Dragonstone (48 AC)

Rhaena Targaryen

"Mother, please stop pacing and sit down. You were the one who begged father to put an end to this madness. There is no point in being nervous now."

I turn around to see my youngest son Daneal's face sporting a smirk as he closes the book he had been reading and looks towards the window. On the other side my eldest twins Aurea and Rhea who were chatting, stop their discussion and turn to face me.

"I wish I was there to watch the duel. Songs and ballads are going to be sung about it by bards for decades, maybe even centuries. I don't understand why father forbade us to leave Dragonstone."

Daneal's twin Samael responded to his brother and moved closer to the window. When did he enter the room? I didn't sense him enter the room at all. I must be losing my touch. My agitated state is not helping either. It was rather rare for the four to be gathered under one roof these days. The boys usually were busy with helping their father at Stepstones and Rhea had just returned back from the Citadel a few moons ago. Her skill at 'Shapeshifting' apparently made it ok for her to infiltrate the citadel as an acolyte.

This madness, as Danny eloquently stated, started five moons ago when my mother convinced Lord Baratheon to announce my brother Jaehaerys' claim to the Iron Throne. King Maegor has been losing support of the Lords of major houses and mother had assumed that this would be the perfect time to announce the claim so that the rebelling Lords would have a focus to gather around and eventually stage a coup. Initially even I assumed that this would be the end of Maegor's cruel reign. When my husband, Prince Rhaegor heard the news he laughed for five minutes straight and when he regained his composure asked me the question that sent a cold shiver down my spine.

"You know they are all going to get slaughtered right?"

He signed and continued, "I assumed your mother would have learned her lesson after goading Aegon to his death and being partly responsible for Viserys' death. Do you honestly think we need the support of these sniveling Lords? When they have a dragon that can challenge Balerion then we can talk about a true rebellion. Vermithor would need at least 10 more years before Balerion even considers him as not a bug to be squashed."

True to his statement, based on the report of the battle we received later, the Lords who had been expecting Maegor's forces saw only the Black Dread fly towards them from the horizon. Eventually as the magnificent beast came closer it cast a shadow covering nearly one third of the gathered rebel forces. It was a slaughter. Balerion toyed with both Vermithor and Silverwing. The King took great care to not kill anyone important. With Jaehaerys and Alyssane captured, King Maegor demanded the Lords for their unconditional surrender. He even pointed out that he would be glad to re-enact the Field of Fire from the Conquest if they wanted a history lesson.

When my husband heard the news he just chuckled and replied with a smug face, "I told you so." I hate that smug face.

I was frantic and panicking. I had already lost Aegon and Viserys to mother's schemes, and I didn't want Jaehaerys to be the third brother to lose to my uncle/goodbrother. Then it got worse when Rhaegor told me with a frown that apparently the scattered remnants of the Faith Militant that had gone dormant, since the series of events Rhaegor fondly calls 'The Smackdown', had also joined forces with the rebel lords. I was enraged. I still didn't want my brother, sister or mother to be killed by King Maegor but allying with the fanatics that were responsible for the death of her husband and previous king was not something I expected my mother to do.

Rhaegor was nonchalant about the whole issue stating, "Your brother and sister are safe. Your mother on the other hand I don't know what to do with that woman. She lost my respect when she encouraged Aegon to rebel against Maegor and when she fled Dragonstone with Jaehaerys and Alysanne while attempting to steal my sword, she gained my enmity. Now with this rebellion she has become a nagging headache. If she wasn't family I would have already killed her and gotten rid of that headache."

I cringed internally when he brought up the Dark Sister incident. However, Rhaegor agreed to help mediate terms with the rebel Lords and the King. At the council in King's landing, King Maegor announced Jaehaerys as his heir to the throne. The gathered Lords now had a faint glimmer of hope that they would see mercy and not fall victim to the King's rage. That however quickly ended going south with King Maegor demanding every Seven Pointed Star in Westeros to be burnt to even start negotiating terms with the rebellious Lords.

Rhaegor wanted to disband the Faith Militant and wanted to institute the policy he called 'Separation of Church and State' which would kill any political power the Faith would have on the Crown or any of the kingdoms. Maegor wanted to kill it but Rhaegor wanted to neuter it. Somehow the argument between them ended up with Maegor and Rhaegor having a duel at the 'Arena of Kings' with the winner's terms accepted for the settlement. Either way the Faith and the Lords were getting shafted but the difference between total annihilation and total humiliation depended on this duel.

