Aerys

Aerys Targaryen looked at his victim and smiled. Nobody stood against the king and get away with it. Never!

With a graceful gesture of his hand, the king orders the reddish flames to knit the prisoner. Just like the loving fingers of a lover, the tongues of fire began to caress him with their heat, to fondle his white skin with their destructive power. Slowly, the king raised his hand higher, leaving the flames to play with their prey, giving them a little taste of what they were promised to have after the show. Because this execution was nothing more than a show to make the king happy. Everything was for the pleasure of the king: the flames, the screams, the blood…

Aerys bared his teeth in a predatory grin and brought his fingers in fist. The flames rushed to the prisoner, biting, whipping him with their relentless heat. The maniac laughter of the last dragon echoed throughout the room, reverberating in frightening echoes. Yes, he must learn to suffer, to cry for his crimes, to prostrate in front of the one true King of Westeros, to humiliate and beg for the royal forgiveness.

"Tywin Lannister, King of the Seven Kingdoms", tasted Aerys the words. "Sounds pathetic, does not it? A poor servant of the dragon wants to reign on the throne of his master. Never will the lion take the dragons place, NEVER!", howled the king full of venom. The flames lifted to the ceiling making the Lord of Casterly Rock to release a pained roar. His skin melted like ice in front of the relentless sun. Aerys looked at his victim excited and smirked. He was the sun of the kingdom, lightning for the enemies, warm, harmless fire to the faithful ones. If they please him, he will reward them with warmth and light, but if they rebel, well, the king slowly began to laugh, well, he will take care to burn each piece of flesh of that traitor.

The Lord of the dragons licked his thin lips languidly trying in vain to calm his excited body. The agony of the lion was bringing him unexpected pleasures. With one last contemptuous look, Aerys Targaryen commanded the fire to swallow the traitor Lord.

A wave of pleasure ran through him when he saw the lion king dying on the flames. Those cold and calculated eyes will never look at him with hidden disdain, those thin lips will never speak contemptuous words to him ever!

Cold sweat trickled on the hot skin of the king. Aerys close his eyelids and let go to a shaky breath. Why could not his dreams with blood and fire come true? Why could not he crush his real enemies as effective as those from his dreams?

"The dragon is not afraid of anything," said Aerys to himself. In the light of the day he was nothing more than a shadow of the mighty dragon Lord from his dreams. In this cruel reality Aerys did not control the flames and Tywin Lannister do not cower in the face of the king. Here, his own people looked at him disdain and pity, yes pity! They looked at the old man with scared and feverish eyes, with a slim silhouette and quivering voice and think poorly of him. Aerys know what others think of him, but for the sake of his sanity he liked to pretend that the dragon Lord of his dream rule the kingdom instead of his pathetic self. But this was not true and the king knew it very well.

With a last wheezing breath, the king rose from the bed and called his the servants to prepare him for a new day. Mirrors were something to be avoided these days because of his bad appearance, slides were to be avoided because of his paranoia, food tasters had to taste from everything before he could begin to eat, people must to be checked against any weapons they could use to attempt to murder the king and the list goes on forever ...

Aerys sighed thinking about the isolation in which he lived, insolation designed to protect him from the death but which scared him more than it. Death means an eternity of darkness and loneliness, an eternity that bend to none of the laws of man.

He was afraid! The king would not have admitted to anyone, but he could not lie to himself. His whole life had been a series of failed ambitions, shattered dreams and unrequited love. He was raised in the shadow of a king and then he was given a cursed crown. He wanted to make changes, to prove that the Targaryen kings are the best rulers from all Weserorsul ... And you know what he did instead? He gave the lion almost unlimited power, he humbled himself in the Defiance of Duskendale and was still married with Rhaella.

