DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING
A/N: Thanks again to Ramzes for the reviews, they do keep me going.
ADDAM
The King remained completely still as he heard the news. His face, or rather his main face, showed no visible reaction at the news, not even a look of cruel happiness or disdain that were so often displayed on his broad face. "This has been confirmed? Not just a rumour?" he asked.
"Our spies have seen the man in person, your grace," said Jared the Blue. "They say that Aemon Targaryen has gone quite mad and had to be kept in Maegor's holdfast under his father's supervision."
One less usurper for the King to deal with, thought Addam. Mayhaps the gods are looking kindly on us again. He could still remember the look of disgust on his father's face as he described how Daeron the bastard had treacherously murdered their kin during the battle of Redgrass field, how Daemon Blackfyre, the king's true son had died trying save his children. The thought of it made his stomach turn.
"It's to be expected from that lot; you breed with a mongrel and you birth a mongrel, the line of Daeron has been doomed with this madness for years, it runs thick and black within their blood." The Ebon Prince declared.
"It's only a matter of time before they all die screaming like that fool Aerion Brightflame." agreed Ser Hector Harrow, a tall man with buck teeth and a pointed beard.
"Are you touched in the head Ser?" asked Maelys. "That creature is but one of the many abominations still sitting on my throne, not to mention their pet Baratheon that Aegon bought using his whore of a daughter. One madman has not crippled them nearly as much as you think."
"His only other heir is the cripple and that other fool has forsaken the crown so that he may lie with some lowborn cunt, your grace his line is at the end of its rope." laughed Ser Jared smugly.
"If you talk out of turn again Ser it will be you who hangs from the end of a rope." Maelys looked down at the map of the Seven Kingdoms that had been laid out on his table. "Aegon will be preoccupied with his whelps in the capitol, while Baratheon has his forces on alert in the Stormlands, the lords of the Reach and those Dornish scum will be waiting on the bastard's beck and call. Attack from there would be….difficult." He looked up at those sitting across from him. "We must needs gain a political foothold in the North; it is isolated enough from everything else that Aegon's sway will mean little and those Reavers from the Iron Islands have little love for the Targaryen rule….mayhaps we could strike up an alliance."
"We should send the pirate lord out ahead to do some reaving of his own, his men grow restless." the Ebon Prince's skin shined like oil in the candle light and his golden eyes smirked with some hidden laughter.
"That one is as slippery as the beast he takes for his sigil." grunted Maelys.
"Aye, he is. But the man is force to be reckoned with in the sea and the only one holding those pirate bands together." The Ebon prince's voice was like silk. "Unleash them on Oldtown and twist the dagger in Aegon's heart."
"Oldtown?" asked the King wearily.
"Aye, it is one greatest cities in Westeros and a proud jewel of the realm though it's defences have grown lax as of late. Send the Pirate lord to show those fat and gluttonous traitors that they are not half as safe as they think."
Maelys did not look at the man, choosing to instead focus on the map again. "Such a strike would require many ships."
The Ebon prince waved his hand dismissively. "Pirate ships, of those we have many. Didn't you yourself say that these pirates are more bloodhounds than men? If they die then at least they will die with their jaws around the throat of your enemy."
You mean around the throat of innocents you can steal from. "Your Grace," urged Addam. "Might I speak?"
Maelys broad, flat face seemed to soften at the sound of the knight's voice. "Speak."
Addam took a breath. I must be careful here or else I'll have that mad summer islander after me. "Your Grace, I agree that we should strike at the Targaryens, but to loosen the pirates upon Oldtown…it is an evil thing."
The Ebon Prince laughed. "This is war Ser Addam; would you have us attack our enemies with sharp words and insults?"
"Few men know war as I have my lord, but there is a difference between killing a shipload of soldiers and raping and butchering a city of old men and Septons."
"Oldtown did not come to the Blackfyres aid during the time of Daemon, and they have continued to serve the line of Daeron." replied the summer islander with a smug grin. Addam wanted to smash the grin off his face with the hilt of his sword.
Instead of continuing to picker with the man he turned his attention back to Maelys, looking the big man in his purple eyes. "A Maester serves the castle, despite the lord who runs it. Your Grace this is not the way…"
The Ebon Prince made to speak once more but Maelys raised his mailed hand to silence him, the big man looked down at his map of Westeros once more and considered for a few moments, his fingers tracing lines across the coastline of the Sunset Sea. Whatever was going through the Blackfyre's mind was a mystery to all in the room as his face was completely blank, after a time he finally spoke.
