zilla boi- Definitely wasn't sipping anything when he heard all of this happening haha. He isn't heartless. Not entirely.

Great Maelstorm- they ended up just embedding themselves in Oldtown. The plan changed to lowlevel spying instead of assassination.

Everyone Else, Thank you for your reviews and comments, I always read them even if I don't respond to them.

As always, please enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think.

Note: If you would like to read ahead, the next three chapters after this chapter are available on P. .^T.^R.^E.^O.^N./ Boombox117

Late 128 AC – Elamaerys, The Royal Globe House of Mummery

Rhaena POV

The noise, chatter and laughter, began to dim as the curtains of the stage began to be swept away, and as the curtains revealed the orator – dressed in black robes, and his face shrouded by a draconic looking white mask, Rhaena swept her gaze from the Royal box of the Globe House, down towards the rows of seats that were all filled, where she could see swathes of folk brimming with excitement.

It was not surprising, after all, to see such tangible excitement for this new mummery. Word had spread throughout the city and the countryside that the new mummery beginning this day was another one inspired by the writings of her father, like Spartacus' Rebellion, Franerys' Monster of Goggossos, Dantys' Inferno, The Miserables of Kings Landing, The Gladiator of Meereen, The Legend of King Aeros, and of course Prince Haemlys of the Klioseen.

Though for all of her father's writings, it was not he who brought the stories to life, no, that was indeed the Borthos Brothers Troupe of Mummers of Braavos, though, Rhaena mused, perhaps they should not be considered of Elamaerys.

Certainly, they would not receive as much patronage or fame elsewhere, certainly not as much as they were getting here from here Elamaerys…

She glanced around in her Royal box, and not a one amongst half and a dozen, not even Lady Lysare Celtigar of House Rogare, nor her consort-husband Gaemon or her soon-to-be sister by blood as well as by the heart Maegelle, were not paying utmost attention, such was the expectations of another masterpiece by the Borthos Brothers, and she smiled a little in satisfaction before she looked back at the front, and watched the mummer for the third time this week.

"Thousands of years ago" the orator began in his dramatic larger-than-life voice, his arms rising as he continued to speak. "Thousands of years before Valyria became known as the Freehold, before even the Dragonlords knew to tame the Dragons of old, Ancient Valyria was a land of Kingdoms" the mummer said dramatically.

"Two score city-states called Ancient Valyria home, and each held a King that ruled swathes of territory in the ancient motherland of the Valyrian peoples" from the right side of the stage, came a line of menfolk who bore crowns on their brows, each different from the other.

"And it was a land that was always at war with itself" the orator boomed dramatically, and the Kings on the stage turned towards each other, drawing the swords on their hip, and mock-battled behind the orator.

"Sheep herders" the orator said, and a moment later, a man in robes walked on stage "honest in labour, honourable by nature, would become warriors" the man in robes peeled off the robes to reveal leather armour underneath and a sword on his hip "when the call to arms came from their Kings, and battle against others of their own people and kin sworn to other Kings!" A moment later, more sheep herds had come onto the stage, wearing robes of slightly different colours but all the same bearing the same hair, and the same features, and each of them cast off their robes to also reveal leather armour of different colours and soon the warriors battled each other just as the Kings had done.

"Not a day passed when two of these two score ancient Kingdoms were not at war, fighting over the tiniest piece of territory or of honour slighted, and the blood of the peoples of ancient Valyria drenched the motherland."

The Kings and the warriors all fell onto the ground, and white robed maidens with white masks came on stage and threw red strips of silk all over the stage, to signify the blood spilled of the people.

"Such was the way of things for hundreds of years" the orator declared, and the performers left the stage, leaving the orator alone. "That is until Agarys of ancient Tyria came." A man in brilliant gold coloured armour arrived, and he seemed splendid, and drew awe and whispers from the audience.

"Born under a bloodmoon, the Oracles of Tyria prophesised that one day, Agarys of Tyria would become King of all Kings, and one by one" men wearing crowns came back to the stage and each one was defeated by Agarys and kneeled in front of him.

"These Kingdoms would yield to the King of ancient Tyria, swearing an honorbound oath to Agarys to cease warring amongst each other, and when the time came, they would come to his righteous aid when called, and soon, much of Ancient Valyria fell under sway of Agarys, and the prophecy of Agarys, King of Kings was complete." The Agarys performer stood tall as kings bowed to him.

"Except…he was not King of all Kings." This elicited a faint gasp amongst the crowd as the orator began to walk. "No, there was still two kingdoms that remained free from his sway, the Kingdom of Peryzeria, and the greatest ancient kingdom, one that rivalled Tyria and Sparysia, and whose walls had never fallen, and who had never been defeated." The stage once more cleared, and the stage began to change, and thin pieces of wood painted sandstone assembled into a fortress wall.

"The ancient city-state of Troy." The orator said dramatically.

"A coast city built into eastern mountains of the Bane Mountains, the very mountains that would shield Old Valyria against the invading Ghiscari many thousands of years later, was the city of Troy, a fortress city unlike any other, and for many centuries, blades were wetted with the blood of invaders and the blood of the ambitious, for Troy, standing at the Gates of ancient Valyria, where all manner of trade flowed through, was a city with wealth beyond measure."

Little carriages held by performers bobbed and weaved through the stage as the orator spoke.

"Ah yes, Troy was a great prize" the orator said dramatically.

"But a prize that was beyond Agarys and his kingly brother Menelys of Sparysia, whose lands bordered the mighty Troy on the eastern coast and who had warred against Troy for ten long years." The orator proclaimed.

"Though most of the might of ancient Valyria was bound to Agarys, Agarys knew that he could not call upon their blades for an unjust war, and indeed, honour demanded that he make Troy yield" the orator leaned slightly, his voice taking a darker tone "or destroyed, without the might of ancient Valyria if he was to prove himself truly the King of Kings as prophesised. Yet the walls of Troy proved a challenge that even Agarys did not believe he could overcome alone and without the aid of the Gods." The orator said before he straightened up.

"That is, unless Troy insulted the honour of all Valyria…and that of the Gods" whispers amongst the audience grew at the ominous words.

"And so, when Menelys, King of Sparysia, desired to make peace with Troy, a peace that Agarys hated, Agarys accepted, and marched with his own army to Peryzeria, knowing that the final completion of the prophecy would have to wait…

For now." The orator bowed and the curtains were wheeled to close, and the whispers of the audience grew a little louder in excitement and Rhaena smiled a little at that.

"I must confess" her consort-husband leaned next to her and she glanced at him with a curious look as she leaned into him. "I already like this more than the last one we have watched." It was hard not to notice the gleam of interest in her husband's eyes.

War and tragedy were always popular amongst nobility, and certainly amongst the people of Elamaerys, and she would not doubt that this new story of her father's would become perhaps one of the most popular of all the stories he's yet written.

It combined war, tragedy, ill-fated romance, heroes and villains, philosophy and many more things that appealed to people.

"Franerys' Monster of Goggossos wasn't meant to be liked." Rhaena said with a teasing smile at her husband. The story was a story of lament, about a foul bloodmage and his creation, after the Doom of Valyria, where Franerys the Foul 'experimented' with innocent people and made a terrible monster of their parts.

The mummery was one that elicited many cries and anger from the audience, whose hearts sat with the lamenting victims, and who triumphed at the end of the story, when Franerys' monster killed its maker, and was taken by the Seven to the heavens where it ceased its suffering and was transformed into a true man.

It was a story where the terrible monster was in fact a better, good being at heart, compared to the beautiful Franerys, who bore the cherished classical good looks of Valyria, but had a rotten evil soul, and where the Monster was taken to the highest of the Seven Heavens, Franerys was taken to the deepest of the Seven Hells.

It was a story of deeds, of philosophy of what it means to be a good man, and a story that one does not need to look like a monster to be a monster, and though the mummery was gruesome and lamenting, it was a story that had been quite popular, even if it was not quite so liked like the other stories like Spartacus' Rebellion and The Legend of King Aeros.

Her husband grimaced before he leaned away and though he muttered, she heard him clearly. "If that was the aim, surely, it succeeded." Rhaena only rolled her eyes a little.

For all of her husband's growing, but still grudging, appreciation of mummeries, he was still quite foolishly stubborn on wanting to see only traditional stories that had strong, noble men and leaders.

He wasn't alone in this, of course, but she was sure that in time, she would have him agree that a story does not have to have Kings and the like to be good…

The mummery continued, starting with the story of the second day of the battle of Peryzeria, where, in order to save men from perishing, single combat had been agreed to by the King of Peryzeria and King Agarys.

The audience was introduced to the hero Aechilleos of the lands of Myrmaedys, whose legend was orated by the orator in dramatic fashion, and the audience crowed in delight when Aechilleos defeated the champion of the Peryzerians in a single strike, setting the stage of the legend of Aechilleos.

The story continued at the feast of Sparysia, where the Princes of Troy, Prince Paerys and Prince Hegorys, drank with the King of Sparysia, who celebrated the victory of Agarys along with the celebration of peace with Troy.

The orator spoke of the characters Paerys and Hegorys, their feats and their beauty, and spoke of the powerful image the two Princes held amongst the nobility.

The audience marvelled at the introduction of Haela of Sparysia, a maiden so beautiful, the orator said, that it was believed that she may yet be the daughter of Meleys, the Goddess of Love and Fertility herself, such was the beauty of Haela of Sparysia, and the wife of King Menelys, who was envied by all Kings of Valyria.

The audience gasped with scandal when the surprise of Haela of Sparysia's infidelity with Prince Paerys was shown, and not few of the fair sighed forlornly, at the proclamation of love by Haela of Sparysia, though more amongst the crowd were scandalised at the unfaithfulness of Haela of Sparysia.

Haela of Sparysia lamented that the Gods were cruel, for showing her a love so true, for returning fire to her heart when she thought it extinguished with the harsh winds that had brought her husband's sails to her homeland for her hand. She spoke of not fearing death, but fearing tomorrow, for the fire that was in her heart would once more be extinguished.

Prince Paerys proclaimed she had not to fear, and asked her to come with him. Haela of Sparysia, said no, but Prince Paerys convinced her. "Men will hunt us, the Gods will curse us, Menelys will hate us. We will never be safe but if you come with me, you will be loved, and I'll love you more each day, my sweet Haela."

Murmurs and whispers, both forlorn and angry, swept through the audience, and the orator stepped in front of the two performers and orated ominously before the next scene came, where Prince Hegorys, who had noticed the disappearance of Paerys and Haela, and questioned his brother.

Paerys lied and funnily claimed to have bedded a fisherman's wife this night, which drew scandalised laughter, and it was clear to the audience Hegorys did not believe and the man grabbed hold of Paerys' face. "You do understand, little brother, why we are here in Sparysia."

"Of course."

"Menelys is a powerful man, and his brother commands all of Valyria." Hegorys stated gloomily.

"Almost all of Valyria." Paerys quipped funnily and Hegorys pushed against Paerys' face.

"This is not the time for jests, brother! You are my brother, and I love you so, but if you do anything more to endanger Troy, I will shred your pretty face and visit upon you a fate worse than the eternally murdered Promerys himself!"

Paerys promised he would not do so, and satisfied, Hegorys let his brother go, and murmurs rang around in the audience as the curtains swept onto the stage.

"A cur of a man." Her husband muttered beside her, and he was not the only one disgruntled by Prince Paerys, though, she mused, as she looked around in the Royal Box, not all were disgruntled. Some, like her sister Maegelle, was in furious whispers with Vaera, and though she was curious on what they were debating about, she would not hear it, not in the quietness of the whispers shared.

The curtains drew open once more, and revealed a stage making of a boat clearly travelling. The scene showed the two brother speaking, speaking of the beautiful morn, until Paerys grew solemn and asked if Hegorys loved him.

Hegorys said he did, though he said that the last time Paerys had such solemness, it had been when he'd lost father's blade into the sea, and Hegorys asked what Paerys had done.

Paerys showed him, a barrel of wine gifted by the King of Sparysia, and out of it came Haela of Sparysia, shocking the audience at the sight.

"Do you know what you have done!?" cried Prince Hegorys before he stomped away and made for the helmsman of the ship. "Take us back to Sparysia!"

"Brother, if you go back Sparysia, then you shall also leave me behind with her!" This drew loud murmurs from the crowd though the crowd silenced itself, for they were enthralled by the mummery.

"You fool!" Hegorys cried as he grabbed hold of Paerys' robes. "Do you know what you have done?! Our father worked years to earn the peace with King Menelys! Years! And you have spat on him, you have spat on all of Troy with this, this, this folly!"

"My heart burns with love for her, brother!" Paerys cried. "The Gods made her for me, I know it!"

"You fool!" Hegorys spat with disgust. "Do not dare again to claim the Gods approved of this folly of yours, for it is a folly that would see them curse us rather than bless us!" Hegorys let go of Paerys. "This all just a jest for you, is it not? You despoil kept women and bed maiden daughters in every town and every city, merchant wives and daughters of nobles, all without a care of consequence!"

"You claim love?!" Hegorys spat out as he grabbed hold of Paerys. "You know nothing of love, foolish brother of mine! You love not our father, you love not me, and you do not hold love for Troy, for if you had done so, you would have never paved this path of ruin for all of us!"

