Chapter 112 - Dragonstone Island (I)
🕑 Added 2025-02-13 01:06:31 +0000 UTC“It has begun.” Aenar I Targaryen, God-Emperor of Planetos, Lord of the Ruby Throne of the Known Universe.
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296 BC - Fourteenth Year of the Reign of King Robert I of House Baratheon.
North - Winterfell Castle.
Aenar, in one of the castle towers, was sitting in a chair as he watched the troops gathering outside Winterfell. The fourteen-year-old, measuring two meters and twenty centimeters, was taller than countless humans on the planet. Behind him, Leda, with her impressive two meter height, stood loyally by her king's side.
“Lord Stark has asked which place will be attacked first, Your Grace.” Leda asked the question with a calm, cold tone, while lightning could be seen dancing in her pupils.
“The Valley.” Aenar replied with a calm expression. His voice was slightly cold, but nothing that disturbed the atmosphere around him.
Leda didn't question why attack the Valley first. Aenar's orders were absolute for her. If he wanted to go directly to King's Landing, she would open the way for him.
“How are we doing with Mance?” Aenar asked curiously.
“The Horned Castle has been erected at Sea Dragon Point. The city around the castle is gradually stabilizing, and House Stark no longer needs to send as much food as before.” Leda replied, remembering the report she had received. She relied on Sansa to help her with these matters, which relieved the pressure on her.
Especially after the Maester of Winterfell, Luwin, had mysteriously died in an accident falling down the stairs, things had become a little complicated for managing House Stark. However, with Sansa's help, Leda managed to stabilize Winterfell's finances. And believe me, it was the women who carried out this task, while the lords preferred to relax and just act as judges in cases of crime in their own fiefdoms.
That's why Mace Tyrell and Tywin Lannister were exceptions. They both tightly controlled their finances, without bothering to delegate this work, which was generally considered tedious.
(Note: I wish I was a nobleman so I didn't have to do income tax...)
Castellans could help, but this was more common in the South, where people were better educated. In the North, even the noble houses didn't value knowledge as much. Perhaps only House Stark and House Manderly really had servants who could do mathematical equations.
Aenar nodded, satisfied, remembering that the inexperienced savages hadn't made the transition difficult by moving to Sea Dragon Point and Stony Shore. Although some still fled and hid in the northern forests to continue their nomadic lives, this was a small minority of less than a thousand men and women.
“My family will arrive in Porto Branco in a few days with our fleet of ships and my Red Legion.” Aenar commented, looking to the future. Unlike a year and a half ago, when there were millions of possibilities, now the number had grown to billions. Instead of decreasing with the passage of time, the possibilities had increased dramatically.
The reason for this was very simple: any decision he made could change fate accordingly. Those billions of timelines were merely the result of Aenar's choices.
Sometimes he had to think for days to make the right decision, which posed a great danger. But everything came with a price, and he wasn't unhappy about it. He already had a lot, he couldn't complain about the price that came with his powers.
“Yes, I'll have the queens' quarters prepared.” Leda replied with an indifferent tone. Her eyes lit up at the mention that the entire Court of Essos was arriving in Westeros. The reconquest was ready, and they would begin the march to the Vale.
“Your Grace, what about the Riverlands?” Leda asked with a touch of caution in her voice. The Riverlands were a delicate subject in Winterfell. Although everyone already knew the fate that awaited House Tully, destruction.
“Hoster Tully will feel the despair of seeing all his vassals betray him. And when he is alone, isolated in the castle of Riverrun, he and his cursed fortress will be melted into lava. Just like Harren the Black in Harrenhal.” Aenar pronounced Hoster Tully's fate with indifference.
Traitors should receive the punishment they deserve: death.
Hoster Tully's death was something he had already planned.
Just as House Hoare fell and House Tully rose to Lord Paramount thanks to Aegon the Conqueror, now House Tully would fall like Hoare.
As for putting another noble house in the place of House Tully, Aenar didn't plan to do that. All the Riverlands would be placed under the possession of the Crown. As would all the Seven Kingdoms. In the future, there would no longer be such a strong sense of nationalism among the kingdoms, there would only be the Imperium, and nothing else.
These grandiose reforms would make many furious, and several noble houses would rebel. But Aenar wasn't exactly worried about that. There were plenty of other people willing to accept the new reality and become the next generation of nobles. For the houses that didn't adapt, only oblivion and extinction would be their ultimate fate.