"We shall send the pirates to Lannisport." He said firmly. "Tytos Lannister can watch as the Serpent devours his fleet, and while his gaze is fixed we shall send an envoy north to treat with the Greyjoys."
Ser Hector smiled at that, flashing his large rodent like teeth around. "An excellent idea your Grace."
"Excellent." parroted Ser Jared.
The Ebon Prince sneered at them all. "Surely you aren't going to base your entire strategy around the council of a glorified bodyguard?"
Maelys nostrils flared at that and the big man looked as if he would have happily throttled the summer islander but instead he merely stood from his table, towering over everyone else. "Get out, all of you." he said in a deathly calm voice, his purple eyes not once leaving the Ebon Prince's.
The two knights rose to their feet quickly enough and hurriedly rolled up the maps they had brought with them and fled the tent while the Ebon Prince took his time in leaving his seat, an eerie smile on his face as he looked at the king before slowly strutting out as if he had just won a game of Cyvasse. Addam made to follow them only to be stopped up by Maelys.
"A moment Ser." The king was frowning, which was not an uncommon sight with the much maligned leader of the Golden Company.
Addam could still remember when he first met the king so many years ago. He was only a boy of three and ten when he saw his first battle while serving as a squire to his father during one of the Golden Company's many conflicts in the Disputed Lands against the Norvosi. He was so frightened when they marched onto that field and saw the thousand screaming warriors come charging that he actually pissed himself, but he made sure to stick by his father through the thick of it. That was, until his father had his head cleaved off by one of the Norvosi bearded priests and he was left amidst a slaughter helpless as a newborn pup.
He had tried to take on the bearded warrior himself, yet his feeble attempts at combat had proved ineffective against the giant axe of his opponent and he quickly found himself bleeding in the mud as the Norvosi stood above him and raised his axe for the killing blow, yet it never came. The priest had found himself run through by a spear that pierced right through the bearded warrior's throat and before Addam knew it he was roughly pulled to his feet by a bull of a man with hair that looked as though it were spun of silver and eyes that burned with a violet fire. The man, or creature or whatever he was had pushed a sword in Addam's hands and hacked away at the snarling enemies that surrounded them in a grand display and in his fury he gave Addam the confidence to fight back, to survive and the two had carved a path through the enemy ranks. After the battle had been won Addam followed the Blackfyre around and had admitted to the frightening man that he had nothing else left and Maelys had announced then and there that he would serve as his squire, in many years since then he had done everything he could for the man who had saved his life.
"You must be careful around those people, certain of them would happily slit your throat in your sleep if they so desired." said Maelys in a dark voice, his expression a mixture of concern and anger.
"But you are the King…"
"Aye, the true king of Westeros but these men are not Westerosi and are not bound to follow my every whim, a necessary evil I fear."
Addam frowned. "Your Grace, you once told me that I should always speak my mind and I'm speaking it now; these men cannot be trusted, at least not with the sake of the realm."
"I cannot take the Iron throne without their support." The king spoke as if he grudged each word.
Addam persisted. "Surely there are other ways-"
"There are not!" roared Maelys. "I am no fool Ser, I know what others think of me, how they whisper the word 'Kinslayer' behind my back. I'll find no support among the beautiful lords and ladies of the Seven Kingdoms, the Gods in their cruel wisdom saw to that when they made me."
The tent was silent as a crypt then as Maelys fell into one of his sullen moods. Addam knew that the king constantly shouldered an extreme amount of hidden pain that had been built from years of fear, hatred, and a deep disgust from those around him. Even his own lady mother had tried to snuff his life out when she saw what she had birthed…
"Why did you join my Kingsguard Addam?" asked the king after a time, his broad face in an expression of weary confusion. "You could have had a wife, a son to carry your name on and you threw it all away."
Addam smiled. "My name isn't anything worth much sire, and besides my place is here as your sworn sword like it has always been. I swore an oath."
Maelys gave a bitter laugh at that. "An oath, would that I had a thousand men who take their oaths as serious as you Ser and I'd have already won this damned war."
"Aye, but until such men arrive I shall continue to serve Your Grace."
The king looked down at the map on his table once again and without looking up waved his hand. "Go get some sleep; if you're to serve then I need my white cloak rested for the coming battle."
Addam gave a stiff bow and walked from the tent, his thoughts drifting. The king was a violent man and with a temper that few could match yet the young knight knew in his heart of hearts that Maelys Blackfyre was the true king and that Westeros desperately needed his justice if it was to survive. He could still remember that axe severing his father's head, how he felt the Stranger sitting beside him ready to bring him into its embrace before Maelys gave him the strength to live again. Aegon may call him Maelys the Monstrous but he'll always be Maelys the Merciful in truth…