Maelys Blackfyre
Life had always been hard for Maelys Blackfyre, born into the family who had the true claim to the Iron Throne, instead of growing up in the Red Keep as was his right he had grown up in army camps in Tyrosh and Lys and Volantis. Doing what he could to make sure his family, what little was left of it was kept safe and away from harm. That he had been born with a deformity, his twin's head was attached to his own, had merely made him all the more determined to make it so that his family had what was rightfully theirs. He was the only male of House Blackfyre left, his cousins were all female, atleast those that had not been taken into custody or killed during the wars that had been fought, Visenya was his heir and he deeply hoped that he would be able to give her what their father had not been able to give him.
His father had been old when Maelys was a child, an old and bitter man, weighed down by all the defeat and sorrow that his life had been from a very young age. Maelys had been terrified of his father, Haegon Blackfyre could be very intimidating when he wanted to be, and he had not been one to tolerate any foolishness from his men or even his children, Maelys had known the cane many a time during his childhood. He had been there when his father was cut down by some Westerosi knight, and he had seen the look of pure relief on his father's face as he bled out and breathed his last, the burden was no longer his, it was now Maelys'. They had come back from Westeros beaten and tired and then the Archon had kicked the company out of his city, claiming that he was never going to get the rewards that he had been promised by Bittersteel, they had nowhere to go other than Volantis and though Maelys pride had been stung having to beg for alms from Aerion Targaryen he had done so and he had sat and plotted his next move.
As he plotted his next move he had watched his sister grow, Visenya who had been born without the affliction that had so scarred Maelys life, she was everything he was not, beautiful, fierce and intelligent, should they be successful in this campaign she would be far better suited to ruling than he would ever be. Maelys had seen how Visenya had excelled in the court politics of Volantis, how she had played the nobles there for all they worth and that too as a young girl, she was sixteen now, and was heavy with child from what Maelys had gathered, her son would be the king after him should they succeed and he meant to give her the throne, she would be more suited to it than he would be. Of that he was sure. Maelys had always known that he was more of a fighter, he had fought in so many battles now that it was hard for him to imagine doing anything else, and he knew that if he won this war, Westeros would not need another war mongerers as king, they would need someone who could bring them peace and prosperity and Visenya would be perfect for that.
Maelys knew though that if his men knew that they were actually fighting to put his sister on the throne in the long term, they would not fight as hard nor would they be as willing to make the sacrifices that they would have to make if they wanted to bring the Westerosi to heel. That was the justification Maelys gave himself for breaking his vow of chastity and sleeping with that woman from the camp, they been in Yunkai and Maelys had taken up with some whore, or was she a noblewoman it was hard for him to remember, still she had been attracted to him for some reason and Maelys through the alcohol induced reasoning had taken advantage of that and had placed a bastard in her belly, his son Rhaegon had been born perfectly formed and whole and healthy thank the gods, with a mop of silver hair and piercing purple eyes, Maelys was convinced that the boy would amount to great things even if he never ascended the throne. Still with the boy born and around and healthy having just seen his second name day, Maelys knew his men would fight harder now as they would believe they were also fighting for Rhaegon and the future of the male Blackfyre line.
He also knew that his allies, the infamous cut throats who made up other members of the band of nine were convinced that Maelys meant to name Rhaegon as his heir, they were in the dark as to his true intentions, still they were more willing to enter the alliance with him and the company now Rhaegon was around and healthy and seemingly sane. Maelys trusted his allies little though, he would be a fool to actually trust them, men like the Ebon Prince and Saaro Saan did not become as feared as they were by having morals and a proper sense of honour, men like Alequo would likely horde everything they had now that they were in power as well, those three were main men of the band apart from Maelys the others were all minor players who Maelys could deal with once he became king.
