110 A.L. Bloodstone

Ser Laenor Velaryon

Laenor had been born during the reign of the Old King, when his family had been somewhere between being a very influential house at court and being nobodies. The Baratheons and the Tyrells had held sway then and then the Arryns had come into the picture. Now though, now Laenor's house thanks to the efforts of his father had finally gotten the recognition and power at court that he thought they had always deserved. Both the King and Princess Rhaenys- who Laenor considered the true heir to the throne- listened to what his father had to say and took it into consideration when making their decisions. There was also the fact that with his little brother Daemon's marriage to Bethany Redwyne and the forming of a cadet branch on the Arbor, House Velaryon now had uncontested control of the seas and had a big enough naval presence to essentially dominate the seas for many years to come. The rest of the houses in the Reach had reacted with a lot of unease, and Laenor understood why, though he might be hot-headed and rash, he did understand politics, and he knew that many of the Lords of the Reach feared that the increasing Valyrian influence and hold over Westeros was an attempt by House Targaryen to their power by proxy. Of course Laenor knew that this was not the case, but still it was interesting to see the Reacher lords with their puffed up egos worrying and panicking, particularly the Hightowers those stuck up shits who had done nothing of note for thousands of years.

Laenor, as the heir to the Driftmark had been taught by his father from an early age, the ways of court at King's Landing the way to play the game in a manner that would most benefit their family. Laenor of course had preferred drinking and wenching and fighting to actually paying attention to the subtleties of court politics and unlike Prince Aemon he did not have a wife to cover for his lapses in these areas. All he knew about court intrigue came from his own observations and mistakes he himself had made at court. His own wife Daenaera Celtigar was a sweet woman who had charmed him from the moment he had met her, but she was not enough to keep him to one bed and he had strayed in the early years of their marriage and as such had a fair few bastards roaming around Spicetown and other areas of the Driftmark and perhaps even Dragonstone. Of course he had made sure to sire trueborn children and had four by his wife, his eldest son and heir Lucerys was a good lad, calm and composed completely the opposite to him, and the good thing was that the boy was faithful to his own wife Lady Shiera Darklyn and had sired a son on her whom they had named Addam. HIs second son Denys was a lot more like him and was much more of a fighter and had competed in many a tourney earning him the praises and notice of the king, Denys had also sired a bastard on some serving girl at King's Landing and so that had caused quite a stir. Aegon, his third son was very quiet and reserved and hardly said three words, and yet Laenor knew the boy was smart, and that there was some hidden talent there. Then there was his daughter whom he loved more than anything else, Leila was his pride and the apple of his eye, she could do no wrong as far as he was concerned and though she was nearing her fourteenth nameday and had already flowered, Laenor could not find it in his heart to begin looking for some boy to betroth her to.

Of course with the way his family had now finally voiced their support of Princess Rhaenys and her heirs in the open, it should not be too hard to find marriage options for his three children. He still laughed sometimes at how the whole thing had come about, one of Ser Otto Hightower's squibs had tried to slander Princess Rhaenys and her virtue, and Laenor who had been growing steadily angrier by the minute had simply stood up and said that "Any enemy of Princess Rhaenys is an enemy of mine." And he had meant it, his father had then stood up and added his voice to the call saying that any enemy of Princess Rhaenys was also an enemy of House Velaryon and that had some weight towards it given his father's power and presence at court. Following that Laenor had gone and gotten quite drunk at a tavern with Prince Daemon who was visiting from the Stepstones and his brother Aelix, and had proceeded to call Rhaenys the rightful heir to the throne and Prince Aemon, the future king consort, something that had caused quite a stir and a running joke. Prince Aemon had accepted the joke with good grace- something Laenor suspected was to do with how his sister had reacted to it- and had even joked with Laenor about it public. Of course King Aemon had pulled Laenor to one side and said that he might want to keep his mouth shut next time lest Prince Aemon be forced to act when he became King, Laenor had nodded and promised to do just that.

