Scions of the Cruel King

Rhaenys

King's Landing had been dark and grim, stuck in the throes of winter, when the raven had arrived from Casterly Rock. The usurper had been crowned by a false Septon- someone named Loren- the usurper had called the banners of the west, and was preparing to march for war. The thunderstorms that had raged outside that day, Rhaenys knew many said was a sign that the gods were not pleased with what their brother Aegon had done. She also knew that some said that it was a sign that Vaegyl's reign was slowly coming to an end.

Personally she thought that the storms that had raged outside reflected her brother and husband's black temper when he had finished reading the letter. His expression would be forever etched in her memory, his jaw had been so tightly clenched that she had feared for a moment that his teeth would break, his hands had been balled up into fists, and his eyes, oh his eyes had been pools of fire, their house words come to light.

"Aegon has crowned himself king, by some false profaner of the seven." Vaegyl had gritted out.

Rhaenys could see the storm that was about to be unleashed, and looking around the small council she saw that their cousin Jaehaerys and Lord Beesbury the master of coin saw the storm coming as well. Visenya was not here, she was with the children, and the other members of the small council except for Ser Alyn Connington of the Kingsguard were new to the council, replacements for those traitors who had absconded with Aegon, they had no idea of the storm that was about to hit them in the form of Vaegyl's wrath.

"The boy has the nerve to claim that he will be loyal to me and only to me, and then he goes and imprisons my wife in the black cells and now he thinks to crown himself king! I will not stand for such treason, for such lies! No doubt this is the work of those blasted Westerlings, always whispering, always plotting. They were never satisfied with what father gave them. Well if it is fire and blood that they want, then it is fire and blood they shall get!"

Rhaenys took her husband's hand then under the table and squeezed it tightly. Vaegyl could not afford to go into one of his moods now, not when so much depended on him being reasonable and able to see without the fog of anger clouding his mind, that was what the Lannisters and the Westerlings wanted to happen.

"Why not try for peace Your Grace?" Rhaenys heard the master of laws Tristan Massey. Rhaenys gave the man a scathing look, this man was but a husk of the man who had come with her grandfather to conquer Westeros all those years ago, gone was the strong man, in his place sat a fat old man with a big belly, and many sagging jaws, he was no warrior anymore.

"Peace?" Vaegyl had said, the words sounding forced coming from him. "Why should I offer the usurper and his traitorous band of whores' peace? They have brought this war upon themselves, with their lies and treachery."

Rhaenys nodded in agreement with her brother's words. "Yes, my lord of Massey you seem to have forgotten that it was the usurper and his mother's family who tried to get my brother, our King to invade Dorne, to start a war that would undoubtedly have cost many thousands of lives, and why? SO that in the chaos that such a war would bring, they could take advantage of the king's absence and put the usurper on the throne. They kidnapped and locked my sister, your queen in a black cell. So no, they shall not be given the chance for peace."

"It would be foolish to offer the usurper peace terms now," Harrold Tully the maester of whispers said. "After all Your Grace has the greater number of dragons, six to the usurpers two. It would be an easy battle to defeat them in the air. To offer them peace terms now would only serve to fuel the rumours that are running round the streets and inns and holdfasts of the kingdoms."

The man had struck a nerve with Vaegyl, Rhaenys knew her brother to be a prideful man, proud of his heritage and what it meant, any rumours that did not serve to strengthen the Targaryen name or image would more than likely be seen as some sort of insult and dishonour to the family name, something that Vaegyl could not, and would not tolerate such a thing to happen. She was proven correct when she heard her brother say "And what rumours are these Lord Harrold?"

She saw the Tully visibly swallow and look nervous as he spoke. "That Your Grace has been attainted by the Faith, and that the usurper's crowning by Septon Loren proves that he is meant to rule Westeros, not you, nor your children. More and more men are joining the Faith Militant by the day, their numbers continue to swell."

