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Chapter 9 - The crown

"KILL HIM!" shouted the pubescent boy with a crown on his head, while he pointed at my figure sitting in his throne. I sat lazily leaning to one side whilst I studied the young boy down there. He was wearing what must be an expensive set of armor and a sword with a golden hilt, but it was obvious he had not seen any battle tonight.

He was quite pretty with his long and curly golden hair, almost like a girl I thought, but his face was distorted with an expression of rage and murder. It had barely been 20 minutes after the fighting was over, when he had barged into the crowded throne hall. He had come in, half running, with rage seething of him, whilst various advisers had been running after him, trying to stop him, or at least calm him down a bit. I suspect he had completely lost the ability to hear anything they said, after they informed him that I had claimed his place as king.

The room was deadly silent, with nobody daring to move. The soldiers and guards down there kept looking at each other, waiting for someone to be the first do to… something. An odd stalemate had presented itself. The soldiers who had fought with me on the beach acted as though I was a divine being, whilst the others who had filtered in from the various other fighting ground in the city thought of me as a stranger.

A commander who had been by my side from the beginning of the fight looked at me with a feverish gaze of worship, hardly containing himself whilst he was waiting for me to give the order to kill. To his and his men's disappointment, I didn't portray any emotion other than perhaps indifference.

Seeing as no one reacted to his order the boy king took a few additional angry steps forward and pointed at me feverishly. "I AM THE KING AND I COMMAND YOU TO KILL HIM!" He yelled with all his might, before gritting his teeth and returning the expression of pure hatred to his face.

Again, the men in the room were completely dumfounded and dared not move nor say anything. A few whimpers broke the silence coming from the woman who had sat on the throne previously. It seems she was very anxious to rush to the angry boy's aid, but one of the guards was gripping her arm very tightly, no doubt at the order of Tywin, standing next to her.

The moment stretched out for a long time, and seeing as no one was going to react, the boy king became more and more frustrated. For a moment, it almost looked like he wanted to stamp his foot at the ground, but instead let out a groin of frustration.

Breaking the stalemate, I stood up and slowly started walking down the throne. The clinking sound of my armor echoed in the silent hall every time I took another step down the massive mountain of iron. I had put my helmet back on before he had entered the throne hall, so I was looking at him from behind the mask.

The boy had his back turned to me as I began approaching him. Seeing I began walking down the steps, he had begun looking around at the guards and soldiers around him, to urge them to react to his commands. It was to no avail of course. Even the two weird looking golden armored men with white capes at his back had refused to budge when he ordered them to attack.

I stood right behind him before he finally turned around. I was quite a bit taller than him, so he was forced to look up to meet my gaze. His expression of pure hatred quickly turned to fear and panic the moment he truly looked into the beautiful, yet cold metallic features of my mask.

In a fluid motion, I slowly drew my sword form its scabbard with my right arm. It had long since cooled after the battle, and looked like its normal unimpressive self. The guards around me visibly stiffened, but everything that was happening was so surreal none of them knew what to do. Calmly I placed the blade of the sword on the shoulder of the now terrified little boy before me. I then spoke for the first time since he entered the room:

"If you live long enough, you will one day understand what it meant, that I could lay my naked sword on your shoulder in the presence of your guard. But as for your position as king. Right now. Do you feel like a king?"

He shrunk back from me, and from his expression I would say he thought of me as a demon from hell. He turned to his mother for help, but she merely returned his look of pure desperation. Realizing there was no help to get, hesitated for a moment, but then looked back up at me, straightening himself and tilted his head upwards a bit. A gesture of habit to reassure himself in his right I would guess.

In his most kingly voice he said "You have no claim to the throne! You have no right to be-"

"I hold the only right!" I interrupted him forcefully, no longer having any patience for his tantrum. He was right of course, I had no real claim of any kind to the seven kingdoms, but I was right as well.

