KING ROBERT

As a young man Robert Baratheon had a reputation for fighting. As he got older that reputation grew to include bedding women and drinking. At the age of ten and one Robert went to ward with Jon Arryn Lord of the Vale and Warden of the East. It was at the Eyrie that Robert became friends with Eddard Stark of Winterfell. Robert was loud and outspoken even as a child, whereas Ned was quiet and reserved.

When Robert met Lyanna Stark his friend's sister he became enamored with her. He also saw her as a way to become closer to his brother by choice. It didn't take much to convince Lord Rickard Stark to allow him to court Lyanna Stark. She was unlike any young woman of nobility he had ever met. Lyanna was wild, she spoke her mind, and was fierce. The perfect wife for the heir of Storm's End. Then the Dragonspawn Rhaegar stole her from him and the Mad King killed his best friend's father and brother.

Robert was a born leader and has a brilliant military mind even at the age of ten and eight. He defeated three armies in one day, fought Jon Connington to a standstill and fell a hundred and fifty men with his Warhammer on the trident. The demon of the Trident they called him. The only battle he ever lost was against Lord Randyl Tarly at Ashford.

He killed Prince Rhaegar on the Trident and was handed the Iron Throne by Tywin Lannister. He had agreed to marry Tywin's daughter Cersei Lannister, but hoped beyond hope that Ned would bring her back to him. He did but she was dead and he mourned her many days. Eventually Robert married Lady Cersei Lannister of Casterly Rock. Their first child was still born. Then a year and half later they had a son and named him Joffrey Baratheon. Princess Myrcella was born three years later.

Around Joffrey's fourth name day the Iron Born rebelled against the crown and Robert was excited by going to war again and swinging his great Warhammer. Though as King he wasn't allowed to do much fighting. After the Iron Born were put down, Robert became idle. He spent his reign drinking, eating, whoring, spending gold on feasts and tourneys.

Then the rumors about the Masked Dragon started. Robert placed a bounty on his head of one hundred thousand gold Dragons. No one knew who he was, but some whispered he was Prince Viserys. Those rumors were quickly quashed as news from the East bought tidings of the Beggar King and his sister.

Robert laughed when he heard Prince Viserys' nickname. So he placed a bounty on the heads of Viserys and his sister Daenarys Targaryen. Robert awakens with a woman in his bed, not his wife and Queen, whom he has three children with. "Oh no…I feel my manhood rising…I can go another round before you leave woman."

She shrieks as Robert pulls her on top of him. After a while he sends the woman away and refreshes him, by washing his face and brushing his teeth. When he exits his room Ser Barristan Selmy is on duty. "Morning your grace."

"It most certainly is…Any Dragons show their cowardly masked face?"

"All was quiet my King.

Ser Barristan is Lord Commander of the King's Guard. He had served under the mad King before Robert. During the battle of the Trident Ser Barristan was wounded and his life spared. Feeling indebted to Robert he swore to serve the Usurper. Robert breaks his fast alone. Not the man he used to be, Robert had eaten and drank himself into obesity. After breaking his fast he shocks the small council by showing up. To his ire his Queen wife is also present. There are two council chambers, one in the Tower of the Hand and the Other near the Throne Room. Robert had a lift installed so that he could get to the council chambers in the Tower easier.

"Cersei…What in the seven hells are you doing here?"

"You haven't heard…The Masked Dragon has killed Ser Armory Lorch."

He looks at Varys Lord of Whispers. The small council is made up of the Hand of the King Jon Arryn, Master of Laws Prince Renly Baratheon, Grand Maester Pycel, Master of Coin Lord Petyr Baelish, Master of Whispers Lord Varys, Master of Ships Lord Stannis Baratheon, but Lord Axel Florent sits as proxy for Lord Stannis. Robert and his brother Stannis do not get along and stay far away from one another. Lord Commander of the City Watch Janos Slynt. Ser Barristan has the right to attend the small council meetings, but he rarely does.

Robert looks at Varys, "Well!"

"Lord Tywin tried to lay a trap. The survivors say that the Masked Dragon appeared in pillar of ice. He knocked Lord Sandor Clegane unconscious and killed five other men, before the rest surrendered. Then he proceeded to stab Lorch fifty times. The same number of times Lorch stabbed Princess Rhaenys.. Lord Tywin has placed a million gold dragons on his head. Five hundred thousand for information on who he really is."

"How do you kill a man who can appear and disappear at will?" Pycel asks.

"Those old grey robed goats should have the answer!" Robert yells slamming his hand on the table, "They possess the largest collection of knowledge in the world…Cannot they divine a way to stop this outlaw? This criminal! He is a threat to me! Your King!"

"We are doing everything we can Your Grace." Lord Baelish says.

Robert looks at Cersei, "Perhaps your father can hire the faceless men."

