Chapter 5; The Second of His Name

King's Landing, first moon of 114.

Aegon was back in his chambers, lying in bed. Those months had been somewhat turbulent, but the outcome had been satisfactory. Lord Strong's investigation soon discovered that Laenor Velaryon and Sir Joffrey were lovers. Laenor's homosexuality was no secret, but no one had expected such an outcome, making House Velaryon the talk of the seven kingdoms. The sea serpent had been disgraced, his pride stoned, his plans to put his blood on the iron throne overthrown, and the pain of losing his son. Though Aegon knew full well that it was Princess Rhaenys who suffered most.

When Criston Cole was interrogated, he admitted that he had killed Sir Joffrey, for something he had told him about being lovers. That did not make any sense, but then a couple of flea bed prostitutes, paid with a few gold coins, by the hand of a servant sent by Aegon, served to testify that it had been Cole who had deflowered Princess Rhaenyra, and not Prince Daemon. Faced with these facts, the knight confessed that they had become lovers, and that he begged her to flee with him to the free cities, but she refused and asked him to remain her lover while she was married to Laenor, to which he refused, breaking her Viserys, with regained strength, upon learning of this, ordered the execution of Sir was then the turn of Aegon, who interceded for him, playing the role of repentant brother saying;

"Father, he implored you. What he did was wrong, but Rhaenyra loved him...for the love you had for my sister, spare his life...he even killed the man who took her from us. Banish him or send him to the wall, please, I beg you...if not for my pleas, do it for the love she felt," Aegon said before the council with humility and crocodile tears.

But his strategy worked, and King Viserys, after a moment's thought, agreed to Aegon's request, who knew that love for his daughter's whore was the only thing that could change his mind. And Sir Criston was sent to the wall, a few days later. In turn, Lord Strong concluded that it had been a crime of passion...but also a suicide. For among Sir Joffrey's things were found no more and no less than five thousand gold dragons, and a letter with a Braavosi captain, confirming passage for two people to Braavos. As Aegon had arranged, Lord Lyonel ruled that both lovers had proposed to kill Rhaenyra and then flee to Essos, where they could lead a life in freedom, but after seeing how Sir Criston killed her lover, Laenor carried away by grief, killed Rhaenyra in revenge, because her lover had killed his, and then after seeing her die, he took his own life to join his lover in the other world. Naturally all that led to the greatest possible scandal for the house Velaryon which came out with a very damaged reputation, and with the sea serpent and Princess Rhaenys protesting the end of that investigation.

If there's one thing people like, it's big scandals, and in no time at all the seven kingdoms learned of the princess's scandals. But Aegon inadvertently sent ravens exposing Prince Daemon's immoral plan, manipulating his young niece and the best warrior in the Seven Kingdoms (as odious as he might be to many, Criston Coole was the best warrior during Viserys Targaryen's reign) into an affair, and when it became known that the princess had been deflowered, being given to Daemon himself as a second wife, and that he even claimed her from King Viserys, once he admitted to having cohabited with his niece.

King Viserys loved his brother with all his heart, but he was not blind to his faults, and he knew his brother too well to believe that story. On the other hand, he was so pained, and had so idealized his beloved daughter that he could not believe otherwise, and the pieces fit together in his head just as Aegon had planned. When Rhaenyra's funeral took place, Viserys, in front of everyone, banished Daemon, even put a dagger to his neck again, and threatened him, tears in his eyes, that he would kill him himself if he saw him again. He banished him for life in front of the whole court. Then the rogue prince had no choice but to leave the capital, when he tried to approach his brother and was stopped by the royal guard. Although they didn't like Cole very much, his companions were outraged that a knight of the royal guard had been corrupted in such a lowly scheme.

That had happened two months earlier. Since then, Aegon had been brought back to court on the queen's orders, to the king's indifference. Then he pretended to be grieving and said goodbye to Laena, whom he had been comforting for several days "ahhh... if only she were eight years older" Aegon lamented, thinking of her childish body. But he returned to the capital on the back of Ghephonys.

In any case, with Rhaenyra's death, he was already indisputably the Prince of Dragonstone. And already an area was beginning to be created to shelter Ghephonys and his future brood. In fact, he often conversed with Lord Strong, as well as with all the members of the council, winning their affection in a matter of weeks. It was not too difficult, for Aegon had donned a mask of humility and shyness, and they often discussed taxes, tournaments, laws, and other matters. He asked Sir Harold to be his weapons master, and over the next few months, Aegon proved that he could be a mediocre swordsman at best, though an excellent archer. He was no less, he had fantasized a thousand times about going into his old company and killing the whole bunch of bastards.

He then spent his free time with his siblings, especially with Helaena whom he had been teaching about insects, something that fascinated him. Although she paid some attention to her mother, who felt some sadness at the death of her old friend. But now she had received letters from her father, rejoicing that Aegon's path to the throne was clear.

That routine lasted until mid-1144, when Alicent Hightower became pregnant for the fourth and last time by the king. By that time King Viserys had had an upsurge of lividity, but when his wife became pregnant, he was "considerate" enough to have harlots brought to him, albeit...of the highest quality.

"Well" said Aegon "I suppose Tristan can be of some use to me" and a malevolent idea popped into his head, making him grin mischievously "nothing is too good."

On one of his outings through the streets of the capital, Aegon wandered into the flea bed. In the company of half a hundred golden cloaks, he went about distributing gold among the poor. He approached the people and listened to them, and even went to pray in a humble local sept. There he distributed more money among the poor. But those who caught his attention were a group of humble women. They were pretty, but humiliated and ragged. Aegon soon deduced that they were former prostitutes infected with some disease.

