A Spare Dragon Chapter 3, an a song of ice and fire fanfic

Orys 1

Egg was being stupid; he was refusing to go to the lessons with Septa Lemore because that was "for girls." But father said they had to go to their lessons with Lemore and Haldon, and they had always been taught not to disobey their elders. It wasn't like Orys actually liked going to their lessons with Lemore; they were very boring, he preferred their lessons with Haldon. He loved tales of Daemon Blackfyre and Daeron the young Dragon. He honestly couldn't understand why Viserra actually liked the lessons with Lemore; maybe it was because she was a girl, maybe Egg had a point after all.

Orys looked out the window of the cabin he was in; the Rhoyne looked quiet and peaceful; you would have never guessed that his, Viserra's, and Egg's ancestors had burnt the people who lived here to cinders with Dragonfire. Haldon had always called him a grim child, but he wasn't grim; he was just realistic; the people of the world could do with a deal more realism, in his opinion. Viserra and Egg called him grumpy too, but weren't the sigil of their houses Dragons? He was of the opinion that Targaryens and Blackfyres should be grumpy.

He and Egg would always debate about which ancestor of there's was the best of their line. Aegon was of the opinion that Aegon the Conqueror and Jaehaerys, the conciliator, were the best. He said that Daemon and Daeron were both fools who waged short-lived wars and died foolish deaths. That had made Orys angry, and he had, nearly punched Egg in his stupid face. But Viserra stopped him before he could do that. Jon still punished him, though; he was confined to his cabin on the shy maid for two days to reflect on his wrongdoings.

That didn't mean that he didn't love Egg like a brother; however, he was strong and courageous, and he was always willing to lend him his ear when Orys was troubled. Orys was sure that Aegon would make a great King someday, and Viserra would make a great Queen, he was sure. But what would become of Orys when he grew up, and they retook what was stolen from them by the usurper and his dogs? Jon and Haldon said that he would be Aegon's hand of the king, but Orys thought that Jon would be a better choice. He was older, a lord if an exiled one, he had fought at the battle of the bells and with the Golden company, and he was experienced. The only things that were in Orys' favor were his education and his blood relation to Aegon.

And even his blood relation to Aegon was spoiled by the fact that he was a bastard. Polygamy had been outlawed by the conciliator, and there was no proof that Rhaegar had even married his mother nor that Aerys had legitimized him. Would the lords of Westeros truly accept a Targaryen bastard as the hand of the king? The last Targaryen bastard to be hand of the king was Bloodraven, and he was said to be a sorcerer and kinslayer, a bastard of the blackest blood. Egg had always reassured him that he was his brother, no matter if his name were Waters or Targaryen, but Orys often wondered if his opinion would change if Orys happened to outpace him in the skills that Daemon Blackfyre was superior to Daeron the good in.

Jon and Aegon had told him that he would likely be legitimized after they took their throne back, there were only three Targaryens in the world, and the more heirs Aegon had, the better. Orys was always afraid that Aegon would come to see him as a threat, which was why Orys had always allowed Aegon to win when they sparred, Aegon was a good swordsman, but Orys knew he was better even if he was a year younger than him. Aegon was a better commander, though, at least if the way he took to Haldon's lessons on Warcraft and the skill at which he played cyvasse were any indication.

Viserra was weird; she liked needlework and dresses and seemed to have no interest in fighting, even if Jon would ever let a girl learn to fight in the first place. He had offered to teach her how to fight in secret once, and she had only giggled in that sing-song voice of hers and had said that she had better things to do than hit him with a stick. An interest they did share, however, was music, Viserra was useless at the harp, but Orys had always had a natural talent for it, something that he had inherited from his father or so Jon had always said, and Viserra would sing songs as Orys played his harp.

His teachers were nice too; Duck, who was a Knight of the Golden Company that Jon had recruited to teach him and Aegon the sword, was gallant and a good master-at-arms. Jon liked him the best out of all their teachers. Lemore was a kind woman who was practically their mother, she was always patient with him as she taught him the mysteries of the faith, but she did always despair over his short-temper, as she named it. Haldon Halfmaestar was as good a Maestar as any despite only being half of one, and he taught them their sums, and figures, and their history. He had always said that he and Aegon were great students.

Jon was practically their father since their father was dead. It was Jon who had brought them on a trip to Pentos to teach them how to ride horses. It was Jon who had carved them crude wooden toys himself when they were young. It was Jon who had given him his harp when he had expressed an interest in music. It was Jon who had bought Aegon his own cyvasse board and pieces after he had asked for them.

