Pre-Chapter A/N:Another chapter on time? Guess my lock-in is going pretty well. If you haven't already, I recommend turning on notifications for my stuff so you can see when new stuff drops right as it drops. More chapters on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)— same username as here and link in bio. Since I just started a new story, there's a cheeky discount on said patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) page for anyone interested.
"Yes, Ser Redwyne?" I asked, surprised to find the man waiting for us at the beachhead instead of within the castle as was proper.
"Lord Velaryon, I have a message from the King."
"And that is why you have breached the rules of decorum? Would it not have been more proper to wait within my halls so I could attend you properly?" Mother asked, stepping forward.
"This is not a matter that bears waiting. A report has reached the King that one of the oldest laws of our people has been broken. He summons Lord Laenor Velaryon and Lady Laena Velaryon to attend him at the Iron Throne before the sun sets to explain themselves," he said.
"Before the sun sets?" I echoed, looking above. It was an hour after noon or so. We could make it if we pushed our dragons to make the journey as quickly as possible, but it did not afford us much time to prepare.
"Precisely. I would advise haste." The smug tone of voice and set of his lips made me want to punch his face in, but I held back… for now.
"What is the accusation? What are my children charged with?" Mother shot in.
"That is irrelevant. The King commands their presence, and now that my message has been delivered, I shall be taking my leave. My Lord." He said with a nod to me. "My ladies." He offered a brief bow to both Mother and Laena and began to beat his retreat. I growled at the casual disrespect.
"What do you think it is?" Laena asked.
"Whatever it is, it has to be bad. Redwyne is many things, but especially brave is not one of them. If he would dare speak to us like that, then it must be because he believes whatever it is has a good chance of ruining us completely."
"What do we do?"
"We answer the allegation, of course," I said. There was no other option. I would not run like a coward.
"There is a reason he is demanding we attend him so quickly. He wants to ensure we don't have the time to think or to prepare. We would be there with little in the way of support. If he decides to arrest us, that will be the end," Mother said.
"Not us," I said, turning to her.
"Laena and I are the ones summoned."
"You think I would see you charged in my absence?" she asked.
"Whatever he desires to charge us with, it won't stick. I'll come up with an argument or two. I will be better placed to argue our way out, so if you are there, it will be superfluous. There is something only you can do though."
"What?"
"There is a very distant chance that we will be arrested. An even more distant chance that we will need to resort to force to handle it. But while I am in King's Landing, you must make a show of being ready for combat. We have a massive fleet here in Westeros already. Make a show of arming and armoring the men. Take Meleys on a few flights. Do what is needed. If we are arrested, your threat of violence will be what will secure our safety. They have no force capable of standing against you and they will know this," I said.
Mother looked like she still wanted to argue. I grabbed a hold of her hands and held them in mine.
"You know I am right. But this is all very unlikely. Chances are this is all a misunderstanding. We have not broken any laws," I said. She nodded, but then she looked between Laena and me. It was a look heavy in meaning.
"It cannot be that. The King has no place if it were that," I said.
"The Defender of the Faith?" Laena sounded doubtful.
"The Faith has laws against marriage between us. We haven't done that. Anything else is gossip and slander. Redwyne wouldn't be that bold on just gossip and slander. He thinks they have us. That means they have something—or think they have something substantial," I said.
"Just be safe. Go change now. I will see to it that Igneel and Vhagar are saddled and fed," she said.
"Just Igneel," I said.
"You don't mean for us to go there without Vhagar as a threat, do you?"
"They know you have Vhagar. Bringing her there is not as useful a threat because you would have to land her in the Dragonpit. There is nowhere else in the city where she can safely stable. Igneel can squeeze into the Red Keep's courtyard. It's better that we have Vhagar at large than for her to be chained up in the Dragonpit where they have control over her to some extent," I said.
Mother nodded to show she agreed and Laena swallowed whatever objections she still had.
I raced off to the castle, Ser Ben at my heels.
"Ser, I will need you to remain," I said while he helped put on my armor. I had considered dressing in finery rather than armor, but whatever advantages that would give me in terms of argument had to be weighed against the risk of someone sticking an arrow in me. I couldn't trust Viserys' court as far as I could throw them when it came to exercising common sense.
"I am your sworn shield, my Lord."
"And this is where you will be protecting me the most. Guard my mother. Advise her if it becomes necessary to call the levies. Manage the siege and eventual taking of King's Landing," I said.
"Your house has no shortage of knights. You should not walk into that Snakespit alone," he said.
"I am a dragon. What need have I to fear snakes? Remain here. You are the only one I have spoken to at length about how I would conduct a siege of King's Landing if it ever became necessary. Tell Mother the plans come from me. I will guide Igneel from within. Know that he will be with you if the time comes," I said.
I accepted the helmet, tucking it under my arm before offering him a handshake.
"You will do a good job, Ben," I said.
