Wife of the Wolf, Husband of the Sun
Chapter Thirty-One.
Rhaegar Targaryen watched as far below the waves crashed against the grim shore of Dragonstone, he had to admit that he had never liked this place. He may have been it's prince but even for him, a man who was well known for being melancholic, it was far too gloomy. His new wife had not helped in making the ancient citadel seem more welcoming.
It was most likely to do with the fact that they were far away from court, Cersei had wanted to be a lady of the court with dozens of admirers and courtiers fawning over her and begging for her favour and attention. She hadn't expected that she would soon be sent away from the court and have to come to Dragonstone instead but that had to happen eventually, it was better it happened now than later.
In truth despite how gloomy it was and displease his wife was Rhaegar was glad to be away from the Red Keep for a time, tensions in King's Landing were rising and it was perhaps for the best to get away for a while. Cersei may not like it here but at the very least she was out immediate danger and he could live with her slight disapproval.
What he could not live with was the fact that he had to leave his mother and his younger brother in his father's poisonous grasp, Viserys had been crying and crying on the docks when their ship was about to leave and had begged him not to go, or to take Viserys with him and Rhaegar wanted nothing more than to take him with them but their father had forbid his younger son from leaving the capital.
His mother had tried to be strong for both her sons and just as always his mother's strength always surprised him, he knew that his father had visited her the night before as the purple bruise that surrounded one of her eyes attested but she had not let that stopped her from coming to wish her eldest son and his new wife well on their journey. Rhaegar didn't think that he ever hated himself more than when the ship sailed away from the port and it grew smaller and smaller in the distance.
He tried to comfort himself by saying that it wouldn't be like this forever, that being far away from his father's gaze meant that he could more easily plan to dispose his father but the truth was that no words could make him feel better about any of this, and the words weren't even true. His father would be keeping an even closer eye on him now that he wasn't within arm's reach.
He missed Jon, but his friend was his father's hand and there was no logical reason why his father would let his hand go to serve his son. Without Jon at his side things had become more difficult, he had no insight into his father's mind and he had no way of sending messages to the other lords of the realm. There were ravens at Dragonstone of course but any messages being sent would be watched by his father and would be intercepted, all his letters were written in code of course but his father didn't need to understand what he had written, all he needed to know was that his son was sending coded messages to the other great lords.
There were only so many conclusions that could be reached from that.
The king was paranoid to be certain, too paranoid but he did trust his hand at least for the moment. The hand was sworn to serve the king after all and any messages he sent were only going to help the king in the long run after all, and Jon was a man of his word and he did serve his king, his true king. It wasn't perfect by any means of course, the Spider and his little birds were everywhere in the Red Keep and he gladly whispered into his king's ear.
When Rhaegar had first started to plan all of this he had hoped that Varys might have been reasonable, might have come over to his side but he knew that having the Master of Whispers in his corner would be too much too hope for. And so on Varys went loyally serving, telling the Mad King of all those who plotted against him.
And of course Varys wasn't the only threat, plenty of lords had spies in the Red Keep after all any one of them could betray their prince for a favour from their king. All though, the King hated traitors so the only favour they were likely to receive was their head being removed from their shoulders instead of being burned alive.
There was a pounding in his head and Rhaegar realised that he felt so very weary all of a sudden, how was it fair that it had all fallen to him? Why had the gods, or fate or destiny chosen him to do this? To complete the prophecy? Even now he could still remember when he read the passage in the dusty old book in the library, the book's name was forgotten to him now but he could still remember the passage as clearly as though had just read it.
Three heads. Born amidst salt and smoke and beneath a bleeding star. To deliver all them from evil and end the longest night, for such a long time he thought that it had been himself that was to be the prince that was promised, his own vanity he supposed that had made him believe that. But it had shaped who he was, had made him put away his books and his scrolls and made him pick up the sword and mace and lance under the tutelage of good old Ser Willem Darry.
But the prophecy had shaped his grandfather and father as well, his grandfather had married his daughter to his son because he believed that would bare the three heads of the dragon and his father had taken his mother when ever he wanted because he believed that it was his duty to bring forth the prince, it had turned his father into a monster.
If Rhaegar tried hard enough he could almost remember the man that his father had been, plenty of people had used to tell him that in his youth he had been a great deal like Rhaegar was now but he couldn't be sure of that. That man was long gone, if he had ever existed but in Rhaegar's youth he could remember his father as a man who had smiled at him, who had sat him on his knee as he sat on the iron throne, he even had the vaguest memories of his father singing to him but perhaps that was only a dream.
That father was dead however and Rhaegar had mourned him a very long time ago. He had been dead from the moment he had read about the prophecy, perhaps it hadn't been the prophecy itself that had driven him to madness. It was Duskendale, everyone agreed, that had pushed his father into the embrace of madness but the prophecy had been what had lain the seeds.
