The Rebirth of the Dragons - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Rhaella Targaryen. 289AC

Rhaella signed another document and put it into her 'done' pile.

The last few years had been quite profitable for her family, the trade fleet was making more gold than she had ever seen in her life, they were making good progress in helping their many allies; Maegor was now first magister of Lys, and the war with Tyrosh should be ending soon, based on the reports she had seen last night, the siege was progressing as expected and the city should fall within a moon. Myr hadn't interfered with the war, which was unexpected and somewhat problematic, they were hoping for Myr to defend Tyrosh, so they could conquer both cities at the same time, but Myr appeared to be trying to improve relations with Pentos. Another war would be needed in the future, and against and Myrish and Pentoshi alliance, it should be a vastly more difficult one.

Over in Elyria; the election to Lord Freeholder was going to happen in the next year and Aegon was the favorite to win, there were a few amongst the Elyrian population who objected to his election because of his age, they argued that a man of six and sixty was too old to lead their city, but the Targaryen gold flowing through the city was enough to silence most of them.

There were also interesting things happening in Volantis.

The volantene triarch, Malaquo Maegyr, had suffered a tragic accident and died last year, his death had almost sparked a war in the city, as both his heirs and his enemies tried to take control of his fortune. But his daughter, Larissa, moved fast to secure her inheritance after the death of her father, she solved the infighting amongst her siblings and protected her new assets in less than a day after the death. There were some mumblings that she was responsible for her father's death, as well as some who said she was working with foreign powers, but no one could prove anything.

The woman had recently contacted Rhaella looking to renegotiate the contract for the Maegyr shipyards; Rhaella would accept it in return for a few concessions, they didn't need to save gold anymore, what they needed now was resources for their upcoming invasion of the Stepstones, not only military resources, but also resources to establish a stronghold on the islands, resources that the Maegyr woodworks were more than capable of providing.

Things weren't just happening in relation to their allies either.

Pentos appeared to be gearing itself for war in the near future, everyone thought it was because of their apparent alliance with Myr, but Rhaella wasn't so sure of that. Illyrio Mopatis, a magister of Pentos, had been trying to spy on her family for four years now, the man was an old friend of Varys, so Rhaella at the start waited for Varys to provide her more information, but Varys wasn't able to give her much, the man was, according to Varys, not acting like himself, he also knew much about how Varys 'little birds' operated, so spying on him was quite difficult. Lyanna had a little more success, she found out that the man had apparently hired the golden company, and traveled frequently to their camp near Dagger Lake.

That could be a problem once the war against Myr and Pentos starts, a force the size of the golden company hitting their army from behind could cause serious problems.

While all of that was happening, Braavos was also mobilizing.

The Sealord was apparently watching what was happening to the south of his lands and was seeing the opportunity it presented, just walking through Braavos, one could already see something was changing in the city, there were more bravos fighting near the moon pool at night, anyone who looked south of the city could see The Second Sons camped there, Braavos was gearing itself for war.

It was still being discussed amongst their group if they should bring the braavosi into their alliance; Maegor and Daeron were against it, even if they could see how beneficial it was.

Everything was showing that the free cities were poised to a massive war in the near future, a war that her family would be heavily involved. It scared Rhaella, especially since the war was mostly caused by her own plans and decisions.

Signing another document, Rhaella decided to stop working for the day; she rose from her chair feeling the pain caused by another day of seating in the same place, she remembered how her mother used to complain towards the end of her life about pains every time she sat for too long, at three and forty, Rhaella was older than her mother was when she died, she was now starting to feel the pains her mother complained so much about.

Looking outside through the open door of her solar's balcony, she saw that dusk was settling and the light of the day was ending, her family should be joining together for a meal in a few minutes, deciding to join them, she left her solar, nodding towards Ser Alliser, who was standing guard outside of the door and walked towards the dining room.

