Shadows of the Realm: Rhaegar's Resolve (ASOIAF) (Completed)

Flashback:

297 AC

Scribe's Hearth, The Citadel

Oldtown, The Reach

It was the Hour of the Wolf and the torchlight flickered as fifty of the highest ranking Archmaesters and Maesters were placed before the gallows as everyone waited in an eerie silence. From Lord Hightower to the members of my council to the guards keeping a perimeter around the Scribe's Hearth. Everyone waited for my signal, with a nod from Jon the sackcloth was placed on their heads and the noose was placed around their neck and I raised my hand.

The men on the verge of death were the Maesters of the anti-magic faction. Most of them were tortured before being placed at the noose. Leyton Hightower gave them all up in exchange for complete exoneration for House Hightower and with Cannibal sleeping outside the city, he knew not to mess with me.

I raised my hand with a silk handkerchief and then I drop it and the hangmen cut the rope and all fifty of them drop, a few break their necks instantly while others struggle but within minutes the twitching of legs stops. As the bodies are taken down and the gallows dismantled before the sun rises to prevent people from knowing what has happened, I turn to Leyton and Malora, "It's a pleasure doing business with you, and I hope that there will be no further instances of discomfort between the Crown and the Hightower."

I turn and leave before they can reply. One down, five to go.

299 AC

Highgarden, The Reach

Olenna Tyrell was one of the greatest minds of politics to ever grace Westeros. For more than fifty years, she raised House Tyrell to its current height by her machinations. Her alliances formed the bedrock for House Tyrell's control over the Reach. For the first time in three hundred years, House Tyrell could say that it ruled the Reach in both name and practice unlike before. Which is why she had to die.

I showed up in Highgarden with my sons to pay my respects. The silent sisters have done a remarkable job of sewing her head back together with the body. How unfortunate indeed that her carriage to King's Landing was attacked by a vicious band of outlaws. The second Kingswood Brotherhood has turned out to be a thousand times more dangerous than their predecessors.

It was a massive blow to my pride and prestige to have a band of outlaws inside my forest. For the great and all-powerful Rhaegar had a band of outlaws right under his nose. After the shocking incident, I led around five hundred of my best and most loyal soldiers alongside my sons into the Kingswood to cleanse it of all unlawful activities before Mace Tyrell showed up with his army and we returned with two hundred skulls of all criminals inside the Kingswood, be they poachers or petty bandits all of them marked as members of the new Brotherhood.

It was an acceptable sacrifice for Bronn and his company had been playing as bandits in the Kingswood for months before Olenna's carriage entered the Crownlands. An operation kept secret from everyone but the uppermost echelons of the military and intelligence hierarchy. To a large extent, it undermined the Royal Army and the Royal Authority but I accepted the price to get rid of Olenna.

The Tyrells may suspect my involvement, especially Willas and Margaery as their eyes showed a certain distrust toward me but there is nothing that they can do about it. Mace Tyrell may also suspect something amiss but the culprit in his mind is the Blackfyres.

I looked over to Aegon and Maekar, they have done well in masking their feelings. Being raised by Elia and Rhaella meant that the two of them knew how to play the game, and I made it a point to remove any cloaks of honor and morality from my sons through the years, starting from making them watch executions to making them do the executions themselves.

Two down, four to go.

299 AC

Red Keep

King's Landing, Crownlands

Thank God for Maegor's Tunnels, they went to every nook and corner of the Red Keep except that of Maegor's Holdfast. After years of mapping them with the help of Qyburn and the Little Birds, I finally got to a position that I have been waiting for a long time. A route to Tywin's designated quarters was mapped out and the plan was recreated and practiced multiple times, I could have the Little Birds do the job but I wanted the satisfaction of putting down the Old Lion.

With Olenna dead, Tywin saw his opening and showed up in King's Landing to get a royal match for his granddaughter or grandson. Pigs will grow metal wings and fly before I give away Rhaenys to Tywin. It was the Hour of the Nightingale and I going to put an end to yet another legend of Westeros.