"I just hope I don't have to," he said in response. I smirked as I walked past him and towards Laena's room. The family chambers were not all that far from each other. Mother's was to the left and opposite, while Laena's had been right next to Father's—mine, now. My own chambers were on the far end of the hall, chosen precisely because of the distance from everyone else. Not everyone wanted to deal with the noises my various experiments could make in the middle of the night. It had been something else back then for Mother to tolerate the distance, but then she had managed it eventually. It made it even easier when it came time for me to sneak out of the castle on that fateful day that had ended up shaping so much of my youth.
I knocked on the door, and stepped in as bade.
"The buttons please," she told me as she sent the girl helping her dress away. I nodded and moved. Laena was not wearing a dress. It made sense of course. Riding a dragon with a dress was a frustration that words could scarcely describe, I'd been told. But then I hadn't expected her to wear this either. I pulled at the strings after fastening the buttons and tied it up at the back. She turned to look at me once I tapped her back to indicate I was done.
"You look good," she said.
"I look like I always do in armor. You're the one who looks beautiful today," I said. She smiled and leaned up to place a kiss against my cheek.
"I am afraid," she said.
"You need not be. We have nothing to fear. We have done nothing," I said.
"You were the one who told me a thousand times that innocence wasn't enough," she retorted.
"No. No it isn't. But we aren't just innocent. We have power. While we stand trial or whatever it is they have waiting for us, I will have Igneel fly around the Keep. A reminder. We have three bonded dragons to their one. Viserys is no fool. If he puts Rhaenyra in the sky against Mother, it will be a bloodbath," I chuckled.
"Why not just go to the Stepstones?" she said.
"We don't know what we are being charged with. We know we are innocent, we do. Running makes us look guilty. We could secede from the crown now and say we care little for their threats and policies. Chances are, it would even work. But then we'd be denied the Westerosi market. Driftmark would be besieged and taken, or we'd be forced to burn thousands of Westerosi in her defense. And then in a generation, Viserys' sons will ride dragons of their own, and they will come again. Maybe we will have birthed riders of our own by then, but their dragons will be smaller, less powerful. We would lose, or we would be so diminished after victory that we might as well have lost. The only way to win is to end House Targaryen now. Is that something you are ready to do?" I asked.
"No."
"Neither am I," I said, lying boldly. I didn't want to deal with the chaos it would cause—chaos that would be disastrous for several of my business interests, but I would find a way for our house to survive no matter what I had to do.
"Now, let's get going," I said, taking her hand in mine as we walked out of the castle. Ser Ben followed at a respectful distance. Outside, I met Mother and Meleys waiting with Igneel off to the side. I noted that he had already been saddled even as he picked through the charred bones of what looked to have been a good sized cow. I hadn't even needed to calm him down for the saddling, I noticed.
Well, I guess that was what Meleys was there for. They were near equal in size now, but still there was a respect he had for her as his mother that was unlikely to ever stop being a thing.
"You're ready," Mother proclaimed.
"Yes," I said, stepping forward and accepting her kiss on the cheek.
"Return today if you are able. Anything less, and I will assume there is a need to take measures," she said.
I nodded. That was the plan, either way.
"Ser Ben will help you if that is to be the case. Goodbye, Mother," I said, planting a kiss of my own on her cheek. She nodded.
Next, she wrapped Laena in her arms. Their embrace lasted longer than ours had as I walked up to Igneel.
"Ready, boy?" I asked, rubbing along his nose.
"We're going to need to push it to King's Landing. And we'll have company for the flight," I said, nodding towards Laena. He nodded.
"I'll let you know if you need to do anything else through the bond," I said more to fill the silence than for anything else. I was nervous, I realized.
Igneel's head pushed against my hand and he breathed out warm air on my face before opening up his mouth and giving me a good view of his teeth.
I chuckled as I reached in for the small bit of bone that had got stuck between two of them to the left. He could probably have dislodged it on his own with time, but it wasn't like I was doing anything else. At least that was what it must have been like from his perspective.
When Laena separated from Mother, I signaled Igneel that it was game time with a whistle. I reached up, using his scales as handholds to push myself onto the saddle. Laena came over and I pulled her on behind me.
Igneel made good time. Better time than we ever had for sure. He shot into the sky with all the force of a bullet as I felt Laena yelp at the sudden start while her arms tightened around me. I silently cursed the armor for blunting much of the sensation I knew I would otherwise have felt from our close proximity. Igneel himself only took a second or two to get the right orientation for the journey and then he was off on a straight diagonal path towards King's Landing.
His wings beat faster than I'd ever seen them. The sound they made as they flapped through the air was only blunted by the sound of the wind rushing past us. I kept my eyes closed to avoid the wind scouring them dry as I looked through Igneel's. It took us half the time it would otherwise have to make the journey. When we arrived, the sun was still very much in the sky, little sign that it was about to set. So we had time for a stunt or two.