"They would not take the job my King." Varys says speaking up, "The Faceless Men do not take contracts against royalty."

"Even if they did we do not have the coin to pay them with." Baelish says.

Robert looks at Cersei, "Would your father give me the coin?"

She smirks, "Loan it to you."

"Tell him his King has a need." Robert looks at Varys again.

"Your Grace…If I may there may be another way." Baelish says speaking up.

"Well out with it man!"

"There is a rich and powerful man, by the name of Ilyrio Mopatis…He is the Magister of Pentos and one of the richest men in the world. I have been establishing a relationship with him…And for certain considerations he may be willing to invest in the crown."

"What considerations?"

"A title…Master of Trade perhaps."

Robert looks at Jon, "You ever heard of this Mopatis?"

"I have…But trust must be earned Robert. Don't give this man a title without knowing everything you can about him."

"Lord Varys find all you can about Magister Ilyrio."

"Yes my King."

"Now what word on the Dragonspawn, Viserys and Daenarys?"

"They have been these past few months in the home of Baron Azart of Norvos. My spies in the Barons home says that Viserys has worn out his welcome and will soon be forced to leave."

"They should be dead by now…Why aren't they dead?"

"Someone is tipping them off and I believe it to be the Masked Dragon your grace…"

They discuss other matters of state and then dismiss.

CERSEI

A few days after the meeting Robert goes hunting as usual. So Cersei summons Lord Baelish to her solar. "My Queen…What may I do for you?"

"I want this deal you have with this Mopatis to fall through."

"But the crown needs the gold."

"And it will have it, but not from a foreign power. My father will take care of the crown's needs."

"I see you want to keep King Robert dependent on Lannister gold."

"For a man from nothing you have a good head on your shoulders Lord Baelish."

"And if the King finds out that I went behind his back."

"I will protect you."

"Don't make promises you can't keep your grace."

She smiles, "I promise you this…If that deal goes through, it won't be my husband you have to worry about. Lannisters always pay their debts." She takes a drink, "You may go Lord Baelish." He bows and leaves. She hated the upstart Petyr Baelish. The man thinks himself equal to those born of nobility. A pretender reaching and grasping beyond his station. She smiles at the thought of knocking Baelish off his pedestal. The next day Cersei meets up with her twin brother Ser Jaime Lannister. Jaime is a member of the King's Guard, a true lion with his golden hair and green eyes. The two of them had rekindled their incestuous sexual relationship after Cersei lost her first child.

"What if the Masked Dragon knows about us?" Cersei asks.

"Then we will deal with it, when and if it comes up."

She sighs and tells him about Baelish and his deal, "If Baelish disobeys me, then I think he should have an accident."

"Let me kill him."

She frowns, "What is it with you?"

"I'm a man…The man who loves you. The man who wants to protect you. Robert hurt you, but you would not let me kill him."

"And I am a woman. The Queen of the seven Kingdoms…When we strike against Robert your hands will be free of his blood. Our son will be King and I Queen regent…House Lannister will rule it all. Let them underestimate me at their own peril."

"You forget one thing my love…The Masked Dragon."

For the rest of the days Jaime's words linger in her head and then she remembers the Seer and the prophecy foretold to her. She smiles and summons one of her handmaidens and a Lannister guard. The young woman bows, "My Queen."

"I have a task for the two of you. Head west to the lands near Casterly Rock and see if you can find an old woman, a Seer by the name Helda. Give her this…" She hands her a vile of blood, "…and tell her that her Queen seeks the true identity of the Masked Dragon. Then return to me with the information. Do this and I will give you each two million in gold, titles, land and your own keeps." She left no room for them to betray her and keep the information for themselves.

"We shall leave at once my Queen." The soldier says. Within the time they leave the tourney at Highgarden takes place. Two months pass before the two return.

"We found the woman my Queen." The Soldier says.

"What did she say?" Cersei demands.

"She said she did not know…The Masked Dragon is too powerful."

"Do you think she was lying." Cersei asks aggravated that her plan did not bear fruit.

"No Your Grace. She did say that if you wanted your children to be spared the fate she told you, that you should put your faith in the Masked Dragon and do not seek to oppose him."

Cersei takes a drink. For a long time she had worried on what the woman foretold and so far most of what she said had come true. "You shall marry a King and have three children and he shall have ten and nine…Shrouds of gold shall adorn your children."

Cersei dismisses them, thinking about the prophecy. She had lost her first child with Robert and after he called her Lyanna on their wedding night and when she became pregnant, she knew the child was Jaime's. She swore she wouldn't give Robert any children because of his affairs and the love he still carries for a dead woman. She had never told Jaime about the prophecy. As Queen she could help her father fulfill the legacy he is trying to build, now she was considering giving it all up to protect her children. Cersei sends a message to Baelish instructing him to see the deal through.