Fulfilling his role as a good boy, he distributed not only gold and food, but even said he would employ several women for honest tasks. And that part was true, Aegon turned them into weavers at a loom under crown patronage that he made for the faith, and over the next few weeks he increased his philanthropic activity, evoking the memory of the kindly queen, even if it earned him the scolding of Queen Alicent.

However, during one of his check-ups, he noticed that one of the women was beginning to lose her hair. The girl in her early twenties, with jet hair, brown eyes and olive skin, confided as soon as Aegon told her he was taking her to the Red Keep to be checked by a maester. As soon as they arrived at the keep, Aegon had her checked by a pair of servants, disguised as maesters. They put her in a tub of water, where she had to bathe and then gave her a pottingue, which was only lemonade.

Aegon told her that she was cured, and offered her ten gold dragons, for attending to one last customer. Then she could leave and start a new life as a decent woman. The girl accepted, and taking advantage of the fact that it was already dark, he led her to the king's chambers. The next morning Aegon allowed her to go to Tarth, where she would make a new life as a seamstress.

And so it was, for King Viserys contracted syphilis. Soon its effects were felt and his skin swelled and his limbs began to rot faster. King Viserys' cries of pain were a symphony to Aegon who laughed cruelly at the man's misfortune. In his reasoning, Aegon thought that Viserys deserved it all, he did not care if he was considered a good person or all that nonsense. He had his own criteria. "What kind of man gets the woman he claims to love so much disemboweled?" thought Aegon, not to mention all the misfortune his stupidity caused. The sooner Viserys died, the safer the seven kingdoms would be from catastrophe. Honestly, he found it hard to understand how anyone could empathize with such a disgrace to humanity. "But the more she suffers the better...so much the better" Aegon said with a chuckle as he stroked a sleeping Helaena "May she suffer all that you suffered!" he said giving her a kiss on the forehead.

As the months passed, to the horror of the court, the king's health masters were baffled, they had never seen anything like very similar to what happened with Aegon the the council and the court became aware that the king had little time left to as was to be expected, there was no shortage of those who were already making plans for when the king was the meantime, Aegon played with all his might the role of the grieving son, the kind-hearted child, the prodigy prince and self-sacrificing brother, as well as comforting Queen Alicent, who was already half-pregnant, and the worries could be bad for Daeron.

Finally, in the last month of the year, the king was at death's door. At that time he could only be provided with poppy milk, so that he would not suffer, being barely conscious for a few moments a day to be fed.

A worried Maester Mellos, addressed the royal family to tell them to be prepared for the worst. The queen was on the verge of hysteria, but Aegon comforted her, and demanded to see his father. Although the grand maester advised against it, Aegon insisted, claiming it was his duty as a son to watch over his father on his deathbed.

He walked through the corridors followed by Sir Harold, already alone in the antechamber the stench was overpowering. But when the doors opened and they entered the room, it was already unbearable. There stood two silent sisters and an acolyte of the grand master, both of whom left without objection when Aegon entered, while the royal guard stood guarding the entrance.

"I knew some sacrifice would be my turn," he said to himself, unable to contain his revulsion at the swollen, bald and poisoned image of the king. He was already unrecognizable and as corrupt as all his ideas and dreams.

He moved slightly closer to the king, who had had to have one of his eyes gouged out. He even had barely a couple of teeth left, but he kept saying "Aenma...Rhaenyra" every so often. Aegon was not surprised and ignored him.

"Father, I'm here" Aegon said in a simple voice "Do you recognize me? It's me...Baelon."

The king reacted to the name of his desired son.

"Baelon..." he said with all his might.

Then Aegon opened the door for a moment, to go to the king's office, to Sir Harold's surprise, seeing Aegon snooping, to which he replied that he needed ink and paper. Something he got from the hand of a servant.

With great care Aegon drew up a document, the "will" of King Viserys. Without him, he would need a regent until he was sixteen. And it was more than likely that Daemon and the Sea Serpent would try something, so he drafted it by choosing three people that anyone who knew that idiot would not doubt his appointment.

But the moment came when he had to overcome his disgust, when he had to touch that man to offer him the pen.

"Father" he said to him in his sweetest voice "I need you to sign this."

The king was already so far gone that he was barely conscious, but with much effort he stamped his signature, though in the last stroke he made a line to the edge of the papyrus. Then the king repiried with even more difficulty from the effort, and Aegon smiled.

"Farewell father" he said with a cold smile as he leaned close to his dirty ear "I hope you rot in hell, along with your whore of a daughter and your bastard of a brother" he whispered in his ear, causing the king to shudder somewhat.

The stench eased his tears, as he left the room with the signed parchment. He walked desolate before the eyes of the servants and guards. Then he went to the sept to pray for his father's soul, but he did not really want to go to the privy council until that idiot had left this world.

There he knelt all night in the company of the septon Eustace, who led the prayers for the king, in the company of several septas, while reciting the scriptures from his holy book. Aegon did not mind all this, in fact, the faith of the seven was somewhat interesting, though too doctrinaire for his taste, but the people needed something to believe in.

Finally, when the first rays of dawn had been breaking for a few moments, a sleepy Aegon, his knees and neck aching, heard the doors open, giving way to several heavy footsteps, interrupting the prayers of the order.

"Your Grace," said the lord commander in a somber tone.

Aegon kept his face low. He pretended not to notice what had happened, and turned to feign strangeness at the sight of Sir Harold along with several guards and some waspish courtier.

"My father..." said Aegon giving his lips a quiver as he had to bring his hands to his face and let out a choked sob.

Aegon was now the second of his name.

Notes;

Who will be the chosen regents, do you have any special suggestions? Please, I am open to all opinions, and thank you for reading this story.