"I have the only right that truly matters. The right of conquest. I should think that with how your father became king you would understand that better than anyone." I took another step forward, now truly towering over him and continued in the same forceful tone "Now, boy. Lay your crown at my feet, or I shall do it for you!"

He stepped back again, completely dumfounded at the development. Opening and closing his mouth, he tried to stammer forth a response, but Tywin saw it time to intervene.

He yelled "Guards! Remove his crown and then escort Joffrey to one of the guest rooms in the red keep. Make sure he stays there!"

This time the guards around him reacted instantly, and as if he had never been their king, they snatched the crown from his head and handed it to Tywin. They then took him by his arms and started dragging him out of the room, all the whilst he was screaming and cursing them.

Although I was already declared king by Tywin before, that had merely been in the presence of the random soldiers that was filling the throne room at the time.

Everyone of importance in the castle had long since joined the spectacle. This time, as Tywin kneeled before me and repeated the oath of fealty, there could be no doubt. He presented me with the crown of the seven kingdoms on his knees to the amazement of everyone there.

The room was frozen in awe, but after the first soldiers began kneeling, it started a chain reaction and soon every person in the hall were on the ground with their heads bowed.

Even the two golden guards had submitted to the new king after sensing the shift in mood.

I took the crown with my left hand and studied it a bit. It was a simple yet elegant design of stag antlers made from gold, but even if I had expected it, I was utterly disappointed with the crown of the seven kingdoms.

It was just a useless piece of metal. This represented the greatest power in the current era, and there was nothing special about it. That was certainly going to change.

The crowd slowly began looking up from their kneeling position, waiting for me to take off the helmet and place the crown on my head. But I didn't. I held it up with my hand and focused on it. Slowly it started turning red, then white, and then it started distorting in my hand.

A small stream of thick golden liquid ran through my fingers and splatted on the ground. It didn't hurt me at all of course. Any true born Valyrian would have an innate immunity to extreme heat.

I let my gaze flow over the now further shocked kneeling onlookers in the hall.

"Along with this crown, dies the old era of the seven kingdoms. I shall usher in a new one. It is time for this kingdom to take the next step on the path to greatness. We shall not only rival the empire of Valyria, but surpass it. I will show you riches beyond your imagination, I shall share with you the secrets and wonders of magic, and I shall make the skies once again, fill with dragons. I hereby make a vow to you, that from this moment, I will not rest until the seven kingdoms of Westeros become the greatest kingdom to have ever existed." I said loudly, my voice echoing in the hall.
It was a speech that would have made me puke in the past, but now I thought I might as well try to reinforce my role as a golden savior as much as possible.

The utter silence in the hall was broken by Tywin, who stood up and shouted "Long live the king!", and the room came out of its trance, before everyone repeated the words, loudly!

The air around the new king seemed to almost shimmer and for a moment and half the people there could have sworn that the blue eyes in the cold metallic mask were glowing.

The king's quarters were still filled with the former king's stuff. Empty cages of various sizes were stacked in small piles along a wall in the room, and I had to admit I couldn't figure out what they were doing here. It was a nice room though. It was big and designed in a simplistic yet pleasing manner. It was nothing compared to the white marble rooms of home, but it had a certain comforting charm to it.

The balcony overlooking the city from the red keep was my favorite part though, and I especially relished the feeling of finally living higher in the air again. From my former quarters I was high above almost everything else, looking down at the world as if it all belonged to me.

I could feel worry and annoyance radiating of Ragni since we yet again, were separated for the night. He had been trained since his hatching, to always stay near and watch over me, so the fact that he had to leave me alone in this ugly place full of weird, filthy people was starting to anger him.

In the army camp he could watch over me during the night at least, but here he would wreck the building if he landed. The city of King's Landing would have been ash before morning if I hadn't held him back. To him, none of this made any sense. These savage people below him were nothing more than bugs in his eyes and we had never cared for them in the past.

I spotted him easily in the starry night sky, circling above me as closely as possible without crashing into one of the towers.

