Enjoy.
Chapter 2: The Dragon Humiliated
The throne room was dark, the braziers lit and casting shadows of figures standing around the chamber.
Jaehaerys looked ahead, the nineteen dragon skulls of his family gone from the walls, which seemed another insult to them and to the Usurper as if he were embarrassed by his bloodline.
The Baratheon line stemmed from House Targaryen, as the Blackfyres were.
Robert sat stone-faced, hands on his hammer on the throne that was forged with Balerion's fire. Standing at the bottom were some familiar faces amongst the traitors, mainly Lord Varys and Grand Maester Pycelle.
The leaders of the rebellion stood with them, Eddard Stark, Jon Arryn, and Tywin Lannister.
Jaehaerys sent a glare towards the former Hand of the King, the man who led the sacking of King's Landing and remembered the stories heard after the city fell.
Apparently, Tywin had come as a friend, an ally to defend the crown at its lowest moment, and when the gates were opened did the lions pounce and raid, rape, and slaughter all throughout the city streets.
Jaehaerys hated this man the most, and hated that he was here.
Stannis Baratheon had he and his family lined up, the man himself standing before the Iron Throne. "Brother, I bring you Jaehaerys Targaryen and his siblings, Viserys and Daenerys, and Rhaegar's children, Rhaenys and Aegon Targaryen."
He wished Willem was here, the man was taken to a cell when they arrived, no doubt to later either bend the knee or be executed.
Robert finally rose to his feet, "To think, scum like you were once conquerors and dragonriders." Jaehaerys felt Viserys hand tighten on his, anger shown in his little brother's eyes.
Rhaenys hugged his pants, scared, while Aegon and Daenerys rested in the wet nurse's hands.
Then, without a moment to consider the action, Robert laid down judgment, "Take them away and kill them." Jaehaerys heart sank as he lost his voice despite moving to protest.
Surprising, and a personal shock to him, the Warden of the North stepped forward to defend them, "They are boys and girls, Robert, this is dishonorable and atrocious!"
Tywin agreed with the Usurper, "I shall have it done, your Grace." The former friend of his father turned to him, "Leaving a single one of them alive would threaten yours and Cersei's children."
"There are other ways to ensure they don't become threats, Lannister." Eddard spat and leaned to face his 'King', "The girls could become septa's, and the boys could become wards and later men of the Night's Watch." Tywin laughed, causing Eddard to narrow his eyes at the Old Lion.
Jon Arryn breathed deeply, "It is sound, but what's to stop them from running as Bittersteel had when he was sentenced to the Wall? I don't relish the murder of children, but... "
"No... "
The word caused all to stop and stare at him, and Robert's eyes lit up in a fury as he descended from the throne, yet Jaehaerys refused to bow.
"You are our prisoners! Mine to deal with!" Robert pointed his hammer, "I should crush your chest as I had done to Rhaegar!"
"Then you will be twice a kinslayer!" He shouted, stunning the Usurper with his defiance founded from the deepest part of his body, "Or do you forget, Cousin, that your own grandmother was Rhaelle Targaryen?"
Robert's voice was low, "I forget nothing, boy. It's the reason I am the King, now."
Now! Jaehaerys picked his opportunity, "You are right, so let us bend to you rather than killing us." He stunned the Usurper once more.
Stannis went on to explain, "Jaehaerys and his family came willingly to cede the right to rule in exchange for keeping their lives and titles as Lords of Dragonstone."
"What's to stop Aegon from trying to reclaim the throne when he is grown?" Tywin questioned, desperate to kill them all and be done with it.
Pycelle shockingly agreed with Tywin and Robert, "Letting the weeds grow in the garden eventually poisons the flower, my King, I insist their deaths be done and quickly." Traitorous bastard, Jaehaerys thought and stepped forward, causing some to tense at what he was going to do.
Jaehaerys cleared his throat and stepped forward, "When my brother was killed, the King was enraged and hateful of House Martell, so he punished them by disinheriting Aegon and Rhaenys in favor of his second eldest son. He named me the heir, and my mother crowned me when news broke that the city was taken and my father was killed... " Jaehaerys took his mother's crown, the crown used to make him King.
"How can we know you are telling the truth, Jaehaerys?" Jon Arryn asked, and Jaehaerys sighed.