I crouched and walked briskly through the marked tunnels until I reached the desired spot, right under a hatch inside the antechamber of Tywin's quarters covered by a Myrish rug, the little bird posted at the tunnel's end was waiting for me and greeted me with a double nod, a sign that Tywin was asleep and there was no whore in his chambers. The little bird had a thick woolen cloth and a pail of warm water as I asked for.

I took the cloth and dipped it in the warm water before opening the hatch and pushing aside the rug, I waited for a few moments to see if anyone was roused and then I got out of the hatch and took the cloth in my hands as I stealthily walked into the bedroom, the doors inside were left open and I reached the foot of the bed to see the Old Lion slumbering, it reminded me of the time when I killed Aerys.

I took soft steps as I came to the side of the bed where he was sleeping and without hesitation, I pressed the thick cloth on his face, Tywin tried to struggle, his arms and legs tried to flail about as the old but surprisingly spry man tried to break free but I held firm and I pressed my knee into his chest to put an end to his struggles and after an eternity the struggles stopped and I removed my knee from his chest but then I kept the cloth over his face, I checked his pulse on his wrist and his arm to certify that he was dead before I tentatively removed the cloth. I rearranged the limbs of his corpse to make it look like he passed in his sleep.

As I leave the chambers, I look back to see the now-deceased legend one last time, and a thought came to me, 'How dare the lion stand up to the dragon,"

Three down, three to go.

299 AC

Myrish Hinterlands

The Golden Company was one of the most elite sellsword companies in Planetos. A battle-hardened force that cut its teeth in the Disputed lands, well armed and well trained it was a force that anyone else would have been hard-pressed to defeat but not me. I was the Dragon King of Westeros, bales of golden cloth won't stop me.

Once Qyburn got definite proof the Aegon Blackfyre had been knighted and was placed in command of the Golden Company, I knew that it was time to make my move. Qyburn managed to counter any attempts by Varys to sow discord. I believe the Golden Company and Illyrio were pooling their money for an assassination on me by the Faceless Men. Fortunately, I made my move before Illyrio could make his.

Pentos was a declawed city, with no real army or navy to speak of, and the Prince of Pentos and the other Magisters had no intention of being my enemy. Pentos has always been an ally of House Targaryen and that has certainly continued. As the Royal Army landed in the Pentoshi coastlands near Myr, the Prince of Pentos arrived with Illyrio Mopatis' head on a silver platter.

And once that was dealt with, the Royal Army and I turned south to deal with the Golden Company that was currently on contract with Myr.

It wasn't much of a fight, as dawn broke, I descended from above into the camp of the Golden Company alongside my sons while the Targaryen cavalry cut down the escapees as they ran. Green, black, and bronze flames burned across the camp destroying everything in its path. Tents practically evaporated due to the heat, and screams, and cries of pain and terror filled the sky alongside the roars of dragons. The smell of burning flesh filled my nose but it was a smell that I was used to.

My sons began to burn the tall grasses surrounding the camp to cut off the retreat while I blasted away at any standing structure in the camp. The howls and shrieks of burning men mingled with the cackle of the fires. Blood and soot-stained pieces of white cloth began to appear attached to poles, spears, and axe shafts but I responded by turning Cannibal's attention toward them. There was no mercy, this was a pure massacre.

After it was all done, the gold of the Golden Company was ash and there wasn't much loot to be had but the sword Blackfyre was scavenged from the burnt remains of the camp. The handful of survivors taken confirmed Qyburn's reports that Aegon Blackfyre and Varys were present in the camp before I destroyed it.

And thus ends, the line of the Black Dragon.

Four down, two to go.

