The Bloody Prince: HOTD SI

Chapter 39

RHAENYS TARGARYEN

"What were you thinking?" Rhaenys raged at her husband, perplexed by the behaviour of the men around her.

"Storming out on Viserys like that, and for what!" she continued, and Corlys finally stopped pacing as he turned towards her.

"Don't you feel enraged! Do you feel nothing at seeing yourself getting robbed of your birthright once more," Corlys added, and she finally realized the source of his discontent and could not believe her ears. For she had put all this behind her.

Corlys had been growing and more frustrated over the last few days, something she had chalked upto the loss of the Crown's support for House Velaryon's campaign in the Stepstones, but now she saw the real issue. The real reason behind his rage.

And it was something she had buried long ago.

By now, it was an open secret that the King wished to merge his and Daemon's line through a marriage between Rhaenyra and Aegon, a wise choice in the grand scheme of things but one which made his intentions rather clear.

"What right do you speak of?" she asked with a scoff from her seat.

"Aegon is the rightful heir," she added, and Corlys shook his head.

"So were you," he added, and she rolled her eyes as he rushed to the chair beside her.

"Your own grandfather robbed you of your birthright twice. You were the daughter of the King's eldest son, and so the heir chosen, and yet he replaced you twice, once with his own words and later through that sham of a council," he added and thought the pain from that scar still lingered she was content with the life she had, with the life she had built.

"The male line took precedence, as it is taking now. I bear no desire for the throne, nor do Laena and Laenor from what I know," she pleaded.

"You know that better than anyone," she added, and he shook his head.

"The succession is contentious, and yet Viserys scorns me, scorns you. He ignores our plight and disgraces us by forcing us to pull out of the Stepstones. You know better than anyone that it will beggar our House," he complaint, and that was an issue.

"Then you should have about that, should have tried to win back Aegon's and Viserys's favor. Yet you have pushed them away and now have made yourself into a pariah," and she pushed his arms away as she rubbed her forehead.

"This was a grave mistake, Corlys," she added, and before he could say anything, there was a knock on the door, making both of them snap their heads in that direction.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"It's me mother, Laenor," the voice of their son interrupted them making her frown.

"Come in," she began, and Laenor entered the room, and yet he was not alone. There was a man besides him, one draped in fine silks and robes.

Yet the most surprising thing about him was not his clothing or anything else. No, it was his hair, and his eyes. They were silver and amethyst, showing Valyrian descent.

"There is someone who wishes to meet you father," Laenor began, the young innocent boy that he was, introduced the young man at his side.

"What was your name again?" Laenor asked softly as the man smiled.

"Drazenko, my Prince. Drazenko Rogare, from the Rogares Back of Lys," and her eyes widened at that name, for few interested in trade would not know of that name.

"And I have come to meet you, Lord Corlys," with that, the man bowed as he passed on the letter.

"What is a Rogare doing here in the capital?" Corlys asked as he took the missive from his hand.

"I came here to offer my condolences to the King at the loss of his brother," the man began before his smile grew frail.

"But I found myself rather unwelcome at the King's court, despite my intentions. I hoped that I would not find such similar distaste from a man of your stature," and he was slimy, a baker by trade. His tongue was honey, and yet she knew his brain was as sharp as the blade around his belt.

"You will not. House Velaryon knows how to treat its guests," Corlys suddenly spoke up as he rolled down the missive.

"Laenor, take him to our manse in the city," and that was a surprise to her.

"We shall meet later," Corlys added, and the man was led away as she turned towards Corlys.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"Nothing," he rebuffed her even though she knew he was lying.

"At least for now...."

0000

AEGON TARGARYEN

The alteration between the King and his Master of Ships had been somewhat unexpected and rather untimely, given that Rhaenyra had told him of how her father was considering, though reluctantly, joining blood with the man's House to secure his support.

But in the end, the schism here was simply too great, and it seemed to him that the pride of the Sea Snake had gotten the better of him and had robbed him of a great political victory. Aegon respected the man and would have liked to keep him as an ally, but the truth was that if the intended marriage between the King and Lady Laena had gone as per plan, it could have been somewhat troublesome for him.

But still, such strife in the court favoured no one specifically during these times of war.

And now it seemed to him that the King was rather wroth with his Master of Ships, as he immediately summoned both him and Lord Lyonel to his solar, and just one look and one could tell that Viserys Targaryen was fuming.

"That man," the King thundered as he looked at Lord Lyonel, his new Hand. The relationship between a King and his Hand was in ways even more intimate than that of a Prince and a King. The Hand was essentially the King's arms, his legs, and his mouth. He was an extension of the King, and for a man like Lord Lyonel, who had a rapport with the King for years, it seemed to him that trust came easily.

"I honor him, I take him in my Council, and he hectors me. ME!" the man screamed.

"THE KING!" he continued in rage as Lord Lyonel cautiously nodded.

"Lord Corlys was out of line. The man spoke beyond his station," the man agreed, and it was true; Lord Corlys had let his pride get in his way.

"That he did," the King thundered as he plopped down on an ornate Myrish sofa, his eyes filled with unbridled rage as his body fidgeted.

"He thinks me weak. He thinks that I am at the mercy of his House and their ships," he mused before he scoffed.

"I am the King! And he thinks me to be on his mercy, to be reliant on him!" he shook his head rather derisively at that.

"Perhaps I could talk to the man, and make him see the error of his..."

"NO! There will be no more talking. He and his ambition have cost me my brother. MY BROTHER!" the King raged as he looked at them both.