"You are right, I have wronged you, our father and Troy!" Paerys cried and Hegorys let go of his brother. "But I do love Troy, I do love our father, and I love you, brother of mine!" Paerys said passionately and Hegorys scoffed at those words but Paerys persisted. "And you are right to take her back though when you do, know that I shall go back with her, and die fighting for her."

"Die fighting? Brother of mine, you believe yourself shall earn a heroic death?" Hegorys scoffed at his brother. "You, who have never killed a man, you, who have never faced battle?"

Paerys bowed his head.

"What do you know of killing, little brother? What do you know of death? What do you know of seeing a man lay dying by your blade? What do you know of watching men of Troy die by the hundreds? You're a fool, brother of mine!"

"Again, you are right, brother! I know nothing of dying, I know nothing fighting, but I shall know it, for I shall go back with her. I will not ask you, dear brother, to fight my war."

"I should kill you where you stand!" Hegorys spat out though Paerys kept his head bowed and Hegorys began to pace around Paerys before he turned to the helmsman.

"Back to Troy!" Hegorys commanded before he turned to look at Paerys.

"Foolish brother, you have already asked of me and all of Troy to fight your war." Hegorys said before leaving the stage.

The orator came and began his narration as the stage behind him began to change once more. "Brotherly love stayed Prince Hegorys' hand, but it was not the main reason why he did so. The trespass by Prince Paerys was a fatal one, one that could not be walked back from, and the noble Prince Hegorys knew this.

The honour of all Kings of Valyria was insulted by the actions of Prince Paerys and Haela of Sparysia, thus by Troy itself, and Prince Hegorys knew King Agarys finally had his cause to gather all the armies of the Kings of Valyria against Troy.

The sacrifice of his brother would not save Troy, for surely Hegorys would have committed the grave sin of kinslaying and sacrifice his eternal place amongst the Gods for the sake of Troy, and so, his hand was stayed, and would be readied for the storm that would come by sea and land to Troy…"

The next scene came quickly, and it was one of Menelys asking Agarys to help him burn Troy to the ground, and Agarys agreed, and when Menelys left, he laughed triumphantly, and claimed this was now the chance to become King of all Kings of Valyria, and that the Gods were with him. The last of the scene was Agarys thanking Haela of Sparysia for her foolishness.

Though more than an hour passed, it felt no more than moments, and the scenes of Aechilleos being persuaded to fight by his friend and by his sorceress mother, the narration of a thousand ships sailing to Troy and tens of thousands marching on Troy, the return of the Princes where Haela of Sparysia was introduced as Haela of Tory, the gloomy discussion of the King of Troy and Hegorys, the council meeting of Troy where signs from the Gods of Troy's victory silenced the concerns of the generals and nobles, the scenes of Hegorys that showed the nobleness and goodness of his heroic character and the love held between he and his wife, the first battle where Aechilleos and his men stormed the beach of Troy and took it single handedly and where Aechilleos mesmerised by killing a hundred men alone.

More and more such scenes played out, and the audience was riveted by the grandness of the tale, awed by the braveness of Troy's men and the boldness of Valyria's soldiers, solemn at the crying women burning of the bodies of brave Troysians, angered at the cowardness of Paerys who begged Hegorys to save him during single combat against Menelys, wondered at the love by Aechilleos for the temple girl whom he wished to leave Troy with, and mournful when Hegorys killed Aechilleos' cousin by mistake.

When Aechilleos defeated and killed the noble Hegorys, women cried and men lamented at the death of Hegorys whilst cowardly Paerys lived.

When the Troysian Horse, a stage making that stood in front of the secret door right in the back, opened and revealed Aechilleos, not a single soul held back a gasp at the shocking sight, and the sight of the gates of Troy opening silenced the entire audience, for the army of all Valyria flooded into the streets of Troy.

The orator took control of the scene, as they watched the sacking of Troy happen behind him, and the orator narrated what happened with Troy, to its people, before the next scene happened with the tragic death of Aechilleos, who died an ignoble death for such a heroic man who had won Agarys the war and Troy itself.

A few scenes later, they returned to Haela of Troy and Paerys.

"We must leave now Haela!" Paerys cried out.

"How can I leave, my dearest, beloved Paerys?" Haela cried as she held Paerys' face. "I have doomed Troy with our love, how can I leave and not share the fate of our people?" Haela said weepingly.

"We can live, my beautiful Haela! We can live and keep the memory of Troy alive! That is what we can do, all we can do now. Come, come! Before it is too late!" Paerys begged to a silent audience as they watched the mummery.

"I cannot!" Haela refused as she cried. "I will not! I will not abandon Troy alone to its fate, for Troy abandoned me not, and so in its ruin and death, I too shall share ruin and death with Troy!"

Paerys begged her once more but when an enemy burst through the doors, Paerys ran and left Haela alone, much to the anger and contempt of the audience. 'Coward' rang around the audience, and many cursed the name of Paerys.

The enemy was killed by the Old King of Troy, and the scene, the final one, was now in play.

"Forgive me, my King, for what I have done to your city, to your good and true people." Haela cried into the chest of the Old King. "I should have stayed in Sparysia, I should not have loved your son!"

"My foolish son is easy to love, Haela of Troy, that is his greatest strength, and it seems, mine and my dear Hegorys' greatest weakness." The Old King lamented.

"Perhaps after death, I can forgive you, but in the short remaining time I have left in this life, I cannot, for my heart can hold nothing else but grief, grief for Troy, grief for my country, grief for my people." The Old King cried.

More men had burst through and killing both the Old King and Haela of Troy, and soon Agarys would come and see the bodies of the two.

"Where is Paerys of Troy?" Agarys demanded to know and he was given an answer that Paerys had fled and was nowhere to be seen, the same as the family of Prince Hegorys, and Agarys laughed at that. "Let them go, let the mountains take them, for I have gotten what I was prophesised to have!"

"I thank you, Old King of Troy, Haela of Troy, for the chance you have given me." Agarys, King of Kings, proclaimed. Agarys looked at the body of Haela of Troy.

"At least she died with some honour, instead of fleeing like that shameless coward" Agarys scoffed before he leaned down and touched Haela's face. "Such beauty, even in death. Indeed, you must have been the daughter of Meleys herself. Shame for Troy you were not the daughter of Arrax, and fortunate for I!"

And Agarys laughed and laughed as the curtains drew close.

When the curtains drew open once more, the orator stood alone.

"The proud and ancient kingdom of Troy would cease to exist on that heavy blood soaked night, for the wrath of the rest of Valyria for the insult of Paerys was total and gleeful." The orator said with solemnity in his voice.

"History had forgotten prideful Troy and its fall, as it had forgotten Agarys, King of Kings, as it had most the ancient Kingdoms of Valyria that lived thousands of years before the Freehold, as it had the heroic Aechilleos, and the noble Hegorys, though, in some ways, Paerys would be remembered.

The name Paerys would, for thousands of years, be associated with cowardness and folly, and we see the similarity in the name with the formal words of pōryiēs (coward) and grāeys (folly), remnants of an ancient form of the Valyrian tongue."

Rhaena was amused by the claim. Though the words were indeed old words in the Valyrian Tongue, the claim's truthfulness was dubious at best.

The tale of Troy, and all the other tales, were made by her father, even if some of it bore some semblance in all of the history accountings her father had collected over the years. If there was a true similarity, then it was only because her father made it so with the name of Paerys.

The orator was now joined by the cast of the mummery, and the crowd began to clap and cheer loudly for the Borthos Brothers' Troupe, and Rhaena stood up before she clapped and showed her own appreciation.

All those around her too stood up, and joined in the show of appreciation.

"I believe this one will be their most popular." Her husband marvelled as he leaned into her ear and Rhaena smiled at the words before she looked at her husband teasingly.

"Wait until you find out my father has two more stories of this era to write" Rhaena teased her husband and the look of surprise on her husband's was wonderful but the look of intense interest was even better.

"You know what they are about, don't you?"

"Mayhaps." Rhaena said smilingly, in a way that was goading and her husband would bite as she wanted.

"Then I must extract it out of you." Gaemon said in her ear with a trace of a smile though the heat in his eyes made Rhaena's cheeks burn a little.

"I will look forward to that." Rhaena said with an expectant look on her face and Gaemon chuckled a little before he looked away from her and back to the stage.

A little while later, as the audience was departed, her sister Maegelle came over to her with Lady Lysara Celtigar, Lady Qargaris, Lady Aelora Pazakostōs and Lady Jyana Sapner in tow, and talked her ear off with the ladies, all but crooning about the story, and Rhaena listened to it all.

Amusingly, the ladies were split on whether or not the love held by Paerys and Haela was true or not, and she had to interject a few times and get them to talk about something less heated, and a while later, she was escorted by her guards to the back of the House of Mummeries, her husband having left to go the Stally Docklands where he would go and see to his duties as a Commodore of the Navy, which with the finding of the volcanic Dōrqatas islands was plently.

The Royal Globe House of Mummeries was a large half-circular building finished in 125 AC – though not used often until late 126 AC – built in the heart of the city this side of the river, with a dome ceiling and made of granite stone.

Over five hundred people could be fitted inside of it, and oft times, the Globe House had sold out every seat, especially since the Borthos Brothers Troupe had made it all but their home.

There were several other troupes, of course. Two more in fact – there had been six once upon a time in 128 AC – but generally, the Borthos Brothers Troupe was vastly better at mummeries, and more importantly, understanding what her father wanted with the stories he wrote.

That had been important, when she'd convinced her father to write stories for Globe House. 'Messages' father had said 'were important in any story, and I will not give any of my stories to any who will not understand them in my stories'.

The Borthos Brothers perfectly understood what her father intended with each of the stories he'd written, and so, wealth beyond anything else they'd receive in the Free Cities was theirs now. As was fame that she doubted would forgotten so easily, especially if the sons of the brothers were to take up the family business.

The other two Troupes were more comedic in nature – one of them particularly crass – but they had good mummers and had a good knack for story, and so they were given the rights to establish themselves in Elamaerys as well, with the promise that once they earned enough, they would receive half of the funds from they would need to build their own Mummery House from the Institution for the Patronage of Arts she led.

She walked through the corridors of the building, climbing down stairs, until finally she arrived at the entrance of the quarters of the Troupe, where she could hear laughter from behind. She paused a moment before she looked towards one of her guards. "Ser Domys, would you please ensure that they are presentable?"

Troupe members were quite liberal with their state of being most times than not.

"Your Grace." Ser Lomys said with a nod of the head before he entered the quarters and the laughter she heard died down. A little while later, Ser Lomys returned. "They are ready for you, Your Grace."

She gave a kind smile at the knight before she entered the quarters.

The mummers, who were hastily assembled into a line, bowed towards her, and Rhaena waved them to stand. In the very centre were the Borthos brothers, one portly and the other better bodied, and two greying men were of an age similar to her father. Their eldest sons, who had played the roles of Hegorys and the cousin of Aechilleos Patrogarys, were on each on the other side of their fathers.

"Your Grace." The thinner Borthos brother, Berlan, started. "You honour us with your presence."

"Please stand." Rhaena said kindly at the mummers, and the mummers all stood straight up before her gaze flickered between the two brothers. "You honour me and my family for the splendid mummer show you have shown." Rhaena said with a widening smile. "Well done" Rhaena praised and she could see the positive effect on the mummers at her words. "I'd expect this may yet prove to become the most watched mummer show once word travels about the magnificence of your show."

There was plenty glimmers of pride at her words, none more so than in the eyes of the two brothers. "Thank you, Your Grace" Lethos, the portly brother, said with pride in his voice. "This is our greatest work, I am certain." Lethos bowed his head. "And it could have only been accomplished by your generosity, Your Grace."

Yes, certainly she doubted they would have been able to afford the stage makings without her generous support. She'd seen the cost of the artisanal stage makings, and those newly migrated to Elamaerys were rarely wealthy enough to afford such expensive frivolities.

Rhaena nodded with a smile.

"And my generosity has been repaid wonderfully with your show." She paused for a moment. "Once news of this masterpiece reaches the ears of the people of Elamaerys, all eight and twenty showings a week will be sold for weeks."

The two brothers looked at each other before Lethos spoke up a little hesitantly. "Four and ten, Your Grace."

Rhaena frowned.

"You were able to fit eight and twenty showings before. And this time, you will only be showing this new piece, instead of two or three pieces a week."

Berlan grimaced slightly. "Yes, but this show is quite a length longer, and it has more demands on the body, Your Grace." Rhaena's frown grew a little heavier.

She could understand it but she wanted as many people as possible to see The Fall of Troy. The more people that saw it, the less chance there was of people's attentions waning on the matter of mummeries, and perhaps more people who take interest in mummeries in general, allowing men and women from Elamaerys to create their own mummeries. Gods knew that their young country had many stories to tell through mummery.

"We can" Lethos intervened quickly "do showings of one and twenty a week for the next few weeks at the least, Your Grace…?"

Rhaena cleared up her frown and nodded as she looked at the Troupe members.

"Acceptable. If you have more need of performers, I will speak with the two other Troupes and have them loan you their performers for time."

"That won't be necessary, Your Grace." Lethos refused as he looked around with a sharp gaze at his performers. "We can handle the schedule." The other performers were quick to sound out their approval.

