Chapter Sixteen: What?
Fifteenth Day of the Second Month, 113 AC.
"This seems unwise," Ebermen commented as he pulled on one of the sets of goggles we had 'borrowed' from the alchemists. Most of the other guards and staff had already pulled theirs on out of a reasonable fear of going blind.
"So do many things," I answered brightly as I adjusted my own pair. I had been pleasantly surprised by the fact that the glorified pyromaniacs actually had something useful to contribute to the world.
The Bulwer grunted, "As you say."
It had taken quite a bit of begging but I had gotten leave to leave the city to practice, I had not even technically lied when I said that I wanted to practice a Valyrian exercise to better control my scaled friend. Given my already seemingly incredible control over my dragon they had been quite eager to allow it.
Well, sort of.
"I am about to begin!" I shouted to the party sitting at a safe distance on the beach. Apparently, I had been pushing my luck when I concluded that the family of dragonriders would not be interested in refining control over their defining feature.
Viserys himself was not terribly interested and Mom had stayed with him but Rhaenyra and Aeg had been very interested in the whole idea.
Aegon had developed something of an interest in dragons ever since I had tamed Sky and was constantly borrowing my hard stolen tomes to pour over the material. He was still only as old as my own body so it took him a few moons to dig through even one of the books while barraging me with questions about the subject.
The one whom I had not expected was that the Laenor, who had not returned with his parent's to Driftmark, and his insistence on coming to watch.
Given that he was sitting next to and chatting happily with Ser Joffrey I doubted that it had anything to do with Rhaenyra. I knew very little about the man save for his preference and lack of subtlety
Maybe he is as fond of dragons as his mother? He has one after all.
I frowned at that, I should have known better than to dismiss him just because he was not mentioned much. Hell, if anything that was infinitely more reason to get to know the man better.
At any rate, their presence meant that my private training session had turned into a freaking production event since Rhaenyra did not leave the Keep without dozens guards and Binder-of-Corners knows how many Blacks, each bringing their own retinues. This of course meant that Alicent insisted that Aegon bring his own posse of Greens and an equivalent amount of guards. Even Laenor had a band of young lords and squires around him with their own guards. It did not help that they each brought along an attending staff.
Which was to say nothing of the irksome presence of far too many irksome figures such as the Strong brothers, Crownlanders and however many other bored nobles just happened to think that it would be a decent way to pass the time.
Even worse was the fact that they were all sitting so damned close that I could not 'accidentally' roast Ser Criston without potentially harming Rhaenyra. Or light Ser Harwin on fire and steer him into the Kingsguard Lord Commander (who really should have been spending his time better than stalking my Rhae).
I sighed and shook my head before focusing on the task at hand.
Before us were five stones hauled up from the local quarry at my request and placed in a semi-circle towards the sea. Not quite the ornate arena that housed Valyria's Pillar Trial but sometimes one had to make due.
The exercise was simple enough and with two main objectives.
The first was to force the dragon to learn how to regulate temperature on command and to build up endurance. At such an early stage the expectation was merely to heat up the stones, it was not as if a young dragon could actually melt the things.
"Sky!" I shouted at the dragon which was eyeing the whole exercise with the distaste of someone who did not quite understand the purpose of all the commotion.
I pointed at the center stone and went with the most commonly known Valyrian word in my original world, "Dracarys!"
Quick as a whip she launched herself at the stone stopping only a meter away before expelling a jet of flame at the rock. She quickly turned her large head to me awaiting praise for her compliance.
I sighed instead, it really could not be helped and she was still very young after all.
"Good girl," I smiled before pointing at the far right rock, "Dracarys."
This is going to take forever, isn't it?
…
"Quite the clever idea," Laenor opined as the entirely too large party headed back towards the city.
I had sought out his company on the return trip and was speaking very loudly to avoid any misunderstandings on the subject topic.
Honestly people in Westeros were so freaking imaginative that I felt being too paranoid was something of an impossibility.