Walking inside the dining room, she saw her family already there. As was usual for them, there were no real seating pattern, no one sat at the head of the table, both Aegon and her, the two who should be seating there preferred to seat alongside the others. Lyanna sat at one side of the table, Aegon to her left and Visenya to her right, Daenerys was seated to the left of Aegon and the two of them were engaged in what looked like to be an animated conversation. On the other side of the table, Maekar and Rhaenys sat and played with each other, taking bites of the other's food.

Viserys was absent, away from home serving as prince Oberyn's squire.

She decided to seat alongside Maekar and Rhaenys, taking the chair to the left of her granddaughter she started putting food on her plate.

"How was everyone's day?" Rhaella asked.

"It was quite interesting, your grace. I lot of work done, but we will talk about it later." Lyanna responded.

Rhaella nodded her head towards the young woman.

"It was fun, mama. I got to watch Egg training with Ser Arthur." Daenerys said in her usual fast and happy tone.

"I hope you didn't skip your lessons again." Rhaella asked. Daenerys was getting quite good at skipping her lessons, wanting to spend time with Aegon and Visenya.

"No, mama. I went to all of them." Daenerys responded.

Rhaella gave her daughter a smile, her Daenerys was a sweet and happy child, the last good that her husband had ever done to her.

"I spent most of my time today training with Ser Arthur, grandmother." Aegon said.

Rhaella smiled at her grandson, the way he talked and acted was quite similar to another on the table right now, it was clear the moment anyone meets both of them that Aegon looked at Maekar as a role model.

"I had lessons with the maester, nana." Visenya said looking her in the eyes. Rhaella always thought that those grey eyes were quite penetrating, something the girl inherited from her mother.

"What about you two?" Rhaella asked, looking at Rhaenys, but Maekar was the one to respond first.

"Rhae beat me in the yard; again." He said in a fake annoyed voice.

"Don't be sad, you're good with books and i'm good with the sword." Rhaenys said in a teasing tone.

"Hey, i'm plenty good with the sword as well, Ser Barristan said so." Maekar said, his annoyance a little more real now.

Rhaella decided to tease him a little.

"I agree. You are quite good with the sword." The boy gave her a bright smile. "Rhaenys is just better." She finished causing everyone to laugh, even Maekar smiled a little.

She enjoyed a nice meal with her family, sharing more laughs and stories, at the end of their meal they all moved towards the family seating room where they entertained themselves for a few hours, Rhaella and Lyanna joined the children in their games a few times, but mostly stayed seated in comfortable chairs near one of the walls, sharing wine and watching the children play, Maekar and Aegon played a game of cyvasse while the girls played with dolls, the younger children played a game of tag, running around the room a jumping over the furniture, while Maekar and Rhaenys sat near the fireplace, their shoulders touching, Maekar held a book in one hand while Rhaenys played with her cat by his side, it was something they did every night for years now.

A few hours later and it was time to put the children to sleep, Rhaella and Lyanna decided to do it together, they helped the children into bed, hearing complains all the time they were doing it; Rhaella knew that the children would stay awake for a while yet, and either Maekar or Rhaenys would somehow sneak around to the other's bed later in the night, she wasn't worried for now; Maekar was ten and Rhaenys was eight, they were still young, but in a few years they might be sneaking around to do more than just sleep in the same bed. Especially since Rhaenys was being terribly influenced by her cousins, the sand snakes, every time they visited; Nymeria and Tyene particularly enjoyed corrupting their little cousin, dropping innuendos every time they talked to the girl. Rhaenys was still young and didn't understand, but Rhaella had caught Maekar blushing a few times in their last visit this year.

Rhaella and Lyanna returned to the seating room together, opening the door and seeing the room was already arranged the way they used for meetings and the rest of their council was present. Grand Admiral Velaryon sat on his usual chair, Ser Barristan sat in the chair usually occupied by Ser Gerold, the Lord Commander was absent today due to an illness, Ser Willem was also in the room, also in his usual chair. Rhaella sat on her chair and waited for Lyanna to also seat, once the younger woman was seated, Rhaella started the meeting.

"I hope you all had a pleasant day." Receiving nods and smiles, Rhaella continued. "So, what do you have for us today, Lyanna?"

Lyanna took a drink from the wine in front of her.