"Good." Rhaena said before she began to turn around. "If you have need of anything, do inform Kaelros." Kaelros was a senior in the Institution of the Patronage of the Arts, and who Rhaena mainly communicated with regarding funding for the different initiatives in the city.

Soon enough, she was out of the building, and made way for the carriage that stood waiting on her. The carriage was a eight horsedrawn carriage that was able to five six persons within, though rarely did they have all six persons within the carriage.

Her father and her brothers preferred to ride on their own rather than share in a carriage. Even her husband leered at using a coach carriage…

"Your Grace." The guards that stood by the carriage bowed before one of them opened the door and offered her hand. Usually she'd wave it away but with her condition, she would indulge.

"There you are!" Maegelle exclaimed.

"We were wondering what was taking you so long." Rhaena looked at the other three in the carriage. Her goodsisters Vaera and Valaena, and Lady Lysara.

"Merely giving my congratulations to the Troupe." Rhaena said as she crouched a little as she got into the carriage, and Maegelle was quick to offer her hand to support her, and Rhaena took it before she sat next Maegelle, next to the window of the carriage.

"Next time I go to watch the performance, I shall do the same" Lysara declared. "It was an excellent mummer show, even if it was too scolding of the fair."

"Scolding?" Rhaena wondered aloud.

"Of course!" Lysara said with no little amount of offense. "Such a scolding story to commit to duty over love." Lysara sniffed. "It was rather too strong, in my eyes."

Ah, yes, Rhaena mused.

Lysara might be a bit uppity for Rhaena's liking, but she was not a fool. She wasn't surprised that Lysara would understand the story, or at least one part of the story.

"Whilst I don't agree with Lysara it was scolding." Valaena, her brother Polaerys' wife, said with a pointed look at Lysara who only raised her chin in amusing defiance. The women must have been arguing about it for some time. "I do agree it was something obvious and too important in the story."

"It was intended to be obvious." Rhaena said easily, and she paused whilst the carriage began to move. She continued after a few moments. "The doomed love shared by Paerys and Haela was only the beginning of the failings of Troy."

The women considered that for a moment before Vaera spoke up. "The Old King was too certain." Rhaena nodded. Yes, it was part of it, but the Old King's certainty was not the failing, no, it was what was behind that certainty that was the man's failing.

"The man was a fool." Lysara said with a disdainful scoff as she crossed her hands. "He made decisions based on the signs interpreted by that charlatan priest, instead of listening to his generals and his heir. Had he listened, Troy wouldn't have fallen."

"Would you give up Crispian to be surely killed?" Vaera pointedly asked and Lysara stiffened before she turned to Vaera with a glint of anger in her eyes.

"Ladies." Rhaena was firm of voice and she stopped whatever Lysara was going to say in rebuttal. Lysara huffed through her nose before she looked Rhaena and Rhaena continued. "Vaera means no offense with that."

"I do not." Vaera was quick to answer. "I merely meant…consider oneself the Old King…could you easily give your son up to be killed?"

"I would not have raised such a foolish fool." Lysara said sharply, and it was easy to forget that Lysara was just one and twenty namedays old. Gods knew how authoritative the woman would be like when she turned forty.

"And that is part of the story too." Rhaena said in answer and all the eyes of the women went towards her. "Paerys was a terrible son, and the father was partly to blame."

"The story makes clear that Paerys made a game of sleeping with married women." Maegelle muttered and Rhaena smiled at her seven and ten namedays old sister.

"Aye" Rhaena said with a firm nod. "Paerys' behaviour was accepted in the Royal family. First a fisherman's wife, then a merchant's wife, then a nobleman's wife and ultimately, that acceptance with punishment allowed him to dare take a wife of a powerful enemy who had powerful allies to call upon."

This made the women consider the words once more and Lysara sighed dramatically. "Was it even love then? Only lust?" Lysara pouted a little and the women all laughed a little at Lysara's reactions.

"Who knows?" Rhaena said.

"You should know." Maegelle quipped teasingly.

Rhaena laughed. "No, father would know, it is his story after all." Rhaena said with a smile before she looked at the other women. "But personally?" Rhaena shrugged.

"I believe it to have been love but a love from a man like Paerys is no good love." Rhaena said with a disdained wrinkle of her nose. Beauty and passion was not enough, in Rhaena's eyes, and Rhaena thought that was all Paerys had.

"I can't believe he abandoned Haela!" Maegelle muttered disbelievingly. "All of that bloodshed for Haela, and in the end, he didn't even fight to keep her alive!"

"The bloodshed was always going to happen." Valaena reasoned.

"Unlikely so much that they would have destroyed Troy." Vaera pointed out and Valaena considered it before conceding the point.

"Agarys would have wanted Troy bent or broken." Valaena accepted. "But without Aechilleos, Troy wouldn't have fallen, and Aechilleos wouldn't have fought against Troy without the insult Paerys had visited on all of Valyria."

"All walls break when enough attack it." Lysara said in answer before she rounded towards Rhaena, and she peeked at the intent look on Lysara's face.

"Your father…did he tell you if all of this ever happened? These kingdoms, these Kings?" Lysara questioned and Rhaena took a moment to answer.

From her discussions with her father, she knew that her father believed that there had likely been Kingdoms all over the peninsula of Valyria at some point or another before the formation of the Freehold.

He believed that the periods before the mastering of the dragons by the Freehold must have had Kings, for the formation of a Freehold, and the formation of forty families, would pre-necessitate a unified structure.

Father believed it was likely that hundreds kingdoms had risen and fallen over time Valyria, until finally all of Valyria was united under one King and dynasty, and, at some point or another, this dynasty may well have been overthrown by the forty families who then created the Freehold and unified Valyria under the Freehold system.

Father said that it was all speculation however, and that though there were loose references to ancient Kings of Valyria in the texts he'd saved in his wars, he could never be sure that the writings were fiction of some author's imagination.

"The kings and the kingdoms are father's imaginations." Rhaena admitted, and there was some disappointment on the looks of the women. With the statues taken from Elyria, of dragons, and ancient generals and Valyrians of renown, most of which were for all to see in the gardens of the city and in front of many of the buildings, there was a great burgeoning interest in the history of Valyria, despite the unease the Freehold provided for many of the people.

The Freehold was great, but it was also terrible, and that interest in Valyria was tempered by it.

She was quite sure that father was writing stories about Valyria before the Freehold because of this terrible reputation of the Freehold, to give people another way to appreciate Valyria.

"But father believes that kingdoms must have existed before the Freehold. It makes no sense for them not to have existed." Rhaena added.

"It wouldn't surprise me if the forty families – no offense, Rhaena, Maegelle – did destroy all records of their past so that no one would know of it." Lysara said after a few moments.

Rhaena rolled her eyes. "No offense was taken."

Lysara continued "The forty families of old were said to have been very prideful of their heritage, and it wouldn't surprise me they destroyed all tales of dynasties greater than they."

"That does make sense." Valaena said with a curious expression on her face as she regarded Lysara who only rolled her eyes.

"Of course it does, it is I who said it, after all." Lysara said with a sniff but the amusement on her face was clear to see and the women devolved into a fit of laughter before they began talking about an entirely different matter, and Rhaena took to look outside of the window, where the green lights of the fyrelamps were starting to be put alight.

Despite it soon being nightfall, the city was well alive, much to their unfortune, she mused, with how slow the carriage was going in the centre of the city.

More than hundred and thirty thousand called the city home now, and nearly a hundred and twenty thousand more called the land of Elamaerys home too.

If it wasn't for the three year pause they agreed to in the Council of Dragonlords, it was likely in the next five years it would have grown by another fifty thousand.

As it was, the Construction Guilds were too busy with the aqueducts, government buildings, sewers, bathhouses, roadworks, construction of towns and villages, and more, and adding the strain of four thousand new homes every year was going to be stretch too far, especially when one considers Gaelysia, who needed all of the manpower to spare to build up the city, its infrastructure and the farms on the large island.

'Besides, it would do Velos some good' Velos was a strange place. Though she'd never been, she knew at least that it served largely as a funnel to get people to Elamaerys, yet it was also a key location for trade, perhaps the key location.

All of their trade flowed to Velos; from Westeros to Yi-ti, all of the goods to Elamaerys would first come to Velos before the Targaryen Islands, and the trade ships for all of that trade was now getting built in Velos too.

In fact, for all that there were said to be a hundred and thirty thousand residents in the city, about five and ten thousand were either at sea or located at Velos for most of the year, and sometimes, as much as twenty thousand.

And that wasn't even counting the soldiers they had at sea in Essos, or at Velos, which numbered anywhere from two thousand to five thousand at any time…

"Is she kicking?" The voice and the nudge by her sister drew her back from her thoughts and she turned to look at her sister with some confusion.

"Hmm?"

Maegelle smiled a little wryly. "You've not been listening, and lately, you have tended to be absentminded when she's kicking." Rheana looked down and saw that her hands were stroking her swollen belly, and she realised that indeed her child had been moving in her belly.

"Not kicking…only moving." Rhaena said to her sister honestly before she smiled down at her belly. "She's, or he's" Rhaena said with a faint smile at her sister. Maegelle was convinced it was a girl "is just trying find a good spot to rest."

"I can't believe yours started kicking so early." Vaera exclaimed slightly, who also touched her belly, which was still quite flat, normal at this stage of the pregnancy, which was about two moons in.

Rhaena guessed that she herself was about four and a half moons into her pregnancy. "It must be a boy." Vaera said slyly and Rhaena laughed at that.

"Gaemon would love a brother." Rhaena said with a smile as she thought of her three nameday old son she'd named in honour of her husband since her son would not bear the name of his father's House then at least he'd bear her husband's name.

"Though I would say a girl this time would be sweet." Rhaena added, thinking of three namedays old Naerys, her brother Castorys' and Breannei's daughter, and of Aerea and Rhaelle, the two namedays old twin daughters of her brother Polaerys and Valaena.

"Hmm. I would prefer another son next." Lysara said with a frown. Lysara and Alton Celtigar had a daughter, Lysanne, one and a half namedays old, only a few short weeks older than Aenar, Castorys and Breannei's heir and son.

"What would you name him?" Vaera asked curiously.

"Lysaro." Lysara faced pinched a little. "My brother took the name for his heir but it is a traditional Rogare name."

"And the male version of your own name." Maegelle stated with an amused smile.

"A beautiful name, male or female." Lysara only said in answer, a sniff to be heard in her tone of voice and soon enough, they quibbled about names and what names were beautiful and what names were not, and Rhaena took herself from the conversation quite ably as she turned to look at the approaching mount that was their home.

Father had yet to truly name their Keep, frustratingly enough. It was like he was waiting to find the perfect name for it…

He had a strange thing about names, and she remembered what he told her when she'd been a child, when she'd asked him how he knew to name characters in his stories so well, and he'd said 'Sometimes, at least with the best of names, the names fit perfectly with the character, the person, or the place. For example, the name of Kings Landing was perfect, because it was the very place the King landed. Or the name of the Stormlands, who are beset with storms always. Or even Valyria, the city of the Freehold. It is the centre of their civilisation, it is everything and everything important happened there, in the Freehold, and in the world. So that name of the city is perfect.'

She'd remembered that for the longest time, and she could see how much of that thinking affected her father.

So much in the city had names that had meaning, and many names of buildings, like the Royal Globe House of Mummeries, had the link to their family attached to it, and in the meaning of it, they silently gave support by just the name alone.

'No wonder father had asked them not to name their children after him' Rhaena thought wryly. No child deserved the pressure the name Aegon would give, and fortunately, her brothers were smart enough to realise that, though she suspected that Solonys would name his eldest son after Aegon despite all of that.

Maekar Targaryen, Polaerys' and Valeana's eldest child of four namedays, her son Gaemon of three namedays, Aurion Targaryen, Valarr's and Vaera's three namedays old son, and Aenar, Castorys' and Breannei's one namedays old son.

'Just thinking about all of the children we all have makes me feel old' Rhaena mused. And how many their family already had! In just a few years, they had seven new Targaryens.

'And with all of the health and sanitation rules her father had made sure was being followed by everyone in the city, backed up by her father's writings about a 'Germ Theory' that told how disease and sickness spread through touch, 'bad air' or through water, fewer children were likely to die, especially in their family'

Though their family was more naturally resistant to disease, they were not immune to it. Their aunt Daenaerys had died of illness after all.

Cleanliness of body was required at least every two days, and washing of hands prior to eating required at all times, whilst midwives and healers were required to cleanse their hands in this 'sterilisation' elixir mixed with water made by the Alchemists whenever they treated wounds or helped to give birth.

With how few infections were happening since the introduction of this elixir, the belief of this 'Germ Theory' was stronger amongst the academics, not that it was very hard for her father to convince people that his thinking was right.

There was little her almost deified father could say or do that wouldn't be believed or obeyed immediately after all.

Nevertheless, all of this combined helped bring death in childbirth of child or mother, or both, to a new low in the city, and families were growing rapidly because of it – it was part of the reason of the pause of migration to Elamaerys – and her family would likely be beneficiary to it too.

'Though after this child, I doubt I will have another.' Rhaena mused. Whilst she loved her son Gaemon more than anything else, giving birth was the worst thing she'd ever felt. The only reason she accepted one more was because her husband had asked her to, the only time he'd ever asked her of anything.

