Scions of the Cruel King

Vaegyl

It seemed as if King's Landing was caught between trying to decide whether or not it wished to embrace winter, or fight to hold the last dregs of summer. The weather would alternate between warm and sometimes scorching, to freezing cold with the odd burst of snow as well. This hesitancy and uncertainty was reflected amongst the people of King's Landing, some of whom stood firm behind the king on the Iron Throne, others who sensed an imminent attack on the capital any day now, and had begun to flee through the city gates, allowed to do so by the very king they would desert. Others still harboured worries and concerns but hesitated between fleeing and staying, unwilling to subject themselves or their families to the whims of the armies that raped and pillaged their way through the Riverlands, and hesitant to risk the wrath of the dragon king sat on the throne.

King Vaegyl, the first of his name and eldest son of King Maegor, sat in the council chamber as he had every day since the accursed war had begun and listened as his master of whispers Harrold Tully reported the news from the fighting in the Riverlands. "Lord Stark and Prince Jaehaerys have taken the Twins Your Grace, my lords. It appears that Lord Frey refused to grant them passage and help lift the siege on Riverrun and even ordered some of his men to attack them. As it would appear the battle was very short, and Lord Frey has been executed for treason."

There was some murmuring amongst the council at this, Vaegyl remained silent though, from what he could remember of his lessons as a child, the Freys were the Tully's most powerful bannermen and had often balked at the idea of serving or owing allegiance to anyone. He knew that there would be questions over what should be done with them, and he had only one idea in mind. "Maester Justin, send out a royal decree to the Twins and all other castles within the realm with a royal proclamation that because of their treachery the House of Frey shall lose their lordship and some three fifths of their lands and incomes, all of which shall be given to the crown, and that from here on in they shall be known as a knightly house."

"Yes Your Grace." Grand Maester Justin answered.

"What more news is there from the Riverlands Lord Harrold?" Vaegyl asked.

At this a look of great pain appeared on the man's face and for a fleeting moment Vaegyl worried that Riverrun had fallen. Of course Lord Harrold was Lord Edmund's uncle, the third son of the man's grandfather, and had been eager to go off and fight once it had become apparent that war was inevitable, only his duty to the Iron Throne and to Vaegyl had prevented him from going off to fight. "As Your Grace and the Council know, Princess Alysanne set out from King's Landing with some 2,000 men as well as her dragon Silverwing, she was joined by an extra 2,000 men from Harrenhal as well as some 1,000 men who made up the remenants of the army commanded by Lord Stevron Mallister. "

Vaegyl nodded, he had given the order for his cousin to ride out with the men, and they needed to free Riverrun before they could head west after all. Lord Harrold continued. "A fierce battle was fought on the banks of the Red Fork, both sides suffered many casualties. One in particular was very damning to our cause. Princess Alysanne and her dragon Silverwing were slain."

A shocked silence greeted this pronouncement, Vaegyl himself felt numb. Alysanne dead? How could that be possible, his cousin had always seemed so strong and so confident, surely none of her own kinsmen would betray her would they? "How, how did she die?" He managed to stammer out.

At this Harrold Tully's face contorted as if he was in deep pain. His voice shook as he spoke. "Prince Daemon on his dragon Firefree emerged from a hidden spot and attacker the princess and Silverwing, whilst archers' fired scorpion bolts from below. The princess was slain with a sword through the chest, Silverwing died a few days later from her wounds."

"What happened to Daemon did the bastard die a painful death?" Vaegyl asked not bothering to keep the scorn and anger out of his voice.

Lord Harrold swallowed loudly. "He was wounded but according to my sources the wounds were nothing serious. He and his dragon Firefree got away relatively lightly, compared to the princess and the men she led."

"And what of the men and Riverrun what happened to them Lord Harrold after my… after my cousin's death?" Vaegyl asked feeling his voice shake with tears that he was desperately trying to keep in check.

Lord Harrold looked grief stricken as he replied. "A sortie was led by Lord Edmund from Riverrun when they realised that the princess had been slain. Lord Edmund and 300 men were killed; Lord Edmund was fed to Prince Daemon's dragon. Riverrun dipped its banners after that and have surrendered to Prince Daemon and the pretender."

At this Vaegyl heard the council around him groan with dread. With Riverrun now in enemy hands things were beginning to look a lot bleaker for their campaign for the rest of Westeros. Still reeling from the news of his cousin's death and how he was supposed to tell Aemon and Baelon of their mother's death, Vaegyl merely nodded in response to what Lord Harrold said. He looked around the council table and saw varying expressions on his council members' faces. Lord Lyman the solid master of coin, looked despondent but there was still a hint of defiance in his eyes, Lord Harrold merely seemed lost in his grief and despair, Grand Maester Justin seemed lost in thought contemplating some new plot or scheme to hatch perhaps, Ser Alyn the Lord commander of his Kingsguard was stony faced, whatever he was thinking remained buried deep within his head, master of ships Monterys Velaryon looked angry (he had loved Alysanne in his youth, Vaegyl remembered Jaehaerys telling him once as a boy, perhaps he still did) Jaehaerys was away at the Twins, no doubt he had taken the news hard, he and Alysanne were always very close, they loved each other as no one else Vaegyl had ever seen.