I had thought to force myself through a conversation but it proved quite the opposite, much to my surprise Laenor was indeed more than a collection of offensive gay stereotypes. Perhaps it should not surprise me that he shared his mother's near fetishistic love of their steeds but I had no way of knowing that his interest actually fell in line with my own.
"If one does indeed posit that dragons are capable of controlling the heat of their flames then that opens a far greater number of potential uses for them than mere combat," he scratched his sharp, clean-shaven chin while starring off into the distance. "I cannot help but wonder if that was the trick to Valyrian fortifications, do you have a copy Merrick's Works of the Ages? He proposed a similar theory, although I have always been a touch dismissive because of his sourcing but he does argue something of the sort."
"I am afraid that I do not believe that we have a copy," I shook my head. Whereas his mother was a born fighter and his sister just liked flying, Laenor weighed heavily on the technical aspects of dragon-riding and had something of a fascination with their more esoteric aspects. He was excited enough by the possibility my exercise presented that he suggested that he might attempt the same thing with Seasmoke. That would have won him quite a few points from me but he followed it up by frowning and noting that Seasmoke's age might make that impossible if it was a learned characteristic.
I was a touch confused at first as to how he could be so sharp yet so clumsy socially but the answer became clear we talked.
"-I once tried writing to the man but he was very offended by my critique, I think that he attempted to be polite but the underlying tone was very much saying that I had no place in the argument. Very unfair as I think that I am literate on the subject-"
Laenor was simply was one of those people that lacked any sort of filter and cared little about his surroundings to the point of monomania when his interest was on something. I had little doubt he would have made a beeline for the Citadel if his father had a second son… or if his mother had a smaller dragon. Likely condition or no did not excuse him but it at least made him more likeable as a person.
He happily smiled at me while we entered the city, "I do hope that Laena sees sense, it would be quite a pleasure to discuss the subject with someone else as amused by such matters. Everyone else thinks that it is boring, they are just too polite to say, so I think?"
He finished the last as if it were a question and his eyes began to drift up in thought but I was too interested in his last words to let the man get distracted.
"Whatever do you mean Laenor? How has Lady Laena failed to see sense?" I asked curiously.
Laenor's face froze for a moment. I felt a bit guilty for putting him on the spot, but I did not want to waste the opportunity.
"My, you are a sharp one!" He patted my head good naturedly. It could not be helped given the considerable disadvantage I had in height even before one factored in Balerion's height next to his bay, the cranky black pony had not become anymore tame with age and proximity to Clearsky did not improve his mood. "Worry not, she has grown somewhat delusional in her illness I am afraid. I cannot say more of mother might keel-haul me again."
I did my best to ignore the last part since Laenor had proven to be exceedingly literal-minded and the implications of the last words were unsettling.
Heh, I chuckled darkly. The Velaryons were still sticking to their guns on that one even with most of King's Landing knew full-well that Corlys had given an iffy excuse at best.
Bullshit sold by the most charming man in the world is still bullshit.
Oh well, when in doubt steal someone else's line, "As you say."
I still had my money on her either being in or riding towards Daemon's bed, or in all likelihood his wall. Daemon did not strike me as a 'let's get to bed for some mundane stuff' kind of guy.
That she might have had a valid or sympathetic reason for her absence and would not humiliate me, my kin and her parents but that struck me as an idealistic delusion.
Call me a cynic, but there was nothing more dangerous on Westeros than someone stupid enough to believe that their idealistic fantasies were worth that much. I might despise Daemon for the threat that he presented but I gave him more credit than that at least, I did not know if he loved Laena but I would bet a pretty penny that she would be set aside or (more accurately) be put on the side as a mistress if something better came around.
Speaking of overreaching and hypocritical pricks, Ser Otto awaited us at the stables.
"Gaemon," he nodded tersely as his green minions ferried Aegon away as my twin had just about reached me while the prick just happened to opt to stand between me and where Laenor and Rhaenyra's parties were dismounting.
"Otto," I greeted back with my best smile.
I liked doing that, I did not call him grandfather, lord or ser. I called him Otto, hell I would refer to him as 'Hightower' if I did not suspect that the change would actually please him. Not to mention that any reminder that he had anything to do with my mother or even that overly optimistic fool of an uncle I had seen a few times bothered the hell out of me.