'And the only reason why I am not refusing a third outright is solely because mother and my sister and the Celtigar cousins told me the second time is the easier. If that is true, then Gaemon might be able to convince me.' Rhaena thought.

Still, Rhaena thought with a smile on her face as they rode out of the city and towards the unnamed Keep. Their family was growing and growing strong.

'And soon you'll be joining your brother and all of your cousins, my child'

…

…

…

A little while later…

She made her way through their family Keep with Maegelle – Valeana having retired to her part of the Keep once Valeana was told by one of the servants that her children had been taken to bed – and soon enough, they arrived at the central gathering place.

The Gathering Place was a forty foot long and sixty foot wide room, forged out of dragonstone with a shorter ceiling than typical though still several lengths of her own height tall, and it was on the 'sixth floor' of the Keep, in the middle where all of the royal apartments could lead to from the entrances from the eight royal apartments – though only four were finished – which were each nearly as large as the Royal Palace, and each royal apartment could comfortably fit in dozen members of their family.

The name suggested as much, as did the location, the intent of what this was meant to be. A place where branches of their family would gather for whatever reason.

Presently, it was a little bare, with only a small part of it having furniture and the like, though she expected over the coming years, that would soon change, though what, she was not yet sure of.

'Not that there won't be change in the rest of the Keep either…' Rhaena mused. For all that they were making great speeds in finishing the Keep, it would still be many years before it was finished.

They'd only just finished the first wall around the Keep, and there were two more to go. The fact that they would be smaller due to the higher elevation didn't matter all that much…

'Still, it's a little big…Mayhaps I should really commit to the idea of great murals on the walls…' Rhaena thought amusedly as she, Vaera and Maegelle walked over to where her parents were and as they neared, she could see them with a few of the children and also saw Valarr being there as well with their parents.

From the looks of it, it was her Gaemon with his head in her mother's lap whilst…Aurion…yes, Aurion was asleep next to her father, sprawled out on the cushioned sofa whilst her father had his hand gently on the back of the boy's hair.

"Mother, father, brother." Rhaena greeted quietly as she arrived by them, and Vaera and Maegelle echoed their own quiet greetings, and Vaera sat by Valarr whilst Rheana sat on one of the two free sofas by her mother whilst Maegelle sat on the other side of father.

"They wanted to wait for your return." Valarr said wryly, still keeping his voice low so as not to wake the two three nameday old children, and Rhaena sent a knowing look at her parents, who seemed to ignore her look quite ably.

"I see." Rhaena said wryly. The two of them loved spending time with their grandchildren and at times, it bordered on spoiling them.

'It is our duty as grandparents to be a little soft on them. It is your duty to make them principled, dear daughter.' Her mother's words rung in her mind briefly.

"Where's Gaemon?" Her father asked as he removed his hand from the back of her sleeping son's head.

"He went to the Docklands after the mummery." Rhaena explained.

"Hmm. He must be uneasy." Her father commented.

"A little." Rhaena admitted.

With the finding of the Dōrqatas islands, there was a new drive in exploring the West endorsed by her father, and amongst that, there was also a new creation of rank. The rank of Commodore. A rank below Admiral, her husband would command a fleet of five Galleons, and would be tasked with mapping out more of the Sunset Sea west of the Dōrqatas islands.

It was a great honour to be given, and Gaemon was taking it extremely seriously.

The crews of his ships were a mixture of experienced sailors and officers and newly graduates of the Naval Academy, and so Gaemon felt it his personal responsibility to ensure that the crews were perfect, going as far as making sure the Captains and Second Officers knew their Pilot Codes – a coded naval language that secreted the paths to Elamaerys – as well as the Pilot himself, amongst other excessive things, like drilling them relentlessly.

Which she didn't think would endear him to the crews at all…

At least he didn't take it too far. The admirals would at least rein him in otherwise…

"How was the mummery?" her mother asked and Rhaena looked at her mother before she looked at Vaera who only looked a little amusedly at Maegelle, who had seemed to have perked up at the question.

"It was wonderful." Maegelle said, genuinely pleased, and so Maegelle talked and talked about the mummery and what she thought of it.

"Hmm. I might have to watch this one then." Her father mused. To date, he'd not seen one of them, preferring to hear her, Maegelle and anyone else to talk to him about it.

"You should." And once it was known that the Archon himself went to see it, well…she thought not a different show would be shown at the Globe House.

They talked a little more for quite some time too, sharing a small bite or two with her family, though soon enough, it was time to retire for the night, and, after father helped take Gaemon to his bedchambers next to hers, she fell swiftly to sleep.

-Break-

Early 129 AC – Elamaerys

Council of Dragonlords

Gael POV

The mood was tense as Marya and Janos detailed as much as they could of the death of Aegon's brother…and the claimed manner of Viserys' death just two days ago.

'Rhaenys would never do what they have claimed' Gael thought darkly and as she looked at her husband, who watched with unmoving expression and transfixed onto the dragonglass candle at the centre of the Council room, she knew that Aegon was furious, even if his halo was as serene as ever.

Their two spies in Kings Landing continued to speak, speaking of the city's shutting of the gates, and the violence that had erupted in the Red Keep against nobles and even the servants, some of whom had accounted amongst their informants, though it seemed they might only just be imprisoned, for now.

"Are you secure." Her husband asked when Marya and Janos finished their report, his voice calm that belied the depth of his fury.

Rhaenys was someone who Aegon cherished greatly amongst their family, and the besmirchment of her name, let alone of her murder at the hands of Duncan Waters, a bastard that Aegon himself had seen to being cared for…

Gael glanced over to the second dragonglass candle, where she knew Breannei was sitting right next to Castorys in their manse in Gaelysia, and her heart sank a little at what Breannei must be feeling about her half-brother.

'This is a mess…a complete mess...'

"We are, Your Grace." Marya said, speaking for the pair of them. "We never met with them face to face, and Marsella and Lucos both wore scowls over their heads to help hide their faces each time they met with the servants."

"We might have to abandon the manse in Eel Alley by the Red Keep however." Janos informed. "That area of the city is always where Marsella and Lucos met with the servants."

"Do it." Her husband commanded. "Pull back to the two manses on Visenya's Hill. Once this war begins, the Red Keep and the neighbourhoods on the streets that lead directly to the Red Keep will be targets. Visenya's Hill would be out of the way."

"Wouldn't Flea Bottom the safest?" Gael considered and she paused a moment before she continued. "Or perhaps it would be most dangerous." She thought out loud. With the gates closed and Flea Bottom the most populated region of the city, things might spiral out of control if the war dragged on and famine broke loose.

"You're thinking about making sure the food isn't lost." Gael surmised as she looked at her husband and her husband nodded slightly.

"Though Flea Bottom might give our people the cloak of numbers to hide their presence, unfortunately, Flea Bottom would be the first – and worst – hit should food become a shortage. Ransacking and petty theft will be common. Whereas at Visenya's Hill, amongst the merchants and minor nobles, there is some measure of protection." Aegon explained.

"And it would be easier to move the rest of the food from our manse in Eel Alley there too." Janos commented.

"What are your supplies, Ser Janos?" Polaerys asked.

"We have enough for two years for our two and eighty, Your Grace. If we ration, enough for four. Though I expect that the rationed food will last us one year once we share with the womenfolk of the Streets of Silk."

The…womenfolk of the Streets of Silk, under the management of Mysaria, were still their informants, even if the relationship they had with them was nowhere near as strong as it had been with Seleyse.

Of course, that was partly due to them not trusting Mysaria with the dragonglass candles, nor with any of the more sensitive matters like the acolytes they were sponsoring in Oldtown…or the spies they had in the Red Keep.

Most that they dealt with Mysaria was movements of the Small Council in the city, whom met with whom, and blackmail content of the Septons in Kings Landing, which, for the payment they were giving Mysaria and the whorehouses, was rather scant.

She doubted they would keep up their interests in Kings Landing after this crisis was over, though the manses in the wealthy parts of the city were likely to be kept and perhaps even used for Elamaeri merchants…perhaps.

"Mysaria should have enough coin on hand to make sure her people are fed." Aegon stated. "Inform her that she should, at the earliest convenience, buy as much wheat and water as she can."

"Of course, Your Grace." There was an obvious pause in his speaking.

"Speak Janos." Her husband urged.

"Without our presence in Eel Alley, it will be…difficult to organise a way into the Red Keep." Janos stated.

"A way in?" Solonys asked as he leaned forward, interest in his eyes. "Why would we want a way in?"

Aegon said nothing to that, and it was Castorys, through the second dragonglass candle who spoke. "To extract whomever we want from the castle…and eliminate whomever needs eliminating." Solonys widened his eyes at that before he sat back thoughtfully.

Gael looked at her husband. She knew that Aegon did not want any of the children to suffer and die. As it was, the Greens were severely disadvantaged, and little Jaehaerys, Jaehaera and Maelor were likely to be the ones to be killed.

By accident…or on purpose.

"Extraction only." Aegon said as he looked towards Solonys before looking at the primary dragonglass candle. "I will not risk the lives of our people to favour either side." The anger in his face showed for the first time before it quickly faded away.

"Janos, Marya, you have my full blessing to act as you need to. The extraction of the children, and Helaena if need be, is a priority above all."

"Understood, Your Grace." The dragonglass candle's connection was ended and for a moment a long silence fell in the room.

Aegon was the first to break the silence. "I would hear your voices on this."

"In my opinion, it's got nothing to do with us." Solonys said with a shrug. "Let them fight it out. It's not like they even care for us." Solonys narrowed his eyes. "Hells, they even disavowed you, father." Solonys scoffed as he crossed his arms.

"I vote we don't lift a single finger to help either side."

"Our little cousins are innocent." Rhaena remarked a little strongly at Solonys. "You would let them burn for the sins of their fathers, their mothers?"

"Would they care if any of us burned?" Solonys returned with thinned lips. "Sister, I am not heartless. I know what this means, the tragedy that is waiting to happen" Solonys thinned his lips as his gaze flickered to Aegon "the tragedy that is currenty happenening" Solonys sighed heavily before continuing "but as far as I am concerned, they cut bonds with us long ago. None of us excepting father have even met any of them, and that had been when they'd been children."

"You could have flown to Kings Landing or Dragonstone to meet with them had you so wished." Valarr said wryly, and Solonys rounded up her third eldest.

"And so could have they." Solonys said with a shrug.

There was a lull for a moment before Rhaena spoke up. "We obviously can't fight with our dragons. The bonds may be thinning" Rhaena said with a pointed look at Solonys "but they are still our kin. To fight would mean to intent to kinslay."

"Another reason not to do anything." Solonys remarked before Solonys waved a little dismissively "Besides, kin they may be, the bonds we supposedly have are long gone with them." Solonys looked to her before he looked at his father.

"Did Viserys not disavow you, father, because he couldn't handle the little pressure he was getting from those greedy…Septons?" Solonys posed.

Heretic they called Aegon.

Gael glanced at her stoically faced husband.

He did not care for the names they called him, but she knew him intimately to know that Viserys' disavowing was not something he cared not for.

Yes, it likely mattered very little to her husband, but it still mattered a little.

"Nevertheless" Rhaena persisted, interjecting and getting the conversation back on track. "There are other ways we can help."

"Such as?" Polaerys asked, genuinely curious.

At this Rhaena was a little slumped though she still gave an idea. "I was thinking mayhaps giving a few of our dragonglass candles to cousin Rhaenyra…"

The advantage was plain. Instant communication was a prize beyond measure. It was part of the reason why Elamaerys was rapidly growing so powerful.

"The moment we give one of our dragonglass candles, is a moment we lose a major advantage they don't know about" Castorys was quick to say.

"Besides, Rhaenyra is no more a friend to us than the Greens." Breannei spoke for the first time during the session, and Gael hated the meekness of her tone. 'I will fly to her after this session' she thought to herself as she looked to her husband, who also noticed the slightness of her voice.

"Very well." Rhaena said with a sigh "I don't know what we can do but I don't think we should do nothing at all."

"Polaerys?" Her husband called out and her second eldest sighed a little before he spoke up.

"I agree with Solonys." Gael wasn't the only one somewhat surprised by Polaerys' words.

"Explain." Her husband half asked, half demanded.

Polaerys did so. "A full scale intervention is out of the way. We would need moons to prepare our army and we would take many more moons to arrive to Westeros. By that time, it is likely that the conflict has either ended, or devolved in such a way that our introduction would necessitate that we put an end to one side."

Polaerys breathed in a little. "The lore on dragon battle is very clear. Rarely does a dragon get away unscathed, and oft times, it needs one dragon to be significantly larger than the other, but even that is no guarantee. The matter of the fact is that dragon battle is an almost certain lose-lose situation." Polaerys looked around.

"There is a reason why dragon battles was exceptionally rare in all of Valyria's five thousand years." Polaery stated. "And then there is the rules of kinslaying. Father, I would not be wrong to say that the rules of kinslaying apply here as well."

"You are not wrong." Her husband stated firmly. "No Targaryen shall kill or elicit the death of a Targaryen." Polaerys nodded at that.

"Dragon battles will almost certainly cause the death of the rider. As such, our involvement in the war would likely cause one of us to be punished severely under the laws."

"And half measured intervention is no good either, whether it is the seizure of Oldtown or ending the support of the Green allied Houses by taking them out of the war." Castorys stated.