"And it has lain it's seeds in me as well, sometimes the prophecy is all I can think about." It had consumed him, he had been it's vessel. Making sure that the saviour of the world was born into it had left him no time for anything else, all of his dreams were about the prince and his sister. Aegon, Rhaenys and Visenya come again.
Well, in truth not all of his dreams. Some had been filled with his new wife, she was beautiful and while she did not enjoy it here she had always had a smile for Rhaegar when she saw him and the rare times he was able to spend time in her company she seemed to lighten Dragonstone, her name as the Light of the West seemed to him well deserved. Dreams of her came into his head even when he shared his bed and while he could not say that he loved her, he found that he was increasingly fond of her.
Still other times he found that his dreams were full of Elia, he had always said that he had never loved her but no one should be filling his dreams quite this much if he didn't feel something for her. He thought of the babe that would still be growing in her now, when she had told him that she was pregnant with her north lord's child he hadn't been able to stop the surge of fire that he had felt in himself at the thought of her carrying a babe that wasn't his, it had woken the dragon in him.
In his dreams he had dreamed that it had been his child she was filled with, he had dreamed of singing a sweet song to the babe as it grew inside it's mother and then dreamed of the babe at it's mother's breast, it had been a girl he thought but he couldn't be certain. She would've been Rhaenys come again.
And still in other dreams it was Jon that came to him, he was still unsure on how to deal with those dreams and thoughts. They had always been rare but they had never left, he found himself dreaming of those strong arms encircling him and Jon holding him against his chest. Jon was taller and broader than him and Rhaegar had found that he had liked that.
The Prophecy. Cersei. Elia. Jon. His mother. His brother. Aegon. Rhaenys. Visenya. The Long Night. They were all that consumed his thoughts now, there had never been time for anything else. He knew nothing else.
It wasn't such a long fall down to the waves, he probably wouldn't even realise he was falling until it was far too late to worry about it.
The sheer shock of that thought brought him out of his mind like someone had slapped him before dumping a tub of ice water over his head, he shock his head and turned away from the balcony and walked back inside the small chamber and went over to the fireplace so that he might warm himself. He hated Dragonstone, he always had. This terrible placed had never brought him any peace, it saddened him and filled his thoughts with darkness.
Perhaps when all of this was over he would lock his father up here, lock him away in the top of the Stone Drum and let him rule over the painted table. He could be the king of that as much as he liked, he could burn it to ashes for all he truly cared.
He closed his eyes and took three deep, slow breaths and ordered himself to calm down. He could not be selfish and fall apart, there was still so much more for him to do. So much more that had to be made ready.
The most important thing was that he had to make sure that the promised prince would actually arrive, he had not been shy from Cersei's bed and he found that he enjoyed staying there after the business of making babes was done. The bed had always been warm and Cersei would beg for him to stay, he would go to her bed tonight as well.
He had not said anything to her as he did not wish to upset his new wife but he had been concerned as of late, he had not been shy and Cersei had always been eager for him to come in to her bed and she would often plead that he stay with her on the nights that he could not but as of yet there had been no babe, her moonblood had been coming as it should've been.
He knew more than most how difficult the making of babes could be, he remembered how many times that his mother had lost a babe, bleeding them out or being born dead or dying while they were still just infants. If all of them had lived then Rhaegar and Viserys would have more than enough brothers and sisters to fulfil the prophecy.
But that was in a better world, and this world wasn't that one.
But if Cersei couldn't give him the children he needed then he would need another woman to bare them and that meant that he would have to set her aside for another woman, that would not sit well with Tywin Lannister and he needed Tywin on his side when he reached for the throne, he was the closest and most powerful ally that Rhaegar had, not that he wouldn't need the other lords but Rickard Stark and Doran Martell were too far away, Robert Baratheon had no true stake in this horse and he wasn't sure where he would fall on the matter, Jon Arryn was something of an unknown as well. All he could be certain of was that he knew that Rickard, Doran and Jon were forming alliances.
Mace Tyrell was loyal enough to his father, he was as ambitious as the rest of the great lords but he knew that the Tyrells and the rest of the Reach were offended when it was announced that the king had betrothed Rhaegar to Elia but the wound had been soothed a little when their engagement had been broken still, the Lord of Highgarden was left out of the loop as Rhaegar couldn't be certain if he could trust him.
Balon Greyjoy wasn't truly important enough to be of any help and the Ironborn wouldn't be of any true military help at any rate, Rhaegar was planning on making this revolution as bloodless as possible and the ironborn weren't well known for being merciful, most likely they would take advantage of any of the chaos that would naturally sprout up and launch raids, he would have to deal with them most likely when he was king.