"Your presence is required," he answered with carefully hidden annoyance. I did love our game, he used to be irritated by it, but I was never alone and he could not act without consequences.
I felt emboldened as I felt Merric, Omeld, Hubert and Hubert finish dismounting and moving to form pairs at behind me and Ebermen. Each with their little pendent and their debts.
You could not touch me even if you wanted too.
I tilted my head, "by whom? I am quite busy."
"By the queen," He said with practiced stoniness.
"Oh? I would love to see mother!" I chirped happily. I knew that it would probably be a scheme of his making but I loved knocking his ego down a peg whenever I had a chance. "Let me just bid my dear sister and Laenor, farewell!"
I took just long enough to peeve him off. I hugged my sister and kissed her farewell and then got into a quick debate with Laenor about Baelon's integration of Westerosi saddle making techniques into the saddles worn by our own steeds. I genuinely found it a pleasant discussion, but it was mostly to annoy Otto.
After that, I felt that I should not keep mom waiting so I bid them farewell and muttered a quick death-curse on Criston begging for all his drinks to be converted to distilled Platypus Venom. A horrible way to die that.
As I walked down the corridors of the keep with the Otto the Great and Powerful and his band of Emerald minions I passed the time by wondering what silly plan they had in store for me after the Laena-fiasco.
Unlike Alicent who saw me as a battleground, Otto seemed under the horrendously wrong impression that I was a piece on his board. I actually felt a little bad for him if his arrogance was so severe as to allow that particular hallucination to exist.
In fairness, it was not an uncommon assumption. The royal brood was not really as politicized as I had expected outside of the nominal heads of the mint versus chocolate war, I was not sure if it was a ripple but no one seemed to give us any political weight. My own pet theory was that Rhaenyra was partial to me and my little squirrel of a sister while Aemond was understandably difficult.
So, much like the Lord Hand. We were either ignored by the two factions or assumed to be on their respective sides.
Which was freaking idiotic because I was very much on team 'keep my limbs attached and uncooked' and a fan of mint chocolate besides
While I mused about my contempt for the black/green affair, Sky was trailing behind and delighting in snaking her head behind an unsuspecting Green or two before exhaling a nice warm breath down their necks and making them scream in terror. It made me feel the strangest form of pride that of all the dragons I ended up with one that was a troll at heart.
Omeld continued building up my respect for him by putting a hand up to cover his mouth while his fellows either rolled their eyes or snorted. Clearsky's fondness for taunting was about as interesting for them as watching paint dry after months if not years of exposure. I could even swear that Hubert the Reachman's sigh was exasperation at the cowardice of the alleged guards given the disdain on his features whenever one of them yelped.
That pleased me, I had worked hard to decensatize my 'household' to Sky even while the little dragon's fear of my governance contributed heavily to the effort.
Once, one even lost his balance and almost fell on me, but my Shield merely caught the older knight (It was easy to forget that Ebermen was actually a year Nessa's junior with his hard features) by the gorget as if he were grabbing a dog by the scruff of his neck and stood him up in two quick gestures before the man moved away quickly.
I had not quite figured out why but many of the Green knights and men-at-arms did not like to be close to my Shield and seemed eager to demure where they might have called for blood had it been one of my other guards.
"You should keep that thing in the pit with the others," Otto commented, not bothering to turn back to acknowledge the dragon which seemed quite unbothered by the nervousness she was propagating.
"Sky is harmless," I noted with my decidedly taunting smile as I beckoned her to come next to me so that I could scratch at the right spot to produce a purr. "She merely likes to play, is that not right Ser Ebermen?"
My bull snorted with what I would wager was annoyance, with the whole affair, "As you say, my prince."
I could not fault him for wanting to be more formal around my sorry excuse for a grandfather.
After that we faded into an awkward silence until we mercifully made it to the Solar that mother had confiscated for that particular round of scheming. If I ever got that Press down right, I would happily make them little membership cards. Maybe hats so Sky can pick them out when I eventually lost my patience and incinerate every irksome mint-chocolate.