"It is possible that we could force them to the negotiation table but with the death of cousin Rhaenys…" Polaerys trailed off.

"The personal animosity between them has only deepened the rift. Neither side will settle for anything short of the total destruction of the other." Aegon stated and Gael swallowed sadly at her husband's words.

'Baelon…Aemon…father…mother…look at the state of our House…'

"Then there is nothing we can really do but do all we can to make sure any of the children aren't killed." Breannei said quietly though the grimness in her tone of voice was there to be heard..

"It will be difficult for us to get to Dragonstone." Gael said quietly and the implication of her words were clear. Should the Greens prevail, and gain access to Dragonstone, it is likely the youngest children will be helpless in the worst case.

At least Maegor's secret tunnels would allow them to give those poor children in Kings Landing a chance…

'How terrible is that I do not even consider the chance that one side won't get rid of the either side completely? That family could even consider to be on other sides…'

There was a long silence before her husband spoke up. "Very well." Aegon said as he looked to Gael before he looked at the rest of them. "We vote on intervention in the succession crisis of Westeros. Raise your hand for intervention."

Rhaena raised her hand and as Gael looked around, she noticed that Rhaena was the only one to do so.

"Neither I nor Breannei vote for intervention."

"Loros, note for the records that on the matter of intervention in the succession crisis of Westeros, Rhaena, first of her name, voted for intervention."

"Your Grace." The scribe of their House bowed his head before he put quill to paper.

"Raise your hand for not intervening in the succession crisis of Westeros."

This time, Solonys and Valarr raised their hands.

"I would not risk any of our dragons for them." Valarr said quietly. "Nor do I wish to kill any dragons."

There was a moment of silence before Breannei spoke up.

"Both I and Castorys vote for no intervention."

"Loros, note for the records that on the matter of intervention in the succession crisis of Westeros, Solonys, first of his name, Valarr, first of his name, Breannei, first of her name, and Castorys, first of his name, voted for no intervention."

"Your Grace." The scribe acknowledged.

"Gael?" Aegon asked as he met her gaze.

"I abstain." Gael said quietly. Neither option appealed to her and so she would have no choice but to abstain. She could only hope that an answer would come.

Soon.

She owed it to her father…and her brothers.

"I also abstain." Her husband stoically.

"Loros, note for the records that on the matter of intervention in the succession crisis of Westeros, Aegon, the first of his name and Archon of Elamaerys, and Gael first of her name, abstained on the matter of intervention."

"Your Grace." The scribe acknowledged.

"Castorys, Breannei." Aegon called as he turned his gaze to the dragonglass candle. "I would have you both return to Elamaerys city in two weeks' time."

"Father?" Castorys asked questioningly.

"Direct intervention is not possible, I acknowledge that" Aegon said as he looked around the Council room, meeting each of their children's gazes.

"However, the way they have murdered my cousin Rhaenys in the most heinous of ways, and it is not something I can or want to let go." Aegon said and the anger he withheld was finally being let go. Aegon closed his eye for a moment.

"Nevertheless, this war is also an opportunity to make sure we do not see any competition in the Sunset Sea for at least a generation." Aegon reopened his eye and he turned to look at her, and Gael only nodded slightly.

'Knowing my husband, this was likely what he'd always had thought of doing. The islands they'd found only suggested that if news arrived of more land further in the Sunset Sea, it may well spark ambition amongst the Westerosi for those lands, something her husband would not want, especially if what he believed about a path to Yi-Ti and other, potentially wealthy, civilisations was true.'

"The Ironborn, Lannisport, The Arbor" Aegon narrowed his eye slightly as he paused before speaking his next word "Oldtown…we are fortunate enough that two of the four are allied with the fourth. Knowing the reprehensible Ironborn, it is likely they will commit crimes that will see it justified to destroy them utterly."

"…Hegemony over the Sunset Sea." Castorys commented slowly. "I…see."

"Whilst punishing the Hightowers." Solonys assessed as he took in their father.

Aegon grimly smiled a little. "Beyond the crimes of the Hightowers against Rhaenys." Aegon narrowed his eye thinly before he continued after the momentary pause. "The Hightowers are also complicit with the Septons of Westeros."

Her husband looked around, meeting all of their gazes. "Removing them from Oldtown and getting someone else in there owing debts to us will help strangle the burgeoning casus beli the Faith might succeed in goading one or two generations later of my brother's descendants."

There was a few moments of silence.

"You think they could be that much of a threat?" Polaerys questioned.

Aegon sighed a little before he looked at the ceiling. "It depends. It depends on a lot of factors that I am not sure would happen in the next hundred years, but generally, when a schism in the faith happens, it is a major cause of violence." Aegon looked at Polaerys intently before he continued.

"From their perspective, we're heretics, worse than any of the variations of the Faith they are aware of. Worse than the Dornish, worse than the Manderlys. Effectively, our faith is new, tangentially linked to the Faith of the Seven, yes, but generally, there is so many differences that it may as well be a new Faith."

'As her husband had wanted.' Gael thought to herself. Though she doubted that her husband had such deviation in the Faith in mind when he promised all those people in Dragonstone Elamaerys.

The thought brought wry amusement to her. 'Her husband of almost thirty years ago would have been horror struck if he knew that he'd be worshipped as he was now in Elamaerys…'

Her husband shook his head. "But in any case, that is for later generations to worry about." He said with a thin smile on his bearded face, which was quickly lost as he continued, his gaze flickering around the Council room before settling on looking at the dragonglass candle. "Intervention in the succession crisis is what we will not do but if they have killed each other off, and their dragons, so as to totally to leave it all open for us to settle our present and our future…" Aegon trailed off.

"We could use Ser Codin and the others in Oldtown to help make things easier, if it turns out we stand to gain from engaging." Castorys commented after a few moments of silence.

"Ser Codin?" Solonys asked with a frown.

"It was before your time. Years ago, we'd sent men to Oldtown to keep their eyes out for anything of interest to us." Polaerys stated. "Every now and then, we send new men to take over duties from them so they can return home though Ser Codin is quite embedded in the merchant class of Oldtown." Polaerys paused for a moment. "And we also still have the odd Kings Lander sent to Oldtown to learn skills that will be beneficial for Elamaerys, so we also keep an eye out in amongst the maesters that way."

"I would see Ser Codin to be instrumental in providing us what we need to subdue Oldtown, should it prove that we are to move against them." Aegon stated before he looked around.

"For now, that is all we will do." Aegon stood and the dismissal was obvious, and Castorys and Breannei said their goodbyes before disconnecting the dragonglass candle.

Valarr, Polaerys and Rhaena all left, though not without curious eyes as Aegon remained in the Council room, staring at the Known World map table that stood at the centre of the Council Room, and she followed his gaze towards Westeros which presently had a little amber flag on the location where Kings Landing that signalled that it was a potential enemy.

Braavos, Volantis, Myr and Qarth had such flags on their locations, whilst Lys, the Liberty Bay cities and Naath, all had green flags.

Pentos, Dorne, Yi-Ti, Greater Moraq, Leng and Marahai all had a silver flag, which meant trade mostly only. With the likes of Dorne, there was a bit more of a leeway as they were a power with intersecting interests, and whom they were having more of a lopsided trade with every year that passed.

Thanks to the fury of the Conqueror and Queen Visenya, Dorne had yet to fully recover even nearly a hundred and thirty years on from now, having largely returned to a more agrarian economy, which meant that their constant purchasing of grain for Velos and Elamaerys – which was decreasing every year now thanks to Liberty Bay producing tremendous amounts of crops – was a pressure point they could use to influence Dorne to come to the way of Elamaerys' thinking.

Though, Gael mused, perhaps Dorne would be able to reposition their dependence on grain exports to Elamaerys with this war…'No…I doubt the Iron Throne would ever get that desperate to buy from Dorne. And I doubt the Reach will ever be unable to help lessen the threat of famine…'

"Husband." Gael said gently as she walked over to him and grabbed hold of his arm and Aegon sighed heavily as he closed his eyes.

"In an another life, Rhaenys and we would have likely shared a grandchild." Aegon said quietly.

"Yes." Gael agreed. Castorys and Laena would have been only a few years a part, the latter some years older.

"She didn't deserve to be murdered for my brother's idiocy." There was real anger in his voice, and she could feel him tense further as he spoke. "And the besmirching of her name…! In a such a manner…" Aegon looked at her, and she smiled sadly at the sight of his barely contained rage.

Rage she felt too but her sadness for Rhaenys, for Laena, and even for Corlys was far stronger. The rage in Aegon's eye dissipated and her husband almost slumped, such was the way his rage fled him.

"I am in a way responsible for this but I would be dishonouring Rhaenys' intelligence if I blamed myself. She should have known better. In war, when you have decided you have enemies, the last thing you do is enter the enemies lair without means of escape."

"Not even you could have predicted that this was what the Hightowers were planning." Gael said a little sharply. Aegon might be hurting, but he was far too old to lash out with deed or word.

Aegon smiled a little, though there was nothing really in it. "No, I suppose not."

There was a long moment of silence that pervaded the Council room.

"I had hoped Rhaenys and her family would be safe." Aegon said quietly.

"I know." Gael responded as she looked at Driftmark on the map. "I had hoped so too." 'I'd hoped that you were wrong…I hoped that all of this wouldn't happen.'

"Father would be weeping if he was here." Gael said as she looked to the ceiling. 'And mother…'

"Silently of course." Aegon said with a tired sigh.

Yes…father would not have allowed himself to look weak, even though weeping over something as self-destructive like this, without being able to do anything about it, was no thing to be seen weak about.

"Are you still holding on to the promise you made to my father?" Gael asked. Aegon had told her father that he would be there to aid House Targaryen if it warred against itself.

"Yes." Aegon said as he glanced at Gael before he looked to Westeros. "I shouldn't. Despite Solonys borderline impetuousness" Aegon sighed a little though Gael knew that it was put on, for as curt Solonys could be at times, little Solonys said was offensive or out of line.

"He is right, Gael. Viserys and all of his line care not of us, and perhaps we have given them far too little cause to care, but ultimately, they are distant of us. Strangers. What happens with them shouldn't be the cause of death amongst our people, Gael, and Gods forbid, any of our children." Aegon finished pained.

Gael swallowed a little, the thought of her children dying heavy on her heart. She knew that Aegon wouldn't allow it, he'd rather die a thousand deaths than let harm come to their children and their grandchildren but the thought…

"Would you take our sons with you?" Gael asked, and she was not at all careful of hiding her disapproval in her question.

Aegon smiled tiredly. "I would go alone. The Unsullied, and perhaps three to five thousand of the army should be enough."

Gael looked away from him for a moment. "Our sons won't let you go alone." She murmured quietly.

There was a moment of silence.

"No…I don't think they will." Aegon said with a sigh before he continued, his voice crawling to a thick quietness. "Is it strange of me that I am starting to not care at all about whatever the Children and their ancestors are plotting against them?"

Gael didn't immediately answer.

Aegon had told her everything about his suspicions with the Children of the Forest and their false gods, the deaths of so many Targaryen ancestors in unknown and mysterious ways, the Song of Ice and Fire where they sought to bring down both the Ice and the Fire in some macabre confrontation that would see to the end of their family and their dragons and all of its thousands of years of history.

Aegon continued. "Only the fact that I am certain they would not stop their plotting against our descendants that makes me intent in ensuring Viserys' line remains strong enough to cast their eyes away from us, at least until whatever descendant of ours, is capable of destroying them."

Aegon had told her that he believed that the entities known as the Old Gods did not reside in just the Weirwood Trees, that it was possible for them to migrate from their Tree into another that was not occupied.

Despite being all so immersed in matters of magic thanks to her husband and her children, it still sounded so mad, all of this.

"We do what we need to for our family." Gael said as she looked at Aegon, intently meeting his gaze. She knew not if Aegon was right in his beliefs, in the threat these entities posed to her family, but she believed in him, and believed that Aegon would do what he would need to in order to protect their family.

Aegon only smiled faintly at her before he took her hand and he closed his eye briefly, the silent comfortable between them. When he spoke again, it was with a solemn note.

"Sometimes I wonder…I really wonder if he's always been unworthy of becoming your father's successor."

"Has he ever shown he was worthy?" Gael posed. She remembered Viserys in her youth. She might not have seen him all that much but her impression of Viserys had never been all that great. In fact, she had a much better impression of Daemon.

Rash, infantile, hot-tempered Daemon may have been, but he'd had character. Daemon might not have been suited for the throne nearly as well as her father had been, but she found it difficult to believe Daemon could have let all of this happen.

"Had he proven worthy, this succession crisis would not have happened, and had he proven himself worthy, you wouldn't have kept the evil of the Old Gods from him." Viserys would have been able to do something about the Old Gods with the aid of the Faith. Easily. They might have lost the North over it, but what was that in comparison to ending a threat that might well be plotting to destroy your line!

"At some points." Aegon said with heaviness in his tone of voice. "At some points I thought him worthy, enough that I would have told him everything he would have needed to know. But mayhaps that's simply me rationalising it. Viserys had always wanted to be liked, and that is no trait for a Prince, let alone a King."

"It's not his worst trait." Gael muttered.

