King's Landing, above the Dragonpit.
A sharp, piercing dragon's roar echoed, and the Dragon Guard inside the Dragonpit immediately knew who had arrived.
Prince Daemon and his Dragon, Caraxes, the 'Bloodworm'.
This massive, fearsome, and terrifying beast had not returned to the Dragonpit in a long time.
Caraxes's slender body sliced through the clouds, followed closely by Syrax.
Syrax had yellow scales and was large and fierce, but she was well-fed and hadn't hunted in years.
The two Dragons landed in front of the Dragonpit, kicking up a gale.
Caraxes roared at the approaching Dragon Guard, finally entering the Dragonpit after Daemon's soothing.
Rhaenyra walked side-by-side with Daemon towards the carriage, impatiently pulling off her gloves.
"Daemon, Father wants me to take gifts to the Stepstones and tell Egon the news of our wedding and his engagement on the same day, but I don't want to go.
The entire Seven Kingdoms knows how ambitious Egon is, yet Father is still partial to Egon, even firmly believing the nonsense Egon feeds him."
After Rhaenyra finished speaking, Daemon gave Rhaenyra a meaningful look of warning.
To speak of partiality, anyone with a discerning eye could likely see that Rhaenyra was the favored child.
Let alone Viserys being partial to Egon.
If Viserys could be fair, the position of heir to the Iron Throne would not have fallen to Rhaenyra.
In the end, Alicent was also the Queen whom Viserys had married with full ceremony.
Egon was Viserys's true eldest son and should have been the heir to the Iron Throne.
But alas, Viserys was determined to go his own way, believing he could control everything.
Certainly, before Egon was born, although Viserys was easily swayed, he could still firmly hold power.
But after Egon was born, the Greens faction, centered around Egon, began to gradually form and grow stronger.
Initially, Otto was the pillar of the Greens.
At this time, Viserys could still control his court.
He directly dismissed Otto, removing him from the office of Hand of the King.
Thereafter, Alicent replaced Otto, becoming the pillar of the Greens in King's Landing.
The power of the Black Party and the Greens became more balanced.
But the Black Party had Viserys's protection and more and larger Dragons than the Greens.
However, in the first three months of AC 120, the Black Party suffered consecutive heavy blows, losing two Dragonriders and a key court minister.
The result was.
Seasmoke, who was nearly of age, lost his rider and became a riderless Dragon.
Vhagar, the largest and strongest in the world, was claimed by Aemond, becoming the strongest force of the Greens.
Otto Hightower returned to King's Landing, once again becoming the Hand of the King of the Seven Kingdoms.
From then on, the situation largely escaped Viserys's control, and the court's power was eroded by the Greens.
This was not the most fatal; the truly fatal factor was Egon himself.
Since the Greens possessed Vhagar, Egon's sharpness was fully revealed, and his methods of suppressing the Black Party were endless.
Daemon was not in King's Landing at the time.
But he heard that the Black Party at that time had been suppressed by Egon to the point of being on its last breath.
Especially that phrase: "We are all serving His Grace," which directly became a nightmare for Black Party officials.
Black Party officials even described this phrase as "the devil's whispers" in the end.
Because when this phrase sounded in your ear, it meant you had to pack your bags and leave.
For this, Viserys had to grant Egon the Stepstones, sending Egon to fight the Free Cities.
Finally, to create a distinction from Rhaenyra's title of Princess of Dragonstone.
Viserys didn't even dare to give Egon the title of Prince of the Stepstones, only giving him the title of Duke of the Stepstones.
Rhaenyra did not care about the war situation in the Stepstones, but Daemon had secretly inquired, but the news he received was different from what Daemon had imagined.
It could even be said to be vastly different.
He had expected Egon, a greenhorn, to be led by the nose by the Triarchy fleet and the Dornish fleet.
As a result, the Triarchy navy and Dornish fleet, which had fought back and forth with him and Corlys, were instead led by Egon and beaten like greenhorns.
There were even internal disagreements, with Tyrosh angrily scolding Lys for only shouting slogans and providing no substantial aid!
In addition, one other matter caught Daemon's attention.