When I heard about it I was reminded of the nickname my father fondly used on the twins during their childhood, 'The Idiot Duo'. It wasn't as exaggerated as I thought it would be. Deciding the fate of the realm on a duel? Idiots.

Rhaegor had outright refused to allow any of the family to come see the duel and ordered them to stay in Dragonstone. I have seen Rhaegor and Maegor in their swordplay practice when I was younger and the only way I would describe it is 'A dance steel and sparks'. They haven't dueled since Maegor's ascension to King and this is also going to be a serious duel. I don't think they will use magic else they would probably destroy the Arena. Thank heavens their dragons are not involved. Balerion and Vhagar fighting over King's Landing is not what you want if you live in that place.

The Duel was supposed to take place at dawn today and assuming things went smoothly Rhaegor should be back anytime now. The fate of the realm rests on a sword duel. As I was lost in thoughts I heard Sammy exclaim "I see Vhagar, father is back"

I looked out of the window to see the silhouette get bigger. All five of us rushed down to welcome him back.

As Vhagar landed I was able to see that something was not right. Rhaegor was sweating. I have seen the man stand inches away from Dragonfire and not break a single drop of sweat.

"What happened?" I ask as our sons help him off Vhagar.

He takes a few steps muttering "Faceless Men, Poison"

We walk into the castle and we reach the solar. Aurea closes the door and lets out a wave of energy saying, "The room is secure."

Rhea feels his pulse and asks him, "Did you find out what was used."

Rhaegor responds with a weary sigh, "Manticore venom, magically altered for our bodies."

Rhea face goes pale at the information and asks him "How long do you have?"

I don't like that question. He has been poisoned plenty of times and always shakes it off with a laugh. Even magical ones at worst I seen cause him to throw up his meals. I start to panic.

"What do mean by that? It is not the first time he has been a target of assassins," I ask my daughter with my voice rising.

Rhaegor responds saying "Maegor is dead."

I gasp and hear 4 more gasps around me. If someone or something could kill Maegor it could kill Rhaegor too. I should have been there. What were the fucking Kingsguard doing?

"I won the duel and we were both exhausted. The assassins struck at that moment. Our bodies with our bloodlines activated are resistant to almost all poisons and diseases but I guess I just found out the limitation to our resistance today. Maegor's killer struck his heart and killed him instantly. The poison had been altered to quicken its effects magically. My killer only managed a cut on my arm. I'm guessing the resistances were weakened due to exhaustion of our energy. Even now I can feel the poison burning towards my heart and my body doing everything to stop it. If I focus I can prolong it for about a moon's turn maybe two."

No. No. No. This is not how it was supposed to be. He can't die. I won't let him. I will burn the entire world if I have to.

I can see my children also seething. Danny asks "Who?"

Rhaegor chuckles and responds "Based on what I pulled from the thoughts of my killer. The contractor called himself a 'Representative of Westeros' and essentially spoke for all the Kingdoms under Targaryen rule. It was an obvious false flag."

He looks at me and smiles "Braavos must really hate our tolls at the Stepstones. That seemed to be the agreement. No help from Westeros when Braavos attempts to stop our operations there."

Sammy snorts back "I would like Braavos to try attacking us in the Stones. It has been a while since Sylvanas got to burn a fleet."

There was a knock on the door and Aurea opened the door and revealing Ser Eric Waters, Lord Commander of the Knights of the Silver Hand.

"Lord Commander was my prediction true?" Rhaegor asks him with his infuriating smug smile. I hate that smile. You are dying for fucks sake.

The Commander's face tenses up. He replies, "Your Grace, indeed it was. We were able to capture the entire group. They were indeed sent to burn down the castle and try killing your family. If we hadn't taken the precautions you asked us to, they would have succeeded and might have even killed the Princess and the children" Who? What? Where?

"Leave us Lord Commander. I need some time alone with my family. I will come meet with your prisoners once I'm done here".

"Yes your grace." Ser Waters leaves after a short bow. Aurea closes the door and seals it again.