Rhaegar needed Tywin more than any other of the great lords and he couldn't risk offending him, he could hope that he understood. After all a king needed heirs and if his daughter was incapable of giving them to him then he would need a wife that could. He could offer to take another Lannister bride but he got the feeling that wouldn't sooth Tywin Lannister's wounds, he wanted his daughter to be the queen after all.
He was stuck, between a rock and a hard place.
For a brief moment he consider that maybe Cersei wasn't the problem, perhaps it was him. He knew that there were some men who couldn't sire a child but he had never considered for a single moment that he might be one of them, he could ask Dragonstone's maester to examine him, and maybe ask Cersei to submit to it as well, if it was proven that there was a problem then he could send from potions from Essos, the free cities. He had heard that they had been able to help men and woman who had such problems.
Perhaps it wasn't even him who was to bring forth the prince, it occurred to him that it could be Viserys. It might not be either of them, perhaps one of their sons would sire the prince instead.
No, that couldn't be true. He had given so much to make sure that he would bring forth the prince, that the realm would be strong enough to face the long night and the others, it couldn't have all been for nothing. He had read all the signs right, he was sure that he had. He was going to be the father of the prince, of his sisters and his name would be remembered forever.
There could be no other outcome.
He needed to get some fresh air, he needed to go. Rhaegar turned and made his way to the doors of the room and pulled them open and began to descend the spiral staircase outside. He descended all the way down until he was at the bottom of the tower and pushed upon the doors, the cold sea air bit at Rhaegar's hands and face and he had to close his eyes as the wind blew into his eyes.
Was it any wonder that Dragonstone wore on his mood so? The island was as gloomy as the castle itself and it's people were as cool as hard as their home, he felt sorry for which ever of his children would to inherit Dragonstone. Perhaps he would just grant it to a noble and faithful lord, he would hate to force this place on anyone but someone had to have it and he was rather a stranger have it than one of his children or someone he cared about.
He walked along the castle walls, his arm held out in front of his face to block the cold wind. The gargoyles loomed out of the black shadows, the cruel faces of harpies and hellhounds stared out into the sea. The army of monsters had always unsettled him, he had a vague memory of hiding his face in his mother's skirts when he had first seen them staring down at him from the high walls of the fortress.
On that first night he had dreamed that the stone statues would come to life and a harpy would land on his balcony and rip him from his bed and carry him away in the night as the stone dragons would come to life and the castle crumbled to stones. He had awoken screaming and he had not been soothed until his mother came to him and sung him back to sleep.
He was older and wiser now, the stone statues wouldn't be coming to life any time soon and Dragonstone wasn't actually made of Dragons that had been turned to stone. The towers had simply been carved out of black stone, it was an incredible artistic achievement that Rhaegar could appreciate but nothing more.
He finally reached the door other side of the wall and pulled it open and Rhaegar side as he was back in the warmth, that wasn't to say that the castle was very warm but it was like standing in a fire compared to outside.
Rhaegar resumed his journey through the castle until he finally reached his wife's chambers, Rhaegar had made sure that she was given the largest and warmest chamber that could be found aside from the Lord's chamber and she seemed content enough inside it all though he knew that she would never truly be happy here.
He pushed the door open and the first sight that greeted him was his wife sitting by the roaring fire in the heath, surrounded by her ladies. The fire made her golden hair shine and her eyes glow like the green flames that his father loved more than anything in the world. Perhaps it should worry him so that in that moment he could almost understand his father's fixation with the green flames.
Being the princess of the seven kingdoms suited his new wife, she had not stopped wearing his colours even though she told him that she disliked how pale black made her luck but she did not wish to offend him by inverting the colours either. The fire caught the ruby that was set in her ring and her chocker and made them glow with a pale red light, the emeralds in her hair sparkled in the light as well. She was beautiful, no more beautiful a maid had there ever been. No one could deny that.
Her ladies were not well know to Rhaegar, it wasn't truly much of his business to know who his wife choose to surround herself with. All he did know was that most of them were from the Westerlands, in fact he was certain that two of them were Lannisters through from a lesser branch of the family than the main one at Casterly Rock.
However two of the ladies were from the Reach and yet another was from the Riverlands, Cersei had not been gracious in describing them when she was lying next to him. She had told him that the girl from the Riverlands was named Jenna and that she was from an unimportant house that nobody cared about and it had taken all of her father's influence just to get her to a position where she might serve the future queen. Cersei had said that she had half a mind to just dismiss her on the spot so she could go back crying to her father and bare his wrath at her failure.
The girls from the Reach were distantly related to the Tyrell's, which was not much of an achievement as half of that realm seemed to be related to the Tyrells. Again, his wife had made it clear that she didn't like them and she even thought that they might be spying on her. While he was certainly glad that she was open to the possibility of there being spies in her midst if Rhaegar was going to be truthful then he thought that she was simply being a little paranoid.