They were also close with Illyrio, Viserra's father. The Monstrously fat man was like a grandfather to them. He often sent them gifts, much like Jon. He sent them new clothes, bought Orys some books about his mother's Homeland, and sent Aegon a cyvasse instructor at one point, although the instructor thought that he was teaching some sellsword's whelp how to play cyvasse, not the true heir to the Iron throne. He also gave Viserra a pet cat, but they had to send it back to Illyrio after it got sick too often; it wasn't well suited to the Rhoyne.

Orys snapped himself out of his ramblings as he went to look for Aegon. He found Aegon where he knew he'd find him, playing against himself with his cyvasse board and pieces in his room. He was too concentrated on his game with himself to notice Orys entering his room. He finally noticed him when Orys walked up to stand next to where he was sitting.

"You need to stop refusing to go to Lemore's lessons, they're important, and Jon will whip your hide when he gets back and finds out that you've been shirking your lessons on the faith."

"I don't care! We don't even learn anything useful anyway; she doesn't even teach us about the politics of the faith! She leaves that to Haldon! She just teaches us about the different feast days and holidays, and I don't see the usefulness in that!"

Orys shook his head. "Have Jon and Haldon taught you nothing Egg? What do you think the faith would say if their King didn't even know when the feast days and holidays of their faith were?"

Egg crossed his arms and pouted. "Why do you even care? You mostly sleep through her lessons anyway. The only one who actually likes Lemore's lessons is Viserra."

Orys stomped his foot on the ground, startling Egg. "I do not! Take that back!"

Egg, quickly recovering from his shock, stuck his tongue out at him. "No, it's a sin to tell a lie after all!"

That was it; that was the last straw. Orys growled and threw himself at Egg, knocking him and his cyvasse board over, spilling the cyvasse pieces onto the ground. He began hitting Egg on his stupid face, once, twice, three times. Egg threw him off and got on top of him, and began hitting him on his face in retaliation.

Orys rolled over onto his side and began elbowing Egg in his face; that was how Lemore found them.

"What in the seven's name is going on here, young men?!"

They disentangled themselves and stood up; even after previously beating each other up, they still had the grace to look contrite.

They apologized together. "We are sorry, Septa Lemore."

Septa Lemore crossed her arms over her chest. "I rather doubt that you are, now what were you, two fool boys, fighting over?"

Orys answered first, as he always did in situations like this one. "I told him that he has to go back to your lessons, Septa Lemore."

Lemore chuckled and turned to look at Aegon. "And why do you hate my lessons so much, young man?"

Aegon nervously shifted from one foot to the other, seemingly ready to run away, even though there weren't any places to hide from their teachers on this pole boat. "They're so boring, and I don't understand why I even need to learn about all his boring stuff about the faith and its mysteries. How will this be useful for my conquest of Westeros or my reign over the seven Kingdoms?"

Lemore shook her head and gave Aegon a disappointed look; Egg seemed to crumple under that look. Aegon may have hated Lemore's lessons, but he loved Lemore like a mother; they all did. "Aegon, have you learned nothing, the faith controls more than half of your future Kingdoms! How do you think they'd feel if their King didn't even know the difference between the feast day of the Smith and the feast day o the Maiden?"

Aegon and Orys began to laugh.

"What's so funny."

Aegon pointed at Orys. "Orys said the exact same thing!"

Lemore chuckled and then pointed a finger toward her head, and then pointed the same finger toward Orys. "Great minds think alike."

Orys puffed his chest out in pride, just as Jon had taught him.

Lemore chuckled at that. "Oh, stop it with that smug look of yours, Orys; it makes you look constipated."

Orys pouted. "It does not!"

Lemore smiled fondly. "Sure, Orys, whatever you say."

"Anyway, boys, can any of you tell me why someone would pray to the stranger."

Orys knew the answer to this question. "You'd never pray to the stranger unless someone you cared for was at risk of dying, and you were beseeching the stranger to pass them by."

Lemore clapped her hands together in delight. "Very good Orys, now Aegon, can you tell me which god is associated with each day."

Aegon answered slowly at first, but he slowly gained confidence as he realized he was getting the answers right "There are seven days of the week each for one of the seven gods. The first day of the week is the day of the maiden, the second day of the week is the day of the smith, the third day of the week is the day of the warrior, the fourth day of the week is the day of the father, the fifth day of the week is the day of the mother, the sixth day of the week is the day of the crone and the seventh day of the week is the day of the stranger."

