authorsnotes: the targaryen story continues
also yes updates are slow, blame writers block or me (but be nice)
do enjoy
songrecs: a golden crown - got season 1
'Let no man think that the fire of the Targaryens did not burn in his veins'
- About Jaeherys 'The Conciliator' Targaryen
-x-
Training day in and day out often grew tiresome, it was too much weight to put on people. As children they accepted it, for it was all they had known. Through the years Jon and Aegon were drilled in combat and then the Kingdoms they would rule, Dany was taught of diplomacy, languages, and culture. Over and over, day after day.
As children they complained but did as they were told, however as the years passed and the children turned into teenagers, rebellion was expected.
The first time they snuck out … or at least tried, Wylla had caught them before they so much as got out the door … or rather window.
Aegon had just turned 14, Dany and Jon were 13, and though the three had certainly lived a life of privilege, they had lived a sheltered life too. Not allowed outside without supervision, rarely allowed to travel, never allowed to simply wonder.
And so, they had decided to take matters into there own hands (rather Aegon and Dany had decided and dragged Jon along with them). They had made a rope out of bedsheets, and Aegon had bravely volunteered to go first. They hadn't made it far, Wylla had burst in just as Aegon had one leg out the window, Dany was pulling on a cloak to hide her hair, and Jon was rigging their little rope to the bed for support.
They had been lectured for over an hour by Jory, the same lecture they had received 6 times since then when their escape plans had failed.
'You three are the most dangerous children – because yes, you are children! In the world. You are a threat to the Westerosi rule, and so many would seek to eliminate you. Many will want to hurt you. You cannot be careless or reckless! You have the dragon in your blood, and Jon you've got the wolf as well, it will drive you to be wild, but you cannot let it! You have to be careful; you have to be cautious, and you have to stay hidden!'
By this point the three of them could recite the lecture, and yet it didn't stop them.
For they were teenagers! Carelessness was part of that! And they were sheltered, too sheltered some would say. They didn't take the dangers of the world that seriously because they had never experienced them.
And so, the 7th time they tried to venture into the outside world, a year later, Aegon now 15, Dany and Jon 14, this time doing so just after lessons, when Wylla was overseeing lunch, Jory was writing his weekly letters, and the other household staff were busy preparing for the afternoon.
It wasn't planned, rather the three of them were sat around a large table, reading over their homework assignments for the week, when Aegon got that reckless look in his eye, and they knew it was time for another try.
At this point it was almost a routine, a choreographed dance. They'd make for the window but the maid would be cleaning their rooms. They'd try the servants entrance but the staff would chase them out, they'd try to slip out the side door but usually Jory would catch them. Each time they tried to run for it they'd always be caught.
"Shall we try the cooks entrance this time?" Aegon suggested with that dangerous glint in his eye, whilst Dany wore a reckless smile, and Jon more of a resigned look.
"What about the front door?" Jon suggested, for though he was more reluctant to get involved he usually had the better strategy, and if he were going to be dragged into this at least he'd try and do it right.
With Aegon he was the slightly more reckless and confident of the two, Jon had the more strategic mind, they complimented one another in the way, and in this instance Aegon clapped a hand on his brothers shoulders and nodded, it was the most obvious solution, and yet one that might just work.
"Let's all go to our rooms separately, grab cloaks and some money and meet back here" Aegon usually took charge even though Jon tended to be the brains behind their operations, they all nodded and walked casually (so not to alert anyone), back to their rooms to get ready.
The three most dangerous children on this side of the world, perhaps the entire world in fact where planning another escape heist, and this time they might just succeed.
In fact, this time, they did.
It seemed the front door was the easiest route, they simply ran across the main hallway, hoods up, swords concealed, opened the front door, and walked out. No elaborate plans, ladders made out of sheets or chaotic distractions needed. A simple walk out of the front door.
"Why did we not try that before?" Jon questioned, mostly to himself, but that was soon forgotten as they heard a servant coming around the corner and promptly made a dash for it.
