Aenar was informed that his siblings were at Highgarden right about now when he made a stop at Riverrun. Lord Edmyn Tully welcomed him with open arms and even introduced his daughters Lucinda, Celia and Melessa. Lucinda Tully was the oldest, three years Aenar's senior. Celia was two years Aenar's elder and Melessa a year older than Aenar. All three girls inherited their father's auburn hair but only Melessa had rich green eyes. Aenar knew what the man was trying to do. Of the four Targaryens, two were men and only one was open to taking wives. Who wouldn't want to connect themselves to the royal family through marriage?
Aenar was polite, and thanked them for their kindness in hosting him, before he wrote a letter to Qohor, asking builders and smiths in large numbers to be sent to Dragonstone. It was time Aenar began the restoration of his new castle Harrenhal and draw up plans for the castle that would stand on what would be the capital of the Targaryen Empire. After that, he resumed his journey to join his siblings, who were all in Highgarden for now.
Aenar passed over the vastness of the Riverlands before crossing into the region that was once the dominion of the Storm King, now ruled by his half-brother Lord Orys Baratheon. His journey took him further South, where he witnessed the aftermath of the battle between the unified armies of the South and West against the Targaryen host. The field was scorched and Aenar could still smell burnt flesh and the smoke from the fire. In some places, the flames still burned but they did not spread from there.
Aenar flew over all of that and eventually arrived at Highgarden. The castle of Highgarden was located on a broad verdant hill overlooking the Mander. The castle was surrounded by three rings of white stone whose crenellated curtain walls increased in height, as observed by Aenar when he flew closer to them. Aenar landed just outside the walls of Highgarden, where Balerion, Meraxes and Vhagar were resting. Aenar dismounted his dragon and was on his way inside when he heard a very familiar growl. He turned to see Cannibal slowly approaching Balerion.
"Hey!" Aenar shouted and the dragon turned to his rider. "Behave."
Cannibal flared his nose and made clicking noises.
"I don't care he didn't acknowledge you coming! We're still in the middle of a war and can't have you two fighting like kittens!"
Both Cannibal and Balerion snorted before they both stared at each other.
Aenar rolled his eyes at them both before he turned and found a young man standing there with wide eyes.
"You just scolded your dragon," the man said in both awe and a hint of fear.
"I did. Cannibal can be a little child-like sometimes so I set him straight when I need to" Aenar explained. "I would not advise you to do the same. Cannibal only allows me to do that."
In reply, the dragon blew a warm huff of breath against Aenar's back.
The man before him nodded. He was older than Aenar, already possessing a light covering of beard and moustache on his face.
The man quickly schooled himself.
"My father has asked that I escort you."
The young man turned out to be Theo Tyrell, and he was very curious about the Valyria. Aenar was going to have to get used to speaking about what he saw in Valyria, or rather what he told others about what he saw. None of them could truly know.
Theo led Aenar to what Aenar assumed was the war room. His siblings all smiled seeing him, Aegon snorting when Aenar knelt and greeted him as his Grace.
"Stand brother. You don't need to kneel to me" Aegon stated.
"I am a Lord now. I have to live by example" Aenar stood with a smile.
His eyes fell on another man in the room, older than everyone in the room and wearing green. He had wavy brown hair and a grey specked closely trimmed beard.
"Aenar, this is Lord Harlan Tyrell, the Warden of the South and Lord of Highgarden," Aegon said.
"A pleasure to meet you" Aenar smiled at the older man, who smiled back.
Aenar unclasped two things from his waist and laid them both on the table between him and his siblings. One was the Crown of Winter, and the other a half-molten stone crown. The latter made Aegon frown in confusion.
"The North is yours, brother" he declared. "Their swords are being transported to the capital as we speak."
"And whose crown is this?" Visenya questioned, lifting the molten one with Dark Sister.
"That would be the Iro Islands" Aenar answered, to the surprise of his siblings. "At Winterfell, I had heard that the Iron Islands were trying to elect their own King. I dealt with them."
"You dealt with them?" Aegon raised a brow.