He sighed deeply, pushing all grief from his mind for the moment, grieving would do them no good if they hoped to win this war, only fighting and revenge would. Speaking as clearly as he possibly could. "Very well, Maester Justin send word to Prince Jaehaerys and Lord Stark at the Twins along with the decree, and tell them to begin marching south to Riverrun. Send word to Lord Desmond at the Eyrie and tell him the time has come for him to march with his full strength."

"Yes Your Grace. If I may ask, do you wish for me to send a raven to Storm's End and Lord Osric?"

Vaegyl grimaced, the fighting had been going on in the Riverlands for nearly a year now, and in that time there had been very little word from Storm's End about what side they would join. Rhaenys had returned from her mission there with a report saying that House Baratheon would side with them only if they could get Osric's son back from the Lannisters, Vaegyl had employed every resource he had available in the Stormlands and even in the Westerlands to find the boy, but even now nothing had come up, he had resigned himself to the fact that the boy was likely dead or maimed to such an extent that even if they found him Lord Osric would not want him back. "No leave Lord Osric and Storm's End alone. Let them keep their men and lands healthy, we may have need of them at a later date. I shall be riding out myself with whatever men we can muster from the crownlands, I have been stationery here for too long, the usurper and his cronies have made my kingdom bleed, and I shall not forget nor shall I forgive." With that the council meeting came to an end, and Vaegyl weary and tired, walked back to his and his wives chambers, Ser Alyn and Ser Addison Hill. He nodded at them and entered the room. He smiled slightly as he saw Rhaenys and Visenya- his two beautiful girls- sleeping arm in arm, in these dark times they truly were the only two people along with his children - Maegon, Aelix, Aegor, Rhaegar, Orys and little Rhaena- that made him feel like there was any purpose to this world and this life other than killing and fighting.

He closed the door silently behind him and began taking off his clothes, he had just taken off his breeches when he heard Rhaenys murmur sleepily. "Your back late my love, did the council truly need to take up that much of your time?"

Vaegyl felt a pang in his chest, because of Aegon and his blasted mother Vaegyl had not been able to spend as much time as he would have liked with his family. "I am sorry my love, but some important decisions needed to be made tonight, and I needed to be there to ensure that they were carried out properly."

"What decisions my love? What news of Riverrun?" Visenya asked now, her eyes wide open staring at Vaegyl. He felt the stirrings of arousal hit him then, but fought hard to push them back, if he was to tell them all of it he would need to do it with a clear mind.

He cleared his throat and sat on the edge of their bed and said "Riverrun has fallen. Alysanne, Silverwing and Lord Edmund are dead."

He heard both of his wives gasp at that. "How?" Rhaenys asked, sitting up now pulling the cover with her to cover her chest.

Vaegyl felt something in his throat and he could not answer nor could he speak, and so Visenya guessed what had happened and she spoke softly. "Daemon, he killed her didn't he?"

Vaegyl merely nodded, then in a shuddering breath said. "A sword through the chest, scorpion bolts through Silverwing. Dead, they're dead and it's my fault all my fault." At that he broke down and began crying, as he had not done since he was a little boy.

Both Visenya and Rhaenys moved at the same time and they wrapped their arms around him as he cried and his chest shuddered with his tears and his anger and grief. "No sweetling," Rhaenys whispered in his ear "It's not your fault; it will never be your fault. It's the traitors Aegon and Daemon and their whore of a mother and grandfather's fault. They started this war; the blood is on their hands."

"We'll have our revenge Vaegyl. We'll pay them back in Fire and Blood." Visenya whispered fiercely.

Vaegyl pulled his head away from their arms, his eyes were red he knew, tears still fell down his face but his face was stronger. "I shall pay them back in Fire and Blood. You two must stay here and protect the city." He could seem them both about to protest and so he went on. "I am the king, I commanded these people to fight for me, I have spent too much time in King's Landing. I must go out and show our men and the traitors that they will never beat a true dragon. I need you two to stay here and hold the city for me, protect our children. I will come back, Aegon has made my kingdom and my people bleed. I shall never forgive him that. I am the King and I shall teach him what it means to be a dragon."

