Cregan Stark was a giant of a man, Aegon had always thought as much, from the first moment he had seen him all those days ago. It had only been five days ago, and yet the man had left quite the impression. Aegon knew the man was leaving, having had his fill of King's Landing and the court. He was leaving with a wife as well. Alysanne Blackwood, Lord Benjicot's sister. Aegon was jealous. He wanted to leave King's Landing as well, but could not. Instead he had summoned Cregan Stark to his chambers to have one last talk with him.
"Your Majesty, how might I be of service?" Stark asked. His beard making his words sound a lot harsher than perhaps they were.
"For five days you have been my hand, and now you are returning northwards." Aegon said. "At first I did not like you, I had found you blunt, rude and coarse. I despised you for coming late." He remembered hearing how excited Jace had been at the thought of the northmen coming.
Stark did not looked surprised, if he was, he hid it well. "And now?"
"And now I think I understand you somewhat. I will certainly be sad to see you go."
"If Your Majesty has summoned me here to ask me to stay, I am afraid my answer remains the same. King's Landing is not for me. I wish to return home, to Winterfell." Stark said simply.
"And yet thousands of your men are going to remain here." Aegon said. "What sort of lord are you?"
He got the feeling that if he were not the King, Stark would've struck him then. And yet he was the King, and so Stark merely laughed. "I am a lord who does not want the people who are left in the north to suffer because their brothers, sons and fathers have returned. The winters in the north are far harsher than they are here. We need fewer mouths to feed, not more."
"So, you will leave them here?" Aegon demanded. "For us to feed and handle?"
"Your regents will handle the issue." Stark said dismissively.
"My hand should be handling this. Not some regents who I do not know." Aegon retorted.
He expected Stark to fire back at him, instead the man merely snorted. "You have spirit, I am glad to see that, Your Majesty. I had feared the war might have broken you."
Aegon thought about that and thought about seeing his mother being engulfed in flame and eaten, thought about Stormcloud being shot at and dying in pain. He thought about Jace and Luke dead fighting for Mother, and then he thought about Joff dead trying to protect Mother. And then there was Viserys dead because of him. He closed his eyes, and bit back tears. "I do not have the luxury of being broken. I am a King."
Stark nodded. "Then let me give you some advice, Sire." Aegon looked at the man. "You will have regents and they will try and use for their own purpose, they will abuse their power and the trust they expect from you. It will not be pleasant. That is why I have left Manderly here, so that at least there will be one truly loyal Black lord in this den of liars. You may trust him somewhat. But what you need to do is develop your own court. Your sisters are good enough, but you also need others. Blackwood would do well, as would the Tullys. You need men and boys who will be loyal to you above all else. Remember that."
"I know." Aegon said. He did not know if he could trust anyone. He remembered that Baela and Rhaena were his sisters, and he loved them for it, but he also remembered that father had preferred them to him, and then had betrayed Mother.
"Another thing." Stark said.
"Yes?" Aegon asked.
"You are a Targaryen. You do not have a dragon. You will need to find one. Whether you like it or not, to hold onto power, you must bond with a dragon." Cregan Stark said.
Aegon thought on that, remembered Stormcloud dying, his tears and then mother being eaten alive. He sighed. "I know."
"Do it before you are too old, and too broken." Stark.
Aegon nodded. "I will, thank you." Stark bowed his head, rose and walked out of the room.
Aegon waited a moment and then clapped his hands. Ser Regis Groves one of the new appointments to the Kingsguard appeared. "Sire?"
"Send word to Dragonstone, ask them to send eggs." Aegon commanded. He knew the man would tell the regents, but for now he wanted to believe he had power. The knight bowed and left. Aegon closed his eyes and dreamed of how things were before the war.