I put thoughts of the impending conflagration out of my mind as I happily ran inside and threw my arms around my waiting mother, she enjoyed my habit of always meeting her with a genuine hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"You called, mother?" I asked while shooting her a bright smile. The word felt strangely natural on my lips, none of the feigned effort I had to put into sounding deferential to other titles.
I greeted her the same way at every meal I was allowed to attend and every afternoon where she would spend an hour or two with her brood. That might not sound like much but for a royal it was actually sort of amazing and she was unfailingly warm with us, it was probably why even Aemond turned into a needy puppy around her.
I knew that Aegon was her focus but I liked to think that I was second, a surprisingly petty thought but it was a hard one to shake.
And it was always rewarding to have the smile reciprocated, "Hello my darling boy. How was your venture?"
Fangirl of Valyria as she was, she had been among those that found my notion interesting. Either that or she thought that being supportive of my interests would help win me over.
Or she was genuinely just pleased to see how excited I was at the prospect, I could not be sure.
"As good as can be hoped," I shrugged sheepishly. "It was only the first day after all."
"I am sure that you and Clearsky will master it quickly," she said with motherly pride.
"My thanks," I blushed in embarrassment for a moment before I realized something peculiar. Aside from the two flavors of guards and her Kingsguard of the day (the mopey broom of a man more commonly known as Willis Fell), we were alone save for Otto.
That was, unusual. mom usually liked to keep her ladies around her.
"You called me, mother?" I tried to keep myself from frowning at the ominous change.
"Yes," she eased sat on one of the chair and patted the seat beside her. "Come, sit."
I cautiously did as she bade, pulling myself onto the seat. I could not wait to get back to a reasonable height.
"As you know Gaemon, you are at the age where it is a possibility to begin your time as a page," what?
"I thought that that was at seven namedays?" That made me somewhat nervous, I had considered squiring but a page at six was ridiculous.
"Typically," Otto said with the tone of someone that loved to correct others, the lips beneath his oaky beard twisting into a smile that I called a sneer. "It is not unheard of for particularly incapable or weak boys to wait until their eighth year or in the case of stronger or brighter boys to begin as early as six."
Oh...
Oh, you prick.
"You mean to make me a page?" My smile was as brittle as a thin tower made of nothing but the driest of coals.
Mother's smile seemed somewhere between sad and proud, "You are such a bright child, I will miss you."
Nope, no way in all the hells am I giving up my agency. I had more than enough people trying to monitor my every move without having someone I was supposed to flipping serve in addition. Not to mention that I had no interest learning more of what I already knew from the vaunted geniuses of Westeros.
"May I suggest a candidate?" I said as sweetly as I could. I will be fine if I can get Ebermen or or some nice lickspittle that will treat me like a damned saint in order to suck up to whichever faction they belonged to.
Alicent chuckled, "No, my sweet child, your father has already decided on where you will go."
Son of a Cersei! Why would you not at least consult with me on this first?
Oh ya, I'm six.
Shit.
Wait a minute, where?!
"You are sending me away?" I was so off put by the idea that I let a bit of agitation slip into my tone. "Why? What have I done?"
"Nothing my sweet boy," Alicent said with a comforting tone but I felt the blood flowing out of my face and her words fell on deaf ears.
"Where?" I asked numbly.
"You will come to Oldtown and serve my brother," Otto said nonchalantly.
Oh screw you Otto. If you were anymore a thorn in my side, you'd be a Tyrell.
"I do not want to go," It was freaking suicide for me to leave at such a critical time.
"It will not be so bad," Mother said in reassurance. "You will be surrounded by family."
You mean Greens.
"Why do you want to get rid of me?" I wished it was a manipulation, but I was genuinely hurt. Out of all the places they could send me, they sent me as far away from King's Landing as they could within Green territory short of the Arbor.
I knew the answer as to why, they wanted me away so that I could not fall deeper under Rhaenyra's sway. They did not care about where I child might fall on politics but I would not be one forever. They might as well have gotten a green brand for all the difference it made.