"No, it is not." Aegon said with a grimace. "Nevertheless" Aegon said with a shake of the head. "For all that few amongst my nephews and nieces deserve my consideration for them, I do owe it to our House, and your father, that I see them restored to a measure of strength." Aegon made a noise in the back of his throat.

"Ironically, making sure all of their dragons are dead might be something I should be trying to achieve." Aegon said quietly and Gael was surprised by her husband's words. "Or perhaps just simply…stand aside, and let the Old Gods carry out their plot without interference."

But again, once she thought it over, she could see where her husband's thoughts were heading. Without their dragons, the Westerosi Targaryens would be far less of a threat to Elamaerys in the future.

And though there was clearness in the matter of affairs between the Iron Throne and Elamaerys, their House has always had ambition. Their greatest in centuries had conquered nearly all of a continent with this ambition, after all.

"But you're not." Gael surmised as she eyed her husband intently.

"No, I am not. If we set aside the matter of kinslaying, killing their dragons would only be a source of antagonism between our branches." Aegon stated.

Yes, she could see that. "They would well try and steal eggs or even dragons."

Aegon hummed a little darkly before he sighed a little. "I think we, or our descendants, should be able to handle it if they ever tried, especially with our Sight that helps us identify them."

Gael wasn't as skilled as her children with the Sight, but from Aegon and her children told her, there were some ways to identify someone with significant dragonlord heritage. In fact, there were indeed a number of folk amongst their people who had such strong heritage.

Gael grimaced a little. She wasn't a fan of Aegon's subtle manipulations to dilute the blood of those with dragonlord heritage, marriages with Naathi and Essosi heritage but it was perhaps a necessary precaution. As was the precaution to train up more of Naathi heritage and of Essosi heritage to become dragonkeepers…

"But it is better not to create that source of antagonism if we can, especially with the Old Gods and the Faith likely to become willing allies, albeit for vastly different reasons." Aegon's expression tightened a little.

"Truly, Westeros is a sleeping giant akin to Yi-Ti, if they managed to centralise their Realm and empower their commonfolk even a little, and I fear we would give them reason to rise if we, I, push too much. Dragons can only do so much."

Aegon had often jested that if another of her father's ilk were to have taken the throne right after her father had passed, perhaps that might well have started.

Gael was quite sure that had Aegon taken the throne after her father, Westeros would have long been made on the path to rise as a giant.

"It would be better for us if they keep their dragons. It will remove a great deal of attention from us if we are not the sole dragonriding family, and it isn't as if we don't have magic to greatly push things into our favour. I doubt the Faith will ever accept a magic wielding royal family any time soon."

"It looks like you've already made your intention to honour the promise you made to father." Gael said after a few moments of silence.

Aegon said nothing to that, only offering her a commiserating smile before he looked back at the Known World, and she could see him look heavily ponderous.

She too looked back at the Known World map, her eyes drifting to the west of Elamaerys, towards the uninhabited volcanic islands they'd had carved into the wooden table after the rest of it had been made.

The Known World map only occupied about half of the table's surface, her husband's intent clear for all who knew him. For now, the rest of the world was unknown to them, but, little by little, they would discover more and they would reduce that unknown…little by little.

"I think I will abdicate once this crisis is over." The words by her husband shocked her. But then…she started thinking.

In all honesty, it made sense. Her husband had led their people for nigh on as long as they had been married, and it has taken its toll on him. The decisions he'd made, many of which had eaten at his soul…

Only recently, there was a rebellion amongst the former nobles of Elyria on Velos, and they had to stamp it out with extreme violence, a decision that Aegon made.

"I will of course remain on the Council, but only as a Dragonlord, and only as a guiding voice." Aegon continued as he continued to talk and she could tell that the idea was forming more solidly in his mind.

"Castorys is more than ready." Gael stated, her words not supporting or un-supporting. This was, after all, a decision only her husband could make.

"He is." Aegon said, a small smile forming on his face. "He's been doing an excellent job with Gaelysia."

"As has Breannei." Gael reminded and Aegon chuckled a little before his smile widened a little.

"As has Breannei." Aegon agreed.

"You're hoping he'll accept that instead of coming with you." Gael stated knowingly, and Aegon laughed a little.

"Was I that obvious?"

"Only to me." Gael said lightly and Aegon looked at her fondly before he sighed.

"Aye, I don't want him to come. Not because I fear for him, actually, yes, because I do fear for him, but also because there should always be an Archon or his heir present in Elamaerys in case something happens to the Archon, or the heir."

Gael thinned her lips at her husband's words and Aegon smiled a little apologetically. "Not that I will allow anything to happen to me or any of our sons." Aegon placated and Gael gave him a faint nod of acceptance.

He continued. "But I would like to set that as a precedence. For future generations. To keep the line of succession to Archon as clear and quick as possible."

"I think you've made too many precedence already, Aegon." Gael said to her husband a little sadly. "Your life will be a standard to all of our descendants who follow us, even long after we're nothing but dust in the earth. Even to our sons, your very achievements haunts them, despite their own respectable achievements."

Aegon looked pained at that, and she knew that her words would gnaw at a guilt he felt for his sons. "I never wanted that." Aegon said quietly.

"Yes you did." Gael said with a little smile, and Aegon looked at her a little surprised. "You've wanted them to emulate you. You've taught them to do so since they were first able to say father or mother." She squeezed his hand slightly.

"For better or worse, and I believe better, you've made sure that our descendants will have a man to look up to who built something from nothing whilst also ensuring that his fortunes were not only his."

The lives of millions were better off because of her husband, and in the decades to come, the impact her husband had on those millions will have doubled, tripled, quadrupled, as entire lands will have borne people who only have known liberty from the day they'd been born.

And many of them would be right here in Elamaerys.

"At least the wars I've fought have been righteous ones." Aegon muttered after a few moments of silence and Gael laughed a little, and Aegon glanced at her, a fond look on his face. "I shall have to wrung up another righteous cause about this crisis so that these descendants of ours can help make the world just a little better, as you have said like I have done."

Gael rolled her eyes. "I am sure the Ironborn and their slaves masqueraded as thralls can provide that righteous cause of yours." Gael eyed Aegon carefully.

"You want their iron, don't you?"

Aegon smiled at her before he sighingly nodded. "It has been on my mind, yes."

They were having issues with mining iron. Whilst they'd found deposits, unfortunately, they didn't really have the number of people to do much more than meet their immediate needs.

Which was…problematic, given they were making good headway with this steam power experiment of her husband's with the alchemists, the scholars and Polaerys.

The alchemists were getting better at getting greater yields of the granular slow burning wildfyre variant, and from the sounds of it, they also had four or five different ideas of mass producing the variant, which would see the potential to increase yields by fifty fold!

And whilst she was a little sceptical that they could get this steam engine working in the next ten to five and ten years, eventually, it would probably work.

That meant they would need immeasurable amounts of iron to produce steel for these…coach rail tracks. Iron they were uncertain to be capable of mining in the large quantities they had need of since they needed the manpower to continue to tame Elamaerys and build.

"How would you go about getting the Ironborn to agree trading with us?"

"I wouldn't trade with the Ironborn." Aegon told her, and she saw the hard glint in his eyes. He continued. "If the opportunity does present itself, and we can actually intervene in Westeros once the succession crisis has been…resolved, which is not guaranteed for all that we discussing it" Aegon warned before he sighed a little. "I was hoping to remove the Ironborn and mayhaps figure out a way to get the Islands granted to a more…amiable House."

Gael narrowed her eyes. "Amiable?"

"Like the Celtigars." Aegon said with a thin smile. "Why not? It is a travesty anyway that the Conqueror allowed so many of the Andals and the rest of the ilk keep their lands without sufficiently rewarding the Valyrian Houses with riches and power, beyond the favour and positions they earned in the capital."

"You're really expecting the succession crisis to be that bad that it would allow you to assign lands to your friends?" Gael asked a little disbelievingly before she hesitantly asked. "Did you see this in your flames?"

Aegon could see glimpses of a future, he'd said, through the flames, and, through the dragonglass candles, he could also steer a future, if what his dreams tests with Polaerys and Castorys were ringing true.

"Merely expectation." Aegon said after a few moments of silence before he shook his head. "Only a few more years…and then I can throw it Castorys' way."

There was a few moments of silence before Gael spoke.

"It would be nice. We'd have a lot more time together with the grandchildren." Gael said with a smile on her face. She'd been reminded how wonderful it was to have such small children around again. And how wonderful each of their grandchild was.

Naerys was an adorably excitable child she was sure would continue on as she grew – definitely one to temper carefully – whilst little Maekar was such a sweet boy, reminded her all so much of Polaerys at that age.

"It is definitely part of the reason why I would like to abdicate." Aegon said with a fond smile that she could see clearly through that bushel of a beard that extended nearly down to his chest.

"And it will allow you to keep writing." Gael teased and Aegon smiled.

Aegon had found writing stories quite enjoyable. From grand tales to educational adventurous tales fit for children, like the 'Kung Fu Little Valyrian' tale.

By now, he'd written something like three dozen stories alone.

Of course, it wasn't just stories he was writing. Scholarly papers from grand ideation of how the world worked, to scholarly papers that observed why two of the same animals on separate islands would have such different coloured feathers.

'At least poor Vaegon knows where much of this knowledge comes from. Aegon might well have killed him by now due to stress had Aegon not brought her brother into the truth of how he knew so impossible much…I should go see him in the morn' Her brother was fixed abed now, had moved him to their Keep to see to his comfort and health…

"Says the woman who enjoys spending half her time in a bank." Aegon said with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing wrong with that." Gael said with a mild look.

She enjoyed spending time with the people of the Bank of Elamaerys and the Stock Exchange, whom had taken many of hers and Aegon's notions of finance and accounting, and making it their own.

The Stock Exchange, for example, was growing in ways neither she or Aegon could have expected, such as the invention of the stock slip.

"I'm not saying there is" Aegon said with an amused smile. "I'm just saying old men should have their pastimes too." Aegon said to Gael with a raised eyebrow and Gael scoffed a little. There was nothing old about Aegon just yet.

Whilst she had wrinkles forming on her face, and on her hands, Aegon was almost unchanged from how he'd looked when been thirty namedays of age.

She had not brought it up with him, and she could tell that he was worried about it too. She'd wondered if it was because of magic, but she couldn't quite tell. Her sight might be open but she was no talent in magic like her children and Aegon…

"At least it isn't fishing." Gael wrinkled her nose. More than a few times Aegon had reeked, to the point that she had demanded that he at least bathe before flying again. Dragon and the smell of gutted fish were a deadly combination…

She couldn't imagine what the smell must be like in Lady Serella's home. She'd never found it within herself to ask such impolite curiosities…

Aegon laughed a little. "It's quite rewarding." Aegon smiled a little deeper at her when she levelled a look at him. "Truly." Aegon insisted as he led her out of the Council room. "Sitting in a dingy old boat…"

Days later…

Gael's hand went to her mouth as Janos reported on the dragon battles that'd occurred above Kings Landing. The destruction of the Dragonpit…Meleys…the deaths of Laena and Laenor…

Gael shared a look with Polaerys, who had been the one to take the report from Kings Landing this morn, and she could see the troubled look on his face, but it was only troubled. He did not have the emotional connection she and Aegon had with Laena and Laenor…those poor children…even the boy, her father's namesake…seven and ten namedays old…

"Thank you Janos." The calm in Aegon's voice was deceptive, but this time his halo could not shroud him from what he truly felt. "From now on until further notice, we will speak every morn on the happenings of the war."

"It would be my pleasure, Your Grace."

Aegon ended the call before he looked to Polaerys. "Send a messenger to call on Ser Jon."

Polaerys hesitated before he nodded. "Father…" Polaerys glanced at her. "Mother. I did not know my cousins but I know you were both fond of them. And their mother." Polaerys paused before he continued. "You have my condolences."

"Thank you Polaerys." Gael said, speaking for herself and her husband, and soon they were left alone in their chambers, and for a long time, they sat there, holding the other's hand, and she knew that both of them would be thinking of the two children they'd so adored a lifetime.

-Break-

Early 129 AC – The Unnamed Keep

Maegelle POV

She shielded Maekar's eyes as the dragons melted the stones, and Maekar's little fingers pulled at hers. "Not again! I want to see, I want to see! Stop Maggy!" Maekar exclaimed in a cry as he tried to wiggle out of her lap at the same time as he pulled at her fingers.

"Be careful, it is very bright" Maegelle warned before she let him peer through the gaps of her fingers and Maekar's excited noise, the one she realised only children could make, was strong enough to dull the sounds of the roaring flames.

The roaring flames did not last long though, and soon enough, the molten stone, a great mass of glowing puddle, begun to climb unnaturally up, before twisting and jointing at the lower ends of the many tens of foot tall bridge.

Polaerys and Valarr pushed it up high up, before her father, Aegon, rose in the air on two slabs of molten stone and seemed to control the upward movement of the stone even more, slowly going up and up, until the finally, the molten stone reached the footpath of the bridge, and within moments, the molten glow of the stones begun to fade away, first at the bottom, and then slowly up to the new fused pillar of the bridge that would lead that lonesome pillar full of dirt and a seed.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Maegelle said to her nephew as she craned her neck to gaze upon his little face. It was the first time he was seeing such magicks, having convinced Polaerys enough – or rather cried – that he'd permitted his son to watch them work.