On my urging—not that he needed much of it to make a scene or anything—he began to take us on a path around the city proper. We watched the massive city that housed hundreds of thousands from above. With each circuit, we came lower and lower. Igneel's wingbeats echoed through the city as we announced ourselves. For the last circuit, we were just barely above the roofline and I could see hundreds had stopped what they were doing to watch us. And then we made our way to the Red Keep.
Igneel landed in the courtyard with a thud that made the ground shake, taking a page or two from Vhagar's book. I slid off the saddle when I saw the Knights approaching. I helped Laena off after me.
"Lord Velaryon, Lady Velaryon," he said in greeting with a nod to each of us.
"Ser Cargyll," I returned his nod.
"Really raced on over here, didn't ya?" he said with a smirk. I remained silent and met his eyes.
"The King waits for you to attend him in the throne room," he said finally, gaze falling from mine.
"Then lead the way, Ser," I said.
He nodded and turned around. We followed him and I noticed the way the escort of Knights that followed him formed up around us. It was like we were being led to an execution. Laena buried all the hesitation and fear I knew she felt. Her head was held high, her chin stuck out, as her eyes remained pinned straight ahead. Treating the Knights that surrounded us like they did not matter at all. Her hand squeezed my bicep and that was the only sign I had of her tension.
When we finally reached the throne room, the doors swung open for us. I hadn't been asked to disarm, I noted. But that was a small relief as we approached the throne.
Cargyll stopped us well in the middle of the room. So far away from Viserys that we would need to raise our voices to be heard.
"You stand in the presence of Viserys Targaryen, First of His Name, King of the Seven Kingdoms, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord Protector of the Realm, Defender of the Faith," the royal announcer spoke out. Considering the present situation, I deemed it fitting to drop to a knee. Laena curtseyed by my side.
"Rise, my children," he said. I bristled at the words but rose nonetheless.
"A troubling whisper travels through the wind. A most scandalous whisper. They say you have broken the law most sacred to our land. To my rule. My advisers cautioned that I wait for an investigation to be complete before I invited you. But I know neither of you would lie to me. So tell me once, and tell me true. Did you break the King's peace—my peace—and carry out an attack on Dornish soil even though mine own forebear had forbidden it and I had confirmed the position?" he asked.
I felt my heart skip a beat. So that was what this was about. Okay, okay. Not disastrous.
"My King, Cousin, we did not break your peace, but we did cause an attack to be made on Dorne. We did not land on Dornish soil ourselves, but atop our dragons, Igneel and Vhagar, we smote down the castle of Sunspear and showed Dorne a dragon's rage," I said.
"You speak one thing in one breath and then say the opposite in the next. How could you have carried out an attack without breaking my peace?"
"It is one of the oldest provisions of our laws that self-defense does not qualify as breaking the peace. As you are aware, Dorne made common cause with the slavers of Essos in the war we fought to liberate the Stepstones from their foul occupation. They sent ships to attack mine, and several Velaryon lives were lost as a result. On your advice, my King, we accepted their suit for peace just as we accepted that of the Essosi slavers. Negotiations began, and even as the Dornish attempted to frustrate the efforts with persistent delays, we pressed on regardless. And then they attempted to assassinate me in my own Castle, Bloodstone. The incident reminded me too much of how I had lost a cousin dear to my heart, your Grace's own brother. And in this situation, it was not a single man acting alone. Taken by rage, I flew to Sunspear and I turned it to ash like our forebear once did with much of Dorne," I said, not being subtle at all in using Daemon's fate to my advantage.
"Be that as it may, the rule as to stepping foot in Dorne goes beyond the King's Peace," Otto cut in when it seemed like Viserys was going to accept my explanation.
"The edict signed by my Great-grandfather and the King's Grandfather, Jaehaerys the first of his name, explicitly forbids all from setting foot or waging war in Dorne without his consent. I did neither. Neither I, nor my sister and our dragons landed on Dornish soil. And we waged no war. A targeted extermination was all we did, and that was it," I said.
"Lyonel?" The King called.
"Your Grace, if he has spoken truly then no letter of the law has been broken. The spirit of the law, however, is a different matter. And it is for you to decide, your Grace," the Lord of Harrenhal spoke, sending the buck right back where it came from, clearly not wanting to get in the middle of it.
"My reasoning on the matter is clear, your Grace. Such flagrant violation of our sacred laws must be punished," he said.
"Will House Velaryon swear not to carry out any such acts now and in perpetuity?" Viserys turned to us instead, leaving Otto fuming by my reckoning.
"Yes, your Grace. We maintain that no laws have been broken and that it is a pure misunderstanding, but if your Grace feels a different approach ought to have been taken, then we will, of course, abide by that desire," I said with a bow. Viserys nodded.
"Then there is no need for any further punishment, especially considering the situation," he said with a wide smile.
A/N: Viserys? Levying serious punishment? The sky's more likely to fall. Next five chapters up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) (same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early. Started a new story, so there's a discount for the rest of the month on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga): feel free to check that out as well.