They were quick on their feet, Aegon taking the lead, Dany in the middle and then Jon bringing up the rear, round the side of the manse, down some steps, into an alleyway and then suddenly they were on a bustling street.
"Wow" It was Dany who spoke first, and yet the two boys would have echoed that sentiment.
It was so busy. People bustling back and forth, shopkeeps shouting their prices and stock, citizens haggling away. Stray cats slept on the walls overhead, flashes of steel were clear at the hips of guards, and they could even see from here the ocean, glittering in the hot sun.
For it was hot, it always was in Bravos, but the three kept their hoods up, to shade Aegon and Dany's hair and to make sure they kept their heads down. They had wanted to go outside but they weren't completely stupid. They had weapons, they kept their heads down and would be smart.
Though of course it was easy to plan that and then be utterly awestruck upon seeing so many people, so busy, nothing like their home.
For home had the best food, the best trainers, it had Jory, Wylla, Varys and Illyrio when they dropped by, guards to keep them safe, the best clothes and comforts but it was so lonely.
Sure, they had one another for company, and being so isolated had created unbreakable bonds between the three of them but they had never played with other children, they had never had dinner guests or just had fun.
They were isolated from all of that, they trained, they drilled, and they were kept inside.
But now, now being outside? They were seeing just what they were missing.
It was alive.
They were so used to being confined inside, with few people to talk to, but here it was the complete opposite. Chatter filled the air, people ran back and forth down the street, laughter rung through the road, people were alive and busy and free.
Freedom. A foreign concept to the three members of royalty. And all three of them stood in awe, just watching life pass by, watching what they never got to see, watching freedom unfold right before their eyes.
They noticed three children then, roughly their ages, laughing, playing some kind of game on the street, no worries, no responsibilities, giggling and joking with one another, just basking in the sun.
Dany glanced at her brothers then (for she always referred to Jon as that), sure they joked and laughed with one another but there were few games, few moments of simply being children. They were too busy for that, busy in learning how to be rulers, how to conquer and take what is theirs.
'We will take what is ours, with fire and blood we will take it'
A chant, a battle cry since they were old enough to speak. Other children had no battle cry's or rallying calls, they had bedtime stories, jokes and a lesson or two a day, not the intense schedule the Targaryen's followed, not the call they would recite to themselves before bed each night, not the promises that someday they would be rulers.
"Do you think it is always like this?" Jon asked quietly, but no one answered for they didn't know.
Dany could tell you the languages and predominate religions of every free city at just 14, Aegon could tell you a complete guide to the bannermen sworn to House Martell of Dorne at 15, and Jon could recite the 12 different shorthand blade techniques as though it were his own name at just 14. They knew so much, and yet nearly nothing about being children.
Because they had never been allowed to be them.
"What do we do now?" Dany asked, and yet again no one answered, for they didn't know.
Part of them wanted to run into the crowd, perhaps buy some sweets, ask the children if they could join their games, walk down to the sea, let the sun kiss their skin, laugh and just be their age. And yet no one made a step to do so, instead they remained just shy of entering the market, like cats being let out of the house for the first time in their lives, desperate to go and join in the fun, but terrified all the same.
None of them would admit it, to being scared, but they were.
They faced the prospect of battles, sword fights, marriage to people they didn't know, conquering and dragon fire with a nod that it was their duty, their sworn right, but stepping inside a crowded Bravosi market to have fun? It was utterly frightening.
"Come on" Aegon said then, taking a step forward, as the oldest, hovering just on the edge of stepping into the market, "We should be brave"
"Aye" Jon agreed, taking a step forward too, nodding, for he was perhaps the bravest of the three of them, though none of them could be accused of being anything less than brave.
"Yes" Dany said then, stepping forward too, taking her brothers hands, "Brave" They all nodded then, all ready to go, even though they were scared, they had worked for this, they had tricked and would end up in dreadful trouble no doubt, best to make the punishment worth it.
