CHAPTER 7; THE LAST EAGLE AND THE BRONZE REVENGE
It was barely past dawn the next day when Vaegon was on his way to Dragonpit guarded by his royal guard. Hundreds of ordinary people were gathered there, apart from being full of guards. He walked to the dais, where the council members stood, including the Sea Serpent, and his wife Princess Rhaenys and her children Laena and Laenor Velaryon. As well as the children of the other members. But above all the supreme septon stood out, which already had the crown of the old king prepared.
Vaegon considered putting on the conqueror's crown for a moment, but he ended up rejecting the idea, because his father's crown gave him more continuity. But he had already finished climbing the steps, when he was in front of the crowd, while he had the high septon on one side and the Velaryons and Hightowers on the other side.
Then Vaegon knelt before the high septon.
"I hereby crown you as Vaegon Targaryen, of the house Targaryen the first of his name, lord of the seven kingdoms, king of the Andals, the rhoynar and the first men and protector of the realm" said the high septon placing the crown of the old king. Then his squire Jason Lannister gave him Darkire, the sword of the Targaryens. And Vaegon got up, among the great popular ovation.
He really enjoyed those moments a lot, it was more successful than Vaegon had been in his previous life. Perhaps he should have dressed in a fine doublet, instead of the old maester's robes he always wore, but Vaegon knew that the people would appreciate someone who dressed more like them than someone who dressed like a peacock.
After a couple of minutes the ovation died down, and Vaegon began to speak;
"My father passed away yesterday," Vaegon said seriously, "but with him does not die the prosperity of his reign, for as his son and successor I swear before the old and new gods, that I will not only maintain the prosperity for which my father and my mother worked, but I will enlarge it. Bread for the poor, security in the streets, protection for the helpless, peace for the seven kingdoms and a better future for its inhabitants, full of abundance and prosperity. Well, that's my duty."
The applause lasted for a long time, and Vaegon smiled overwhelmed by such flattery, but it was necessary to make his first move, and he moved for a moment towards the Velaryons and led Laenor with him, taking his hand to the expectation of the court, especially of the Sea Serpent.
"I hereby name my dear nephew Laenor Velaryon the new prince of Dragonstone!" he shouted, raising his arm to the surprise of many, "Well, my brother Aemon's lineage will continue with peace and prosperity when I'm gone!"
Vaegon raised his arm as did Laenor's, and the boy was overwhelmed by the general cheer. There were many cheers, but none louder than those of House Velaryon, no smiles wider than those of Princess Rhaenys and the sea serpent. Although surely Otto Hightower was already looking for a way for his daughter Alicent to become queen, that's why he smiled so much ". Poor Laenor would not become king anyway, but having him for a decade or two as his heir apparent would make the Velaryons happy.
After the end of the ovation, a popular banquet took place that had already been prepared in the previous days, in honor of the old king. In it he made the musicians play the happiest songs, and serve themselves the best delicacies. Some saw this as a lack of respect for the old king, but Vaegon replied to the council members "I am the one who mourns my father, but it is the people who should celebrate his life and work, as well as that of my mother."
A banquet was then held in the palace, but only the council members were invited, and their families, and of course the most important courtiers, mainly the feudal lords of the Crown Lands. Vaegon took a seat at the high table, with the Velaryons next to him, but the three absent seats of Viserys, his wife, and his daughter soon made themselves known, and rumors soon began.
Vaegon brought his advisor Ansel closer and whispered into her ear, "Princess Rhaenyra is safe in Rosby," to which Vaego nodded grimly.
The banquet, replete with roasts and lemon cakes, plus shellfish of all kinds accompanied by hot bread, cheeses, and hot or sour sauces, was over as soon as possible, and the atmosphere was not very festive, Vaegon having prepared it in such a way that the absence of his nephews, set off all the alarms of the lords.
At the end of the banquet, in the late afternoon, Vaegon's first private council was convened officially as king. although he had already been ruling de facto for almost two years. There the looks were gloomy or worried. But they were prepared… rather, the conspiracy was prepared. Well, the forces of the Lands of the Rivers had already been put on guard by Vaegon himself on the same day as the old king's last birthday, and they had to be prepared for any scenario. For their part, the Lannisters had already been warned, but it was likely that their bannermen were not quite ready. But if there was anyone seated at that table who was truly ready, it would be none other than Lord Corlys, for the sea serpent had been preparing his hosts since before Vaegon came to King's Landing.
"My lords" Vaegon began "Of the seven kingdoms, the only one that has not sworn allegiance to me is the Valley of Arryn...I have no doubt that my nephews have fled there to start a rebellion"
They all nodded, knowing that this was where the castle of Daemon was located, who was the only one of Baelon's two sons who still had a dragon.