She little good to say about her ladies from the Westerlands, she had little to say about any of them as a matter of fact. She simply told him how almost every single house had been competing to have one of their daughters serve as one of her ladies. They didn't want any influence with the crown, they wanted influence, as little as it might be, with her father.
As she spoke of them all Rhaegar was reminded of how cruel a person his wife could actually be, he had seen evidence of it before, there could be no doubt of that. He remembered how she had been interrogated by his father about why her father had been late for the tourney and why her mother had left the service of his mother. To take the attention of off her Cersei had thrown his mother into his father's sight, reminding him that she had been the one to dismiss her.
That had not been something that Rhaegar had easily forgiven, even during their wedding feast and for days afterwards he had been angry with her. He still had not truly forgiven her for it.
He cleared his throat when it became apparent that none of them had noticed that he had come in, the ladies were deep in conversation and needlework. Well, the ladies around Cersei were doing both of those things, Cersei herself had a distant look on her face and it was clear that she had long ago stopped listening to anything her ladies were actually saying.
Her green eyes brightened when they landed on him and she stood to greet him as did the rest of her ladies, curtsying and smiling and giggling as they did so. "My love, how good of you to come and see us." Cersei breathed, her golden hair falling in front of her face.
"My ladies, might I have a moment alone with my wife." In truth Rhaegar didn't need to ask, all he had to do was say the word and they would leave the room in a storm but it was a nice pretence that he was asking and sometimes there had to be pretences when you were ruling. All of the ladies nodded and curtsied again before they left the room.
Rhaegar said a few words of farewell and a few niceties as well, such as he would love to visit Lady Jenna's family holdfast and that one of the ladies of the Reach was utterly enchanting. When the door closed and he turned back to face Cersei he suddenly found his wife in his arms and her lips were pressed against his. Rhaegar could not stop himself from pulling her closer to himself.
"You've no idea how much I've missed you, I swear I can feel my mind wasting away when I am trapped with them. I need to find more entertaining company." Cersei gasped in between her kisses and gasps for air, Rhaegar desired her. He couldn't stop that and he didn't want too, he wanted to rip her dress of and take her over a table but he knew he couldn't do that. It wasn't befitting for a prince.
"You should be kinder to them, I know you don't like them but you're going to be the queen soon enough and if word spreads that the queen is cruel to her ladies then it would not look good on you, on us." Rhaegar pulled back and examine her, her pale skin was alight with a red blush that made her look even more beautiful than she already was and her eyes were lidded with desire.
"I'm sorry, I never want to upset you. I can suffer them for you." Cersei said sweetly, breathlessly as though the mere act of pleasing him in anything brought her such pleasure that there were no words that could describe it. "You said that girl from the Reach was beautiful, enchanting. She isn't more pretty than me, is she? You think I am much more beautiful than her, don't you?"
"Of course I do, and you know that you are as well." A simple truth that could not be ignored, though his wife always liked to be reminded that she was more beautiful than any other and Rhaegar had found that it was best to indulge her in that as she tended to grow cold if she ever thought that someone was more lovely than her.
"I want you, my sweet prince. Please, please take me." He wanted too, by all the gods old and new he wanted too and he needed too if there was ever going to be an heir. But there were things that demanded his attention, he may not enjoying ruling Dragonstone but he was still it's prince and the island would not rule itself. And so he gently took Cersei's fingers and pressed a kiss to all of them gently.
"I would my lady wife, but things call on my attention but I assure you that at the end of the night that I will return to you. You have my vow." That seemed to please her at least a little but he was certain that staying with her would have pleased her better, still there was too much to do and so with a kiss pressed to her flushed cheek, Rhaegar turned and left the room.
He had to speak with both the castellan and the master and the man-at-arms on top of it all, Dragonstone was separate from the Seven Kingdoms in terms of being apart but it was still part of the realm and there were still letters from all corners. It was also possible that letters had come from the great lords and if that was true then he needed to know.
His father would be watching for him sending letters but letters arriving would with a bit of good fortune should be able to reach him unmolested. He needed word form Lord Rickard and Prince Doran, he knew that Elia, her husband and her brother had managed to get out of the city, he had been there to see them off after all but he wasn't certain what Elia had done with the letters he had given her.
If he was Elia than he would've given the letters to her brother and to her husband as both of them were heading back to their homes and they could've given the letters to the people they needed to go to, the only problem was that he was only assuming that was what Elia had done with the letters. She had been angry with him for involving her in this, for dragging her family into this matter. It was highly likely that she had just thrown them into a fire as soon as he had left the room.