"My father's Small Council witnessed it, the Grand Maester recording it for his books." Robert and his traitorous companions looked to Pycelle whi begrudgingly nodded to what he said as the truth.
He was a boy, but he never took his eyes off Robert as he approached, the Usurper taking a cautious step back and hands tightening his grip on the hammer.
Humility. It was humility filling his soul, and Viserys angrily watched as Jaehaerys knelt to one knee and set the crown down.
"I, Jaehaerys of the House Targaryen, third of my name, do hereby kneel to you. I surrender any claims or rights to the titles of King, or Lord Protector of the Realm." He hated saying what he was saying, but groveling is their best chance of living without being hunted or in exile, "My House gave House Baratheon the storied history they have, it was Orys- the half-brother of Aegon the Conquerer who paved the way for your bloodline."
"And? What does that have to do with me and what your brother did?"
Jaehaerys let out a shaky breath, "I ask for mercy, I ask for leniency as my great-grandfather gave yours when he rebelled and was able to keep his lands and titles."
Jon Arryn bristled and approached, "The dragon bowing to the stag sounds like a better song than the stag killing the dragon."
There was a tense moment of silence, sweat dripped from Jaehaerys forehead as he waited with bated breath on Robert's decision till... He relented.
"The right to rule for House Targaryen is over, you understand?" He nodded, "I will leave you with your island to dwell on, you can keep no more than five ships as a fleet and no more than a hundred men at arms, got that?" He nodded again.
He thought it was over, he really did, but as he was about to rise, the Usurper held his hammer to his shoulder, and Jaehaerys could feel the heaviness of it. "I require a hostage from your family, I'll have Rhaegar's brat given to Ned to raise as a ward when the whelp turns ten."
"No!" Rhaenys shouted, the five-year-old streaming tears down her face, "Not my baby brother! Please!"
Robert's booming voice caused her to quiet, "You think you have authority over me, brat!" she hid and cried into Viserys back, "Jaehaerys the Kneeler made me King, and for that, you get to live. Be grateful I don't crush you all and burn you with your father and grandfather!"
His cousin dismissed them from his sight, decreeing that unless called that they weren't allowed to leave the island or come to King's Landing, an imprisonment as the man has no intention of ever doing so.
Stannis Baratheon escorted them all back to the Fury, the ride was silent as the defeated member of House Targaryen traveled and with the remains of King Aerys and Princess Elia Martell.
Willem had chosen not to swear to Robert, sentenced to the Night's Watch like many other knights and Lords who wouldn't bend to the new regime.
It was solemn as Jaehaerys saw the Red Keep recede from the distance, then the Hills of Rhaenys and Visenya, his home and now a stranger place
"You did well, not many Kings would have had the same humility." He heard Stannis say, "I admire it even if I feel the same as Tywin. Tell me, did you mean what you said and will not make claims you no longer have?"
"I swore my oath to him, and his heirs... I am a vassal, now, Lord Stannis."
This was the best for them, he had to keep telling himself, but he could not help but think how his ancestors must think him so weak, from Aegon the First, to Jaehaerys the Conciliator, who had worked tirelessly to keep the dragon in power.
And here he was, bending to a bastard line when he could have fought further.
"I am tired." He said and walked away from Stannis Baratheon, now the new Lord of Storm's End and Lord Paramount of the Stormlands.
Rhaenys was up with her baby brother and younger aunt, she had turned when he returned, but he didn't see Viserys, "Where is Viserys?" He asked his niece shook her head.
"He wanted his own cabin, I could hear things being thrown around, so I came back here." Jaehaerys sighed at Rhaenys answer. "What will we do with mother's body? And grandfathers?"
Taking a seat, he nudged Rhaenys, "We will give them a traditional funeral, just like we did with my own mother." Rhaenys allowed tears to fall from her face, Jaehaerys embraced her and let her sob into his shirt... Even he let a tear fall from his eyes.
A few days later, they were back at Dragonstone, settling into their new lives as Lords instead of Princes and Princesses.
Stannis had dismissed the few hundred men in the castle, all but the hundred his House was allowed to keep as guards and protectors. He was thankful the Master of Ships had let him choose which man to keep while others were dispersed to the village on the island and elsewhere within the Crownlands.
