130 A.L. Outside Volantis
Prince Aemon Targaryen
Aemon Targaryen, Prince of Dragonstone and heir to the Iron Throne, stood looking out to the city before him, Volantis the place that he and his mother had been tasked with conquering by his father King Aemon II. They had engaged in some two battles with Volanteene armies before finally coming to the outskirts of the city. There was a lull in activities a lull that had given Aemon time enough to think about what he had done nearly seven moons ago. His sisters, Saera and Daenaerys, the twins as they were affectionately known had essentially marched him to the Sept of Aemon, where they had had the High Septon officiate a marriage between the three of them. Their parents had not known about this, and both had been very angry about that, with Aemon's father simply shaking his head in frustration that they had done such a thing without even thinking of consulting them, whilst their mother had been very angry and had accused them of not even thinking through their actions. Whilst there had been some murmuring about it all in court amongst the lords and ladies, Aemon and his sisters had been relatively unconcerned about it all. After all, his sisters were happy with the marriage, and he would likely have a better chance of siring and heir, and Daenaerys had told him that she was with child. Furthermore, it was not like a polygamous marriage had never been done before, and this time the family's hold on Westeros was much more secure than it had been the last time such a marriage had been done.
The tap on his shoulder that alerted to him to Saera's presence drew him away from his thoughts and as he walked hand in hand with his wife to the command tent, he wondered what today's news would bring. Aemon knew the gist of why they were fighting in Volantis, after all the city was the biggest and strongest of the Free Cities and had made several overtures towards Pentos about retaking the Daughters, and so Aemon's father had decided that something needed to be done and Valyria needed to be reset. The King though was not doing too well and so had sent his wife, his heir and one of his daughters Saera out to command the forces along with Prince Daemon. The other lords who had come when his father had sent the ravens out included Lord Borros Baratheon, Lord Rickon Stark, Lord Hubert Royce acting instead for Lady Jeyne Arryn, Lord Brynden Tully, Lord Garlan Tyrell, Prince Daeron Targaryen the consort to the ruling Princess of Dorne and finally Lord Jason Lannister. Aemon's mother spoke first then. "Riders came back from their scouting and reported that Pentos has now finally sent it's armies back into their walls and has submitted to the terms that Prince Daemon offered them. Pentos is now part of our dominions my lords." There was some cheering at that, and then his mother went on. "However, we do have one small problem in that Volantis still stands strong and has more and more men coming to fight for them by the day. Soon enough their numbers will stand at some 30,000 and of course though we have more men then they do, the question is the risk of smashing our men to pieces on their walls truly worth the risk?"
Borros Baratheon of course advocated that very same approach. "We can stand about and debate going about quietly Your Grace. But they know we are here, and they will be expecting us to make a move sooner rather than later. If we simply remain here, they will begin picking us off one by one. I say we charge and we charge soon."
Lord Garlan of course voiced his own agreement. "Aye, we can wait and discuss quiet options. But sooner or later we will need to fight. Why not do it in the most battle manner and have done with it? They will break themselves just as much as we will, and they do not have dragons."
Lord Rickon Stark though had another opinion to offer. "Aye we have dragons, but the Volanteene will not be as foolish as the Daughters were when it comes to fighting them. They will have taken the lessons from Dorne, and will have scorpions ready for them when they do come. We must weaken their outer defences before the dragons are used if we are to use them at all in this battle."
Lord Hubert Royce a man of many battles voiced his support for that measure. "Aye, Lord Rickon speaks true. We cannot have it both ways. If we use the dragons, we must make sure that they will not be at risk of falling to those damnable arrows and scorpion bolts. And that does mean we must remove the outer warriors that they have on the walls."
Prince Daeron, Aemon's great uncle and a man he knew very little of and had thought was not much of a warrior spoke then. "There is one way we can deal with the warriors on their walls without having to use a very, very open way of battle. Four of my men have been to Volantis before and have seen the secret passageways that lead to the command centres as well as to the walls. They can guide some of our best warriors through the tunnels and then give them time to remove the warriors on the walls, whilst they open the gates and allow the rest of the men through."
Aemon's mother looked at her uncle then and asked. "Are you certain that they can do this my prince? After all there are many passageways into Volantis, how sure can we be that your men will lead us into the right ones?"
Aemon's great uncle was silent a moment before he said. "I am very confident Your Grace. These are men whom have served Dorne very well in doing such operations in the past. And as such much of the information I have presented to you about Volantis has come from them and their ways into the city. Trust me when I say they will be able to lead us to victory through these passageways."
Aemon looked at his mother and when she nodded and said. "Very well then we shall trust in your judgement uncle. So who would wish to go with the men from Dorne?" As a score of volunteers raised their hands Aemon relaxed somewhat and took his wife's hand in his and waited for the lords to go. Once the plans had been made and it was decided they would attack at nightfall, it was just Aemon his wife Saera and their mother Queen Rhaenys, their mother spoke then. "Now when the men march out tonight, there will be some talk of having the dragons ride out in full force, especially Vhagar. We must not let the lords know just how unsure we are about how capable Malystryx will be in combat and so, I and Ser Laenor shall ride out for battle with the first wave. Once the walls are broken down, then and only then is when you two should come forth and join the battle."
Saera nodded and yet Aemon protested. "But mother surely we should ride out with you and Ser Laenor? After all surely four dragons are better than just two? It would mean that there is more chance for us to remove the walls that protect the city and we can finally show these people who the true heirs of Valyria are."
His mother sighed then and said simply. "That is exactly why you two must remain behind when myself and Ser Laenor ride out to the battle. They will want all four dragons out to cause chaos that they can then exploit. We must have ordered chaos, and that can only be achieved with two dragons, not four all hungry for blood. You will get your chance for battle soon enough sweetling."
Aemon was about to say something more when Saera put a hand on his arm and said softly. "Mother is right Aemon, we must let her and Ser Laenor pave the way for us in this."
Aemon sighed then and nodded. A few hours later as night fell and he saw his mother and Ser Laenor take to the sky he counted down the minutes until he felt rather than saw the sign for he and his wife to take to the skies. As he mounted Malystryx he said a silent prayer and then prepared for his first battle. Volantis would shake before the night was done.