It helped that Maekar was precocious for his age, and generally well behaved.

"Yes!" Maekar said excitedly and Maegelle smiled a little as the boy babbled away about the sight, listening quietly as she watched more of the bridge being built.

She wondered what it would feel like to walk on that bridge, if it would feel the same as their still-unnamed Keep would feel like. Like home.

Father had said that Dragonstone had felt a little like their Keep, though not as much as Dragonstone had only been intended as a forward fortress of some purpose, and it was likely merely a sense of their dragonblood calling to the dragonstone, but the Keep was different.

Its stones were fused with a desire, father had said, a want, an emotion, a place to call home, and their fires and that of their dragons had responded to all of that, retaining a bit of it in its foundations.

And it made her wonder, if this bridge, and that lonesome pillar with that dirt and seed, would have that same bit in its foundations. 'Likely not' Maegelle mused to herself quietly.

She did not know what was special of that seed, but she knew that father did not like it much, which was surprising as there was few things in Elamaerys he ever showed dislike about. At least to her.

It was some time later, after about six more pillar additions were added, that Maekar started to make himself a bit of a nuisance. "I want to go, let me go!" Maekar said as he tried to wriggle out of her arms and from her lap.

"Behave Maekar." Maegelle said sternly, at least she thought it was stern, but it seemed to have helped a little, for the boy stopped wriggling. "If you don't behave, Sarona will take you back into the Keep and to your mother."

"No, no, please, I will be good! I just want to see it closer!" Maekar said as he turned around and stared at her with horror filled violet wide eyes, eyes that flickered towards the servant girl Sarona who stood by them. "Pleaaaaaaasee."

Truly, it was unfair how adorable he looked in this mooment.

"One more chance." Maegelle tried to look sternly at him despite doing her best not to crack a smile, and it seemed to have worked for he bobbed his head rapidly.

"You can ask your father later if you can go onto the bridge." Maekar stopped his bobbing and he looked ponderous for a moment, and this was the final straw that broke out her smile. He looked so much like Polaerys in this moment.

"He said no last time" Maekar muttered as he looked away from her and towards the bridge.

"I will speak to your father. You have been good after all."

"Really?" Maekar swivelled his head around with wide eyes.

"Yes. But only if you continue to be good."

"I promise!" Maekar said as he struck out his little finger and this made Maegelle stifle her laughter. Father started oddly signing off his promises made to Maekar with the grasping of the little finger.

Something about it being akin to their Greek secret language. From the ways of it, she doubted that the odd hand gesture thing was going to be the only thing her father was going to introduce to them…

They continued to watch them build more of the bridge, until finally, they called an end to it after having consumed the remaining of the stones that had been left over from the building works in the city and elsewhere.

With how much work – and stones – were needed across Elamaerys, now that villages and towns were beginning to form around the plantations and farms, it had been decided that they would only use whatever stone was left over rather than divert needed resources from the construct.

Father, Polaerys and Valarr walked up to them, coming uphill, and soon enough they were by them, and she let go of Maekar as she rose, who had raced to a tired but smiling Polaerys. "Father, father, can I do this magic also? Please, please, please?"

Polaerys laughed a little. "When you're older. Mayhaps." Maegelle knew her brother well enough to know that he was teasing the little boy.

"How much older?"

"When you're this tall." Polaerys said as he put his hand right next to his shoulder and Maekar gasped almost comically in horror.

"That looooong?!" Maekar whined and Polaerys laughed before he picked up an upset Maekar.

"I was that tall when my father taught me magic too." Polaerys said in answer and Maekar looked upset before he looked dubiously at father.

"Is that true grandpa?"

"It is not true." Their father said and Maekar looked triumphant for a moment before that triumph turned a little smug.

"See!" Maekar said with all of the force a four nameday could accomplish.

"Polaerys was this" their father raised his hand just below Polaerys' top brow "tall when I taught him magic."

"It's true. You did stop growing at the same time your voice broke." Valarr commented with a wry grin and Polaerys sent a longsuffering look at Valarr.

"Not everyone grows like a weed, as you have done." Polaerys said before he muttered under his breath, though still deliberately loud enough for them all to hear "and just as annoying as a weed."

Valarr only chuckled at that though soon enough their attentions were grabbed by Maekar. "I don't believe you, Grandpa." Maekar said with all the confidence of a four nameday old boy.

"It is true." Polaerys said and Valarr hummed in agreement.

"For me, he waited until I was this tall." Valarr deliberately placed his hand just above Polaerys' head, and Maegelle snorted at the act.

"Really?" Maekar asked, and he seemed like he was really on the verge of crying.

"Yes" Polaerys said solemnly to his son though before Maekar really tip over the edge, Polaerys continued. "But if you're good, you don't have to wait that long."

"Really?" Maekar's voice was hopeful.

"Really. But you will have to wait. Understand?" Polaerys said as he met his son's gaze and Maekar nodded a little meekly.

"Understand." Maekar mumbled.

"Good boy." Polaerys said before he scruffled Maekar's hair, earning a little smile from the young boy.

"Right, I'm going back to mine own little ones." Valarr said before he started to walk.

"I think I will go for a walk." Their father said before he looked at her. "Maegelle, would you join me?" It caught her by surprise before she nodded quickly.

"I'll come with you" Polaerys said to Valarr after he'd glanced between her and their father, and soon enough they were left alone and walking on the small path that was above the entrance gates to the dragonpit.

They'd walked for some time without talking, even though she was sure her uncertain glances were noticed by her father, and, finally, she couldn't really help but wonder. "Father…?"

"I have been unfair to you." The sudden words surprised Maegelle immensely but after a moment, she instinctively understood what her father meant.

The reason why she sometimes felt a little…uncertain of her real place in their family. No…not a little…a lot.

She knew, from the first moment she understood it, that she was always meant to marry Solonys, whom she had grown…companionable with. Someone she could see herself at the least content with, even though Solonys did have some quirks she disliked a little.

But that understanding had always come hand in hand with the promise of a dragon, something she'd always been taught belonged to a Targaryen.

And Maegelle understood also that she wasn't exactly Targaryen, not completely, and only because of her uncle who was her father in most things.

"I have never kept from you the reasons why you couldn't have a dragon." Aegon told her and it was true. He did tell her that it wasn't her that he was keeping dragons away from, but more establishing a precedence that kept the peace in their family long after they're all dead.

A precedence that bastards couldn't inherit or take the name Targaryen, let alone a dragons, and only really female bastards had a chance by taking the family name due to marrying in though not without exceptional agreement in the family as a whole, and not without ensuring that the blood ties and loyalties were firm.

It was all sensible, but sensible was not what she always felt like a young girl, or as she still did now. No matter how sensible it was.

"But all the same, I feel that unfairness I have put on you…my daughter."

"I understand it father. Truly, I do." Maegelle said as she looked away from her father. "And I thought that this…matter was closed?" Years closed.

"Forgive me, Maggy, if you feel like I'm being too…" her father trailed off for a moment "too sentimental, though a word that is not quite right."

"Morose perhaps?" Maegelle said with tongue-in-cheek.

Her father chuckled lightly. "Righter, yes." Her father sighed and she glanced at him, and saw him looking at the heavens. "I suppose with your marriage nearing so close, I felt it necessary to tell you that I acknowledge that you have been dealt with unfairness, despite my always considering you a daughter of my blood and heart." Her father glanced at her for a moment before he looked away from her.

"Especially considering how much you healed me as a babe."

Maegelle faltered in her steps for a moment. "What?" she blinked before she got hold of herself. "What do you mean?"

"After I…destroyed much of New Ghis" her father seemed to roll his jaw for a moment. "I was…heavy of heart. Tremendously so." Her father looked at her squarely in the eyes. "And you, with all of your innocence, touched my cheeks with your little hands, and tried to comfort me." Her father's eye seemed to take on a sheen before he looked away from her.

"I have loved you since that day, Maggy, and I have never regretted it since."

She took his hand and her father stopped and she swept him with a hug, and she sniffled as she tried to keep her tears in. "Father…I…" Her father circled his hands on her back, comforting her, and Maegelle felt the love he told her he had for her.

Though she never doubted he loved her, she was never sure he loved her as much as he loved the rest of her adoptive siblings. She knew that it was a silly fear to have, and Breannei's assurances, understanding as she was, that she had an equal place in their father's heart had always felt never enough.

But this story…

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Maegelle wondered as she ceased the hug and there was a look of discomfort on her father's face.

"I was a little heavier of heart than I had expected." And Maegelle was a little confused at what he meant and he saw it before he sighed a little. "I may have been…unrestrained with…all of that…heaviness."

It took a moment for Maegelle to understand and her lips twitched.

"I see." Maegelle said as she grabbed hold of her father's arm. "I promise it will be a secret I keep to my grave."

"You have my appreciation." Her father said a little uncomfortably before he cleared his throat. "I hope you do not mind…I have picked you one of the dragon eggs." At this Maegelle's eyes widened in surprise.

There was still two surviving dragon eggs remaining from Liāzmariña's recent clutch, whilst there were also three more viable eggs remaining from the first clutches of Tyraxes, Tyria and Leysia.

"From which clutch?" Maegelle hoped to get her egg from Liāzmariña's clutch.

"It is one of the three eggs I bought back from the Braavosi."

Maegelle's eyes widened. "Really?" Maegelle would felt betrayed by the hope that'd crept in her voice but she cared not.

To have an egg from that clutch, even if she had to give a bit of blood to help wake it from stone…

No one is certain, but it is very likely that the three eggs came from Dreamfyre, who herself was from Meraxes, the second largest dragon at the time, only outsized by Balerion himself who was at least half a century older by then, and it is said that Meraxes likely would have reached Balerion's size had she lived to the same age, and she had the same wingspan as Vermithor has now.

Though Dreamfyre was a smaller dragon, part of that was because of her lack of feed due to her remaining in the dragonpit for most of her life, the lineage of the dragon eggs were undeniable.

And, she mused, if her…dragon, was anything like Balerion the Second, the fast growing dragon of the one nameday old Aenar, who was growing faster than Tyraxes even, she might not have to wait all that long to ride her…dragon…

Her dragon…Her dragon…!

The very thought was exciting her immeasurably.

"Really. Though I would hope you would have better sense than Castorys and Breannei and name the dragon after one of the three Conqueror dragons." Her father said exasperatedly.

"I do at least have the privilege to be able to name my dragon unlike my little nephew." Maegelle said with a beaming smile and her father smiled at her.

"Yes, you do. The name rites of a dragon can be a deeply personal one, especially when one bonds with a never claimed dragon at an older age." Her father paused before he eyed her once more. "So are you happy with the offer of the egg?"

"Yes!" Maegelle said intently before she calmed herself. "Yes." Maegelle said beamingly before she paused for a moment. "I can choose which one?"

"Of course." Her father said and Maegelle nodded. Whilst the eggs were technically petrified, she still wanted to see which one she felt more of a connection with. Maekar, despite being no more than two namedays, had seemed to have instinctively known which egg should be his.

Mayhaps she would have that same sense…

"What happens with the last egg?" she asked.

"I have decided to let your siblings determine which one of my grandchildren ought to have it." Her father stated and Maegelle nodded slowly.

"One other thing I wanted to discuss with you." Her father said as they were nearly full circle and back at the path of that led to their Keep, and her father had her full attentions.

"I want you to sit your testing for the Higher Mysteries and Finance within the next year." Her father stated to her and Maegelle's eyes widened.

"…Why?" Maegelle could only ask. The higher mysteries, magic, was something she was well versed in. Seeing magic performed by your siblings and your parents, well, with the promise that you would learn to use it too if you applied yourself, was a good motivation to learn whatever she was asked.

All those 'meditation' exercises, all those meanings of fire, and creation, and what other meanings elements and emotions had upon the world, fire wielding, changing the nature of fire, all of it, she did whatever she had was told to do.

Polaerys had been the one who taught her the most of it including what would usually be taught to those in the Citadel learning about the higher mysteries.

Her mother had been the one who taught her the most about finance, governance too, as it was expected that each of her sisters would have a role in the running of not only their household, but also in Elamaerys itself.

"Because I want you to start sitting in on more of the Council meetings."

Maegelle considered that. Her sisters had been sitting in on those meetings around her age too. But she couldn't help but feel there was also another reason for it.

"Is this because of what is happening in Westeros?"

Though she was not privy all that much to what her family discussed, yet, she did hear enough from her siblings that a war over a throne was being fought, family against family.

Apparently her and Breannei's…half-brothers, were in on it too.

That, and combined with what she was seeing with the military and the navy…well, it wasn't hard to figure out. And many noble ladies were realising something was up too, because their husbands were preparing.

"Yes." Her father said as he glanced at her as they started climbing up the stairs.

"You're old enough, and more than wise enough, Maggy, and I would like your voice to have weight sooner than later."

"I promise I won't disappoint." Maegelle said after she'd swallowed a little.

Father smiled at her before he leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Maggy, since the moment I saw you, you have never disappointed me." Her father looked at her with a smile. "And I believe you won't start doing so now"

She didn't let go of her father until they were well in their family Keep.

-Break-

Early 129 AC – Elamaerys, the Unnamed Keep

Castorys POV

"You want to abdicate?" Castorys asked shocked.