"I do not want this," I said as I rested my head in my hands. I didn't think it unfair to compare the news to announcing a damned execution in the distant future.
"It is the custom boy," Otto scolded me. "You will serve the family, as is your duty."
Not the brightest of ideas because Sky was feeling my panic turning into rage.
"It was you!" I howled as I pulled myself up from my seat.
She snapped her jaws and hissed at Otto, who moved away from her with fear.
"Gaemon!" Mother shouted. "Control her, now."
I was not listening because I was seeing freaking red.
I could not leave King's Landing, if I did then I would not be able to pull the reins on the crazy pack of nutjobs to keep them from the damned cliff. They'd war and I would die. I did not want to die. It was a critical time, I had not planned to leave until I was firmly entrenched on everyone's good side and Rhaenyra's nuptials were at least mitigated.
"Gaemon!" Alicent shouted again as Sky took another step towards the soon to be dead man. To his credit, he did not shy away from her, keeping his expression studiously unfazed. Not the brightest thing he could have done but it was still ballsy.
The tension had raised slowly in the room, some of the Hightower men had their hands on their pommels while my own men mirrored the action and turned their heads away from the dragon to the Greens in an unexpected move that jarred me enough to snap me back to my senses.
I shook my head, "Sky!"
She stopped midstride and looked to me, I nodded to her and she retreated to her corner after one final growl at the prick.
"You would do well to learn restraint your beast, boy," Otto said warningly while adjusting his robes.
"Father!" Mother shouted at her father, revealing more than a little anger. Her lips pulling back and her eyes darkening in the same way they had the last time she had caught one of her ladies repeating one of the more unfortunate rumor about me. "Perhaps it is for the best you wait outside."
It became clear enough who commanded the loyalty of the guards in the room as two took a step towards Otto as he made to argue.
"Of course daughter," Otto said with a frown as he excused himself.
After he left mom signaled the other men to leave, my guard left with them save for Ebermen who merely contented himself with pretending to be furniture.
When the last had gone she took a long breath and turned back to me.
"Forgive him, my dear." Alicent said softly as she passed a hand through my hair.
"Do you wish me to go?" I asked as I felt the tension drain from my body. I let my anger get the better of me, I could not afford to do that when I had a dragon.
Gaema was whipped the few times Qelos reacted overtly to her temper, I idly considered whether I should take that up mself, it might help prevent me from becoming a kinslayer because I let my temper slip.
"I would have preferred to wait a year or perhaps two before sending you away," She seemed somewhat sad. Well it was to be expected from a helicopter mother who already only had so much time to hover.
"Then why?" I asked. Why on earth do you think this is okay?
"The king has become rather insistent that some time away from the court would do you well," Alicent smiled gently. "He had hoped to send you to Driftmark originally but since things have… changed, father suggested that Oldtown would be better for you."
…How was it that she thought I did not understand that it probably had little and less to do with me? I guessed that everyone was pissed at the Velaryons for making us look bad and decided to punish them by taking away the prestige of a royal page.
I doubted Viserys cared one wit about me in the greater scheme of things.
"So, I will not marry lady Velaryon then?" I asked hopefully. I would assume so given that I could exactly marry as empty chair.
"Of course you can," Mom consoled me. "The Velaryon's insist that lady Laena only needs a season or two to recover and then the betrothal can be announced."
No, it will not. It would take incredible ignorance to actually think it would happen. Oh, I did believe that all parties would insist on it until one flinched first and the other one played the scorned party.
"I-I will need to time to prepare," I said in defeat.
"Of course my dear," She said. "You will have three weeks at the very least. It will not be so bad, the King has already agreed to let you take your caretaker, your guards and even some of your servants. You will not be alone at all, my sweet."
Alright, time to do my best to avoid being completely cut out of the picture.
"Very well, mother," I nodded with as much contentment as I could muster.
After saying my farewells and leaving the room I walked towards my chambers with a tired pace. I had forgotten that I was still covered in sweat from the morning's efforts.
"So," I sighed. "How is Oldtown?"
"Fair," Ebermen said.
"How are the Hightowers?"
"…Numerous."
"Lovely."