A moon later Vaegyl mounted Balerion and flew off into the sky with 1,000 men from the Crownlands marching on the ground beneath him. He had spent much time agonising over how to tell Aemon and Baelon that their mother had died, and when he had finally done so the reactions he had gotten were not the ones he had expected. Baelon usually the calmer and even tempered of the two boys, ranted and raged and begged to come with Vaegyl to fight Aegon, Aemon usually the hotter headed of the two merely nodded and asked that Vaegyl bring their mother back home to rest. The council had spent much time arguing and deliberating whom they could completely rely on, with Riverrun fallen most of the Riverlords had bent the knee to Aegon, the only exceptions being House Mallister- whose forces were marching for Riverrun with Jaehaerys and Lord Stark- and House Towers- who's Lord Jason had been a childhood friend of Vaegyl's. It had eventually been decided that Vaegyl and the army he led would march for Harrenhal and set up base there and then take their operations out. However, a spanner had been put into that plan when news had come from one of Lord Harrold's sources in Harrenhal that the castle had fallen to Prince Daemon and his uncle Gawen Westerling, House Towers had refused to surrender and had been put to the sword.

Vaegyl disregarded this and decided to fly for Harrenhal anyway, as he had argued to the council and later his two wives. "If Daemon is still at Harrenhal when I get there, he shall stand no chance against the might of the Black Dread, with his death, Aegon will be down a dragon and his army will bend the knee. And besides, I've always wanted to kill Gawen Westerling, smug bastard that he is."

It took them two weeks to get to Harrenhal through the wind and the rain. As he flew on the back of the Black Dread, Vaegyl saw the destruction that had been wrought to the Riverlands, by the men Aegon had sent out to do his dirty work and he swore a bloody vengeance against his brother. They arrived in the dead of night, when the moon was at its fullest, Vaegyl waited on the back of the Black Dread with Ser Alyn and Ser Allison on their horses on either side of him. They waited for an hour before the gates of Harrenhal opened and out rode Ser Gawen Westerling, heir to the Crag and with him came some 2,000 soldiers all of whom carried the banners of Aegon, the three headed dragon red on black with the shells of House Westerling in the background.

Gawen Westerling stopped his horse just in front of Balerion and squinted up at Vaegyl, he spoke smugly. "Ah well if it isn't the abomination. Come to claim Harrenhal have you?"

Balerion growled and plume of smoke came out of his nose. Vaegyl merely looked down at Westerling and said coldly. "Aye, Westerling I have come to free the castle from your sinful way. Tell me where is my brother? I did expect him to be here after all, I here he took the castle whilst you fucked a whore?"

As expected Westerling bristled and yelled back. "My nephew is back at Riverrun with his brother his Grace King Aegon, the rightful king. Harrenhal fell to my cunning. Your friend Jason squealed like a little girl, especially when I had my men pin his daughter and wife down and had them shared between myself and my men. Such pretty ladies, a shame they had to die."

Vaegyl felt his blood begin to boil, and as if in response to his master's emotions Balerion growled and more smoke began to emerge from his nose and mouth. "I always knew you were a cunt Westerling. What my father ever saw in you I will never know. You Westerlings are nothing but whores, selling yourselves to the highest bidder. My father made a massive mistake when he wed your whore of a sister. Oh well, I suppose it makes no matter you shall all die at the end of this, be it by steel or by fire I care not, but you shall die."

Vaegyl took some grim satisfaction from the way Westerling squirmed in his horse, as Balerion began to move, Vaegyl urged his dragon's head down so that he could look the man in the eye before he killed him. "My cousin, how did she die truly Westerling?"

Westerling seemed unnerved by Balerion's dark red eyes staring at him intently. Though some of the old cockiness that Vaegyl used to hate when the cunt was at court returned as he spoke. "Oh that whore? Oh she died screaming and begging for mercy. A sword through the chest was what Daemon gave her; really I think he should have let her be raped by the men. I have always so wanted to taste some dragon cunny. Alas hit was not meant to be. Though perhaps when you are dead and your body rots somewhere in one of the seven hells, Aegon will let me taste one or perhaps both of your sisters."

Vaegyl had had enough of listening to the fool speak and dug his heels into Balerion, causing the dragon to rear up to his full height. He heard the shouts of men below him and heard horse neighing in fright, Ser Alyn and Ser Addison had thankfully got themselves and their men behind Balerion. Vaegyl shouted from where he was on Balerion. "You have made the wrong choice Westerling. You have partaken in treason and for that you must die. But you do not deserve and honourable death, no you shall die by Fire and the blood shall be on your father's hands. Balerion, Dracarys!"

Balerion gave roar that sent everyone on edge, and then he bent his neck and brought it close to Westerling before a large mass of black fire came pouring out of his mouth, Gawen Westerling died screaming, engulfed in the black flames of the black dread in the fourth moon of the 62nd year After Aegon's Landing. Harrenhal fell back into Vaegyl's hands, and a clear message had been sent to the rest of Westeros, the King of Dragons was alive and would bring fire and blood to those who opposed him.