Lemore smiled at him and clapped her hands once again, clearly pleased. "Very good, Aegon, now why don't you two get yourselves cleaned up and then go see Haldon, it's about time for your lessons today."

Aegon and Orys cleaned themselves up, hopefully erasing most of the signs of their fight earlier, and headed toward Haldon's chambers which he also used for their lessons. On the way there, they ran into Viserra, who was also heading to Haldon's rooms for lessons.

Viserra frowned at them and pointed a finger into Aegon's chest. "What have you two hooligans been doing? The entire pole boat heard you're little squabble. I can't have my betrothed and my future good brother acting like baseborn savages."

Aegon blushed; the idea of one day marrying Viserra had always embarrassed him.

Orys envied Aegon; he thought that Viserra was beautiful, he'd always thought so, for a long time, he had been unable to even speak to Viserra without blushing like a green boy or an innocent maid.

It was just another example of how Aegon was going to get everything while he was left with nothing.

It was Orys who answered. "Well, technically speaking, I am baseborn, so this was to be expected."

Viserra had the grace to look guilty. "Well, I don't mean like you Orys, I mean more like those lowly savages up North."

"My mother was one of those lowly Northern savages."

"But wasn't she a whore who seduced your father?"

If Viserra wasn't a girl, he would've given her what he gave Aegon or worse. The subject of his mother was a touchy subject. She had been betrothed to the usurper before he was the usurper, but she had thrown away a prestigious and luxurious marriage that would've seen her becoming the Lady of Storm's end to become a Prince's mistress and later gave birth to his bastard son, Orys. It was an unfair thing to do to Aegon's mother and Aegon and their half-sister Rhaenys themselves. Jon had made it clear to him that his mother and his Northern kin, who had supported the usurper against the house that had graciously spared them during the conquest, were not to be admired. Orys could not help but agree with Jon, Baratheon, Arryn, Stark, and Tully had legitimate grievances against the mad king, but they went too far when they usurped the house that they owed everything to. Jon also did not like Elia nor Aegon's Martell kin, but he rarely elaborated on why.

Orys, Aegon, and Viserra walked to Haldon's cabin, and Aegon knocked on the door to alert Haldon to their arrival for their lessons.

"Come in."

Aegon opened up the door and walked into the cabin; Viserra and Orys followed him into Haldon's cabin.

"Are you ready for your lessons?"

Aegon was the one who answered him; he loved his lessons with Haldon. "Of course we are, Maestar Haldon!"

Haldon chuckled. "I am not a Maestar young one; I am merely half of one."

Half a meastar he may be, but Haldon was as good a Maestar as any Maestar that served the lords and King of the seven kingdoms. He knew his history and his raven craft, he could heal, and he knew other Maestar arts as well.

It was Orys who offered a retort. "Half a Maestar is good enough for us."

Haldon shook his head fondly. "Thank you, children; I am grateful for your eagerness to learn from me, truly."

Aegon, Orys, and Viserra sat down before Haldon Halfmaestar, listening attentively for any lessons he might impart onto them.

"What precedent was set by the council of 101 AC?"

It was Aegon who answered Haldon, ever eager to please as always. "That a woman cannot inherit before a man."

Haldon nodded, pleased. " Orys, what was the cause of the Dance of the Dragons?"

"The Greens crowned Viserys I's trueborn firstborn son over his chosen successor Rhaenyra."

Haldon scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Your ancestor, what do you three think of her?"

It was Aegon who answered him. "She was a usurper and an adulteress."

Viserra disagreed. "She wasn't a usurper; the King chose her as his heir."

Orys objected to that. "But if the King can modify the succession in whatever way he wants, then why do we even have succession laws?"

Aegon nodded at him sagely, while Viserra simply stuck her tongue out at him in annoyance.

Haldon added his two groats. "It is true that the King chose her as his successor, but at the time, he had no sons, and it looked like that his dastardly brother might become King, and daughters come before uncles under Andal law besides, so the lords were happy to recognize Rhaenyra's claim. But then the King remarried, and his wife proved fertile, giving him three healthy sons. And under Andal law, a son comes before a daughter in the order of succession."

Viserra remained obstinate. "But the King refused to make Aegon his chosen successor; instead, he insisted that Rhaenyra should succeed him."

Haldon nodded. "But one could argue that doing so was a great injustice to his sons and that the oaths that Viserys had made his lords swear were no longer valid."

Viserra shook her head, ever stubborn. "I still think that Rhaenyra was the rightful heir."