"Relax brother, I will be fine. There should be a place for you to rest within the city. It is called the dragon pit and though it is a ruin, I think there should be plenty of space for you." I sent him in a voice as disarming as possible.

Irritated. Angry.

"Yeah, I know. I'll find a solution quickly as possible, even if I have to build it myself." I sent back in an attempt to console him.

Confusion. Here. Why.

I sighed to myself before I responded: "This is all that is left. These people we once looked at with distain, is all that is left of civilization. Everything else has broken into pieces and descended into chaos after our home burned. If we want anything to be as it was before, we must build it ourselves, right here."

Understand. Sad.

"I am sad too. We have to look forward though. The two of us are the last hope for this world, or else we risk that both magic and your kind disappear forever." I sent back, though I could still feel the sting from the fresh wound I had received after finding out my family was dead.

Despite my reassurance, Ragni didn't leave the air above me for the entire night. Even after I placed a ward on the only entrance to the room, that would turn anyone who entered without permission into fine grey powder, he still wouldn't leave.

I woke up the next day to the sound of faint shouts from the city below me. Wearing nothing but a pair of silk pants I walked to the balcony and looked down at the source of the noise. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and there were hardly any clouds. I could see hundreds of people scuffling about with their business.

Ribbons of cloth were raised up on wooden sticks along the streets. Hastily made crowns of flowers and other decorative ornaments were placed all over the city. In a larger city square with a direct path leading to the red keep (where Ned Stark was executed), a huge wooden platform was being hastily built.

I had put all of this in motion before I left the throne hall last night. It was for my formal coronation, even if it was my third.

Despite the enormous hassle and unnecessary hurry, I insisted it was done as quickly as possible, today.

By now, the Lannister soldiers would have already spread the rumors of my "heroic" deed last night, and not to mention my enormous dragon. The fact that I burned more than a thousand of their fellow soldiers would be completely forgotten in the drunken ecstasy of victory last night.

The painful memories would come back later though, which was also why the coronation was happening today. The main reason however, was because right at this moment, whilst the Lannister army was still camped outside the city, my grip on the throne was strongest.

Another thing was, that despite their unwillingness to help the former king last night, most of the nobles here still didn't recognize me as king. They hadn't experienced the soul crushing terror that was Ragnirion's wrath after all. Which is why I had to be formally crowned before they had time to plan anything.

The hour was still quite early in the morning, but I put on a simple set of everyday clothes, of a Valyrian noble standard of course, then I deactivated my ward and left the room.

I had no idea where I was going, but it wasn't long before I ran into two chatting maids that gasped loudly when they saw me. In a panicked and confused manner, they managed to explain where Lord Tywin Lannister was located, before they bowed their heads and apologized again and again for their rudeness.

In Valyria the maids were trained since their childhood and would never betray such emotions. I found I quite liked it though, and I laughed and smiled as I told them it was quite alright.

With their faces blushing furiously, they hurried onwards, but I laughed to myself again, because I could hear them burst into furious conversation, long before they came out of earshot.

Tywin's office was filled with people when I got to it, standing around in small circles, loudly arguing with one another. The man himself was buried in a pile of letters, writing as fast as was humanly possible with a quill. I could imagine the administrative nightmare a new king appearing from one day to the next might be.

My presence wasn't noticed immediately, but one of the men in conversation looked up from the paper he held in his hand and went silent. Soon all the others followed, as they saw the odd figure standing amongst them.

The silence was broken by Tywin who simply said. "Get out. All of you." And before, we were the only two remaining.

He gave a courteous bow, and I studied him for a bit. He had changed clothes since I saw him last night, but it was obvious he hadn't slept.

I gestured for him to sit down, but I remained on my feet. He then asked me in a perfectly calm voice: "Might I ask what causes you to bless me with your presence, your grace."

"I trust everything is going to plan, and that I shall be officially crowned today." I said whilst studying some of the objects that was displayed on his desk.

Tywin answered simply "Of course, your grace." Obviously waiting to hear the real reason I came here.

