King Brynden Targaryen

Brynden Targaryen was bored, here he was all of ten years old King of the Seven Kingdoms and it was a nice and sunny day outside but he was stuck inside having to have lessons about his kingdom with Grand Maester Derryck. It wasn't that he did not like having lessons; it was just that Grand Maester Derryck was such an old and boring man, who more often than not fell asleep whilst they were having lessons, that Brynden never truly learnt all that he was supposed to during his lessons. Of course he had not told his mother, or uncle Maekar or uncle Brynden, as if he told them about it, they would more than likely find some other more monotonus maester to teach him, and besides he did sort of enjoy learning from Maester Derryck after a fashion.

Today they were learning about the Dance of Dragons, of how Princess Rhaenrya had fought for her right to the Iron Throne, which she had claimed was hers by right and the will of her and her half brother Aegon's father King Viserys I. Grand Maester Derryck was droning on. "And when King Viserys was declared dead, Queen Alicent had his rooms sealed off and had the man who had brought the news of the King's death to her put under arrest so that he could not spread news of the king's death. Much later a meeting of the small council was convened and the members led by the Queen's father Ser Otto Hightower argued for Alicent's eldest son with Viserys Aegon to become king, by rule of Andal custom. Lord Beesbury the old and ancient maester of coin argued stringently in favour of following King Viserys' will and crowning Rhaenrya though he had little support. Once the small council had unanimously agreed to declare Aegon as king, Ser Criston Cole was sent by Queen Alicent to the royal apartments to rouse Aegon and his wife. The next day in front of half the court of King's Landing; Aegon was crowned king by Ser Cristan Cole, and became Aegon the second of his name. When news reached Princess Rhaenrya and her family on Dragonstone, it is said she flew into a fierce rage and declared herself the rightful queen, and sent her sons to Storm's End, the Vale and the North to garner their support. The Dance of Dragons had begun."

Brynden was trying his hardest not to yawn as the maester spoke, he found the Dance of Dragons very interesting. Not so much the details of how it began, but more because of the fighting that had taken place, when his family had still had dragons. He wanted to know more about that and the dragons and yet Maester Derryck seemed reluctant to go into much depth about the Dragons or how they had lived and died. Brynden rubbed his eyes tiredly and tried to focus in more as Maester Derryck went on. "At first many of the great lords were unsure of whom to support. Did they choose to support Prince Aegon, whom by Andal custom as King Viserys first born son, was his rightful heir. Or did they support Rhaenrya who technically as King Viserys firstborn child and appointed heir, technically did have more of a claim to the Iron Throne. There was limited understanding of how to handle the matter, given that King Viserys himself had come to the throne as the eldest surviving grandchild of King Jaehaerys the wise. Eventually the lines of battle were drawn. The North led by Lord Donnel Stark declared for Princess Rhaenrya, the Vale too declared for Princess Rhaenrya by virtue of her being the niece of the then reigning lord of the Vale. Storm's End declared for Prince Aegon, after Princess Rhaenrya's son Jacaerys was slain by Prince Aegon's brother Prince Aemond. The Tyrells and some of their bannermen remained neutral throughout the conflict. The Hightowers and some of their peers in the Reach of course declared for Prince Aegon, and the Westerlands were split, with Ser Tyland Lannister leading half their forces to fight for Prince Aegon, and Lord Caspian Reyne leading half the forces to fight for Princess Rhaenrya."

Brynden's interest had just been captured by the mentioning of the Lannisters, when his mother Queen Regent Aelinor walked into the room followed by Ser Roland Crakehall. He smiled at his mother and was happy to see his mother smile back at him, his mother had been very busy and had not had much time to spend with him as of late, what with both of Brynden's sisters Daenys and Myriah getting married soon, and so he was very happy to see her. "Maester Derryck, I hope you can excuse the interruption. But his grace is needed now."

Maester Derryck bowed his head and replied. "Of course your grace," turning to look at Brynden he said "Until next time my king."

Brynden almost bolted out of his chair and all but ran out of the room, and was about to head towards his own room, when he heard his mother laughingly shout "Not there Brynden. Come back here." And so sighing in defeat Brynden ran back to his mother, and pantingly waited for her to explain why she had called him out of his lessons. He did not have to wait long. "The Lannisters and the Starks have been sighted within the gates of the city. Lord Brynden is escorting them to the Red Keep. I need you to go with Ser Roland and bathe and get changed into suitable attire to great our guests." Brynden heard his mother say.

He had to repress a sigh, and instead said "Why can't I just greet them as I am now mother? Why do I have to get changed? I'm the king am I not?"

His mother had a look of loving exasperation on her face when she replied to him. "Yes you are the king sweetling, but you must act like a king. And we can't have these lions and wolves seeing you as little more than a boy now can we? After all you are the dragon, are you not sweetling."

