Dying to Know 7 - (ASoIaF, Qyburn!SI)

247 AC, Blackhaven

I suppose three years were enough to give me a full picture of who Shaera Targaryen was.

While the books don't put much weight behind this figure since she should have married to the even more famous Jaehaerys II, I had the opportunity to not only get to know my 'secretary', but also train her. When she first inquired about war-related books, I thought she was just a keen observer of warfare due to it becoming a fine substitute to dragons.

But the more she drowned herself in books, I also noticed her staring at the training cadets. Perhaps she was eyeing some 'candy'? No, the more I studied this, the more I could tell that the eventual 'discovery' I made about her true intention should have been easier to predict.

It happened within her first month of being my secretary, and it was quite the hilarious revelation.

I had returned to my office because I had forgotten some papers, having left Shaera to clean up the papers and organize them as usual. I knew she was meant to be there but... I didn't expect her to use the small ample area in front of my desk to wave what appeared to be a stick. Albeit shifting around with that 'weapon' with the same intent of a child playing swords, I could see some similar patterns akin to what the instructors were teaching the swordsmen by the training fields.

"Ah."

The sharp jump she made mixed with that noise of surprise and immediate shame almost made me smile - I was lucky in having mastered the art of holding back such gesture to prevent some misunderstandings - but I was truly perplexed by the uneasy look on her face.

"I... I can explain, Maester Qyburn."

"I suppose you should, Lady Shaera. Or you may leave me to merely guess what could have urged you to such a flimsy swinging."

Her cheeks reddened a bit more as her pride was further wounded by that dry comment. Nonetheless, the explanation she provided was indeed satisfactory and it really opened up more on the Pandora Box that was Aegon V's children.

Nothing had prepared me to imagine something of this kind- that someone like Shaera was actually interested in combat but was denied such chance by her father's desire to see his children married off without further 'mixing their blood among each other'.

In a sense, that may have pushed Shaera towards her sympathetic sibling, maybe even at the promise of being given the chance to eventually train with his consent... only for that to ultimately not happen in canon. Still, the explanation left me to digest how Shaera was 1) very eager to learn how to fight and be like the first Visenya and 2) Trying to be better than her because she couldn't ever hope to get a dragon to ride.

While this created a new issue as the most obvious option meant potentially ruining the good wills I shared with the current king, I also saw this situation as something worthy of giving a chance of- even more if it put Shaera out of the path from marrying her brother.

So, I decided to draw a promise or an 'oath' of sort with the girl. One that she maintained almost religiously and that allowed her to pursue this path mostly undisturbed.

"Here is what I may tell you, young lady. I will give you instructors, tools and all sorts of means to achieve what you wish to achieve. But understand that this is a troubled road since you have not trained much in your childhood as Visenya did, you were not accustomed to pure brutality of war as Visenya was, and you will need to first build a frame worthy of being trained as a proper warrior just like Visenya did. If you yield your chance here, I will not mind. But if you think of ever so giving up during the training, then you will live the rest of your life knowing you had the chance and you decided to fail your own expectations. Do you understand?"

"...A-Aye, Maester Qyburn!"

To my delight, her nervous delight was temporary as Shaera adapted fast after facing some early hurdles during her training. I had to pick one of the instructors that cared not about training women, convince him that the princess was willing to listen and comply with orders, but also tell him that he didn't risk punishment for being as harsh as he would with other cadets.

Then again, Shaera had to start from the very bottom and had to then grow into a new diet since she had to put more weight to convert in muscles. And as the young woman moaned in despair during the first six months, she slowly conquered the exercises and further rise beyond expectations through the next few years.

It was around 247 that things took a rather intriguing turn. I was familiar of the Tourney at Blackhaven since this is where Prince Duncan, the former Crown Prince, faced and defeated Ser Barristan Selmy. I had been invited and Shaera was expected to be there too as she was bound to keep around her family for the occasion.

She was giddy for this event for a very unsavory reason.

"But I-"

"I suggest you don't fight, Lady Shaera. Because either you win or lose, you will have to then explain things to your family."

She huffed, twirling some locks of her shoulder-length hair. "Fine."

"And I sure hope to not learn you will miss on meeting your family by the stands."

Rolling her eyes, Shaera nodded. "Fine."

A few minutes after that conversation and I was sitting by the stands with Vaella beside me and chirpily remarking how glad she was I could come and... no sign of Shaera. I know she spoke with her parents, and with her brothers too before going missing, and yet she was nowhere to be found as the tourney started.