And even if she had agreed to send the message onward he wasn't sure if Oberyn Martell and Ned Stark would pass it on, he didn't know them well enough. He knew that Oberyn didn't like him very much and he had been against the union, though he had heard that he had been in a rage when he heard that Rhaegar's father had called of the engagement thought that was most likely because he thought that his beloved sister was being slighted and not because he had approved of the union in the first place.
After meeting with the castellan Rhaegar had found that his dour mood had only gotten worse, the lowfolk of the island were never the happiest people but it had been a harsh few moons and the mood was even grimmer that the weather. The people of Dragonstone were a hardy people but there was only so much a person could endure before they wanted better.
He doubted that they were going to revolt, they had suffered worse but surely the only true worth of a lord was how happy the people he was supposed to protect were? The worst thing was there was truly little that he could do to make any of it better, they were at the mercy of the sea for most of their food and the stores of Dragonstone had never been the most plentiful, he couldn't afford to throw them open and tell the men and woman to eat their fill as much as he might like too.
It occurred to him that he actually had not eaten today, he had slept longer than usual this morning and when he had woken up he had found that he had wanted some time on his own, he had to fight a battle with Harlan Grandison so that he could be left on his own for a moment. It was good that it was him as Lewyn Martell and Oswell Whent would not have surrender so easily to him.
It wasn't that Ser Grandison was a bad knight it was just that he was an old man, he was the only member left of his grandfather's original Kingsguard and he continued to serve his father when he took the throne but he had been an old man even back then and he had not gotten any younger. Arthur had even told him that during meetings of the Kingsguard in the white sword tower the man had forgotten which King he was meant to be serving.
Rhaegar knew the truth of that well enough, there had been more than one time when the old knight had thought that he was his father. He was respected by all the members of the Kingsguard and, strangely enough, by his father as well. That was perhaps the only reason that the king wasn't offended when he was called by his father's name.
Still, despite that respect his father had sent Grandison with him to guard him and his wife along with Oswell Whent and Lewyn Martell, if his father attempted to have him assassinated then he supposed it made a certain sense to send Grandison with him as it was unlikely he would be able to fight off a group of assassins. He wasn't certain why he chose to send Lewyn and Oswell with him though as both were excellent swordsmen.
If he had to guess than he would assume that his father wanted Lewyn gone because he feared for his own safety, as he often did now due to his paranoia. Ser Lewyn had not taken well to the fact that his niece had been set aside by the king, he had only joined the Kingsguard under the pleas of his sister as she had been planning to marry her daughter to Rhaegar for years. His irritation had only grown when the king had spoken ill of his late sister on the morning of the tourney, Arthur had told him that he had nearly broken his sword that night when he had turned it against a training dummy that night.
Being sent to Dragonstone had done little to improve his mood as he had been separated from his paramour, the fact that the Dornishman had a paramour was one of the worst kept secrets in King's Landing but Ser Lewyn had always been dutiful and had never let it interfere with his other vows so it had been mostly overlooked, no one even knew who the paramour was or even if they were a man or a woman as Ser Lewyn had always been where he was needed when he was needed.
Of the three the only one that Rhaegar couldn't understand why he was here was Ser Oswell Whent, he was as loyal to the king as any Kingsguard should be and had always served well. Rhaegar had to imagine that it had just came down to who the king wanted around him the most, he was never going to send Arthur with him as he was the best swordsman that his father had in his guard and he knew how close he and Arthur was.
Jonothor Darry was his father's man through and through, he lived and breathed his vows. In that he was almost a perfect Kingsguard and was of no use to Rhaegar and it made sense that his father would want him near, Barristan Selmy was loyal to the king as well and almost as great a warrior as Arthur so that explained why his father kept him near and Gerold Hightower was the lord commander and his place was with his king.
It seemed that Oswell Whent had simply drawn the short straw in this matter, not that the man had complained of course but none of the guards with him had volunteered to come with him.
Rhaegar made his way to the kitchens and asked for some small fare to tide him over until dinner, a bowl of porridge that had been soaked in honey, three softly boiled eggs and a few slices of bread smeared with blackberry jam found their way into his stomach easily enough. He had hoped that a full stomach might make him feel better but in truth all it had done was make his stomach stop complaining for the moment.
He thanked the cooks for their work and stood from the stool that he had sat down on before turning to leave, before he could however the door opened so suddenly that he thought for a moment that it would fly off of it's hinges. Maester Acuan stood in the door, panting slightly and it was clear from the sweat on his brow that he had been running to get here.
Maester Acuan was not a young man by any means but a life of constant word had left him as tough as a pair of old boots, he had been a farmer's youngest son in the Reach, near Oldtown and one day his father had saved up enough to send him to the Citadel. He had been sneered on his entire time there, so he had told Rhaegar, but now that farmer's boy was a maester with chain forged from links of iron, black iron, red gold, yellow gold, silver, pewter, copper, lead, steel and even one link of Valyrian Steel.