"Naturally I will not sit still and wait as I try to spread Fire and Blood throughout the country" Vaegon said "Grand Master" he told Rucinter "send a raven to Riverrun, tell Lord Grover that he mobilized his bannermen to the High Road , right at the entrance of the Valley, in the Inn of the Crossroads, there they will wait for Lord Loreon's forces to join them "
Lord Lannister was served wine from the grate by his son Tyland.
"20,000 men will arrive in a fortnight," the lord said forcefully. To which Vaegon nodded seriously.
"Lord Corlys," Vaegon continued, "your fleet will head for Seagullport and once there my niece and the dragon Meleys will position themselves awaiting my arrival. Well, to the north is the Runestones, Daemon's lair, so until then you will limit yourself to protecting the city.
"As you order" said the sea serpent, nervous about the fact that his wife would accompany him to war.
"I will ride Vhagar when the forces of the West and the Riverlands are massed on Highroad. From there we will march to the Eyrie, which I hope Lady Arryn will reconsider upon our arrival, or I fear there will be a new Harrehall.
Everyone in the council shuddered at that statement, but Vaegon rose from him.
"I will write a letter to Lady Arryn ordering her to cease her intentions before a fatality occurs," Vaegon said, heading to her office, while the council discussed logistical matters, or whether to involve the North and the Stormlands. . Although only the second was feasible thanks to the Velaryon fleet, the North would not be able to fight the assault on the Valley.
In his office, Vaegon wrote a message to Lady Arryn, not for her to swear fealty, but as if she were Aenma Arryn to tell her that the old king was dead and they had escaped Vaegon thanks to the support of the Lannisters, and now They were in Dragonstone willing to claim dragons, but Vaegon still had The Riverlands, the Velaryon and the Dominion, so he urged to call his banners as soon as possible to face the army of the Tully who were preparing to attack the Valley. While El Norte mobilized its forces to come to their aid, and together they could crush the hosts of the rivers.
Of course, a specialist imitated the sifunta Aenma's handwriting to perfection and the grand master sent the raven to Nido de Águilas, where Ansel's agents would send a raven that would arrive a week later in the capital.
In the message he sent "Lady Arryn" he said; "To all the lords of the seven kingdoms, I make it known that from this day forward, House Arryn and the Vale declare their undying allegiance to Viserys Targaryen, and I accused Vaegon of being a kin-killer and usurping the throne." that corresponded to the son of Baelon, as if this were not enough, he announced that he was declaring himself in rebellion against Vaegon and harangued all the lords to imitate his example. Naturally this had the opposite effect, and as soon as the message reached Driftmark urging him to abandon his "treacherous path" the sea serpent mobilized his fleet to Seagullport, accompanied by his wife and the dragon Meleys.
Vaegon ordered two thousand men to set out for the Riverlands with reinforced loads of Valyrian fire, which, being inspired by ancient Greek fire, could be transported safely with appropriate preventive measures.
A week later Vaegon set out for the high road, and after a few hours' flight at Vhagar he arrived at noon, where he was greeted by Ser Brynden Tully. There he gave instructions on how to use wildfire, at least until the waiting of the western forces.
However, to Vaegon's surprise, the Valley army had prepared itself faster than he had expected. "They were already prepared for this scenario," Vaegon thought, as he listened to how a cloud of dust could be seen on the horizon at dawn. Then Vaegon commanded Ser Brynden to get his hosts ready for battle, as the troops of the Vale closed in, while Vaegon and Vhagar rose into the air, making a short circle.
And it was almost lucky that Vaegon and Vhagar were there, for ten thousand riversiders hardly stood a chance against the fifteen thousand Vale hosts, made up of their famous cavalry.
The clash between the trout and the eagle was brutal. The riverside forces formed an iron wall, bleeding with their shields as they fought with all their might to hold back the Arryn cavalry. But the numerical superiority and the mere thousand knights of the Riverlands could hardly do anything. For its part, the Valle cavalry had hardly any casualties, although there were already more than two hundred unsaddled. But the pikes were still a real problem. A knight under twenty years old and somewhat pale, fell to the ground with a spear stuck in his right eye, while the perpetrator's arm lay limp and separated from his body on the ground, by the Knight's Sword of Blood Stones.
The screams of the wounded echoed through the place, but were drowned out by the neighing of the horses who scrambled madly and felled everyone in their path, even trampling the riders to death with disfigured faces, or vomiting blood. But in a few minutes the Tully defenses would crumble.
