It was early in the morning when House Targaryen was summoned in the great hall of Summerhall. In the center of the hall, a great mass of kindling was placed together, surrounded by a ring of obsidian stones. And above, on a large metal gratier stood five eggs. Aerys felt the need to smile at the sight, reminded of the two eggs they had gotten which were currently hidden in an escape tunnel.
Beside him, Rhaella slouched, her brow furrowed. There were deep bags beneath her eyes, and her hair was still a riot. Combined with her obvious tiredness, and Aerys could conservatively bet she wanted to murder half the room, at least. In this case she might just have her wish, with a bit of luck.
At the sides of the obsidian ring, there stood a wide variety of dubious individuals: warlocks, red priests, some Valyrian priests Aerys suspected Aegon had gotten from Volantis (or maybe Mantarys) as well as a collection of alchemists and maesters, and even an odd Septon.
At the head of the hall, Aegon sat on a makeshift Throne. He had decided to go full on Targ today, dressed in black pants and a black doublet, red dragons stitched across the sleeves with a crimson tunic slipped beneath it. He had donned his crown, the simple golden circlet that Aegon the Dragonbane had worn before him. The irony was not lost on Aerys. Though overall, he did have to say he appreciated the look, even if it would be better with the crown of Aegon I. He could certainly take inspiration when he was King, he thought.
At that moment, Aegon rose and addressed the crowd. "Welcome my kin. It is a great honor to have you all here, for this historical moment; a hundred years from now, maesters will speak of today with awe as both the rebirth of House Targaryen as well as a new dawn for Westeros."
He wasn't wrong, Aerys thought. In many ways, his and Rhaella's reign would begin today, though he guessed they'd still have to wait for Jaehaerys to kick it. But with how sickly and frail the man was, that wasn't going to take very long.
Their family clapped politely as Aegon sat back down on his throne and conversed with one of the maesters. Aerys hid a grimace; if he'd done this canon, it was no wonder he'd burned. Though doing it in Summerhall probably was enough to begin with.
Looking around he saw Rhaella muttering something. He quickly lean in close so he could whisper to her.
"What is it?" he asked her.
"This is stupid," she replied, her face looking like she wanted to slowly murder something, or in other words, looking like normal. "How do these chucklefucks actually expect to hatch dragons. Where the fuck are the Aztec rivers of blood and still beating hearts?"
Sometimes, Aerys forgot that Rhaella, for all her intelligence, was also completely and utterly batshit. Though she always corrected him with statements like that. Once again, it fell on him to be the voice of reason between them.
"I can't say I completely disagree," he replied. "Though I am not sure they'd need to go that excessive."
At that Rhaella made a non committal sound. After that they stood in silence looking as Aegon's odd band shuffled around the soon to be fire. That was when,out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Maegor. His cousin stood at the edge of their group, the elephant in the room. No one wanted to be near Aerion Brightflame's son, especially when he'd been passed over at a Great Council. It still amazed him that he was still alive.
Well, if Aerys had anything to say about it, that wouldn't be a source of confusion any longer. Though his distance from the fire might pose a slight issue. Plastering a fake, thousand watt smile on his face, he decided to act.
"Maegor," he called, "it's good to see you!"
The threat to his rule met his eyes with a shy smile. "Hello, Aerys," he said, "it's been too long since I last saw you."
"That's partly my fault," he said, draping an arm across his shoulders, "my apologies, cousin."
Maegor laughed. "No apologies needed," he said, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Well, you see, one day I shall have to be King," he said. "And as part of my duties, I must know my family. Family is the basis of everything, and we Targaryens must stick together. When I'm King I don't want any Targaryen to be forgotten!" he finished. He saw the man's smile at that. Bet you'd like that, wouldn't you, so you can be up close and stab me in the back.
"Thank you, cousin," the man said.
"Anyways, what do you think of all this?" he asked, gesturing with his free arm towards the wood, while with the other he directed Maegor so they could start walking that way. That's it, cousin dearest, closer and closer to the fire. I promise it won't bite. Just burn.