"My prince, they told me that you were here." After a few moments the wise maester managed to regain his breath and stood to his full height was almost half a foot taller than Rhaegar, his broad form almost completely filled the doorway. "The castellan told me to come and find you, we have a small issue that has arisen. Lord Sunglass is here and is demanding to see you. I have to imagine that this is to do with the recent...difficulties in King's Landing. He's waiting for you in the chamber of the painted table"
Rhaegar sighed heavily and rubbed at his forehead with his fingertips to try and diminished the headache that was building, he knew that this was coming but a part of him had naively hoped that it would never come up. That the pious Lord Sunglass would've just stayed where he was at Sweetport Sound, praying on what to do but he knew that he wasn't that lucky.
"We had better go and see to him then." In the end this might prove to be something of a blessing in disguise, Lord Sunglass wasn't truly a great lord but he was well respected not just in the crownlands but by the faith as well so having him as an ally would be useful. The Maester nodded and began to lead him towards the stone drum.
They reached the top of the stone drum and Lord Sunglass and the castellan were waiting for them. Moonstones glimmered at Lord Guncer's throat and wrists and fingers, the clear stones always looked strange when put against the lord's red skin. Normally the red skin was caused by the fact that the fat lord had to climb many stairs, but now the redness was caused by the rage that the pious lord must be feeling.
When Guncer's eyes landed on Rhaegar he had to admit that the sheer hate in his eyes made him hesitate, he knew that anger was not personally directed at him, at least he hoped that it wasn't, but it was still very much disturbing to see such anger in the pious man's eyes as normally there had only ever been kindness in them. "My lord of house Sunglass, it is always wonderful to see you. It has been far too long, how may I be of service?"
"My prince, forgive me but I am not here to listen to pointless pleasantries. Your father had committed crimes against the gods, he has broken a marriage. It may not have been one conducted in the light of the seven but it was a legal union none the less and he is spitting on the power of the faith!" With every word that fell from Lord Sunglass's lips Rhaegar could hear the anger rising higher and higher, threatening to burst out an consume them all in a wave.
"That would be terrible enough, to shame the gods and the High Septon in this way but he would not be content with that. He has committed deicide, he has murdered the High Septon!" The man screamed, his face now as red as a tomato as tears of rage and deep sorrow rolled down his cheeks. Rhaegar could say nothing in defence to this, there was nothing to defend it.
The High Septon had not been a young man but he had come to court to speak with his father all the same, he had made it clear that the faith would not stand with the king on this matter as dissolving a marriage which had been consummated and had a child on the way was beyond anyone's power and dissolving a marriage was a power that belonged only to the leader of the Faith even if the marriage was not conducted in the name of the faith.
His father had not taken the holy man's words well and his pyromancers were called and the court was summoned to watch as the High Septon, the gods avatar in this world, was tied to a stake and burned alive by his father's jade fire. The High Septon had begged and pleaded for his life, had beseeched the king in the name of the gods to change his mind and when he was tied to the stake he had begged to the court to save him, lest they burn in the seven hells for all eternity.
No one moved from where they stood as they watched the green flames lick at the bottom of the gold and white robes, no one wanted to draw the mad king's attention so the noble lords and ladies bit their tongues, wiped away their tears and said their prayers under their breath. The High Septon, in fairness to him, had tried to be brave even as the fire sets his robes alight, praying to the Father to judge him justly and the Mother to have mercy.
That was as far as he had gotten before his prayers had turned to screams, the scab king looking down from the iron throne with what could only be joy in his eyes.
When the fire had died down and all that was left of the gods chosen representative was jade cinders and a pile of ash, Rhaegar knew that he had to get himself and his wife and his mother and brother as far away from King's Landing as soon as possible.
He had to wait for a few days to pass as if he tried to leave for Dragonstone that day then his father would try and stop him from going and might have been offended and offending the king now was not a good idea, if he could burn the High Septon to ashes then Rhaegar being his son and heir would not be enough to protect him.
After all, he still had Viserys.
After three days had passed far too slowly and filled with barely hidden terror he had approached his father, he had knelt before him and asked if he could take his wife to see Dragonstone. His father had been quiet and stared down at him and Rhaegar had felt sweat break out across his skin and it took all of his self control to stop himself from swallowing around the knot that had formed in his throat.
Perhaps the gods had been smiling down him instead of the High Septon since his father had scoffed and said that he had his leave to go, a part of him knew that he should not have pushed his luck but he had to at least try so he had asked if he could take his mother and brother with him.