He would show no mercy to rebels and traitorous noble houses.
Suddenly, just as Aenar was about to say something, he heard someone knocking on the door. Gesturing for Leda to open it, he looked calmly at the red-haired woman who appeared before him as soon as the door was opened.
Catelyn Stark, born Tully.
The woman looked as beautiful as the last time he had seen her, but she was thinner and slightly paler, a sign that she had not been eating well.
“Your Grace.” Catelyn greeted Aenar with an etiquette that would make many ladies stare.
“Lady Stark.” Aenar returned the greeting and gestured for her to sit down in front of him in a beautifully crafted chair.
But Catelyn didn't move and instead of sitting, she knelt before Aenar. “I come to Your Grace with a request.”
Aenar looked at the woman kneeling in front of him with disinterest. He wasn't petty enough to hurt or even order Catelyn's murder, even if the woman had made his childhood worthy of being called a living hell.
“I'm listening, Lady Stark.” Aenar spoke with a calm tone.
“Spare my father's life, House Tully is loyal to House Targaryen.” Catelyn didn't dare raise her face and spoke her words with her head bowed. Her voice was tinged with pleading and sincerity.
Hearing Catelyn's request, Aenar's eyes gradually grew colder. However, he spoke calmly. “What is the motto of House Tully, Lady Catelyn.”
“Family, Duty and Honor.” Catelyn didn't hesitate to answer, she was proud of her family's motto.
“How did House Tully come to power?” Aenar asked again.
“By aiding in the conquests of the Riverlands and the destruction of House Hoare.” Catelyn answered again without any hesitation.
“So tell me, why did your lord father, Hoster Tully conspire with others to overthrow House Targaryen?” Aenar asked, his voice might have sounded calm, but that seemingly calm voice sent shivers through Catelyn's body, it felt like her body was warning her of the imminent danger.
She bowed even lower, her forehead touching the ground, but despite this, she didn't hesitate to answer. “My father.”
“Yes, your father.” Aenar whispered.
“He wanted you or your sister to be queens. But whether it was Jon Arryn or Eddard Stark, they both refused the throne, which frustrated your dear father's plans.”
“Tell me, Catelyn. If you were in my place, would you spare Hoster Tully's life? One of the men who orchestrated the war fourteen years ago, which caused the death of my family.” Aenar spoke without any impatience. He wasn't surprised that Catelyn had come to him to ask him to spare her father's life.
It was normal for a son or daughter to beg for their father and mother. Any child who had kind parents would do that. It was completely normal.
But that didn't mean that Aenar would show mercy. Hoster Tully showed no mercy when he orchestrated the deaths of his grandfather and uncle, nor when he lied to Eddard Stark, causing even more deaths.
“I will kill your father, cut off his bloody traitor's head and destroy House Tully.” Aenar spoke with a gentle tone. “Just as House Tully rose with the help of House Targaryen, House Tully will fall for House Targaryen.”
Aenar's words shot like arrows through Catelyn's heart, she wanted to open her mouth and beg again, but the words never left her tightly pressed lips. Rising, she curtsied and walked to the exit of the room.
Looking at the woman's desolate face, Aenar showed nothing but disinterest. He had no interest in kicking a dead dog like Catelyn.
“Catelyn, this is the last time we will meet, do not appear in front of me again. You are forbidden to leave Winterfell for the rest of your life.” Before she left, Aenar spoke with a cold tone. He wouldn't kill Catelyn for her children, but that didn't mean he wanted to see her again.
Catelyn didn't answer and walked straight out of the tower room, disappearing from Aenar and Leda's sight.
“I thought Your Grace was going to kill her.”
Leda was sure that Aenar would kill Catelyn when the woman begged for her father's life. She would have liked to have seen the scene, after all, because of Catelyn, her mother, Ashara didn't marry Eddard.
“I almost killed her, but I stopped myself.” Aenar replied in a calm tone.
“Let's go.” Aenar said, getting up from her chair.
“Everyone is waiting for me.”
Comments
Jarod lane
Damn Luwin is dead? I always like him in fanfics, he’s usually shown as someone not involved in the schemes of the citadel
Jarod lane
Ruby throne? I hope you just use the Golden Throne instead