For the time being though he took advantage of their services, they had been particularly useful in the taking of Tyrosh. The city where Maelys had been born and had not seen since he was twelve, oh it had been a good feeling to take the port and kill that bastard harbour master who had taken much pleasure in evicting Maelys and his sister all those years ago, he had buried Blackfyre deep within the man's chest and throat and then carried on. He had been the one to kill Archon Nestos, the man who had thrown Maelys on his arse all those years ago, the man had pleaded for mercy for clemency but Maelys had given him justice instead, sword through the bowels, his head adorned a spike now. Tyrosh was now part of the Band's territory as was the Disputed Lands, Myr and Lys cowered in fear of them and had given them men and ships and they were now making their way for the Stepstones.
Still councils of war needed to be held and so they were being held on the Ebon Prince's flagship, The Dancing Snake. In the main deck hall on the war galley were gathered the nine, Maelys, The Ebon Prince, Saaro Saan, Alequo, Mors Ultor the mad wolf of the sea, Doran Sand the mad viper, Vaegyl Maegyr the Tiger King, Aeryl Boyar, Maegor and Daemon Lorde. All were men of fierce repute and all were focused on taking the Stepstones and from there Westeros. The Prince spoke first in that misleadingly soft voice of his. "We are fast approaching the Stepstones my lords. Soon we shall learn whether these Westerosi have fire in their blood or simply salt."
"Has there been any movement on the islands?" Maelys asked. "Do we know if the pretender knows what it is that is to hit him?"
Ultor spoke then. "Aye Your Grace, there has been. It appears that the pretender knows what to expect, though he is not aware of how many men we have at our disposal. My sources tell me that he has called the wardens of what remains of his kingdom together and has them sail to the Stepstones, to prepare for our landing. It appears that they are being led by the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard himself Ser Duncan the Tall."
"What else have your spies been able to gather?" Maelys asked.
The mad wolf of the sea smiled a wolfish grin then and said. "It appears that the king has ordered his lords to congregate on separate islands, likely our sources in his camp have told him we mean to land on different islands. A large portion of his men are like to be on Bloodstone and the other portion on Grey Gallows."
Maelys nodded. "That is good, Bloodstone will give us a chance to see just how strong the Westerosi defences truly are, if we break them there then Grey Gallows will be a hindrance and not a help for the pretender and his men."
The Ebon Prince spoke then. "So where would you have us land Your Grace? For if we bring all of our ships and men down on one island then we risk being flanked in the rear from those men the pretender has on Grey Gallows and the Sleeper."
Maelys was silent for a moment and then said. "Then we land on Grey Gallows and we take the attack to them, destroy their forces on that island and they will be trapped. Bring the might of our alliance down on them, and they shall crumble. There has been no fighting on the Stepstones by Westerosi for a century now, they will not know how to do so, and we shall take advantage of that."
There was silence and then a hum of agreement. Maelys left the deck hall and went to stand on the top deck staring out to sea and watching as the Stepstones came closer into view, as they got closer to the islands, the Ebon Prince came to stand beside him, and together they watched as the men on the war galleys began firing arrows at the men camped on the islands. The arrows rained down on the men fighting for the pretender and Maelys could hear their screams from where he was far away aboard the Dancing Snake. Eventually once a way had been paved for them to safely land on the islands, Maelys got armoured and took his sword from his squire, and then mounted his black war horse. When the gang plank was lowered Maelys was the first one down it and onto solid ground the fighting had begun.
This was what he lived for the battle, the rush of it all, steel on steel where the only thing preventing you from death was your sword and your reactions and skill. He slashed through men, cutting them to pieces like they were nothing more than meat, on he went, hacking and slashing, hacking and slashing. He cut through men bearing sigils he had read about in books but had never seen in the flesh before, he cut through men both young and old, fighting like a man possessed like a demon. On he fought; cutting through man after man, victory he could sense might be close at hand.