Rhaenys felt Vaegyl squeeze her hand incredibly tightly like he had done when they were children and he was scared of something. She knew that he would not be able to speak without saying something that would more than likely offend Lord Harrold, and so clearing her throat she said in a voice that was as calm as she could make it. "And what does the High Septon have to say about this breaking of the treaty? What is the man doing to defend his end of the bargain, we cannot go on killing each and every single member of the Faith Militant that we find, it is not prudent and will bring us only more enemies and not allies."

Lord Tully swallowed once more but did not respond, in fact it was her cousin Jaehaerys who responded. "The High Septon was found dead today, hung by one of the poles in the Sept here in King's Landing. The news of his death has been suppressed."

Rhaenys felt something within her tighten at her cousin's words, Vaegyl's grip on her hand tightened even more. "The High Septon was murdered?" She asks trying to keep the fear from her voice, and not entirely succeeding. "By whom and have they punished?" she continues.

Jaehaerys looks at her with a tried expression, the weight of being hand and trying to maintain peace in the land obviously showing itself clearly on his face now, as he sighs and says " By members of the Faith Militant who felt that the man had betrayed them by agreeing to the peace, by as they put it 'incestuous abominations'. They were all questioned but revealed nothing of note, except that Gawen Westerling has set sail for Storm's End, with a company of some 200 men."

Rhaenys feels her heart drop at her cousin's words. "He was killed by members of the Faith? In the Sept here? Have they no shame? No honour? Why would they profane such a holy place with murder and that too the murder of the leader of the faith?" She asks horrified and worried about what the response could be.

Before Jaehaerys can reply, Vaegyl- still gripping her hand tightly under the table- says "Enough. We have met for long enough today, council is dismissed, Jaehaerys, Rhaenys stay behind, the rest of you may go." Grand Maester Justin helps old Tristan Massey out of the council chamber, Lord Harrold Tully bows before them and leaves, but not before lingering at the doorway for some time, as if he wants to say something but is not quite sure how to say it. Once they have gone Vaegyl speaks once more. "The Faith Militant have proven time and time again that they have no honour and no respect. It is time that we dealt with them accordingly, Aegon is sending out envoys to bring lords to his cause, we shall do the same, but we shall not go for the petty lords, now Rhaenys I know that this will seem cruel but you shall ride for Storm's End take Syrax and 500 men with you, I do not trust Gawen Westerling nor do I trust Osric Baratheon, no matter that the man is kin. Jaehaerys you shall fly on Quicksilver to Winterfell, Lord Stark is married to Daena, it is time we reminded the man of his family ties to us. It will come to war now, and this time we shall win."

With that Vaegyl had dismissed Jaehaerys and it had just been the two of them left in the room. Rhaenys turned to look at her husband and to her surprise found him red eyed as if he had been crying, she squeezed his hand tightly and said "Why are you crying my love?"

Vaegyl spoke like iron when he replied "Because this war has come, and I have known it was coming for so much time, and yet I did nothing to change it. I did nothing to pull Aegon away from Westerling and Lannister's influence nothing, and now the realm shall bleed for that."

"Oh Vaegyl, there was nothing you could have done to change Aegon's thoughts or course of action. He was always held under sway by the Westerling whore and by Gerold Westerling. You must do what you see fit for the kingdom, and if that means fighting a war to rid the kingdom of such traitors then fight a war you must." She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his then. It was only meant to be a light kiss, a fleeting thing, but soon they were both kissing each other with a fierce passion and then they were moving against one another, removing different pieces of clothing from one another in their haste to make love. And make love they did, three times on the chair where Vaegyl had sat during the council meeting.

Later when it came to telling Visenya of what had occurred during the small council meeting and what Vaegyl had decreed afterward, her sister usually so full of opinions and advice had merely nodded and then had pulled Vaegyl and herself from the nursery and into their room where they had made love once more.

Two days later Jaehaerys had departed for Winterfell his wife and children would remain in King's Landing with Vaegyl and Visenya and would be heavily guarded. A day after Jaehaerys left, Rhaenys herself departed, saying a tearful farewell to Visenya and their children, little Maegon already a handful at three years old, and the triplets Rhaegar, Aegor and Aelix all of whom were tottering around on unsteady feet.

