Scions of the Cruel King

Prince Viserys Targaryen born on the fourth day of the fourth moon of the 76th year after Aegon the Dragon's landing, died on the fourth day of the twelfth moon of the 126th year after Aegon's Landing, at the age of fifty. His death would cause the next three years of King Jacaerys reign to be an interesting and turbulent. Only the maester at Oldstones, Princess Alicent and Ser Otto knew the truth of what had killed Prince Viserys known as the Quicksilver, the official cause of death that was given to the King and Queen was that Prince Viserys had died from the fever that had been slowly eating away at him for the past five moons. With there being no evidence to the contrary both the King and Queen accepted this explanation and Prince Viserys son, Prince Aegon ascended to the Princedom of Oldstones at the age of nineteen.

King Jacaerys in an attempt to rebuild the bridges burnt during an earlier part of his reign invited Ser Otto to take a seat on the small council as master of laws, a position that the man gratefully accepted as it put him closer to the throne and gave him a chance to better understand who all the players in the game of thrones were. The small council of the last three years of King Jacaerys reign was much the same as it had been for the rest of his reign, Lord Daven Blackrush was hand of the king and continued to serve ably and well, Lord Lyman Beesbury continued to ensure that the crown collected its taxes on time and that any debts were paid of promptly and that the throne remained in positive liquidity, Lord Larys Strong the master of whispers in this time of peace and prosperity often found himself not having much to do, though there was still some who sought to gain Ser Otto and Princess Alicent's favour by continuing the whispers that Ser Harwin Strong and not King Jacaerys was the father of the Queen's children: Lucerys the Prince of Dragonstone, Aemon, Valarr Visenya, Aegon, Aleana and Viserys.

Those who persist in the rumours are found and either bribed into silence or disappear suddenly in the night. Lord Gerion Lannister the King's nephew and his elder by a few months continues to serve ably and well, when news reaches the council of a planned attack of the Stepstones by an alliance of Volantis and the Slaver cities, it is the royal fleet along with the King and Prince Daemon and Ser Laenor Velaryon and their dragons who put an end to the invasion. Grand Maester Justin the old and wise maester who had served under King Aenys, King Maegor, King Vaegyl and King Orys before King Jacaerys dies in 127 A.L. of a fever the same fever that is believed to have claimed Prince Viserys and the citadel controlled by the Hightowers as it was sends Grand Maester Orwyle to replace him. This appointment will only serve to heighten the tensions between the green dragons as the Targaryens of Oldstones come to be known and the black dragons as the Targaryens of King's Landing come to be known, for Orwyle shows his colours in more ways than one, and not all of his motives are pure.

The Kingsguard, that paragon of knightly virtue, the finest knights in the Seven Kingdoms and the defenders of the royal family and all that is true and just experiences a change in its membership and some will call the new knights who make up the seven either the finest knights to grace the Kingsguard in living memory or the worst seven knights to grace the guard. Ryam Redwyne is named Lord Commander in 127 A.L. after Ser Baelor Velaryon dies from what is later identified as poison, though whom the culprit is no one to this day knows, though it is said that Queen Rhaenrya began thinking that Ser Otto and her stepmother were the ones behind the death of her husband's staunchest knight. Ser Criston Cole a man who some believe was another of the Queen's lovers, or at least admirers becomes Ser Ryman's second in command, Ser Matthis Blackrush the son of the hand of the King is one of the glittering knights and paragons of virtue to grace the Kingsguard. It is the men who come to replace their fallen brethren that will later cast the Kingsguard of King Jacaerys later reign into doubt. The twins Ser Erryk and Ser Arryk either lustful napes or defenders of the innocent, Ser Rickard Thorne a harsh and cold man all agree, Ser Lorent Marbrand a true lion or a cowering craven, and Ser Steffon Darklyn the most controversial of the recent appointments, a madman with a sword, but a conniving genius all the same. These are the knights who help defend the King and the royal family from 127- 129 A.L. and it is they who history will look to, to see if certain events could have been prevented had they been a united front.

The royal family itself is united, King Jacaerys is seen as a kind and loving father and husband, not caring a whit about the rumours that surround his wife, for with Vermithor the Bronze Fury as his mount, none dare voice their thoughts about the rumours in his person. His sons Lucerys and Aemon are twins and as such are as fiery as one another, with most of the nobles of the court comparing their personalities to that of their mother Queen Rhaenrya. Lucerys the heir to the throne is a young man skilled in arms and with women, bedding many of those young ladies on Dragonstone and perhaps creating many dragonseeds, his dragon Vermax a pure white dragon reflects his personality being both aggressive and loving to those whom Lucerys cares about or hates, both are blooded in the fighting on the Stepstones with Jacaerys declaring that his heir must know the ways of war if he is to hold the kingdom together, the Queen does not protest as she has her own suspicions of the Hightowers and their true motives.

