broken out of my thoughts when Father started moving. And I looked at him as he stood up and made a gesture for Lord Commander Gerold to bring the audience to his attention, which the Lord Commander did by ordering the royal guards to bang their shields with their spears.


    The King stood straight as he cleared his throat and started speaking. "My Lords, and Ladies, as you all heard my son''s announcement, he made his choice of bride, and he chose the lovely Lady Branda of House Stark."


    He stopped for a moment to let his words sink and make it clear that his opinion was supportive of mine.


    Then he looked around the hall at the gathered crowd, settled his gaze on Lord Stark, and said, "Lord Stark, I would like to hear your answer to my Heir proposal; do you agree to bind our two prestigious Houses together, and make the Seven Kingdoms stronger than ever?".


    All the gazes in the hall were trained on Lord Stark at that, and the Stoic Lord took it all with a grace befitting of his position, as he stood up, then deliberately took to the knee, and said in his calm voice, "It would be an honor, your Grace, to bind our Houses, and renew our old oaths," thus making his answer sincerely to match my Father''s own.


    And the Hall broke into clapping and cheers, the loudest amongst them being Lord Umber, cementing his House reputation. Lords started to offer their congratulations, some sincere, some not.


    And no sooner did the music resume; with the band starting some Northern songs, the audience descended back into a festive mood, with men taking ladies back to the dancing floor. The sound of glasses of wine clicking and tankards of ale banging, the Ironborn and Stormlanders matching Northerners in their loudness, Riverlanders, Valemen, and Crownlanders coming right behind, Reachmen divided into different groups, some celebrating, some secretly seething in silence and fake platitudes, Westerlanders divided into their two camps, and Dornish being Dornish, drinking their expansive wines and flirting left and right in their revealing silk and cotton clothes,


    I looked around the hall with a smile of contentment on my face, and I met the shy gaze of my betrothed, which made my smile broaden, as I stood and headed her way for another dance and a nice conversation, letting myself enjoy the celebration of tonight, to break away from the gloom that took over the City and my Family for the last several months, knowing that I need this break, as there is a lot to be done in the coming days before I can enjoy some peace of mind.