I feel like something is not right. He is way too calm and smug for a man dying. "YOU. You are dying and you are behaving like it is just another day. You should no longer be exhausted so your resistances must be working against the poison. Then Ser Waters claims there was a near successful attempt on our family. Explain. What is going on?" I ask poking my finger on his chest.

Rhaegor sighs and starts explaining "Today was supposed to be a trap that Maegor and I were planning since Jae's claim was announced."

Aurea asks the question on everyone's mind "Trap for what?"

"Viserys' murderer"

I'm confused. "Didn't your brother kill him in retaliation for my mother's stupidity during the Dark Sister incident?"

He starts laughing "No my dear, my brother and I are idiots maybe, not kinslayers. Viserys was murdered by Tyanna."

He continues "I see you are still confused. Rhea what does the essence of Darkshade do?"

The what of what? Rhea ponders for a moment and then realization hits her face. She replies "Everyday intake would make you susceptible to anger and make you go into bouts of rage. I'm assuming Tyanna was magically altering it."

Rhaegor smiles and replies "Maegor realized that something was wrong when all his children were stillborn or deformed. The idiot assumed that he was cursed by something. With me denouncing all claims for the throne he started grooming Viserys for the throne. Viserys was supposed to inherit Blackfyre. So tell me now is there a reason for him to kill Viserys for your mother's attempt to steal Dark Sister? He was going through the process of helping unlock Viserys' bloodline. Viserys was murdered before it was completed. At that time I assumed my idiot brother went too far in a training bout and the wounds festered and killed him"

"Maegor was a muscle head but was not a rage monster like how he was perceived by everyone. Killing and maiming his unborn kids and making him go into fits of rage during court. This was a planned sabotage. The murder of Ceryse Hightower was what made me take a closer look. He didn't show it but he loved that woman and wouldn't have ordered her death even if she slandered him in public. Hell she did it a lot when they were separated. She found out about Tyanna and the people behind and was silenced".

"Who would do such a terrible thing"? I ask feeling disgusted. Killing children is a vile sin worthy of eternal damnation.

"Well that was the purpose of the trap. Our suspects include the entirety of Westeros nobility barring most of the Northerners. The main suspects however were the Maesters of the Citadel".

Wait? What? Why? How? He looks at my face chuckles and continues.

"The Maesters since the establishment of the Citadel have hoarded knowledge and power." After a pause he continues, "Now is a time to reveal a secret about me that only my mother knew."

He points to our children and asks "You have been studying various facets of magic and our bloodline for years. What do you know of the High Valyrian term 'Old Soul'?"

Aurea responds "A soul who has experienced multiple lifetime of experiences in a single one?"

"Close, but not completely correct. After death our souls apparently wander the multiverse looking for a suitable host to be reborn into. Typically the process takes too long that all memories of previous life are forgotten and you start fresh. Sometime in extremely rare cases you find your host fast enough that you retain your memories of previous life. That is an 'Old Soul'."

What the fuck? "Are you telling me you are a reborn soul with memories?"

There is his smug smile again "Yes love, I died when I was 35 years old in my previous life, in my previous world and I was reincarnated here".

The children start bombarding him with questions about his previous life while I take a moment to think. Everything fits. Their weird courtship. His weird words. His fondness for his mother over his father. His knowledge of unheard and unknown magic. His ridiculous thought process. Holy shit. Even that phrase was something I picked up from him. It still doesn't explain what he said.

"How does this relate to the maesters?" I ask during a pause between the children's questions.

"In my previous world we went from current Westeros level of technology to constructs that could take people to the moon within 800 years. So with the 8000 year of history since the Age of Heroes the best advancement Westeros had been during Andal, Rhoynish and Targaryen invasions. Rhea's mission was to investigate the citadel to find proof of this, unfortunately the grey rats are clean. So there is someone from the outside influencing the citadel or a group within that Rhea couldn't infiltrate."

Rhea snorts, "I don't think there is a place I can't infiltrate."

Rhaegor replies with a smirk, "Like there is no poison that would kill me?"

I just stand there with my brain frozen at this information. "Why?"

"When technology advances, quality of life for the smallfolk increases, the Lords gradually become irrelavent, power becomes distributed and the manipulators cannot control power as they do so now by manipulating the lords." He responds with a sigh. "It is what people in power do, they seek more power and refuse to let it go. Aegon, Viserys and your mother were all pawns because they couldn't manipulate us like the other nobles."