According to the news sent back by his old friend, Tyrosh was frequently attacked by a mud Dragon.
There was no mud Dragon around Egon.
Sunfyre, Vhagar, Dreamfyre, or even the smallest Tessarion, were all easy to identify.
His friend could not have been mistaken.
So, here comes the problem.
Why would a mud Dragon attack Tyrosh?
Does the mud Dragon have a rider?
If the mud Dragon has a rider, who would the Dragonrider be, and how did they claim the mud Dragon?
What is the relationship between the Dragonrider and Egon?
In the best case, Egon used some special means to make the riderless mud Dragon hostile to Tyrosh.
In a not-so-bad case.
The mud Dragon was unexpectedly claimed by someone with Dragon King blood.
This person with Dragon King blood was either won over by Egon or made some agreement to fight for Egon.
And in the worst case...
Suddenly, a name surfaced in Daemon's mind.
Hugh!
The most loyal mad dog by Egon's side!
Besides Egon himself, Hugh dared to bare his teeth at anyone!
If it was indeed Hugh who had claimed that mud Dragon, then the situation for the Black Party would be even more unfavorable.
They didn't even have hope of winning over Hugh!
Daemon did not voice his speculation.
After all, it was just hearsay, and the truthfulness was not high.
He returned to the Red Keep with Rhaenyra.
They ran into Alicent head-on.
"Rhaenyra?"
Alicent smiled.
"My dear daughter, why didn't you tell me beforehand that you were returning to King's Landing?"
After speaking, Alicent looked at Daemon again.
"From now on, you will also call me Mother, and I am very pleased."
Daemon's eyelid twitched, and listening to Alicent's sarcastic words, anger surged in his heart.
Sensing Daemon's anger, Criston immediately fixed his gaze on Daemon.
Alicent sized up Rhaenyra and Daemon.
A few years ago at that tournament, Egon could only comfort himself who was nervous because of Daemon and Caraxes.
And now, she could rely on Egon's power and be sarcastic in front of Daemon and Rhaenyra.
Thinking of this, Alicent suddenly let out a meaningful laugh, then turned and left with Criston.
Alicent retreated behind the scenes.
On the surface, Alicent seemed to have relinquished her power.
But in reality, Alicent's power had never left her.
She was Egon Targaryen's mother.
Unless Egon lost power, she would always be the most powerful woman in the Seven Kingdoms!
"She won't be smug for long; I will eventually ascend the Iron Throne."
Rhaenyra's face was full of anger, staring intently at Alicent's retreating back.
Pregnancy had ruined her figure.
Though only in her twenties, the weight gained from pregnancy and her thick waist had never receded.
While Alicent was twice her age, she remained slender and had a charming demeanor, which made her hate Alicent even more. "You are the heir designated by His Grace, the Princess of Dragonstone; you will ascend the Iron Throne, I am certain.
Although Egon has three old Dragons, Caraxes and Meleys are equally strong and have rich combat experience, so we must counterattack appropriately."
As he spoke, Daemon's eyes were cold, filled with anger.
"What are you going to do?" Rhaenyra frowned slightly, "We are about to get married; don't mess things up!"
Some say that when each Targaryen is born, the Gods flip a coin.
To decide whether this Targaryen is mad or wise.
But Daemon was different.
For centuries, House Targaryen had always produced great men or monsters, and Daemon was both.
Rhaenyra did not want to fall out with Egon now; Egon had four Dragons.
Sunfyre's growth rate was astonishing, and Vhagar and Dreamfyre were the two oldest Dragons.
Even the smallest Tessarion was not much different from Syrax.
No matter how strong Caraxes and Meleys were, they could not face Vhagar and Dreamfyre simultaneously!
Moreover, Egon also had the absolute support of House Hightower and the Lannister Family behind him.
"I know what I'm doing; it won't affect our wedding, don't worry."
Daemon said he would not affect their wedding to reassure Rhaenyra.
But Rhaenyra was not at all reassured.
She worried that Daemon would do something crazy.
If Egon was completely angered and they fell out, the consequences would be unimaginable.
In terms of both army size and the number and strength of Dragons, the Greens currently held an absolute advantage.