"Our turn," Vaegon said, and then Vhagar descended to the ground and a cry of "Drakarys!" of Vaegon, the old dragon with her flame in the distance incinerated at least five hundred horsemen with a single puff. Panic gripped the Vale forces, and the situation quickly spiraled out of control, as many of the horsemen were thrown off their horse by their terrified mounts, who were fleeing from the flames of Vhagar, who had incinerated a thousand other horsemen with his flame, until land on the ground, and emit such a roar that it made every living thing within a league tremble.
The shield wall drew their spears and walked like a bloodied turtle, and the bulk of the Vale hosts found themselves between spears that claimed their lives, and the greatest dragon in the known world, plus two thousand royal soldiers. Mattel Redfort, who was the most important lord not cremated, managed to gather four hundred knights in the middle of the anarchic situation, and dismounted from his mounts, and they walked towards where the great dragon was. As they advanced towards the dragon, they had multiplied tenfold, and so they threw down their swords in unconditional surrender.
Vaegon held up a hand and Vhagar stopped puffing fire from him. The Tully troops also stopped short. While you could only hear the sound of the flames consuming the earth, the cries of the dying and of course the strident breathing of the dragon. The stench of death reigned on the high road, and Vhagar's bright eyes threatened to magnify that stench.
"We surrender," Lord Redfort said grimly.
"But you rose up against me!" Vaegon yelled. "Death or the night's watch, it's up to you!" and Vhagar let out a great roar that made the blood run cold again, without exception.
"Usurper!" croaked a beardless squire less than fifteen days old, covered in mud and with more fire than brain "You killed your brother!" he yelled he before a knight smacked him to the ground.
Vaegon remained dignified and unfazed.
"I didn't kill any of my brothers!" Vaegon yelled solemnly. "Aemon died from a pirate's arrow, and Baelon from a stomach bug!" then he was silent for a moment. "You have been tricked into serving as mere pawns in my nephews' ambition for the iron throne!" he retorted, "Look what you have been reduced to!" and he stared at Lord Redfort "If you want to die now grab your swords and fight to the end, if you want to live kneel and spend the rest of your lives on the wall!" and I take a breath for a moment "There you, it's your decision!"
If anyone was left with a sword in his hand he threw it to the ground, and the sound of the iron of the armor colliding with the earth was heard by thousands. At the end of the night, a balance was made of the recently named battle of La Encrucijada. More than four thousand prisoners and more than three thousand cremated corpses. Unfortunately half of the Valley army had fled. But many of them were wounded, and with little organization. Perhaps in three or four days they would reach Gates of the Moon, one of the Arryn castles. Vaegon briefly considered going to burn the castle, but reconsidered for a moment, considering that his agents had already contacted the Royces, offering them restitution for the family possessions taken by Daemon, so that perhaps knowing the defeat of the valley and that a dragon was heading towards the Eyrie, there would be some "surprise" when they arrived at the secondary settlement of the Arryn. And if not, there would be many monuments to the power of a dragon.
But the riversiders had suffered heavy losses, at least two thousand dead, and another two thousand wounded, many of them permanently. And among the most notable losses was that of Sir Brynden Tully, with a sword through his neck.
In any case, they must wait until the arrival of the Lannister hosts. Until then they would remain quartered, and they would be in charge of burying the corpses, although they would send the bodies of the nobles to their homes so that they could have a burial with the honors that corresponded to their social position. Instead, most efforts were reversed, apart from setting up a camp and tending to the wounded. Thanks to the development of penicillin and several of Ansel's acolytes, the first successful surgical operations were achieved, and half a thousand lives were saved. When he returned to King's Landing, he would create a surgical school, which Ansel's acolytes would teach at will, for there was no better school for a surgeon than war. And the results were relatively good considering the little infrastructure he had at the time.
Ten days later the Lannister hosts arrived with Lord Loreon in command. They were twenty thousand fresh and well-armed soldiers, plus three thousand cavalry and two thousand archers. Vaegon effusively welcomed Lord Lannister, and after a sumptuous dinner of roast meat and hot bread, they set off down the Long Road. At a forced pace it took them a fortnight to reach the Gates of the Moon. The journey was long and tedious, during the day no one, not even the clans of the mountain of the moon, were stupid enough to ambush an army of that size, dragon included.
However, at night the situation changed and under cover of night there were harassments, until finally on the eighth night, they launched a real night attack. But it was a brilliant night and full of horrors, since the defensive barrier that the soldiers of the crown set up every night broke the serenity of the night with the screams of thousands of unfortunates, including knights, foot soldiers, and horses. Although the wildfire was especially powerful thanks to being ignited by Vhagar's fire. Few managed to escape, and the next morning the badly wounded were finished off as an act of compassion.