"Well, to tell you the truth, no one has really asked me that before, so I'm not sure how to reply…" he said, lost in thought. "I suppose it has great promise. Our House having dragons again could help Uncle Aegon carry out all those reforms he wanted to do.
Aerys grinned. "I completely agree! It's a shame, truly, how Grandfather must fight tooth and nail for his reforms. Luckily, he will not need to, after this." Because he will be dead, he did not add.
Maegor nodded. "I am glad we are in agreement."
They had gotten closer to the fire at this point, and Aerys suspected they wouldn't be able to get any further without raising suspicion. In that moment, he saw as Aegon's ragtag band of dragon hatchere began to move around.
He removed his arm from Maegor's shoulders, still feigning a smile. "Oh," he said, as if the idea had just occurred to him, "I just remembered: Rhaella mentioned you not too long ago."
Maegor's look was sickeningly hopeful. "She did?"
"Indeed; she has missed you dearly." This was a blatant lie; Rhaella couldn't stand Maegor. "A weak, spineless, mute chucklefuck," he believed she had called him once. "I'll tell you what," he continued, "you stay right here, and I'll go get her. She'll be happy to get the chance to speak with you."
"Nothing would make me happier," Maegor assured him, and that was actually quite… pathetic. Still smiling, Aerys made his way back to Rhaella, rather pleased with himself.
She watched him approach with a raised eyebrow, a smirk cutting into the edge of her mouth. "Aerys," she tisked, "how horrible of you, truly, to give the poor man so much hope. How much snake oil did you promise him?"
Aerys rolled his eyes. "Please," he said, "I gave him comfort in his last moments. Isn't that the best thing any of us could ask for, supposedly?"
She made a sound that could have been a laugh beneath her breath.
At that moment, the red priests and the warlocks began to chant while Aegon approached the kindling with a torch in hand. Aerys watched, tensing, as he lowered the torch. Flame licked at the wood. It flickered, and then it roared to life.
At that both Aerys and Rhaella took a step back, outright touching the tapestry behind which the escape tunnel was hidden. However, the flames started burning high into the room, heating the air all around them.
And yet nothing happened. At that moment, the chanting of the priests intensified, while Aegon produced an obsidian knife from somewhere, and cut his hand, blood dripping from the black blade. Looking at it, Aegon threw it in the fire above the eggs. All at once the fire roared, and climbed all the higher, the flames starting to turn purple and white.
"Interesting," he heard Rhaella mutter. He wasn't sure that now was exactly the time to be fascinated over ritualistic blood magic that was about to go horribly wrong. His eyes swept the room for Maegor; to his satisfaction, he was still close to the fire. Good.
For a long while still, nothing happened, before Aegon gave an order, and alchemists approached with what seemed to be jars of wildfire. Both him and Rhaela stiffened up at that. And for good reason.
Before the men had even reached the pyre, their jars exploded in a sea of green.
"RUN!" he told Rhaella immediately, and as one they both ducked behind the tapistry, starting to flee like their lives depended on it. From behind they could hear screaming. One voice sounded quite like Maegor's, and he allowed himself a moment of grim satisfaction.
His lungs burned as they raced through the tunnel, legs carrying them as quickly as they possibly could. They retrieved their dragon eggs, placed at some point along the tunnel, and threw the satchels holding them over their shoulders. Rhaella wheezed as Aerys unlatched the door which would lead them out of Summerhall.
"I… am… so glad… I didn't wear a dress," she said, shoulders heaving. The comment came out of the blue, and as the door swung open, he laughed.
"Me too," he said, "now let's get moving."
They kept running, until they couldn't anymore and collapsed on the grass outside the castle, watching as Summerhall burned from a distance. In truth, he had to admit it looked kind of beautiful, he thought as he draped an arm around Rhella's shoulder.
She leaned against his side in response. The two of them locked in that position, watching quietly as the castle was consumed by flames.