"And now he thinks me a beggar! I will not have that. Never," and then that fiery gaze finally turned to him completely.

"The man believes that no fleet could rival his own, that if I am to avenge Daemon, your father, that I would need his fleet. But I will show him how wrong he is. I will show him his hubris. Aegon, you will build me a new fleet, a better fleer," the King announced, much to his surprise and the Lord Hand's, whose eyes widened as he turned towards him.

"Is it not too premature, your grace? Despite the anguish, I believe there are..." but Viserys Targaryen was no longer listening as he looked him in the eye.

"Can you do it?" he asked, and Aegon had to be cautious. Building a fleet was not an easy task, and while he did have an advantage over the Sea Snake in respect to more appropriate knowledge, the Crown's backing would solve his greatest shortcoming—the lack of funds.

And combing these two things would indeed make building a fleet possible. One that could perhaps rival and exceed the Sea Snake's very own fleet.

But then there was the politics behind this all, and as he thought about it more and more, his decision became easier and easier.

"I can," Aegon agreed tentatively, for he had planned to build a mid-sized fleet for Runestone. This was just expanding upon his earlier plans.

"Good, you will have the Crown's full backing," he added, and then the King turned towards his Hand.

"We will go into the Stepstones with our own fleet without relying on Corlys and his ships. We will win and show him that the Crown is beggared to no one," he seethed, and the Lord Hand nodded, his face neutral but tense.

"As you say your grace," the man agreed before he waited and added slowly.

"However, I believe that there are other allies that we can seek in this great endeavor against the Triarchy," he added, and the King frowned.

"Braavos, your grace," the man clarified upon seeing Visery's confusion.

"But their response was not so enthusiastic over such an alliance before," and it had not been, though, given that the Crown had let Daemon handle the latter part of the negotiation, was to blame here as much as anything.

Daemon had offered them little, believing himself capable of conquering the rocky islands alone, and hence, the Braavosi had lost interest in the alliance.

"They can be pacified, and given the exhaustive nature of the campaign you desire, I believe it would be best to have an ally," and he agreed.

"I agree," he chimed in before the enraged monarch of the Seven Kingdoms could shut down the proposal.

"Braavos commands the strongest fleet in the world, and their grievances with the Triarchy are nearly as deep as our own because of slavery and, more importantly, the Rogare Bank, which is positioning itself as a rival of the Iron Bank," and Viserys nodded as Aegon continued.

"If we can agree to amenable terms with them and form an alliance, our victory would be all but assured," that was a certainty in his mind, and it would also give him much leeway in the herculean task that Viserys had set for him of building him a fleet.

"Will they support is in putting down the Triarchy?" Viserys asked, and it seemed to him that the man was rather set on that goal.

"They can be made amenable to such an offensive," Lyonel Strong added, and the King nodded.

"Then we shall see where they stand. Have a letter drafted, Lyonel. I will sign it myself and let us see where this goes. " With that, they were dismissed, and as he left the King's solar, the new Hand stopped him.

"I must ask, is it wise to antagonize the Sea Snake like this," the man asked as Aegon raised a brow.

"The man made a mistake humiliating the King in a Council Meeting. I assure you I had little desire for this antagonism, but in the end, Lord Corlys made his own bed," and Aegon was not going to recuse himself from this game anymore.

He had tried to be civil here, which cost him a lot. Now, it was time to let out his fangs.

"You were supposed to have a good relationship with the man, perhaps you could intervene here and see the matter settled," the Hand asked and Aegon shrugged.

"I will see what I can do," he said, and as he was about to turn the corner, the man stopped him once more.

"Larys wished to see you," the man's words made him still, as Aegon turned towards the man.

"He said you wished to talk to him," he added, and of course, he was interested in that.

"Yes, I will have him come to my new office. I wished to ask him about the interrogation of some suspects surrounding the abduction," Aegon lied, and the man's eyes softened immediately.

"Ahh, I will have him sent to your office. It was a shame though, a great shame that whole affair," the man added as he began to walk away.

"They even injured him during the abduction, he was unconscious for several days," and Aegon's lips thinned, as he thought of the truth behind that story.

That it had not been the abductors who had injured Larys but himself.

"Yes, indeed. It was a great shame...."

And as he sat in his new solar, trying to set up his new chambers for himself, Aegon found himself greeted by a very unique figure.

"You are making yourself quite at home," and his head snapped back at those words. And his eyes narrowed as he saw the person standing at the doors of his new chambers.

"Ser Otto...." he greeted the man curtly as the man's eyes narrowed.

"Prince Aegon..." the older past Hand reciprocated as he entered the chambers and began to walk around, placing his hand on the servants helping him.

Aegon dismissed them with a nod and found himself alone with the man who opened his mouth and spoke in a scathing tone.

"You must be happy now to have done what your father could not do in over a decade," he taunted, and Aegon was elated to have him removed as Hand.

"I am afraid you are blaming the wrong person," for it was not him who had gotten Otto removed as Hand.

"There is no need to lie. You have won," the man continued.

"...for the time being, that is," the man said as his eyes narrowed.

"I will have my revenge on you. I will. For what you did to my daughter, for how you killed her," and Aegon's fists balled up at that as he scoffed.

"You killed her. You, Not me. You destroyed her, you turned her into a tool, and she could not stand that," and the man scoffed.

"Daughters are but tools to secure an alliance, and you destroyed, filling her head with nonsense, and I will not stand for that. I will have my revenge..."

"Get out! Get out of here," Aegon's patience ran out, and the man smirked as he walked away.

"I will be back. I promise...."

0000

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