My gut feeling that shit was about to hit the fan was greeted by reality making this come true when a Mystery Knight going by the name of 'Grinning Dragon' entered the field... in Shaera's custom armor. She had the decency to change her shield as her primary one had the Targaryen Emblem on it. This one had a single yellow-scaled dragon with a green smile plastered on its unnerving snout.

And she was going for the Melee.

"Is... everything alright, Maester?" Vaella asked, and I admit that I couldn't hold back the physical reaction of being positively ill to what was to come, my skin paling and my eyes wide open in a panic.

"Mostly so, yes. I just... May I speak bluntly, Lady Vaella?"

She slowly nodded and smiled as I leaned closer to whisper the current source of concern. To say that the smiling woman was slowly morphing into a rather nervous lady that knew that a shitstorm was around the corner was an understatement.

"Is she-"

"She is ready but... the implications," I suggested and she nodded. "I may have an idea to prevent any issues if it comes down to the king asking but... I require support."

"If it is feasible, I shall offer it," Vaella agreed, then smirked. "Of course, with a price to it."

I felt my body burdened by the inner struggle of getting caught by this stupid sexy Targaryen woman.

"I-I suppose we can agree to something."

I am so going to skin your hide, Shaera!

Despite my inner promise of adding more to her hellish training, Shaera showed herself capable of handling her own. The instructor I gave her was someone that had experienced tourneys in the past, so there was a chance that he had mentioned the common rules to the princess.

The first few rounds went on without trouble, surprising a rather ecstatic Vaella as she found Shaera's abilities 'worthy of the training she got' from the way she handled the Melee's early stage. But as tougher opponents came about, Shaera started to finally struggle.

While I did know she was incredibly good at fighting, she lacked the right kind of live experience she needed to stand up to some of the toughest opponents but... she powered through without getting cut but possibly bruised due to some unexpected smacks from shields on her hip and left arm.

She was fine as she got to actually face the last contender- her brother Duncan. Now, Prince Duncan was many things and, despite what many could say for his bold decision to drop his main title to pursue his current commoner wife, he was also a powerful fighter.

Powerful enough to have beaten Ser Barristan Selmy before facing Shaera and, despite my high hopes, I also kept myself rooted in reality. Shaera gave a brave display of her skills, but she was still far from being able to actually beat her brother in a serious fight.

However, as the matches ended and the king showed curiosity for the Mystery Knight, I stood up from my seat before the king could have made any particular request.

"Your grace, if I may speak."

Aegon V turned his gaze to me, surprise and mirth greeting me. "Maester Qyburn, what do you need?"

"The Mystery Knight, I recognize him being the cadet I brought from Summerhall. One I specifically asked to not take part to the Tourney."

Shaera tensed up as I gave her a deep frown, but she nodded in agreement, keeping silent as I said this.

The king slowly nodded. "I see, and what do you wish to do in this regard?"

"If your grace wishes to see his identity, I would at least ask for this to happen privately. This cadet is... someone I wish to keep anonymous for the time being."

"That's an unusual request," The queen remarked, but Vaella stood up to.

"I support Maester Qyburn's request."

"I-I actually agree, father," Prince Duncan interjected with a tense smile. "It would be best to give this mystery knight a private audience."

The king may not have known the full truth, but Egg was not an idiot and he nodded at the many voices suggesting this outcome. And as the King had us all follow him to his tent, the situation somewhat 'exploded' in a different outcome than I had predicted.

Aegon's wife, Queen Betha, was hugging the nervous girl as soon as she revealed herself, checking for any injuries but still somewhat delighted to see her fine and... happy. The king was somewhat of a similar tune, albeit his gaze told me as he looked right in my direction I was bound to have a stern conversation with him.

Duncan praised his sister's combat prowess and Jaehaeris...

Jaehaeris was giving me an odd look.

It was far from a 'good kind of odd', and it made me unnerved. It was clear the young man had many reasons to first dislike and now hate me. The fact I took from him the one thing he had over his sister to claim her closer to him perhaps pushed him towards the edge.

Thank the Gods that the talk with the king gave me the chance to ask to be relieved of the leadership of the Summerhall Academy for this to be given to one of the Maesters already working in the school and for me to be given the means to find a 'research facility' in the North near the Trident.

I didn't want to face the potential assassination attempts the guy would throw at me, and yet I wasn't spared by one last 'issue' by the king.

"Lady Vaella will also follow you since she has shown some interest in education and she has inquired to become your student."

This and also the fact that Shaera was going to keep being my secretary as we all moved northward, further pissing off Jaehaerys- Goddammit.

AN

Egg's request may be tied to a private chat he had with Vaella and... authorizations may have been given to break a few 'rules'. Plus, Qyburn owes Vaella a favor and Shaera is... very grateful.

Next time may see a Lemon happen.