"News from westeros, your grace. Stannis Baratheon and Paxter Redwyne have crushed the iron fleet near Fair Isle, both Lord Blacktyde and more importantly Maron Greyjoy died in the battle. Balon Greyjoy has now lost his heir and second son in this foolish war of his." Lyanna said, she was about to continue when she was interrupted with a question.

"Who was in command of the iron fleet?" Lucerys asked.

"Victarion Greyjoy." Lyanna responded.

The grand admiral adopted a contemplative expression.

"Is there something you wish to add Lucerys?" Rhaella asked.

"This battle shows that Stannis Baratheon could be a dangerous naval commander, i know both Victarion Greyjoy and Paxter Redwyne and they are equal in skills, the straits of Fair Isle is a perfect spot for a ambush and that should give an edge to the iron fleet, since they lost i can only imagine that the deciding factor was the leadership of Lord Stannis." Lucerys said in a somewhat impressed tone, and that more than anything was what made his words sink in. Lucerys was notoriously difficult to impress.

"We will have to account for him in our plans then, but that is for the future. Lyanna, please continue." Rhaella said.

"There is not much more to say, your grace. The Redwyne fleet was tasked with transporting the Lannister army from Banefort to Harlaw, and the royal fleet headed to Seagard, with orders to transport the Mallister, Blackwood and northern forces to Blacktyde, my brother should be arriving at the Mallister seat in a few days." Lyanna finished her report.

Rhaella stopped to think for a moment. She had an idea, it would be difficult to implement, but if successful, it would help them immensely in the future. She decided to share her idea and see what the others thought of it.

"I believe this presents an opportunity of us. Balon Greyjoy will soon lose the war; it wouldn't look out of place for both of his remaining children to be taken as wards. Lyanna, do you think your brother could convince his 'friend' of said path?"

"Maybe, your grace. After all these years, even the whoremonger, as slow as he is, is starting to realize my brother has issues with him, their relationship is not what it used to be." Lyanna responded.

"Send a letter to your brother, he should advise the usurper to allow Balon Greyjoy to bend the knee, while taking both of his children as wards to the crown." Rhaella said.

Lyanna showed a hint of surprise, but nodded her head in acceptance. She wasn't the only one surprised by Rhaella's orders, but it was Ser Barristan that asked the question that was in the minds of the others.

"Wards to the crown, your grace. Shouldn't it be better if they were wards to lord Stark?"

"No, Ser Barristan, it wouldn't be. Many would see it as the Starks trying to gather power for themselves, and as Lyanna said, the relationship between her brother and the usurper is not the same as it once was. He might just believe someone like Tywin Lannister saying that, if given the children, lord Stark would join Greyjoy in plotting against the crown." Rhaella explained.

She took a drink from the wine in front of her and then continued.

"More importantly, it would allow us to make other moves. I am sure once the war ends, Tywin will want to host a tourney, to celebrate 'his' victory, and subtly show the rest of the seven kingdoms how rich he is." She stopped as there were a few chuckles from Lyanna and Lucerys, once it died down she continued. "Now, we all know that we have quite a bit of power in Lannisport and Casterly Rock, what do you think would happen if one of the Greyjoy children were to be kidnapped right from Casterly Rock itself?" Rhaella asked.

There were gasps around the room as they all started to understand her plan.

"Balon Greyjoy would blame Baratheons and Lannisters in equal measure, he would use any opportunity to wage war again in the future." Lyanna said, a hint of awe in her tone.

"Correct, my dear. Although, to be fair, Balon Greyjoy would always use any opportunity for war, regardless of his children, it will be a lot more important as a way to discredit both Tywin Lannister and Robert Baratheon." Rhaella said giving a nod to the younger woman.

"We will target the girl; i believe that if the boy was kidnapped, his father would start the war again, regardless of consequences. The boy will go to Kings Landing; Varys can keep an eye on him, i trust Varys to do what is best for the realm, if he agrees, we will allow the boy to take his inheritance once we take back our home. However, if Varys says the boy can't be trusted, we will still have the girl, she will grow up here with us; we can put her as Lady of the Iron Islands." Rhaella finished explaining her idea.