His father had not taken it well, he had screamed and ranted and for a few long moments Rhaegar thought that he was dead. That he was going to summon his pyromancers and the court and he was going to be burned like so many before him, it would certainly set an example if burning the High Septon hadn't, do not anger the king as even being born from his body would not save you from his wrath.
But as soon as the storm had come it had passed and his father simply said that his wife and his son belonged with him and with him they would stay and just like that Rhaegar was dismissed from his father's presence and Rhaegar returned to his wife's side, telling her they were leaving in the morning and that he would make certain that the ship was arranged.
"Is it true that he means to name one of the pyromancers as the High Septon? He can not do that!" Lord Sunglass's ranting had brought Rhaegar out of his memory and he focused all his attention back on to him. "The High Septon must be chosen by the Most Devout, the king can not appoint his own High Septon and he must be a member of the Faith! The king forgets himself!"
Rhaegar was half tempted to remind the man that Baelor the Blessed disregarded the Most Devout and named his own High Septons but that was a hole that he didn't want to dig for himself at the moment, Baelor was well loved by the Faith and the smallfolk and he could've chosen a cow to be the High Septon and the Faith most likely would've accepted it. Regardless, he didn't wish to anger Lord Sunglass at the moment and stating that fact most likely would've lead to an argument and besides, it wasn't as if Rhaegar disagreed.
Rhaegar turned to the castellan and the maester and dismissed them both although it was clear to him that both of them seemed to be uncertain about leaving their prince alone with a man who was clearly half mad with rage, Rhaegar insisted that they leave and he was glad that he did not have to make it an order. Regardless they had nothing to be concerned about as Rhaegar was a more than capable warrior and even if he wasn't Lord Sunglass was hardly much of a threat and despite how angry he was even he knew better than to attack a prince of the realm.
Once both men had left them alone at the top of the stone drum Rhaegar turned to face the man. "Lord Sunglass, forgive me for being the one to tell this to you but I think given what my father has done recently I think we can both agree that he doesn't much care about what he can not do anymore. It seems to me that he has decided that the king is the ultimate authority in the land now. After all, who will defy him? He has shown that he is more than willing to burn people alive no matter what their station and it not easy to defy a king even when they are of stable mind. So, I ask you what should I do? What can I do?"
He couldn't be direct and say it, he couldn't because even thinking of dethroning a king was treason and kinslaying was the worst sin imaginable, even worse than kingslaying. Of course Rhaegar had never planned on killing his father anyway, simply depose him and lock him away, but lord Sunglass wouldn't know that and if he thought that Rhaegar was planning on killing him to take the throne then he could run off and spread the word and everything would be ruined and he could not allow that to happen.
He had to let Lord Sunglass come to the same conclusion that he had and make him think that he had convinced Rhaegar to move against his father and not the other way around.
The man was clearly deep in thought and that struck Rhaegar as a good sign. After a few moments the man let out a heavy sigh. "My Prince, in all the years that my house had been sworn to Dragonstone I had never known a better ruler than you. You are a good and just man, I am certain of that. You must surely not agree with the terrible crimes that your father has been committing?"
"Of course not my lord, I was married to my wife in the light of the seven and by the High Septon. My belief in the gods is as strong as your own and I am their humble servant in all things and the High Septon has been in my prayers every night since my father murdered him." In truth Rhaegar had never had much faith in the gods, they said that the Mother loved all but that didn't stop them from dying, they said that the Father judged all justly but it didn't stop evil men from ruling over good men.
If any of the gods were real and had any power then it would have to be the Stranger, plenty of people died every day after all. But that was not what Lord Sunglass wanted or needed to here. He wanted Rhaegar to be the pious son who loved his father and his king but loved the Seven oh so much more and Rhaegar was more than happy to play that role if it got him what he needed.
"I know that you do and I know that you would, the High Septon is always in my prayers and he is always in my thoughts. If ever a man deserved to rest in the greatest of the seven heavens then it is he. Still, his death is a tragedy and a crime and it must be answered for." Lord Sunglass let out a heavy sigh as if even thinking the words were hurting him and they probably were. "My prince, forgive me for saying this and know that I will pray to the Father Above that he will forgive me as well but something must be done."
And there it was, Rhaegar quickly adopted an expression that was equal parts troubled, shocked and saddened. "My lord of Sunglass...If you are suggesting what I think that you are suggesting...No, I can not do such a thing. Whatever else he is, he is still my father. I love him. To do what you suggest, I would commit kin and kingslaying. I would be cursed, I can not do such a terrible thing."
"Your grace, I know that it is hard to hear. It is harder for me to say, he is my king and I swore to serve my king and always be faithful to him. But I also swore to be faithful to the gods, I read the seven pointed star every day and swear to live my life by it's teachings and love the gods in everything that I do. Your father has made doing both of these things impossible to do. Something has to be done."