The first thing he did when Stannis left was order for a pair of pyres to be built, the bodies of King Aerys II Targaryen and Princess Elia Martell were burned as per tradition to their bloodline.
He looked in his hand, the dagger still on his father's belt wasn't like Blackfyre or Dark Sister, it had no name but it was no less an ancestral weapon and made of Valyrian steel.
Looking outward, he saw the sails of ships circling the island.
As was decreed, he was left with five ships to protect the island against pirates, yet these captains weren't loyal to him but the King, "Guards to keep us penned in." Viserys spat before leaving for his room after the first supper.
He had their meals tested, a rule he would keep so long as they lived.
A month passed, and he spent much time making sure Aegon and Daenerys were healthy and hale and checking in on Viserys and Rhaenys.
He envied the babes, they know not of what had happened in the last few years, not now anyway. Jaehaerys wished all of it was a nightmare, that he would wake up to the smile of his mother and training with Rhaegar and Viserys in the yard, but each morning he woke, he would only feel empty.
Viserys was still angry with him, angry at the Lords who betrayed their family and the families who failed to protect them. Rhaenys spent much of her time in the gardens or crying or spending time with him and the babes.
She had asked him if it was alright to write to Dorne, he thought it may be too risky with the war having ended a short time ago. And the castle Maester had died soon after their arrival home, and the new Maester, a man named Kieran Hill is from the Westerlands, so he didn't exactly trust him.
Of course, he understood her desire to reach out to her other family, what with him failing them and their House.
Already, the 'Dragon Who Knelt' is spreading about him and his 'cowardice submission'. Jaehaerys the Kneeler, as Robert so aptly put it, and at ten name days, he feels like a grown man who had lived a life of shame and dishonor.
He hated the feeling, he hated all of it as much as Viserys did.
Jaehaerys kicked sand as he traversed the beachhead, a breeze flowing his cloak and hair about. He turned around and noticed a rowboat coming ashore, and with a bit of caution, he readied to run back.
It was a lone man, hooded and cloaked so he could not see him.
The boat landed, and the man got out, "What are you doing here?" He questioned, and he would have run if not for the man revealing himself and Jaehaerys nearly dropped to his knees, "Ser Barristan Selmy?"
Barristan the Bold. His Father's last loyal Kingsguard smiled, and knelt to one knee. "I have returned to you, and to House Targaryen, my Prince."
He brought Barristan back to the castle, where he had some food made, Jaehaerys had to admit he was happy that Barristan survived the Battle of the Trident when he assumed all had perished fighting the Usurper and his allies.
"Tell me how he fought, Rhaegar's end?" He had asked, and the bold knight frowned, setting down his spoon to regale the story.
Viserys and Rhaenys had been there, the three hearing the heroic tale of how, in the streams did Rhaegar bravely faced Robert on horseback.
"Why didn't you save him?" Viserys asked, and the knight lowered his head in shame, saying how he had been wounded severely and could only watch helplessly as the Usurper crushed the Last Dragon's chest with his warhammer.
Viserys turned away, anger in his expression and tears falling from his face. Rhaenys had a frown, and Jaehaerys placed a hand on his niece's shoulder.
Now came the real question, "How did you survive the battle?" Jaehaerys watched Barristan sigh and recollect the battle.
"I shouldn't have, my Princes and Princess. I should have died with my honor, but Robert Baratheon bid his maester care for my wounds, even before himself, who had taken considerable damage from his fight with the Crown Prince." The mercy of Robert had overshadowed that of his crimes of usurpation against kin and liege. "After I was able to raise myself from my bed, I was offered a place in his Kingsguard... I refused."
"Why?" Rhaenys asked.
Barristan smiled, "I am still Aerys Kingsguard, I am House Targaryen's man first and I am no oathbreaker. I serve the crown, the Targaryen crown."
With this, he and his family welcomed Barristan into their service, as their man and a loyal protector for them.
AN: I hope everyone is enjoying these new (and not so new) stories, and I am also currently working on chapter 40 of I am the Fury, so keep an eye out.
Reviews
Khaos05, Thanks happy to write more.
Suppes1, I cannot promise a weekly schedule, but I have enough free time, and I will write as much as I can.
EternalEmperorDmitri, It certainly won't be the same story simply just on the fact that House Targaryen isn't in exile and Aegon and Rhaenys are both very much alive.