Eventually the tide of battle brought him face to face with a man bearing the arms of House Selmy of Harvest Hall, Maelys knew that sigil well, one of his former tutors had been from House Selmy. The youth rode towards Maelys at a full canter, and Maelys brought his sword up ready to block the blow that was coming, his arm jarred at the impact of it, but still it was a good swing. Maelys though, retaliated, swinging like the man he was swinging with all his strength, denting the man's armour and so their dance began. Back and forth they fought, swinging their swords like men possessed as if they were the only two people in the world, the only two people that mattered.
Maelys swung his sword, and blocked, parried and hacked and cut, he dented the man's armour a few times, the other man did the same to him. Their dance continued, swinging, hacking, cutting, ducking, dodging and blocking. The man was good with a sword, Maelys would give him that, the blows he landed dented Maelys armour and drew blood, he was not all that stronger than Maelys though and Maelys did manage to bloody the man a fair few times more than the man did to him. He swung his sword again and again, sparks began to fly from their blades, both of them were bathed in red, the blood of foes fallen and of each other, the fighting continued on and on and on and on. Maelys felt himself begin to tire, and yet the other man continued fighting, swinging his sword like a man possessed Maelys was being weighed down by his wounds and his armour and his second head, now it had started paining, he swung and missed and then felt a sword pierce his throat, and the world went black.
Maelys Blackfyre, captain general of the Golden Company and the last male descendant of Daemon Blackfyre died on the Stepstones on the 30th day of the fifth month of the 259th year after Aegon's Landing and with him died the Blackfyre cause.
King Aegon V Targaryen
The Blackfyres were done for, the last Blackfyre of fighting age Maelys the two headed monster was dead, slain on the Stepstones by one Ser Barristan Selmy of Harvest Hall. The people of Westeros celebrated this news with fervour and much pageantry such things that Aegon had not seen since the days of his own boyhood. The wrongs he had done to the people of Westeros were forgotten and he was hailed as a hero, for seeing through the end of the Blackfyre threat and bringing peace to Westeros. Maelys Blackfyre would have been worse for Westeros than that idiot Daemon Blackfyre all agreed, a man with no clear heir and a two headed monster all the same, his death had restored the people's faith in the Targaryen dynasty and Aegon was well pleased with that.
It helped he supposed that though the northern army had been mustered at Winterfell waiting for the Blackfyre monster to get a foothold in Westeros, with his death they had broken up and returned to their homes, and the hovels they called castles. That was good for Aegon as it meant that the burning and pillaging that might have happened had the northern savages actually come south had not happened and therefore Aegon was able to show that the northmen were cowed and that their blindness to the destruction they had caused had finally been realised. The people Aegon knew, lords and smallfolk alike were thankful the northmen had not come down south once more, and were even thankful that Aegon himself had had the foresight to send men to prevent the Blackfyres from getting into Westeros.
Still it seemed as if the gods were not done joking with him yet. Aegon had given Ser Duncan and Ser Gerold strict commands that once Maelys was slain that they were to retrieve Blackfyre and bring it with them, he would need that damnable sword to end the rumours that had been floating around over the legitimacy of his family since the day his fool of a great grandfather gave it away to that prancing jack nape. Dunk had returned without the sword though, saying that some knight of the golden company had grabbed in the chaos that had erupted following Blackfyre's death, and so Aegon was not surprised when his spies reported that Daeron Stark now had the sword in his possession, it appeared that old git would not let wounds lie now, if he ever would.
There was also further frustration for Aegon when Ser Dontos reported that the assassin sent to deal with Maelys Blackfyre's bastard son had failed, and not only had he failed he had been tortured and killed, by men sent by Aerion to protect the child and its mother. That had angered him, even now all these years later his brother still insisted on ruining everything that would be good and beneficial to him and those he cared about. The boy was still alive and not only was he still alive, he had been legitimize by Aerion though at least his brother had had the good sense to keep him away from the company, and had sent the company off to fight in the Disputed Lands. He would need to deal with the boy once more before the fool could be raised as another threat to Westeros. He would need to deal with his fool of a brother as well, with Aerion still alive there were still threats to Westeros that needed to be dealt with, and they would need to be dealt with soon enough, though if all went to plan he did not think he would need to send any military might to bring his brother's doom.