Of course just now was not exactly the time to be dwelling on such things. A raven had arrived at King's Landing and the Driftmark from Prince Daemon asking for aid against the Triarchy who had broken the terms of the treaty signed some four years ago, and were now raiding along the coast of the Stepstones. King Aemon had of course responded and called his banners, the Royal Fleet and the Velaryon and Redwyne Fleets had set sail carrying some 50,000 men with them. Laenor's father commanded the Royal fleet and that had meant Laenor was given command over the Velaryon fleet, which he led from atop his dragon Tessarion's back. Prince Aemon had been given the command of the royal forces and as such had called for a war council to be held to discuss what their first moves should be now that the raiding forces of the Triarchy had been burnt to smithereens. The Prince looked tired as he spoke. "My lords I thank you all for coming. As you know the raiding parties Morro sent forth have been dealt with and quite swiftly I might add. And yet our scouts and dragons have seen more ships sailing forth from the belly of the Three Daughters, and so we must discuss what our next course of action should be. Do we wait for them here and on the various other islands, or do we meet them head on in battle in the water?"

Laenor's father was leading the scouting parties and so could not speak for what he wanted, but Laenor knew by now what his father would say and so said. "Your Grace, I believe the most prudent course would be to engage the Three Daughters fleet in the sea. We have more than enough ships and men to do just that. And besides, we also have five dragons here with us with which to burn the ships down to dust if we so choose. Waiting for them on land seems to be the most obvious course of action and something that will have a man like Morro licking his lips in anticipation."

Prince Daemon spoke then. "I agree with Ser Laenor Your Grace. We cannot afford to allow Morro to sense any sort of hesitation on our part. We must attack them where we are strongest and right now that is at sea. DO that and we shall crush them and pave a way for us to attack them in their own back yard. If we wait for them here, we shall be sending a sign to them that we are too weak or too scared to fight them actively, and they will laugh and Pentos and Bravos will join them."

Ser Harlan Tyrell spoke then. "Sea might be where we are strongest, and with five dragons at our disposal and can see the sense in using them there. But we must also keep in mind that out at sea, there is also a risk of dragons flying too low and crashing and burning. It happened to King Maegor during a war in the south many years ago, and though none of Morro's men are old enough to remember it that I know of it means they will know of it and will try and exploit it. Perhaps it might be best to send two of the dragons with the ships and leave the other three here incase something should befall the rest?"

Lord Theobald Reyne a timid man by all accounts and nothing like his father, the red lion spoke up in agreement. "Aye, I agree with Ser Harlan. Surely it would be more sensible to leave some of the dragons here to guard the camp and the treasures we have here, in case the daughters and their men make it past the fleets?"

Laenor spoke his voice filled with scorn. "And which dragons would you suggest we leave behind my lords? Vermithor and Caraxes the two biggest dragons we have? Or Silverwing and Meleys the two fiercest dragons we have? Or perhaps even my Tessarion so that the Velaryon fleet is left in the command of my pup of a brother? No we must engage in full combat with these idiots from the Daughters and we must do it with the dragons, all of them. A show of strength that will crush their spirits and ruin their hopes. Otherwise we might as well go home and leave the Stepstones for them."

Prince Daemon spoke then as well his voice fierce. "I will not let my islands and people wait here with fear in their hearts my lords. I would rather fight the foe and stare him down on the seas with Caraxes there and the dragons there as well. I will not fight them naked, and fighting them on land where they know the passageways as well as I do would be doing just that. No if we are to fight then we must fight them on the sea and we must hit them hard."

Princess Rhaenys spoke then and her voice was calming and soothing. "Very well then. I too believe it makes more than enough sense to utilise the full force of naval power we have at our disposal. To not do so would be a waste and we cannot afford that. The dragons will also help and it does not seem as if the weather should adversely affect their usage or their usefulness. The Triarchy should be dealt with soon enough."

Whilst the man's wife had been speaking, a messenger had arrived in the tent and had handed Prince Aemon a letter, and his face had grown angry. His voice was shaking when he said. "Very well, we are agreed then? The attack shall be an all out assault on the daughters' fleet, and we shall use the dragons to the best of their abilities. Now if my lord would excuse me, I have something I wish to discuss with my wife and Ser Laenor. The battle shall take place at first light tomorrow."

Once the others had left included Daemon, Princess Rhaenys looked at her husband and asked. "What is the matter my love? What letter did that boy give you?"

Prince Aemon was silent for a moment before he turned to look at Laenor and asked him. "Ser Laenor, when you stood up in court and said that an enemy of my wife was an enemy of yours, did you mean it truly?"

Laenor nods and says. "On my honour I meant it."

Prince Aemon then looks at his wife again and says deadly serious. "There was a raven from Aemma, it appears the North and the Vale are going to war with one another."