"Good. I understand it is the tradition for the rule of the seven kingdoms to have someone serve as their hand. I believe, that judging from what I have heard and seen with my own eyes, you suit this position better than anyone." I said as I studied his expression.

Hearing this, even Tywin couldn't completely hide the relief that washed over him. He quickly composed himself and answered: "You honor me beyond words, your grace. I shall do anything you wish of me to serve you."

"Good." I answered simply, as a smile found its way to my face. I continued:

"There is however, something you have to do before we can move forward from here."

I brushed the letters on the desk aside to make room. I then lightly tapped the bag at my side, before two papers appeared on the table before Tywin. One looked just like the one Robb Stark had signed not many days ago, but the other one was different. It was far more detailed and complicated. The text was much smaller and there was far more of it. Likewise, the lightly glowing red runes on the paper was far more intricate and detailed.

Tywin was far more apprehensive than the young warden of the north had been, and as he studied the papers before him, his faced turned more and more pale. He kept a dignified appearance as he studied the contracts before him, but I could see his thoughts racing in his head.

He opened his mouth to speak but I spoke first: "These were part of the foundation of the Valyrian empire. I promise you they have been used for thousands of years and are perfectly safe."

Tywin didn't betray a touch of emotion before he looked up and asked. "Might I ask what they are, your grace?"

I nodded to him and spoke again: "They are different contracts of servitude. The simpler looking one, is a standard contract of vassalage. If you sign it, it will not affect you in any way, other than make sure you cannot disobey a direct order and take any treasonous actions. It will extend to only you, but it will last your entire lifetime."

The misery Tywin was feeling was becoming more and more evident. I had no illusions about the man though. Even if he had acted as a perfect servant until now, I knew that was simply because of the immediate threat of death. If he got the chance, he would betray me in a heartbeat. Tywin was a master of scheming and political maneuvering. I would be surprised if he didn't already have several plans in place to secretly undermine me, and increase his own influence. Even if he couldn't beat me in a straight battle, with his grip on the kingdom he could make me dependent on him for various other things, such as gold, food or simply influence over the people.

These magical documents were something entirely foreign. He had no idea what would actually happen if he surrendered himself to the mercy of this foreign sorcerer who had appeared out of nowhere. No planning, wealth or influence could possibly help him now, and he knew it.

"And the second one?" He asked, forgetting his manners. Completely consumed by his own thoughts.

"The second one is a bit more complex. It doesn't just prevent betrayal, it compels you to, partially serve my what you perceive to be my interests. It doesn't mean you cannot further your own house, but only if it is with the intention of increasing your power to serve me. This is the traditional contract that the head of lesser noble houses of Valyria would sign once they swore servitude to a great family. Finally, it doesn't just extend to your life. To become head of the Lannister house in the future, the successor must inherit the contract to be officially recognized. To major Valyrian houses, the title of successor has a more profound meaning than here, but I will explain that in a minute." I explained to the stunned man before me.

He tore his gaze away from me and looked at the documents on the table again. I continued:

"If you sign the first one, you will retain you title as warden of the west and head of the Lannister family, but you must leave the capital and return to Casterly rock. Should you choose the second one, I shall name you hand of the king. The Lannister family would forever be known as the king's right hand, and you would be responsible for managing the kingdom on a daily basis, as you have done in the past. You are free to pick yourself, but I am afraid you have to pick one."

Tywin simply sat in his chair, looking at the two papers in front of him. He couldn't understand a word of what was written, and much less make any sense of the strange magic runes that was written on the papers. A significant amount of time passed in silence, before Tywin spoke again:

"Your grace. What did you mean when you said the title of successor has a more profound meaning in Valyria?" His eyes never leaving the contracts.

"That is because the control is handed over to the head of the house." I answered in a light tone.

Tywin followed up. "Control of what?"

A heavy thump sounded on the table and Tywin finally lifted his gaze, to look up at what made the noise. The sight of a mesmerizing golden egg greeted him.