Aemon the second son of King Jacaerys is as fiery and passionate as his brother, though he is slightly less prone to fulfilling his lusts which does lead to him getting into quite a few conflicts with his uncle the Prince Aemond one eye, who nearly loses another eye to his nephew in a fight that ensues after Aemond insults Queen Rhaenrya to her son's face, the fight ends with Jacaerys banishing his son to Dragonstone and Prince Aemond to Oldstones. Aemon's dragon Arrax is a slender purple she dragon that is the Prince's pride and joy, he rides her everywhere even to Storm's End when his betrothal to Sylvia Baratheon his cousin is announced.

Prince Valarr, the King's third son is more like his father than his older two siblings. Where Lucerys and Aemon are pure fire, quick to anger and love, Valarr is colder, he takes time to anger but when he is, it is something to behold and more than once there are accounts of nobles and servants scurrying away from him in order to avoid his wrath even the Green dragons of Oldstones know not to rile him up. Valarr's dragon died as a hatchling and the Prince makes no move to bond with any other dragon, despite both his father and mother's insistence, stating that when the time is right he will bond with a dragon. At the age of fifteen he is betrothed to Prince Daemon's daughter Baela Targaryen.

Princess Visenya, the only daughter of King Jacaerys and Queen Rhaenrya, is seen as the jewel of the court. Charming and cunning in equal measure, she plays on her good looks and smartness to get what she wants, and she and her mother use her talents to woo information from the various nobles who are friends with her uncle Prince Aegon, and from there she devises ways in which to end whatever it is he and his mother are planning. She is thirteen when she is betrothed to her brother Lucerys. Her dragon Orros is a beautiful black as night dragon that quickly bonds with Vermax and the two soon become nigh inseparable just as their two riders do.

The other three remaining children of the King and Queen: Aegon the Younger, Aleana and Viserys were too young during this period to have affected events as their older siblings did, though the Queen did make endeavours to ensure that they were kept safe from the plotting of the Greens in Oldstones, going so far as to send both Aleana and Viserys to the Driftmark when it became clear that the King was falling ill. Aegon the Younger remained in King's Landing though, squire as he was for his brother Prince Lucerys.

The last three years of King Jacaerys reign provided many interesting little details, as such with the Tarlings dead and the Kingdom of the Three Daughters seemingly dealing with the Dothraki, there was not an active threat to the stability of the realm with Dorne supposedly content to remain out of Westerosi activities so long as they too were left alone, the King having ridden himself of the dream to add Dorne to his kingdom was happy enough to agree. The only major source of conflict came when the alliance of the Slaver cities and Volantis sought to start a new Valryia armed not with dragons but with mercenary companies and weapons that none but the royal family had. Their conquests extended to the Stepstones and once it became apparent that they would not be content with just that, King Jacaerys called the banners and activated all the Warden titles, and war was brought to the Stepstones with the King, his eldest sons Lucerys and Aemon, Prince Daemon, Ser Laenor, Lady Rhaenys, Lord Gerion and Prince Aemond descended on the enemy fleets on their dragons, Vermithor the Bronze Fury, Vermax, Arrax, Caraxes, Seasmoke, Meleys the Red Queen, Thunder and Quicksilver, the alliance ended soon enough with the ships of the Slavers and Volantis burnt and smoking ruins in the narrow sea scores of men dead or dying. A sound victory for the King, though Ser Laenor Velaryon heir to the Driftmark was slain by arrows, his dragon Seasmoke injured, the man's son Addam became heir to his grandfather Lord Corlys.

Let it not be said though that during this time Ser Otto and his daughter the Lady Alicent did nothing. For the three years that followed Prince Viserys death, the two of them worked diligently to drum up support for a potential coup against the King's children, for they knew that one the king died, Prince Lucerys aided by his mother would never allow them to live. And so Ser Otto used his position as master of laws to create friends and allies, people who sought advancement who were angry and bitter that a commoner such as Lord Daven could have risen so high. Those who secretly pledged themselves to Ser Otto's cause included the Lords Mooton, Piper, Darklyn and Massey and the Riverlands, so long the home of Prince Jaehaerys and Princess Alysanne, seemed more inclined to side with the Greens than with the blacks simply because the Riverlands had always been a place of the Faith, and though the conversion to the Old Gods had happened some sixty years ago now, there were those who thought it too much a sign of a tyrannical monarchy, and Prince Aegon the elder promised a return to more normal ways of life. Aegon himself took some convincing to side with his grandfather and mother's plot, eventually when he was told of what could happen to him and his children should Lucerys come to the throne he gave his full support to the plot. And Ser Otto knowing that his brother Lord Gormund would be more like to side with him now that the man's wife Daenys was dead, began talking with Grand Maester Orwyle, and so it was that on the third day of the first month of the 129th year after Aegon's Landing, King Jacaerys was found dead in his bed. Dead from what the Grand Maester called sleeper's fit, but in reality he had been poisoned.

The Dance of Dragons had begun.