NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2: Chapter 2: The Golden King Ascends
129 AC
I sat inside the rocking carriage as we slowly approached the Dragonpit. The cobblestone streets and the not-so-great axle of the carriage meant I was getting sick or, in this case, carriage sick. Urgh, I am still so hungover.
Alicent on the other hand looks completely fine and is yet completely stressed out, after nearly a week of meticulous preparation, it was time for my coronation. Alicent puts her hand on my forehead, "At least you are not sick but by the Seven, your skin is sallow. What will the people think?"
Liver cirrhosis, I thought, "I don't care what the people think," I replied, "The people won't either, all they need is a few displays of awe and force from the dragons and they eat up anything we say. And the same goes for the nobles as well, we have dragons. Politicking with the House of the Dragon is not the same as the mediocre politics in the Hightower or Highgarden where any man with sense will have the brains not to question a dragonlord. The rest of them can go suck my dick."
Alicent admonishes me, "Have the decency to look grateful, do you know much we have strived to give you this day?" Not that I asked for it.
I look down at my hand, the gauntlet that I am wearing makes it look so believable that I am not maimed, it is like another hand with all five fingers yet I cannot even feel my remaining two. I am wearing full-plate night-black armour with a surcoat woven with the golden three-headed dragon on black. The need to project an image like that of the conqueror is great, having his name, his crown, and his sword is not enough.
"By the end of this day, you will be the King of Westeros," Alicent continued.
"The old man did not wish for it, everyone under the sky on both sides of the Narrow Sea knew he wanted Rhaenyra to succeed him. I am going to be a usurper," I pointed out.
"Then we shall say that he changed his mind on his deathbed for he knew that Rhaenyra was no longer worthy of the throne, her actions prove as much," Alicent responded in a determined tone. I wonder if she is trying to be delusional or if she is, in fact, deluded and she is trying to make excuses for herself.
I chuckle at the sheer ridiculousness of it all as I reply, "He had twenty-two years to change the succession from the minute I was born, he never did. He never loved me." The sole reason that I am agreeing to this conspiracy is simply for the sake of self-preservation for myself and my children.
When I first entered Westeros, Aegon was still trying to impress his mother only to be met with failure at every turn, the only real success he ever had was when he bonded with Sunfyre, once I entered the picture, I practically gave up at trying to make her proud and told her to focus on rest of the kids instead and to leave me alone. She was truly heartbroken when I said that but she deserved better than to have an alcoholic, maimed, and depressed son. She didn't give up on me and in a way I am grateful for that but it was a harrowing journey that I do not wish to undertake again.
The only time I felt truly alive was with Sunfyre, Hel, and the kids and sometimes while sword fighting with Criston or Aemond.
Alicent then takes out a box that contains a very special dagger, a dagger made out of Valyrian steel and with a hilt of dragonbone and dragon glass. It was yet another artefact passed down from King to King just like Blackfyre, a less-known yet equally important piece of Targaryen history.
I take the dagger and run my right thumb over it, even inside the gauntlet I can feel the cool Valyrian steel, a kiss from this would be a cold and unwelcoming one. I remember that something can be read in this dagger if it is placed in extreme heat. I will have to try that out with Aemond and Helaena around. If only Daeron had arrived by now.
Alicent begins to advise me, "Aegon, as king you must not rule with cruelty and callousness. You must be kind, openhanded and honourable to both noble and commoners alike. For these qualities will attract more people to you, you must show yourself to be a just King. Treat your honourable foes with clemency for there is more to being a king than simply being a dragonrider and a warrior. These things do come yes but you need to show yourself to be an honorable man and a just man first. It is better to rule people who love you rather than people who fear you and hate you. Maegor learned it the hard way so we should not make that mistake."
I nodded as I listened to her, "Rhaenyra will challenge your claim and there will be war, but first, we must send favourable and reasonable terms to her. We must isolate her from everyone except those on the Narrow Sea so that she will have no other option other than to accede to our demands, if the Gods are merciful then there will be no war."
"Why is Daeron not here?" I ask her, cutting through her admittedly good advice, "I called for him the very day you approached me with father's death. He should be here by now, Tessarion is a fast dragon, she is not a slow and lumbering dragon like Vhagar. Where is he?" I press on.
Alicent hesitates for a while as she tries to pick up the words before saying, "I am sure that Daeron will arrive soon."
I scoff, "You don't believe what you are saying yourself. What the fuck is going on? Are you already undermining me before I am even crowned? This is by far the most screwed up coronation that I have ever been to and I have been to only one which is saying something."
I look at her in the eyes and say, "Don't lie mother, do not lie. It does not suit you. Tell me the truth."
She sighs before saying, "Your grandfather the Lord Hand, deemed it prudent that Daeron be with our kinsman and his knight Lord Ormund and help him in suppressing any of Rhaenyra's supporters in the Reach." As she looks at my furious face, she quickly adds, "I am certain that whatever rabble in the Reach that thinks of supporting Rhaenyra will be quickly suppressed. Daeron will be here shortly with an army at his back. You must have patience."
I don't answer her, I haven't started my reign and already I am being undermined by Otto. He has always been the worst but this is utterly unacceptable, I am not Viserys for him to run rings around. I will take him out of his bloody beloved board that he set up but I can't be seen shooting myself in the foot in front of the realm, so this needs to be done with a deft hand and at the right time. But by God, I am going to have fun killing him.
The crowd inside the Dragonpit is packed to the full, most of them forcibly pressed into attending. It has always been hot inside the Pit but this time, it is hot and humid because of so many people. I think about how around half of these people might as well be responsible for killing the dragons in OTL during the riots. I must make arrangements for preventing that or at the very least protecting against that.