Danny asks, "So who held power in your previous world?"

"Before I answer that question there is something else you should know. My previous world had no magic or dragons."

Silence spread in the room for a few moments as the words sink into us.

"Then how do you know so much about magic theories and about dragons? You have knowledge that was lost to us since the Doom. Queen Visenya mentioned that your knowledge might even surpass the Valyrian Sorcerors." I blurt out and see him sporting an embarrassed smile.

He quickly composes himself and replies, "It is true that magic didn't exist but we had access to technology that could simulate magical worlds. I was responsible for the simulations of several such worlds. I'll explain about it later. My world's power was help by a group of extremely wealthy merchants working from behind the scenes and using the technologies the maester equivalents of our world develop to control the regular folk. I believe it is the same here. The maesters are puppets of this shadow group that want to remain in power."

Sammy quips up saying "So when do we go destroy the Citadel"?

Ah Sammy's solution to everything. Burn it with fire.

Rhaegor responds with a scoff, "Then what? Watch the entirety of Westeros turn against us for destroying 'The Beacon of Civilization'? No one would believe us and the place is well protected that the only option is a siege. Even with dragons the stuff we need is made up of parchment and we won't get anything if it is all burnt. Also we don't know if they are the culprits."

"Surely there is something we can do?"

"Yes leave this god forsaken place and don't look back."

"You mean just give up?"

Danny interrupts this back and forth saying "What father means is that we fight a battle that doesn't benefit us. If we win, we expose the citadel and the best we get is redemption for our uncles. Our knowledge in magic and technology far exceeds what the rats have in the tower. The ones we will be helping will hate us because they are sheep that follow other sheep and can't understand the mind of a dragon. On the other had if they are clean then we just wasted our reputation and time for nothing and give the real manipulators foreknowledge that we are looking for them".

That is a very well thought out answer. You are ten year old kid, you should be playing with swords and dragons not talk about war strategy and politics. What the hell is Rhaegor teaching these kids?

"I know. It's just that after all they have done to hurt our family it feels like we are giving up," Sammy responds with a frown.

Rhaegor then looks out of the window and tells them "As we are right now even with dragons we are not strong enough to take them on. When I die, you all will become easy targets. I call this a tactical retreat. Fall back shore up our weakness and strike when we are sure we have the advantage. Right now we don't even know who we are fighting against. They fucked up revealing their existence-"

"You are still dying," I put the damper on the heroic mood my stupid husband was trying to set interrupting him. "Can we not fix that first?" I ask, looking hopefully at my girls. They are the ones who know most about healing arts.

Rhea sighs and holds my hand "Mother, if the poison is progressing even with him not in his exhaustive state it means that the poison has adapted to his body and nothing we can do to change that. Antidotes are poisons that kill the poison. His body will reject any antidote that I try. His own body is slowly killing him from the inside. We could try to prolong his suffering to maybe a year or two. Do you really want to subject him to it?"

Always with your facts and logic. Not what I need at this moment.

"I'm sorry my loves. I messed up and I'm paying the price for it. I was arrogant and believed that I was invincible. Well now you all know that we have an issue with our bloodline we can work towards fixing it. As I always say the most intelligent people learn from other's mistakes."

Rhaegor beckons me towards him. I move forward and hug him tightly and I notice that I'm crying. There was a somber silence in the room.

Danny breaks it with the question, "What were you planning with the Lord Commander?"

Rhaegor strokes my hair and replies, "After the confrontation today my original plan was to kill whoever dared to harm our family and get the fuck out of this place move to Summer Isles or someplace nicer if we could find it and settle there. We have 6 dragons and boatloads of coin. We don't need to put up with the nonsense that is Westeros anymore. They can keep being frogs inside a well. I had already made arrangements in the Summer Isles. We would be isolated and we could develop our civilization from there like Old Valyria and eventually spread to Essos and maybe even Sothoryos if we become strong enough. However with how events shaped up today I realized that we are not strong enough to fight this group. Let's call them 'Entity'. We will have to retreat and hide while we build our strength and knowledge base for when we eventually face off against this Entity."