"Is that so surprising?" his father said with a faintly amused smile.

"Yes." Castorys said immediately. He couldn't imagine his father not ruling. At least whilst he was alive. Which would be for a long time.

"Why?" Castorys asked as he sat down in the seat opposite his father's desk.

"Because you're ready. You've been ready years now." His father told him with earnestness in his voice. "Since you were but four and ten namedays old, you have shown me that you were ready to lead our people, and…our family. Since then, you've only grown into your skin, and the work in Gaelysia only proves it."

A measure of pride filled his chest at his father's words.

Gaelysia was the product of his and Breannei's hard work. Twenty thousand now called Draconys home, a accomplishment that they had worked hard for.

So many challenges, so many little problems they had to deal with, just the pair of them, with the occasional help from Valarr whenever he struck a fancy to fly to Draconys, and it was something that was his. And Breannei's.

He was immeasurably proud of it.

"Besides" his father said with a shrug. "I'm getting old. I've ruled for thirty years, almost. I think that is long enough for anyone to rule. I am due my retirement."

"Retirement?" Castorys repeated with more than a little disbelief.

"My soldiers retire. Why can't I retire?" Castorys knew now that his father was jesting though…that look…he looked amused but…also assured…?

"You're truly serious?" Castorys wanted his father to clarify just one more time.

His father dropped his amusement. "I am." He nodded.

He was silent for a few moments. "When?"

"I can abdicate now if you want." His father said and Castorys was thrown into a loop once more. Now? When there was that succession crisi-

Castorys narrowed his eyes. "You want to retire now, and give me the position of Archon, right when you've been getting the army back at fighting conditions both here and Velos, even if you say it is just in case?"

His father remained silent, his eye unblinking and Castorys felt a strong morsel of anger. "You want me to stay, don't you? When you decide to go to Westeros?"

"I do." His father stated, his face unchanging. "I want you to stay here and rule. Whether you do so in my name or in yours, in either case, you will be ruling."

"And if I say I want to fight alongside you?" Castorys demanded to know as he let his anger show.

"Then you will fight alongside me." His father simply stated though he looked a little tired. "I would prefer you would choose to stay and begin your rule, but I will not force you to do so." His father stared directly into his eyes.

"You are a father, Castorys, and you are nearly thirty namedays old. You are my son, my eldest and for that, you are your own man. The time of forcing you into doing what I want has long ended." His father smiled a little at him. "I only have reason left, and I hope that will be enough."

Castorys stared at his father for a long time before he slumped a little in his chair.

"You are impossible." Castorys muttered. He might be thirty namedays, but his father always knew how to speak to him and get him to listen.

"Your mother does remind me of that quite often." His father smiled a little. "I'm not sure why." Dear Gods, father really spends far too much time with Solonys.

"What is this reason?"

His father sighed. "I…I have been a warmonger." His father shook his head, halting Castorys from speaking, and their gazes met.

"I have fought, and dragged our people, and will almost certainly drag one more time, into war. For all of the benefit our wars have had for our people, many of whom are the direct result of them becoming Elamaeri, I fear that the standard that I am setting is too much of an warmongering empire." His father looked away from Castorys for a moment.

"There's a balance, of a sort, that a people needs to maintain. Remain strong, remain vigilant, keep to your values and your convictions, but never veer so much that you are unrecognisable from what the hopes of your nation had been at the start." His father looked at Castorys once more.

"Elamaerys is meant to be a place of hope, of dreams, and I would like your reign to be the reign that future generations will call upon as an example of an enlightened Archon who saw to a golden age that sees our population expand many times." His father explained and Castorys could see where his father was coming from.

But unfortunately, he could also see the negatives of not going with his father.

"There are expectations of me from our people." Castorys reminded his father and his father looked a little pained at him.

"And you will meet them, in another way, if you so let it. Castorys, what I have done…" his father sighed heavily and he seemed to collapse in his chair.

"I am impossible, as you have stated. The legend that is crafted around me is greater than even I will ever truly measure up to, let alone you, who is greater than I myself am. And yes, Castorys, before you start, you are. I have had advantages that you do not have and yet, if I had none of it, I doubt I would have compared."

Castorys wanted to know what these advantages were, but he would shelve for it for now.

His father continued. "These expectations of our people…" His father closed his eye for a moment. "I have considered them, and though you are right, I truly believe you can meet them without having to bend to their exact expectations." His father opened his eye. "Because you know as well as I do that Aenar would come to have the same expectations after you, and so too would those after him, and to force generations to do what we have done for merely the chance to measure up…"

He let the silence go for a few moments before he answered.

"I will come with you, father." Castorys said with determination. "I understand your reasoning. I do, truly." Gods, did he understand his father's argument.

The thought of Aenar feeling the same crippling pressure to measure up to him…he deeply understood now why his father always tried to reassure him.

"But what son, and heir, would I be, if I let you go, alone, into battle, when I am in the peak of my strength, and Gaelithox fitted with Elamaeri Steel armour?"

"A son who puts the duty he holds for his people above all." His father said quietly as he stared at Castorys.

"A duty that I will always perform, but I reject that it is a duty that needs to be performed right now." Castorys said with certainty and neither of them spoke for some time until finally his father broke the silence.

"It seems we both shall go, if Viserys' line prove themselves incapable of keeping hold stably of what the Conqueror took for our family name." His father said finally and Castorys nodded sharply.

"Solonys will want to come too." Castorys stated. Polaerys wasn't a warrior and it wouldn't take much to convince him to stay, especially with all of their children.

Valarr would be a little more difficult but ultimately, Westeros held little interest for him to see. Besides, he'd prefer to prepare for the scouting of western Sothoryos with Shrykos, a bit like Jaenaera Belaerys though with significantly more support with a fleet anchored off of the coast, though he'd probably be annoyed at another delay since this will probably keep them busy for some time.

He'd get his father, or not if he was to ascend to Archon soon, offer Valarr more resources for Western Sothoryos as recompense.

"Yes…he will." His father stated as he eyed Castorys. "Especially as I won't have an excuses to forbid him." Castorys only raised his eyebrow uncaringly at that.

His father's beard twitched a little before grunted as he sat back in his chair.

"Well, it will probably did him a lot of good. I would give him command of most of the military actions. Particularly the Ironborn."

Yes, Solonys had a streak of violence in his bones.

It wasn't difficult, or worrisome, but Solonys did seem to cherish being at battle more than anything else he'd ever seen his brother take to.

"For you, I would have you more involved with the diplomacy side of things, if Westeros truly turns out to be a pool of instability."

Castorys nodded slightly. "I can agree to that."

"We'll take our hounds with us." His father paused for a moment. "And food tasters too. The Westerosi might decry poison as cowardly, but they partake in it, even if it is not as much as the Essosi." His father narrowed his eye at Castorys.

"For all that I am giving you way, know this Castorys. If fate does decide we are leave Elamaerys for Westeros, know that I will not brook disobedience. You will do what I say, when I say it." His father's expression turned steely.

"You will not take risks outside of those I decide you can take, you will fight when I tell you can fight." His father breathed in sharply through his nose before he continued. "I will not have you die on me, or on the rest of our family, is that clearly understood?"

"Will you tell this to Solonys as well?" Castorys said as he kept strong effort on keeping his calm.

"I will, in the way fit for him. He is not my heir. He is not whom I have taught almost everything I know, whom I know Elamaerys will need after my reign is finished." His father said sharply before his voice softened.

"Castorys…I love you, son, but I need you to swear to me that you will do what I ask when we are at, if we are to be at war this one last time."

Castorys stared at his father for a long time before he nodded curtly and his father let off a breathe of relief. "Good." His father said before he picked up his quill and that was signal enough for Castorys to leave.

But before Castorys left, he turned and looked at his father. "Does it get easier?"

His father looked at him questioningly.

"Caring…" Castorys said a little awkwardly before he continued "as much as you do as when I had been a helpless babe?"

"No." His father said easily before he smiled though it was tinged with something…something bitter.

"It gets harder. But…it's worth it." His father told him and Castorys breathed out a little heavily and he offered his father a faint smile before he nodded and left.

-Break-

Late 129 AC – King's Landing

Mysaria POV

She adjusted cowl of her cloak as she waded through the streets of Visenya Hill. The taking of the city by the Blacks had been relatively painless, at least for the commonfolk of the city, but there were still many killings in the city, even after the King Consort arrived in the city a day ago, and the matter of lack of food was stirring the tension even more every hour that passed.

It wouldn't be long before riots would start and with it, swathes of bloodshed.

After several more turns, she arrived at the gated manses.

"Halt." One of the guards said and she only took down her hood in answer.

The guard saw her and nodded before he knocked on the bronze gate and the eye-shutter opened. "A guest of silk." The guard said to the pair of eyes and the eye-shutter closed before the sounds of locks chimed around.

"You may go in." The guard said needlessly as the gate opened and she, after a quick glance around, walked through the narrow gap in the gate.

She eyed the manse as she kept on walking, escorted as she was, and soon enough, she was inside of it and heading into the bowels of the manse, though she kept a look around, particularly at the courtyard, to see if they were still here.

But she found none, nor a sound of the children, though it seemed like there were few men here too, compared the last time she was here…

She didn't think they would have killed them. They were not that ilk. But then, Mysaria thought, it wasn't as if she knew the Archon, even if she knew these people and understood them well enough to anticipate them, as they took their orders from him, and him alone.

Finally, she arrived at the receiving room, where Janos sat with a cup…a hot cup, and, as she neared, she could see the telltale signs of what kind of hot brew it was.

Tea, they called it. The Yi-Ti grow it, and apparently, it was quite popular in Elamaerys, or so she'd heard Janos claim the last time she'd been here. She'd learnt not to trust Janos' words all that much, whom she knew distrusted her strongly, which also meant the Archon distrusted her still, after all these years…

"Mysaria." Janos said with a respectful nod before he gestured to a seat opposite her.

"Janos." Mysaria said as she sat down at the offered seat.

"Tea?" Janos asked and Mysaria smiled.

"I would prefer a Dornish wine like last time, if you have it."

"Unfortunately we ran out. We do have some ale, if you have want of it."

"I will remain without cup in that case." Mysaria declined lightly.

Janos nodded his acceptance.

"Have many of your men perished from starvation?" Mysaria asked lightly as she deliberately looked around. "I remember seeing more last time."

"Despite the drain of food your lovely girls have been" Janos said with an amused smile on his face "It was not so much a drain that left us starving, fortunately."

"We have appreciated your sharing of the food." Mysaria said and it was honest true. Whilst they would not have starved, it did make life a little more comfortable.

The city gates had not opened for moons and little food had come via ships, for the merchants had fear of being destroyed. The little food that did come, had gone largely straight the nobility and the Red Keep.

"Good." Janos said and Mysaria smiled despite feeling a little irritated. Janos continued and the next words that came out of his mouth shocked her.

"The Archon is coming."

The shock made her pause longer than she had intended in her response, even if she did not show too much of her shock. "…When?"

"Soon enough." Janos stated before he paused. "We will need someone to inform the King Consort of this."

"Me." Mysaria stated simply though her mind worked fast. She understood why. Tyland Lannister and Alicent Hightower had almost escaped the city but they'd been captured by Janos' men and had given them to Mysaria to give directly to Corlys Velaryon's men, which had earned her an audience with Corlys Velaryon, an audience that had given her a way into influence with the powerful lord.

She would have no difficulty getting another audience with the man, especially once she'd infer the importance of the matter she had to tell him.

"Yes." Janos crossed his arms as he stared her down. "The Archon believes that some…softening is necessary by the time he arrives. Arriving suddenly will alarm the King Consort and have all kinds of wrong assumptions."

She studied Janos' face. "And would the King Consort be wrong to have those kinds of…assumptions?"

Janos snorted. "Woman, this place is as bad as it smells." Janos looked angry for a moment but it soon morphed into an amused grin. "Believe me when I say when you have Elamaerys, you don't need anything else."

Mysaria doubted that. All men had greed in their bellies. No matter how good what they had currently. She supposed that was where Janos must have been in the year and a half absence she'd noted he'd been gone. Perhaps a while longer.

"And I would be careful needling out shit like that again" Janos said with narrowed eyes. "Or insinuating things you have no understanding of. Believe me, it will not turn out good for you if you are the cause of headaches for my Archon."

The words were said lightly but the look in the man's gaze was one that she struggled not to look away from. It was a look of promised violence.

"I suppose I must take heed, lest I end up like those children who walked these halls." Mysaria said lightly of the bastard children of Aegon the second as she met the narrowing gaze head on.

Janos only snorted. "You're a tiresome piece of work. Brave too, though is it really bravery when you're in a place where you have no control over yer fate?"

"I doubt a gallant man such as yourself would do a fair woman such as I harm." Mysaria said with a sly smile and Janos snorted.

"Lovely as always Mysaria." Janos said with a look that clearly stated that it wasn't and the man gestured her to leave.

"You can tell the Sea Snake whenever you want. Do make sure he pays you well for the service."

Mysaria rolled her eyes. "Clever."

Janos only chuckled as she walked away and soon enough she was out of the manse. 'So he's coming, is he…' Somehow, she doubted the information she was going to give could be softened in any way.

'Still…the information will earn me more of what I need' Mysaria thought to herself. Yes…yes it will.