Just one step, one step into the unknown, one step into some kind of freedom.
But they didn't make it that far.
"What on earth do you think you are doing?"
"Could have been killed!"
"Have we not expressed how important you are!"
"Did you want to end up assassinated in a back alley?"
"Especially you Aegon and Jon, did you want to see your sister kidnapped by some sellsword?"
"What were you thinking?!"
…
Two hours, two hours of this, lectures by a furious Jory and a livid Wylla. They hadn't even made it a step into the market (thanks to Jory having noticed them missing when heading to lunch, and Wylla hot on his heels to drag them back inside), before Jory had grabbed Jon and Aegon by the shoulders and Wylla had grabbed Dany by the arm to force them back into the manse.
And then followed the lecture, fury and outrage they had been so reckless, when they hadn't even got to do anything!
Dany found it downright unfair, they hadn't even experienced anything worth this punishment! Perhaps if they'd got to see the ocean, or play a game they could have sat through this lecture silent and pliant, satisfied to at least experience something, but no.
And so silent they weren't.
"This isn't fair!" Aegon shot back, "We just wanted to see!"
"Yes!" Dany yelled too, "We never get to go outside"
"We were careful" Jon offered.
"It's like a prison!" Dany said furiously.
"Why don't we get to have fun?" Aegon asked petulantly.
"Shouldn't we meet the people we'll one day rule?" Jon suggested.
It was the first time they'd argued back. Sure, the three of them (well mainly Aegon and Dany) could scream and fight like hellcats, but they had never raised their voice to their primary care-takers, Wylla and Jory. Wylla had been like a Mother to them, Jory like an Uncle, they had never yelled like they were now, and perhaps that was what got through.
For then the lecture stopped, and Wylla and Jory sat down next to their frustrated charges. It wasn't after all them who ordered the house arrest of the three Targaryens, that was Illyrio (rarely here), and Varys (even rarer), protecting the future Kings and Queens.
"We know it is frustrating" Jory said then, sitting next to Jon, clapping a hand on his shoulder, nodding at Aegon and Dany.
"We do" Wylla said, taking a seat between Dany and Aegon, taking one of their hands each, whilst offering Jon a smile.
"But we don't lie when we say how dangerous it is out there" Jory said.
"It didn't look dangerous" Dany argued, and the two boys nodded in agreement.
"Because to most people it isn't" Jory said with something of a sad smile, "But for you three? If you get recognised? At best we'd have to flee in the night, at worst we wouldn't make it that far"
"Being Targaryen's is an honour" Wylla said with a small smile as she smoothed a hand over Dany's hair, "But also a great danger, many people would have your heads"
"Like who?" Aegon said with a roll of his eyes.
"Robert Baratheon" Jory said, "The Lannister's, the Tyrell's, any number of old Valyrian families, any of the rulers of the Free Cities, and many more than that"
"But my Mother was a Stark" Jon said.
"And that Jon could make it even more dangerous for you, especially if Westeros knew" Jory said sadly, and Aegon and Dany gave Jon a sad smile then, for they had often sat with Jon when he got upset over his Mother.
"We don't want to keep you inside" Jory said, "But we would rather that than any of you get hurt?"
"Really?" Dany asked, and Wylla nodded.
"We promised many people to keep you safe" She said, "Your mother" She said with a look at Dany, "And yours Aegon" She said as she looked at Aegon and then to Jon, "And yours Jon"
All three Targaryen's looked sombre then, sat still, no more yelling, no more punishments, as Jory and Wylla sat with them.
What had started out as a fun escape had turned into something sadder, but they all sat quietly together, the three of them having learned a hard lesson, Jory and Wylla feeling forever guilty their lives had to be this way.
Or were for the moment … until a spider scuttled across the shore.
there are more players in the game...
also we are in the targs formative years, trust me, our bbys will grow up!
speak soon