His mother began to tickle him until he laughed loudly and agreed to go and get changed. Much later he found himself sat on the Iron Throne, wearing a doublet of black and red, with the three headed dragon of House Targaryen emrboided onto it. He also wore a crown of black iron and gold, with seven sharp points on the top meant to represent swords and the seven kingdoms he ruled over. He shifted slightly on the throne to get into a more comfortable position as he waited for the Starks and the Lannisters to be announced. Standing next to him was his mother, at the foot of the steps leading up to the Iron Throne were the seven knights of the Kingsguard: Lord Commander Ser Roland Crakehall, Ser Garlan Tully, Ser Edrick Baratheon, Ser Oberyn Dayne (the sword of the morning), Ser Matthis Tyrell, Ser Richard Royce and Ser Devan Manderly. His great uncle Brynden stood in the shadows somewhere near the throne, Brynden knew, as did his uncle Maekar.

As the herald announced the members of both House Lannister and House Stark, and as they walked in front of the throne and bowed, Brynden felt his hands begin to shake slightly- it was something that the maester had attributed to nerves and the fact that he had been born a small babe- he felt his mother lean over and squeeze his hands briefly before she moved back to where she stood. Once the introductions had been made, Brynden spoke in as kingly a voice as a ten year old could manage and welcomed both houses to King's Landing and wished them a pleasant stay in the capital for the duration of the wedding festivities.

That evening was spent feasting their guests, Brynden spent most of the time sitting on the Iron Throne watching as his guests ate and drank and were merry, all the while feeling a certain sadness for on the morrow his sisters, the only two people other than his mother that he truly, truly loved, and truly loved him back, would be going to the furthest parts of the world to solidify the kingdoms from the threats of the Blackfyres. When the time came, Brynden's great uncle and his namesake got up and said a few words about how with the marriages of his sister Daenys to Ser Garon Lannister- heir to the Rock- and his sister Myriah to Edwyle Stark would produce not just an alliance, but the sealing of an ancient pact made long ago during the age of Aegon the Dragon, and would once and for all strengthen Westeros and bring peace to the realm.

There were not many younger people there for Brynden to play with, and as king he could not really move from his seat on the Iron Throne as he truly wished to do, and as he usually did so during their normal dinners. No standing on guard near the throne was Lord Commander Ser Roland Crakehall and Ser Edrick Baratheon, with the other knights of the Kingsguard standing close by in the shadows, watching and observing. Brynden was growing more and more bored as the evening wore on. As he looked around the throne room, he saw Ser Garon chatting amiably with his sister Daenys, saying things that made his sister blush and giggle. Lord Edwyle on the other hand seemed to be very quiet and solemn and did not seem to be saying much to Myriah. Some man with a red lion on his surcoat was chatting amiably with Brynden's mother, making her laugh and giggle in such a way that Brynden had only heard her laugh when she was with uncle Maekar.

Eventually the evening was brought to a close and Brynden walked to his bed escorted by Ser Garlan Tully and Ser Edrick, with his mother walking next to him. When he got into bed, his mother laid down next to him, and they sat in silence for a moment before she spoke. "You did very well today sweetling. I am so very proud of you. As your father would also be."

Brynden felt himself swell up with pride at that comment. "Mama," he said unsure of how to ask about what he had seen at the feast today.

"Yes sweetling?" his mother asked.

"Who was that man with the red lion on his surcoat, who was speaking to you today, and why was Uncle Maekar glowering at that man?" Brynden asked, afraid that he would cause his mother to get angry with him.

His mother merely chuckled next to him and replied. "Oh that, that was Davos Reyne Lord of Castamere, and your uncle Maekar was not glowering at him, he merely looks like that normally. Anyway my little dragon, go to sleep now, we have a big day tomorrow."

With that his mother kissed him on the cheek and got up off the bed and walked toward the door, before she did though, she turned round. "Goodnight little dragon, sleep tight. I love you."

Brynden replied back sleepily. "I love you too mama."

The next day Brynden found himself in the Great Sept of Baelor as he gave away his sisters to Ser Garon Lannister and Edwyle Stark respectively. Both Lannister and Stark families remained in King's Landing for another week, a week where politics was discussed and feasts where held, before they eventually made their way back to their respective homes. There was a tearful farewell on the day of both sisters departure from King's Landing. Brynden tried his hardest not to cry, he was king now and could not afford to cry. But nonetheless he felt himself begin to well up when he hugged his sisters goodbye.

"Be good," he heard both his sisters say to him at once. "Don't cause too much trouble for mother or uncle Maekar. And write to us as often as you can, and we shall write to you as often as we can. We love you little brother."

And with that Brynden watched his sisters ride away from King's Landing, from the Red Keep, from their mother, from him.

The next few days were spent in lessons and learning through observation as to how to be a good king, he sat on the iron throne and listened to the people present their issues and problems to him, and with the help of both his mother, his uncle and his great uncle made judgements and decisions that he hoped would benefit his people as best as possible. A moon after his sisters were married, his uncle Maekar rode off to war to fight the Blackfyres who had invaded the Stormlands with the Golden Company, the Second Sons and the Brave Companions.

Four moons later, a raven came from Casterly Rock announcing that his sister Daenys was with child. A moon after that came the news that the Blackfyres had been defeated once again. A moon after that he turned eleven and his sister Myriah was declared with child.