Rhaegar turned and walked over to one of the chamber's long windows and looked out on to the horizon, Lord Sunglass most likely thought it was to hide his tears or to get some air so that he might think on what to make off all of this but in truth it was simply to hide his expression off utter disbelief at how well this was going. "Perhaps...perhaps you are right, things can not continue as they are."
He turned and walked back over to the large table and looked down on to it, from where he was standing he could look straight down on King's Landing. Well, he could look at where King's Landing should be as when the table was made King's Landing had not been there. "But perhaps he does not have to die, if we could simply depose him as King and we could lock him away so that he could cause no harm."
"An excellent suggestion my Prince, he can be sent to a convent where he can pray and repent for the rest of his days." It wasn't exactly what Rhaegar had planned but if worst came to worst then anything would do so long as he was out of the way, in truth it might actually be a better idea as making certain that his father was away from any true power was probably for the better, though he had to admit that he would feel sorry for the brothers who would be forced to bare his father for the rest of his days.
"I must think some more on this Lord Sunglass, it is not an easy thing that you have asked me to consider. May I offer you the comforts of my halls for the night? The sailors say that there may be a storm and I do not wish for you to be taken at sea." There was some truth in that, the waters around Dragonstone were difficult at best but when there was a storm brewing it was nearly impossible to leave.
Lord Sunglass accepted his invitation with all the grace that a Lord should have but before he left Rhaegar asked him that he not send any ravens or mention anything of this conversation to anyone, after all anyone could speak out and inform the king rather than face his wrath. The pious lord said that he understood and left the chamber and as soon as the door was shut Rhaegar let out a heavy sigh and rested against the painted table.
He was exhausted but this was perhaps for the best, Lord Sunglass was something of an ally now even though he would more than likely have an overblown sense of self-importance about his role. Still, every ally was helpful in some small ways and Sunglass had some useful relations that come in handy, if he was correct then Tanda Stokeworth was a relation to Sunglass and with how close Castle Stokeworth was to King's Landing that had it's uses.
Rhaegar looked down at the painted table and brought his finger's across it's coloured surface, he wondered if this was how Aegon to Conqueror felt all those years ago on the eve of his invasion when the seven kingdoms were still just seven kingdoms. When Rhaegar was done this table may have to be chopped up for firewood and a new one made as the entire thing could look completely different if everything got out of hand which it occurred to him that it might since all his plans hinged on everything going perfectly and when did they ever do that?
His head was pounding and he found that everything else could wait until later, no matter what else he was uncertain about he was certain of one thing.
Most of the seven kingdoms would still be there in the morning.
End of Chapter Thirty-one.
This is a chapter that I really enjoyed writing, I have mixed feelings on Rhaegar but I really enjoyed getting into his head. For those who are wondering Guncer Sunglass is a character from the books and he is a lord sworn to Dragonstone and he winds up supporting Stannis, we don't know much about him other than he is quite religious and this, uh, brings him into some...conflict, with a certain Red Priestess. Anyway I love expanding on minor characters we don't know much about and Sunglass is going to play a larger role in this story.
A couple of things that we should talk about, one; I'm not trying to show Rhaegar and Cersei's marriage as being a bad one cause that would just be too easy. Cersei loved Rhaegar and wanted to marry him, as a reviewer pointed out and it would be a happier union. Rhaegar doesn't love her but he is at least trying to make it work as is Cersei.
A second thing that different reviewer pointed out was that Tyrion calling for wine seemed out of character cause around this time frame, he would be around eight or nine. While this is true of the books I would like to point out that Tyrion is much closer to the show than the books so in this fic he is closer to fourteen. Plus, Westeros is based on medieval times and kids drunk wine a lot younger than they do now as it was one of a few things that they knew was safe to drink.
Thirdly, Jon Connington being the Hand of the King. In the books he was not the hand of the king at this point but as this a GOT fanfic and GOT changed a lot of things around, Aerys is Aegon V's son instead of his grandson for example, things are changed around here so that Jon is the hand before the rebellion instead.
Keep in mind this is still a GOT fic with just a few things from the books brought over to enrich it, Dorne, Doran, Elia, the Sand Snakes and Oberyn, though to a lesser extent, are closer to their book versions cause they are superior. In my opinion. Arianne and Quentyn exisit in this version as well as you will have noticed.
I hope this clears a few things up and that you enjoyed, please review, favourite and follow if you like.
Next chapter we're heading back to Winterfell but our POV won't be a Stark, then we will be heading back to Casterly Rock and after that we're coming back to Dragonstone. However I plan to update some other stories before this one.
Many thanks and I hope everyone had a lovely holiday,
Doctorwhofan12345.