Haldon chuckled. "You are a true lady Viserra; it is only expected that you would side with another woman of the blood of the Dragon in this debate. But Rhaenyra was no proper woman; she cuckolded her husband and passed off her bastards as trueborn Velaryons. She was a wanton whore and a villain if there ever was one."

Viserra looked away, defeated. "If you say so Maestar Haldon…"

"I'm not a Maestar Viserra."

Orys offered a retort. "But you might as well be one."

Haldon chuckled. "I suppose I am Orys; I suppose I am. Now, you and Aegon need to go up deck to train with Rolly. And Viserra needs to go and learn the womanly arts from Lemore."

Jon and Aegon exited the cabin; they walked up deck where Rolly Duckfield was waiting for them.

If Jon was their father and Lemore their mother, then Rolly was their older brother.

One by one, Rolly tossed a practice sword to them, and they both caught them.

Rolly smirked. "So, what are you lads waiting for? Hit me."

And try to hit them, they did.

Aegon attempted to slash Rolly across the chest with his practice sword, but Rolly managed to parry the blow.

Orys attempted a slash of his own, although this slash was aimed at the head and not the chest, but Rolly managed to sidestep his blow.

'Rolly has always been light on his feet, ' Orys thought.

Aegon attempted a thrust towards Rolly's chest, but Rolly managed to parry the thrust and then responded with a blow of his own, which Aegon managed to parry.

Orys attempted a thrust of his own, which was also aimed at Rolly's chest, but once again, Rolly managed to parry the attack and be responded with an attack of his own, an overhead slash, which Orys managed to parry.

Aegon attempted an overhead slash of his own, but Rolly managed to parry the blow, and then he responded with a thrust towards Aegon's chest, which Aegon managed to parry.

Orys attempted a slash at Rolly's chest, but the hedge knight managed to sidestep the blow, and he responded with a slash of his own towards Orys' head, which Orys managed to parry.

Aegon attempted a slash at Rolly's chest as well, but their instructor managed to parry the blow; then, he responded with a thrust towards Aegon's chest, which Aegon managed to parry.

Orys attempted a thrust towards Rolly's chest, but Rolly managed to parry the blow, then he responded with a thrust of his own towards Orys' chest, which Orys managed to parry.

Aegon attempted a slash at Rolly's head, but Rolly managed to parry it with his sword, then he responded by attempting a slash at Aegon's chest, which Aegon managed to parry with his own sword.

Orys attempted his own slash at Rolly's head, but Rolly managed to parry it with his sword, then he responded with a slash at his head of his own, which Orys managed to parry with his own sword.

Aegon attempted a slash at Rolly's chest, but Rolly managed to parry the blow with his sword, then he responded with a slash at Aegon's chest of his own, which Aegon managed to parry with his own sword.

Orys attempted a thrust at Rolly's chest, but Rolly managed to parry the blow with his sword, then he responded with a thrust at Orys' chest of his own, which Orys managed to parry with his own sword.

Aegon attempted a thrust of his own at Rolly's chest, but Rolly managed to parry the blow with his sword, then he responded with a thrust at Aegon's chest of his own, which Aegon managed to parry with his own sword.

Orys attempted a slash at Rolly's chest, but Rolly managed to parry the blow with his sword, then he responded with a thrust at Orys' chest of his own, which Orys managed to parry with his own sword.

Aegon attempted a slash at Rolly's chest of his own, but Rolly managed to parry the blow with his sword, then he responded with a slash at Aegon's chest of his own, which Aegon managed to parry with his own sword.

Orys attempted a slash at Rolly's head, but Rolly managed to parry the blow with his sword, then he responded with a slash at Orys' head of his own, which Orys managed to parry with his own sword.

Aegon attempted a slash at Rolly's head of his own, but Rolly managed to parry the blow with his sword, then he responded with a slash at Aegon's head of his own, which Aegon managed to parry with his own sword.

Aegon attempted a thrust at Rolly's chest of his own, but Rolly managed to parry the blow with his sword, then he responded with a thrust at Aegon's chest of his own, which Aegon managed to parry with his own sword.

Orys attempted a slash at Rolly's chest, but Rolly managed to parry the blow with his sword, then he responded with a slash at Orys' chest of his own, which Orys managed to parry with his own sword.

Orys attempted a slash at Rolly's head, but Rolly managed to parry the blow with his sword, then he responded with a slash at Orys' head of his own, which Orys managed to parry with his own sword.

Orys attempted a slash at Rolly's chest, but Rolly managed to parry the blow with his sword, then he responded with a slash at Orys' chest of his own, which Orys managed to parry with his own sword.