With a resigned sigh, he head to the royal throne room to receive the complaints of his people. Normally that bitch of Tywin handle it, but today he was in mourning and prayed the king to keep his place. "Well, he didn't say it like that", think the kink mischievous. "If he did, I would have to show him his place!" "What could you do? ",ask a wicked voice. "I would have to kill him with blood and fire!" Aerys began to be nervous. The king hate this voices, but since Duskendale, they come after him everywhere. "Maybe I am crazy" think Aerys amused. "Maybe I should give my son all the power and give up to all this madness" he joke in his mind. Like the rightful king of Westeros would give the perfect prince what was his. Aerys flinched at the thought. Rhaegar was too perfect, too loved from the lords and normal people alike, too modest, too handsome, too charismatic for his own good. "It is normal for a father to hate his own son?" The king asked himself. Even if the answer would be yes, he would not be able to like that little whining boy. On his list with the most hated people, his son have the second place, right after that annoying Tywin , but over his wife.

As he thinks of Rhaella , he should pay her a visit. "Not her, Viserys'", think the king with an affectionate smile. His little son was only three years, but you could see that he would resemble his father. "Not like that git of his brother" ...

"Good morning", says the king while entering his wife's chambers. Rhaella looked up from her breakfast and began to study him.

"My lord", she whispered, her voice trembling.

The king raises an eyebrow questioningly and began to look around the room for after people. His wife considered a sacred duty to make herself to look like a martyr in the faces of others and to make him look like the devil. Not that Aerys had always been gentle or decent or even human in some of the situations in which they were both involved, but his sister had an extraordinary talent to make him lost his temper. She had such a superior attitude that the king wants nothing more than to choke her. "I tried that already and it ended deplorable", Aerys think remembering the day he was ready to strangle his wife. He was almost ready but suddenly his damn conscience awoke to life and prevents him do it. The Seven be witnesses that he regret that decision every day.

"My lady, can I bring you something else?", ask a maid who was hidden from the king by a thick curtain.

"You can go", growled the king. "Bitch," he thought ", she wouldn't want to waste her precious talents on a stage without spectators."

"My Lord, something happened", said his wife with a concerned look and a shadow of fear in her purple eyes.

"I just thought that you are a big hypocrite and one of the biggest mistakes of my life was that I did not kill you when I had the chance", said the king with a smile. "Where is my son?"

" In the training yard, my lord".

"Not that son, sister", growled the king.

"With Lord Tywin, brother…"

"What is Viserys doing with that bastard?"

"Language…"

"I am the king…"

"You speak like a tramp…"

"Nudnik shrew!"

"Aerys", she cried indignant.

"Fine, fine", mumbled the king.

"I'm sorry that I hurt your inexistent honor . Now, tell me where my son is ... "

"I already told you", Rhaella replied innocently.

"And I've told you a thousand times that the imp is not my son".

" Really? Because I heard he has the same degenerate sense of humor and you can't deny that there is a striking similarity in your appearance... "

"Enough", yelled Aerys and knocked his fist on the table. How his sister has come with the idea that the dwarf was his son, was beyond his comprehension. Though, he should not be shocked, since everything bad in the kingdom have a direct connection with him in his sister opinion.

"Daddy, what are you doing here?", asked a squeaky voice from the door. Aerys turned and smiled blissful. A little boy about three years old with shaggy silver hair and smiling eyes watched him from the doorway.

"Your Grace, shouldn't you be in the throne room?, asked another melodious voice.

"Mmhm", growled the king something incomprehensible while taking Viserys in his arms. "Good thing he didn't sing me the question", think Aerys with rancor.

"Majesty, we should leave if we don't want the crowd to stir in our absence", added Rhaegar while looking toward the door where the Grand Master, the Spider, and three of the King's Guard waited impatiently.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that! Can you sing it for me? Can you creak with your violin simultaneously? "

"It is a harp", whispered Rhaegar bored with his father's antics.

"Aerys", screamed his sister indignantly. The king raised his eyebrows questioningly while Rhaella throws him a look full of venom.

"Take care sister, you wouldn't want to blow the lid off your acting" , whispered the king with a conspiratorial voice. With a sigh he kissed his little son on the forehead, throw a last amused look to his wife and start walking to the throne room, to a day full of silly and unnecessary complaints.