They finally reached the Gates of the Moon, and the Arryn soldiers surrendered without resistance. Lady Jane Arryn, was the eldest daughter of Lord Rodrik Arryn, and half-sister of Aenma, who had held the lordship for six years. But there were many doubts about her fitness for her valley, especially from her cousin Arnold Arryn, who craved the honor of being the new guardian of the east. Perhaps she went for power, or for fear of Vhagar, but he ended up surrendering the fortress as soon as he saw the army.
Naturally Vaegon ordered him to be put in shackles, along with every knight in the keep "for having supported Lady Arryn's treachery" and confined to the dungeons. However, then they reached the trickiest part, since it was impossible to attack with the entire army through the strait, and there were one hundred and sixty meters vertically up to the access. The Arryns had chosen their settlement very well, but they could not against the dragons, and Vaegon flew to one of the towers of the Eyrie, and as Visenya made a trail behind, he sat on a bench waiting for the governess.
Lady Jane Arryn was a strong-willed woman, and she was not going to be intimidated by the "dragonless" when she saw Vaegon waiting for her, the truth is that she was disappointed because she looked fragile and was not attractive, far from it. He was wearing chain mail, but he could barely move in it. And the smile she gave him was quite rare.
"Lady Arryn," Vaegon said as he nuzzled Vhagar's nose, "it is a pleasure to meet you at last."
"I can't say the same" she replied sourly "my sister and her husband must already have dragons, King's Landing will be on fire"
"Your sister and her husband are dead," Vaegon spoke seriously. "And the Lannisters are on my side...in Pentos, Daemon is gathering an army of mercenaries...yes, but Gullport is in the hands of the Velaryons, and your forces are slaughtered."
Lady Arryn stiffened.
"Murderer," she accused him, "you are a monster, a murderer of relatives. But Daemon will defeat you."
Vaegon smiled.
"I have more dragons," Vaegon replied, "and as for you... will you surrender as your cousin did?"
Jeyne Arryn was too strong-willed a woman for her own good, and she had no direct descendants. But she was smart enough to understand why they were having this conversation, perhaps she would end her days with her tongue ripped out and the darkest of dungeons, at best. But she was not afraid of her fate and she decided to take it into her own hands.
She untwisted her chignon, letting her brown mane blow in the wind, and yet she met the king's eyes defiantly, and even snarled at the mighty dragon. She walked to the edge and turned for a moment before the end.
Vaegon rose and came level with her, before Jane Arryn could say a word, her hands had her thrown into the air, and Lady Jane vanished like House Arryn's hold on the Vale. After that the garrison surrendered without conditions and the royal soldiers occupied the Nido de Águilas.
Soon they were assembled in the main room, known as the High Room, long and austere, with walls of blue-veined white marble and narrow arched windows on the east wall that housed two hundred officers. On the walls there are fifty silver chandeliers and the central aisle is covered by a long blue carpet between rows of white columns. There was a carved weirwood throne and next to it a smaller throne. Vaegon sat on the high throne, feasting with the Lannister lord and his officers at a lavish banquet.
The next day the Rhoyce declared their allegiance to Vaegon for good, and made an attack on the Runestones, putting to the sword all those who had sworn allegiance to the rogue prince, in which they officially killed Viserys Targaryen and Aenma. Arryn in retaliation for the murder of Rhea Rhoyce, in what became known as the Bronze Vengeance, which lasted five days, until Rhaenys and the Velaryon army took the fortress. Where they found only Viserys's salted hand with its rings set on its stiff fingers, though Aenma's body was never found, or too disfigured for it. At least that was what the queen told her that she never was, when they met in the Eagles' Nest.
"And who are you going to name guardian of the east?" asked Princess Rhaenys curiously after recounting her facts. She was truly sorry for what had happened, but the princess herself knew that there was no other alternative, especially when her son was the prince of Dragonstone.
"Nobody" he answered firmly "The Valley will be integrated into the Crown Lands... that will send a strong message to the whole country" the campaign had been a success, but there was still the matter of Daemon to be dealt with, who had already he must have embarked with the mercenary army. But the sea serpent had taken extreme precautions and his control over the sea would force Daemon to focus on a single point.
And so it was from the other side of the Narrow Sea, the rogue prince set out on the back of Caraxes and several thousand swords, heading to defend the rights of Viserys, and his first stop would be his ancestral home, while the hunger for glory and the thirst for glory of blood drove him. It was time to restore the glory of the house of the dragon .