"I dealt with them" Aenar nodded. "Your orders were clear and to the point, with Harren's death the Riverlands and Iron Islands were yours, and you left them in the care of Lord Edmyn Tully. The act of choosing their own King was treason."
"So you killed them all?" Aegon asked, his tone rising an octave. "Lord Tyrell, please give us some privacy."
Harlan and his son Leo excused themselves, leaving just the Targaryen siblings.
"You should have given them a chance to bend the knee" Aegon stated angrily.
"And then what? Open doors for more rebellion against you or any children you have?" Aenar scoffed. "Allowing your enemies to bend the knee is one thing. It shows you are kind and compassionate. Allowing your allies who rebel against you to bend the knee is suicidal and opens you up to criticism. I'd rather kill a whole island of people than have every act of treason be expected to be met with mercy from you. You are King, you need to be decisive and set forth examples of what you do to traitors."
"You do not need to teach me how to be King!"
"I pray I do not need to teach you."
Visenya cleared her throat when tension thickened in the chambers.
"You saw something far in the future didn't you" Rhaenys asked, "that's why you killed them all before they can become a problem.
Visenya and Aegon turned to Aenar, who stared ahead in silence. The three siblings knew that Aenar hadn't just seen the darkness Rhaenys saw in her dreams, not just its eyes. He'd seen more, and the proof was how he'd warned them all about their enemies and ambushes. It saved a lot more lives than they could have without the warning.
Aegon sighed, gently punching the table before him.
"You may command or advise Lord Edmyn to turn the Iron Islands into a mine to extract Iron from. The soil there is full of them and the deeper they might go the more they might find" Aenar said.
Aegon nodded.
"I have also called on builders and smiths from Qohor to help with reconstructing Harrenhall and starting the Valyrian Steel forges at the castle. They should be functional once the lower levels have been rebuilt and I can start arming our men with Valyrian Steels right after."
"Very well. We have gathered enough wealth from the battles to—"
"I can manage the cost on my own" Aenar spoke, garnering his sibling's attention. "I sold Valyrian Steel before, remember? They are not cheap" the boy smirked. "Some of the builders would also take part in the construction of an actual castle instead of that mud and wood castle you have right now. They should also be able to help you chalk out a good plan for the city that would be built around the castle. We should let a city just boom there with no planning. It would spell disaster."
"You've done all that planning already?" Aegon asked, a little surprised.
"Flying with only one mission in mind opens me up for thinking about other things" Aenar shrugged. "They would arrive at Dragonstone and I think one of us should be there to welcome them."
"Very well, you shall return to Dragonstone and—"
"I was hoping you'd allow me to leave to go to Dorne" Aenar interrupted his brother. "I was the one to push you for the alliance with Dorne against Arggillac. It's only fair that I be the one to speak with Meria Martell about a surrender."
Aegon pursed his lips before nodding. He'd seen something in his brother's eyes that he did not like, something that told him that anyone but him going to Dorne would be disastrous.
"I shall fly to Oldtown and have their surrender. Aenar will travel to Dorne and Visenya to the Vale. Rhaenys, you shall welcome the Qohoric."
Visenya was the first to leave, patting Aenar on the head with a proud smile. Rhaenys left next, saying goodbye with a hug and a kiss on the head. It then left only Aegon and Aenar.
"Be careful brother. I do not want to lose you either" Aegon warned.
Aenar smiled at the man and nodded, before leaving.
"You have a good family."
Aenar almost jumped at the voice.
"I forgot you were here" Aenar thought.
He felt the shadow snort in his mind, somehow.
"I was right there giving you all you needed to convince the North to kneel."
"I killed the Ironborn after so my mind's been on that| Aenar paused, "anything for the Dornish?"
"Perhaps."
Aenar sighed at the non-answer.
"You felt it too, right? The wards?"
"Aye. To feel them from so far… they must be really strong. And still, the darkness breaks free."
A shiver ran down his spine.
"We'll deal with it when it comes" the shadow insisted.
Aenar prayed they could. If not them, then their descendants.