She departed from King's Landing on Syrax's back with 500 mounted men following beneath her, tears were in her eyes as she saw the ground disappear until it was just a speck below her. She was determined to be successful, she would not fail her brother or her sister, she would bring the might of the Stormlands back with her, and then they would deal with the pretender and those traitors who had fed him poison.

After five days of hard flying, the men still marching someway off behind her, Storm's End comes into sight. The castle that had once belonged to House Durrendon and the Storm Kings is as impressive as Rhaenys as heard about during her lessons as a child. Most certainly an intimidating sight, and she can understand why her grandsire would have given the castle to someone like Orys Baratheon, it needed a strong person to rule over it and prevent it from falling to the gods' grief.

As she brought Syrax into land she spotted the banners of House Lannister and House Westerling, as well as the banner of the three headed dragon on a field of yellow that Aegon the usurper had adopted, and she hopes that she is not too late to bring House Baratheon and the Stormlands with her to Vaegyl's side. Syrax lands and she is greeted by a messenger wearing the livery of House Baratheon, the boy's voice quakes with obvious fear as he tells her that Lord Baratheon waits for her in his solar. She follows the man biding Syrax to stay behind, and soon she finds herself in Lord Osric Baratheon- the grandson of Orys Baratheon- solar.

The man himself has the look and build typical of Baratheons- or so she has heard- he has long dark black hair and blue eyes, he is very muscular and seems to be quite strong. Though a feature she has noticed of many of the men in her life is that whilst men like Jaehaerys and Vaegyl seem tired, Osric Baratheon seems to be very much alive and functioning.

The man stands up and bows before her "Your Grace."

"Lord Osric, I thank you for meeting with me." She says trying to keep the nerves at bay.

"I trust your journey here was pleasant?" Osric Baratheon asks.

"Yes it was." She replies, then she says "Let us not dither Lord Osric, you know why I am here, just as surely as you know why that traitor Gawen Westerling is here. Who will you fight for?"

Lord Osric appears amused by her question, and Rhaenys feels an anger bloom up inside of her. But before she can speak, he replies "What does King Vaegyl have to offer me that Aegon cannot?"

"Honour!" She nearly shouts. "The chance to fulfil the vows you swore to him and our father before him when they were crowned. The chance to fight for what is right against those who would bring wrong into the world."

Lord Osric laughs then, a great booming laugh. "Honour, aye because I certainly need more of that. Ah but you see Your Grace, Gawen has told me that Aegon means to offer me his son's hand for one of my daughters, when they come of age they shall wed, and I shall be grandfather to a king. Tell me what does King Vaegyl offer?"

"Aegon's son shall never be king." Rhaenys replies heatedly, angered at the man's impudence. "Neither Aegon nor his family shall live long enough for that promise to be fulfilled. Besides Maegon is older and is the true heir to the throne. Why would you wish to support the pretender, when you know that he will be doomed to fail?"

Once more Lord Osric laughs before saying "Because, I am in a position to do so Your Grace. I have heard of the High Septon's death, murdered by the Faith Militant your husband and the small council say, murdered by Vaegyl others say, and after all the man is descended from Maegor the Cruel, what else can be expected?"

Rhaenys bristles with anger, and is about to respond to the man, when Lord Osric holds up a finger to silence her, and something has changed within him, gone are the jokes and the merriment, this man is being deadly serious now. "They hold my son Your Grace. Gawen Westerling stole into my home late at night after I had fed him and given him wine to drink. Some sellsword snuck into my son's room and took him. Westerling denies knowing about what happened but I know what this has been done for, they wish for me to bend to the man who calls himself after the Dragon or my Edric shall die. I remember my oaths, and the oaths that my father and grandfather swore, I know where my loyalties lie, but I need something from you, I need my son. Give me that, and Aegon will rue the day he ever thought to crown himself king."