300 AC

Gullet, Blackwater Bay

Finding Euron was purely on luck. If the dumbass had any sense, he would have forged a new identity and remained a pirate in the Summer Sea, living off in Port Plunder, never to return to Westeros but he did. He captured a ship of Qartheen warlocks and recovered a dragon horn from them.

The Valyrians of old would keep their dragons in check through dragon horns, sorcery, and whips, I only had whips, and the bare fragments of sorcery and the magic in my blood but the dragon horn was used to keep non-bonded dragons in check to ensure that they didn't go wild. But a key component in all such sorcery was that each horn was linked to the blood of the families of the Forty and it could only be used by them. Someone should have told Euron that.

As I was flying over the Gullet with Daenerys and Aegon, a single mast galley came into sight, the figurehead of the ship was that of a woman and the sails were painted with Euron's sigil of the crown and crows. I turned Cannibal to face him and as I approached, I saw Euron standing at the prow of the ship with that horn in his hand. And then as Cannibal opened his maw to show the green flames dancing underneath, Euron blew the horn.

The sound was sharp as a valyrian steel sword, the sound spilt the air around me and I closed my ears to the horrendous sound. The sound was a deathly sound of the screaming of a thousand souls, my head feels like it would burst from within, and my bones feel like they were thrummed as the strings on my harp.

Cannibal broke off his attack run as he thrashed around in the sky as the sound of the Dragon horn tried to subdue him, I would have been thrown from my saddle and into the water below if not for the chains, my body felt like a stretched band of elastic rubber as three separate horn blasts were sounded.

But then, it suddenly stopped and as I grabbed hold of my saddle and tried to regain my bearings, I felt groggy but my eyes caught sight of Euron on the prow, he staggered and fell back into the ship. And that was the chance that Cannibal needed to break free from the horn's power as he roared in defiance before bathing the entire ship in his malicious green flames. We didn't stop the flames until the ship began to break apart and a huge explosion occurred, an explosion of magic, all the black magic, the magic of the warlocks and the wizards in the ship came out in a blast of magic not seen since the Doom.

Cannibal sensed the explosion before it occurred and bathed himself in the magic which happened to reinvigorate the lazy but fearsome dragon.

As Cannibal circled the wreckage, I took sight of both Dany and Aegon landing on the beaches of Dragonstone with their dragons, it was a shaky landing, looks like the horn affected them as well. But the greatest effect of the explosion of magic was felt by the dragon eggs. Dany's dragon laid a clutch of seven eggs a month ago and as I returned to Dragonstone, I found out that all seven of the eggs incubating in the firepits hatched.

Five down, one to go.

300 AC

Great Hall, Red Keep

King's Landing, Crownlands

Qhorin Halfhand was a legend of the Night's Watch, a true badass if there ever was one and he was the one I chose to prove to the world of the existence of the White Walkers. I made it a point to send weapons and supplies to the wall alongside a good amount of convicts. Mance Rayder was defeated and killed when he attacked the wall to find Ned Stark waiting for him alongside the Umbers and Karstarks. There was no Great Ranging for I explicitly forbid Mormont from doing anything like that. While I had no legit authority to command him, the Old Bear knew to heed my commands.

I ordered Lord Commander Mormont and Commander Mallister, and Pyke to place the next batch of blue-eyed corpses that they found in iron bounded crates and bring them down South. And soon enough, I had six wights to reveal to the world in front of all the nobles of Westeros along with a few from Essos including the Iron Bank representative Noho Dimitis and the Braavosi Ambassador Tycho Nestoris.

And what better way to reveal it to everyone in Westeros and Essos than at a Royal Wedding, I don't think that Aegon and Dany liked that I ruined their wedding but they will get over it.

As the blue-eyed wights came out of the crates to the shock of literally everyone present, I saw my fate. Something tells me that this is going to be it.

As the wights were brought down by Valyrian steel, fire, and obsidian, I walked down the steps of the Iron Throne, and I took a rotting hand that still tried to claw about and I remarked, "So, who is ready for another war?"