Still, amongst all the joy Aegon felt about the ending of the Blackfyre threat, there was some sadness and grief as well. He regretted what some of his decisions had cost his family and his people. Duncan and Aelix were dead because of the wars he had insisted on waging due to pride, pride that had cost him not only more respect but his sons lives as well. And for what? The north and Dorne still remained defiantly independent, and remained threats to his kingdom and its safety. He could not do anything to nullify the threats now, he could only hope with time that one of their rulers would make a mistake and the people of the kingdoms would come crawling back for Iron Throne protection.
Rhae was dead as well, from a fever Pycelle said though Aegon knew that his wife had given up hope of living through what madness he had inflicted on the family and what he was about give to them once more. She had always been a fighter his sister and wife, but the fight had left her when Duncan had died and when Aegon had continued his mad campaign to bring the family back to its previous glory days. He hoped that he could make it up to her spirit and memory over the next few years, what little time he had left he would try and make up for all the sins he had committed and he would do his best, and hope that when his own time came that it would be enough.
As he looked around Dragonsville and at the preparations being made for what was to happen later tonight, Aegon thought not for the first time about whether what he was doing was the right thing. The words of the prophecy had said that the even must happen near water and so he had chosen Dragonsville the place nearest the Trident, and he had brought Jaehaerys, Aerys and Rhaella with him, the parents of the prince needed to be there for when the dragons were born. That was what Aegon had told himself countless times but now that he was actually here he was beginning to doubt whether or not it had all been a mad fantasy, he could not show doubt not now though, he had come too far, it was all or nothing now.
"Everything is in place Your Grace." The sound of Dunk's voice took Aegon away from his thoughts.
"That is good old friend. Where are Aerys and Rhaella?" he asked.
"They are in their room as you asked Your Grace. Rhaella I believe is sleeping and Aerys is writing letters." Duncan replied.
"Very good, and Jaehaerys?" he replied.
"With Ser Gerold Your Grace." Dunk replied.
Aegon nodded and then asked his oldest friend. "Am I right in going through with this Dunk? I have been having doubts since the moment they told me Maelys Blackfyre was dead. Am I right to go through with this and to bring back the dragons, what happens if I bring them back and then something more happens? Aemon and Daenys are here, Jenny is here, but Aerys is here as well. Something seems off but I cannot place it my friend."
Dunk was silent for a moment and then he replied. "If you think that something is wrong have the place searched Your Grace. If you think that what you want to do later this evening will not ease your mind then let it rest and take your family back home Your Grace. Do not go through with this thing unless you are one hundred percent certain."
Aegon sighed then and said. "I do not think it is as simple as that old friend. The words the wood's witch spoke claimed that now would be the perfect time for the eggs to hatch and for the prince to be born without the eggs would bring untold horrors to the world. War has brought enough horror to my people I will not bring more down upon them by doing nothing. But I do not want my family at harm's way any more than they have to be. Aemon and Daenys shall remain here, they are my heirs after all, Rhaella should go to Darry, she will be safe there. But she cannot go yet, I do not think she will give birth straight away."
His old friend merely looked at him then, and Aegon knew he had rambled, thankfully Dunk merely smiled and said soothingly. "DO what you think is best Your Grace and we shall act accordingly."
Aegon nodded and then said. "Everyone shall remain here, but should something go wrong Rhaella must leave for Darry at once. I will not risk her." Dunk nodded and then left the room. Aegon spent the next few hours preparing for what was to happen in the evening, mentally thinking through everything he had read and heard about the rituals that his family had done in ages past to get eggs to hatch, and he remembered hearing the stories of how the last dragons had hatched and how his great, great grandfather had told his grandfather the stories of the hatching of dragons such as Caraxes and Balerion. If such dragons emerged once more tonight then the realm would know the Targaryens were powerful once more and none would think to question them. The north would bend as would Dorne.
