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The shadows of war I

Dragonstone, 129 AC

While I had better things to do such as furthering my studies on alchemy, navigation and sorcery, I was being forced to seat on this uncomfortable ugly thing for a chair and listen to ramblings of an old man. Sometimes, I thought my ancestor, Aegon the first, had a fetish of some kind for hard chairs. This one which I was seating upon in the painted chamber was not much better than the Iron Throne. And believe me; I speak from experience.

The old man, Grand Maester Orwyle, finally finished his grand speech. He offered his so-called generous peace terms from the Green Council. You might be asking what the terms were. In summary, we, my mother and her supporters, would acknowledge my nuncle Aegon as the King and mother and all her descendants who were my siblings and I would renounce any claims to the Iron Throne. Then, the King as magnanimous as he was would grant Dragonstone and Driftmark to us as if we did not control them anyway. He also would take my brothers and half-brothers as honorable squires for himself and Aemond which was basically taking them as hostages.

If you have not gotten the situation up until now, there is nothing to worry about. I had also not understood how had I landed myself in this situation despite all my efforts in these years. I should have never haggled with a small god regarding my reincarnation after my original death. There is a reason the priests say that the gods always win, I guess.

Finally, I looked up from the parchment which I was pretending to be reading while the Grand Maester rambled about. I told him, "Have you delivered all the terms, Grand Maester?"

He responded that he had. I look at him solemnly. I could see that he was sweating a little bit and was getting impatient. There were hidden tunnels that magma flowed through them around the painted chamber. They warmed it up even during winters when the cold winds would rise from the waters below. The mechanism was found by me when I was younger. Naturally, I did never inform others about it. Whenever I thought that it could prove to be useful, I would activate it. The heat and my solemn face were a trick of mine back then when I was at the Kings Landing and they still are. I learned the trick to make the infamous Targaryen heavy face which would bring nervousness to others by looking at the shunned painting of Maegor the cruel for a whole month. Everyone thought I was going crazy back then.

I spoke with a heavy tone which was low but loud enough to be heard all across the room, "The terms proposed by Queen Alicent are interesting." One of the minor Crownlander lords who was accompanying the Grand Maester in the parlor party tried to raise his voice to admonish me for dismissing Aegon as the true ruler, but I silenced him with a look and a hand gesture. I continued, "But are not acceptable. Personally, I am in favor of a solution to this problem which would not end in war as neither me nor those here are kinslayers, however the Green council has overstepped their authority by what they have pulled in Kings Landing after grandfather's passing. This could have been resolved by calling another grand council originally." I saw some hope in the sunken eyes of Grand Maester as I spoke. He hoped for peace. My words were giving him that ray of light in the darkness. I was sure that he wanted to believe that I would accept the terms and convince mother to abdicate. How wrong he was. that ship, war, had sailed long ago from the day when I was born from another man than Aegon. There could be no peace without a war or two!

I called upon one of my exclusive servants and whispered in his ear. After a minute, he returned with a document sealed by my personal sigil, a coiling great serpent. I gave it to the Grand Maester and told him, "These are the terms of my mother. Present them to your King and his mother, Queen Alicent."

The Grand Maester asked me if I was kind enough to tell him the terms presented in the document. As generous as I was, I put a small smile on my lips and told him," There is no reason not to. The terms are simple. We would recognize nuncle and his line as rulers of the Seven Kingdoms, but in return, he must give up Dragonstone and Driftmark to us. The Crownlands would also be ruled by house Targaryen of Dragonstone henceforth. The King is free to choose any seat he wants outside of Crownlands as his seat of power. I would personally suggest Harrenhal as opposed to the Oldtown. The seat of Dragonstone would also take the title of Admiral of the East and would be considered a lord paramount. The exchange of squires are also negotiable should we find common ground."

Grand Maester's face was so ugly after hearing my terms of peace. All dreams shattered for him. He said, "Do you understand that this would end in war, my prince? The King would never accept such terms!"

I silenced him with a cold look and told him in a hard tone, "You brought unacceptable terms originally, but here we are. These are negotiating Grand Maester as you know better. Should my nuncle lack the wisdom to continue the negotiations then it would be war. And believe me, there are those present in this chamber who want nothing more than to see you and your king dead. However, I am the final voice of authority while my mother's condition is not stable enough." I looked over the room as if expecting someone to refute me, then I continued, "If fate decrees war then it would be war. And if it decrees peace then it would be peace. Remember though, should war fall upon us, I would guarantee that no one would be spared from its clutches even ignorant ones in the Oldtown. Remind my last words to Queen Alicent especially."

Now Grand Maester was sweating like a pig. He understood my underlying threat. There would not be no unbroken eggs under a toppled nest. The Citadel was also in the Oldtown after all.

I called the court at large, "The session is adjured. Dismiss!" Grand Maester bowed, "I would send your terms to the King, Prince Jacaerys."