Orys attempted a slash at Rolly's head, but Rolly managed to parry the blow with his sword, then he responded with a slash at Orys' head of his own, which Orys managed to parry with his own sword.

Rolly lowered his sword. "That's enough sword practice for today."

Rolly walked down to the prow of the ship and looked down the river. He walked back to the boys. "We should be arriving at the river port soon."

Egg was excited. "Does that mean Jon will be coming back soon?"

Rolly chuckled fondly. "Yes, that is what that means, little King."

Orys rolled his eyes; Aegon had always been Jon and their instructors' little lickspittle. And Viserra was even worse, the godsdamn kiss ass.

Aegon and Orys walked over to the prow of the shy maid and watched it approach the Pentoshi river port.

The boat slowly floated down the river until it eventually arrived at the docks where Jon would no doubt be waiting for them.

Jon was standing at the end of the wooden dock, his hands on his sides and his customary frown on his face.

Jon was very grumpy, much like Orys; Duck had often japed that Jon had weaned Orys on the milk of grumpiness. Jon had never appreciated jokes, but he especially did not appreciate Duck's jokes.

That wasn't to say that anyone besides Egg and Viserra would appreciate Duck's japes, however. Orys would glower at Duck, and if they were sparring, hit him extra hard. Lemore would frown and shake her head in disapproval, and Haldon would frown and scold Duck on the proper way to act around their charges.

For Duck's part, he would mostly laugh these responses off, he would merely hit Orys harder in retaliation, smirk at Lemore, which would only cause her to frown and shake her head even more than before, and he would practically fall asleep during Haldon's lectures. He would often take solace in the sweet laughter of Aegon and Viserra as well.

Orys often found Duck insufferable, but that did not mean that Orys did not like the young Blacksmith turned sellsword turned Knight. He had a good mind for swordplay and all manner of weapons, both their uses on the battlefield and how they were made in a forge. He was also an altogether pleasant man to be around, incessant japing aside, and he and Aegon would often go to him for guidance on matters they thought they couldn't bring to the attention of Lemore, Haldon, or even Jon. Duck was the older brother that Aegon and Orys had desperately needed.

The Shy maid floated up to the dock, and Aegon and Orys tied the ropes onto the dock to keep the boat from floating away from the dock.

Jon stepped onto the boat and waited for them to finish their task; after they were done, they ran to him.

Aegon jumped into his arms and shouted, "Father!" they knew that Jon was not actually their father, but nevertheless, he was their father in all but name and blood, and they had a ruse to maintain besides.

Jon spun Aegon around and hugged him "ahh, I've missed you, my boy."

After he was done with Aegon, he walked up to Orys, picked him up, hugged him, and spun him around as well. "And I've missed you as well, son."

They looked nothing alike, even with their dyed hair, technically Orys would not have needed to dye his hair blue to hide himself from the usurper, but it would've looked odd if the second son did not partake in the same symbolic mourning ritual as his brother and his father, so his hair was dyed blue as well. Viserra had dyed her hair blue as well for much the same reason as Aegon and Orys had. But despite their physical differences, it was easy to tell that they were a loving family.

Jon put him down and mussed up his hair as he always did; Orys giggled in delight.

"Look at you, I've only been gone for two weeks, yet it seems as though you've grown so much, and you as well, Griff."

They all had false names that they used in more public places, Aegon was young Griff, Jon was old Griff, Viserra was Serra, and Orys was little Griff, for he was the youngest of them. Orys did not like his false name; he wasn't little anymore.

Duck walked up to where they were. "What news of the company Old Griff."

"Myles took a most grievous wound in the disputed landed, he recovered, but he lost his left eye in the process as if he could get any uglier. The Golden Company is still as hardy a company as ever, however, and they remain a potent army."

"And of Westeros?"

"The usurper and his dogs took Pyke and crushed Balon's little rebellion; it appears that our hopes that the Ironborn would weaken the usurper's reign were in vain. However, we all expected this outcome; the Iron islands could never hope to stand before the might of the rest of the Kingdoms save for Dorne. Unfortunately, it seems that, if anything, Balon's little revolt has only strengthened Robert's reign, so this year has been both good and bad for us, I would say."

Duck nodded. "I will inform Haldon and Lemore, later today; we should discuss how this will affect our plans. It might be best for us to visit Illyrio, and to pass a message onto the spider as well, see how they are taking all this."

Jon nodded, and the four of them headed back inside the Shy maid.