That idiot Otto is giving a grandiose speech not knowing that his days are numbered. Then an honour guard made out of the Household knights and men-at-arms of House Targaryen and Hightower and the seniormost officers of the Gold Cloaks is formed making a path for me from one of the tunnels to the centre stage that has been erected solely for this event.
Once the trumpets blare out as the predestined signal, I walk through the honour guard, I think about all of Daemon's loyalists inside the Goldcloaks, the greatest of them all, the man who tricked the entire Green Council into thinking that he was my supporter, Luthor Largent. How could everyone be so foolish? Any man who has ever served in the Gold Cloaks during any moment while Daemon was commander is simply untrustworthy. Placing my uncle Gwayne as second-in-command is simply not enough. A purge is needed.
I tune out Otto's speech as I start thinking of doing a purge, I need to take out Mysaria as well before Aemond returns from Storm's End. Even Larys is not trustworthy, he might be even more dangerous than anyone else in the Small Council. I am surrounded by schemers who plot against me while claiming to be for me, then there is the Blacks on Dragonstone. This is getting out of hand, I am way out of my depth here and I have no loyal base for my sole support that isn't contaminated by Otto. I should have been more productive in the city and around while there was a chance, I have regrets.
I reach the end of the honour guard and I ascend the stage. There is no going back now. The Dance begins.
Alicent comes over to me kisses me on the forehead and leads me over to Septon Eustace who is filling in for the High Septon today. I look around the stage, Otto is looking as smug as ever, God I cannot wait to wipe that off his face. He points over to the cushion on the floor before Eustace. I kneel before him and he comes with a bowl to anoint me.
Eustace dips his thumb inside the bowl and says with a loud voice as he rubs his finger on my forehead with each enunciation,
"MAY THE WARRIOR GIVE HIM COURAGE,
MAY THE SMITH LEND STRENGTH TO HIS SWORD AND SHIELD,
MAY THE FATHER DEFEND HIM IN HIS NEED,
MAY THE CRONE LIFT HER SHINING LAMP AND LIGHT HIS WAY TO WISDOM."
In the stiff silence following the anointing, Ser Criston arrives with the Valyrian steel circlet of Aegon the Conqueror, worn also by Maegor, in the OTL no king other than Aegon the First who wore that crown has had a good death. It has all been violent.
"THE CROWN OF AEGON THE CONQUEROR, PASSED DOWN THROUGH GENERATIONS OF HOUSE TARGARYEN" Criston proudly and loudly proclaims as he places the crown on my head, it is not as heavy as I thought it would be, then again Valyrian steel has always been light.
"LET THE SEVEN-WHO-ARE-ONE BEAR WITNESS THAT AEGON TARGARYEN, IS THE TRUE HEIR TO THE IRON THRONE" He finishes and I can already hear murmurs going on across the crowd. This is just great.
Septon Eustace brings forth his hand and helps me up before bowing before me, I look around the stage, Criston bows his head as does my mother and then Helaena and Aemond. Helaena is with me all the way though I can see that she is worried for the safety of our children and mine, Aemond and I bonded over our permanent injuries and our training together did make a bond between us.
Septon Eustace continues, "BEHOLD, AEGON, SECOND OF HIS NAME, OF THE HOUSE TARGARYEN, KING OF THE ANDALS, THE FIRST MEN, AND THE RHOYNAR, LORD OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS, AND PROTECTOR OF THE REALM."
I stand aside as Helaena is next crowned Queen by Alicent, she places her tiara on Helaena's head before kissing her on the cheek and bowing her head saying, "My Queen."
I come back to the centre of the stage where Criston gives me the sword of the Conqueror, the sword of Kings, Blackfyre. As he gives it to me, he loudly announces, "BEHOLD, BLACKFYRE, THE SWORD OF THE CONQUEROR WIELDED BY AEGON THE KING." There is a smattering of applause from the crowd.
Under normal circumstances, this would have been Jacaerys' sword but it's not, it's mine. I wrap the fingers of my left hand around it and I unsheathe it from the scabbard. It is a bastard sword, used to being wielded by both one hand and two hands, clearly, I only do the former but that's alright because suddenly I find myself ignited from within. This sword has some serious magical abilities no wonder half the realm rose for Daemon Blackfyre.
As I grip my fingers around the handle and tighten my grip, I find the red ruby eyes of the dragon on the pommel glinting and staring at me, those blood-red eyes asking me if I am ready for the challenge of wielding this sword. I nod before I turn to my audience and with a deep breath, I raise the sword above my head and the pitiful applause from the crowd instantly changes to a roar of acceptance.
The ground begins to shake as the sound is amplified by the dome, the people in the stands cheer me, the people on the floor of the Dragonpit cheer me, and the soldiers raise their swords in acceptance. Suddenly the loss of my fingers is forgotten as for the first time I find purpose as the crowd accepts me as their new sovereign.
This feels good, this feels really good. This is what I needed.
And to top it all off, Sunfyre roars from within his lair, I know his roar as I find a smile on my face, the first in a long time. I turn back to see the Dragonkeepers leading Sunfyre out, I look at no one as I stride toward him. I hear the Kingsguard and Helaena try to catch up to me as Dreamfyre is also brought out, the crowd is going crazy.
His golden scales glimmer even in the dim light of the Dragonpit, he purrs upon seeing me walk over to him. I remember the first time I saw him after entering Westeros. I was so scared that he would eat me then and there but rather he accepted me. He was my true friend in this snake pit.
He was huge, heavy, and formidable. I fly with him nearly every day no matter what, with regular hunting trips in Blackwater Bay and the Kingswood I have ensured that he remains fit. Sunfyre bends his neck to me as the Dragonkeepers saddle him. I remove my gauntlet and run my good hand across his smooth and shiny scales.
"Well my old friend, it's time we go for a dance to change history," I said to him and he growled in agreement. This might just work out.