Eventually the evening came and Aegon dismissed the servants, and walked down to the chamber where the eggs were, they were placed in the middle of the chamber with logs surrounding them, Aegon saw the lighters next to them ready for the spark that would ignite them. The door opened and Aerys, Rhaella, Aemon, Daenys and Jaehaerys entered the room followed by Jenny and the wood's witch. Aegon spoke then. "You all know why we are here, tonight is when the dragons shall be born once more. Tonight is when glory shall be ours once more."
The woods witch stepped forward then, shrivelled and hunched as she was she still had a commanding presence. "Now we must say a prayer before the ritual can begin, not to the seven no, to the old gods, the ones who will bring these beasts back to life."
The prayer began, singing the songs of old, songs that seemed ancient and primal back when dragons roamed the land and the children and magic reigned supreme they sang the song of the earth and then they sang another song, a different song, an even older song, the song that had been heard during the days of blood and strife, the time when darkness had ruled the world. Aegon wondered at that but did not comment, once the singing was done he spoke once more. "Now in the days of old, to bring the eggs to life, one had to start the fire that could bring life to the world. Jaehaerys light the fire." His son nodded and threw the spark into the centre causing the wood to light up and the eggs to glow, red, then black, then green and then yellow. "Add more fuel to the fire." Aegon said, and more was added.
"The blood of the prince must be added to the flames before the others can add their flames." The witch said.
Aerys pulled out a knife and cut his and Rhaella's thumbs and then tipped the blood from the knife into the centre, the flames crackled and sparked. "Now we each add our own blood." Aegon commanded and it was done, blood was added, the blood of the dragon, to wake the dragons from stone. The flames crackled and shimmered and grew bigger, the heat was almost scalding even to Aegon, he looked toward the witch and asked. "Now what do we do?"
The witch was silent for a long moment and then she eventually said. "A sacrifice must be made, one of the king's blood must be given to ensure that the dragons awake properly."
Aegon looked at her and said. "Have you gone mad woman? That was not the plan and never has been."
"It must be done Your Grace, otherwise we shall all die as the heat grows." The witch replied.
Aegon sighed and then said. "King's blood aye, very well, the blood shall be given. Jaehaerys give me the knife." His son looked at him and then handed him the knife, Aegon moved onto the witch then and said softly. "If one of us must die then so much you witch, blood for blood." And with that he slit her throat and added her blood and body to the flames that sizzled and then erupted, knocking Aegon down to the ground.
"Father, the flames are growing bigger but nothing else is happening." Jaehaerys said.
"The flames Your Grace, look at the flames Your Grace." Dunk shouted.
Struggling Aegon got onto his arms and saw the flames, they were bright green, no ordinary flames wildfire, how had it gotten here he knew not. "Get everyone out now! We must leave now." Aegon shouted as the flames began to roar.
As Dunk was leading Aerys and Rhaella to safety the flames erupted and cracked glass and the room was growing dark and hot, Aegon struggled towards his grandchildren Aemon and Daenys, they needed to get to safety, but Jenny was standing in the way, holding a knife up in protection. "I won't let you take my children from me Your Grace. Duncan is dead but his children can live on."
"They won't live unless you let me take them Jenny." Aegon shouted.
"Oh I will take them to safety its you who won't be making it out alive." She replied and with that Aegon felt cold steel press into his chest as Jenny put the knife into him, the blood began running down him as Jenny shouted for her children to run away, she kept stabbing him again and again until he fell to the ground, curling with blood. The flames erupted but Aegon felt nothing but cold, the heat gone from his body, the flames engulfed him and his gooddaughter.
The Tragedy of Dragonsville caused the Targaryen summer manor to burn to the ground, after the flames died down and help was found, the bodies of King Aegon, Prince Aemon, Princess Daenys and Princess Jenny were found blackened and charred, wildfire caches were found lurking the ruins of the manor house. Princess Rhaella gave birth two days after the tragedy in castle Darry. A king was gone and an era had ended.