Rhaella waited as the others all held pensive expressions, likely thinking how her idea could affect their long term plans. Rhaella herself thought that her plan would be difficult to pull off, but the benefits far outweighed the dangers, leaving a message behind once they take the girl, would be a very public way of discrediting the myth of the all powerful Lannister-Baratheon alliance.

"Difficult, but i believe it might be possible." Lyanna gave voice to her thoughts first, receiving agreements from the men.

"We will talk more about the specifics of the plan later. For now, let us continue with other matters. Lucerys, how goes the fleet?" Rhaella asked.

"Well enough, your grace. We had a few troubles with pirates between New Ghis and Qarth, but our ships can handle it quite easily." Lucerys responded.

"Good. And what about the training?" Rhaella asked.

"Proceeding as expected, your grace. A few of the older boys are now sailing under the command of experienced captains in the fleet, as the training goes on, we will continue to produce better seamen. And i have to say, my nephew has a true talent for naval warfare." Lucerys said; his voice filling with pride as he talked about his nephew.

"And how is Aurane?" Rhaella asked.

"He still misses prince Viserys, the two of them striked a true friendship as soon as Aurane arrived here a few years ago. I have been taking Aurane with me as i do my job, and as i said, he has shown a remarkable talent for it." Lucerys responded.

"You can tell him that Viserys will be visiting soon." Rhaella responded, smiling at the grand admiral. The friendship between Aurane and Viserys was something that helped a lot in driving her son away from the last of the influence from her husband.

"Ser Willem, Ser Barristan, how goes the army?" She asked.

"Better than expected, your grace. Our forces in the disputed lands have performed to a high level, and since the war started in westeros, we have been receiving a lot of 'refugees' from the reach. We have another 3,000 men in training at the moment and we expect that number to grow fivefold within the year." Ser Willem said.

"Maekar continues to show his natural talent for warfare, his dragon legion is by far the best trained amongst the new troops, and that is with Maekar only visiting the training grounds a few three times this year. Their organization is unmatched, their unusual weapon choices are highly effective, and while their skills in arms are lower than our other troops, their formations offset this weakness in a true fight." Ser Barristan said in an impressed tone, as he usually did whenever he talked about Maekar's achievements.

Rhaella smiled a little. It was quite funny how the dragon legion started. When a few of the new recruits from the reach had heard how some of the tactics being used in the war in the disputed lands had been devised by Maekar, they started to ask the boy for tips in their own training; the other men had made fun of those few for taking orders from a boy, it all stopped when those same few started outperforming all the others in the training grounds. Seeing the results, the number of men asking Maekar for advice started to grow, from there, it was only a few weeks later, when the Dragon Legion formed.

1,000 men, all following a specific training that Maekar had devised, using different equipment and fighting in different formations. Whenever anyone asked him Maekar always said that the dragon legion was his attempt to recreate and modernize the ghiscari legions of old. Instead of the three spears and round shields, a legionary from the dragon legion was equipped with only one spear, a short sword and a large rectangular shield; heavy chainmail armor completed their equipment. It cost almost three times more to equip a single legionary compared to a regular soldier, but the results it produced were well worth the cost, the dragon legion could defeat forces five time their size.

"Excellent, we will certainly need more troops in the near future, if things continue to progress as they are now." Rhaella responded.

The meeting went on for another hour, they discussed how to best implement the plan to kidnap Asha Greyjoy, if they should or shouldn't involve Tyrion Lannister, if they should do it from inside Casterly Rock or from Lannisport and various other details. They also discussed many more minor problems such as, the situation in Elyria or the always evolving plans for their invasion of the Stepstones.

Once the meeting was done, feeling the mental strain of another long day, Rhaella decided to retire for the night and prepare herself for another long day.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Rhaella sat on her solar reading another ship manifest and earnings report, resigned to another day of boring paperwork when there was a knock on the door.

"Your grace, there is an archmaester of the citadel at the gates; he wishes to speak to you, says he is a friend of prince Oberyn and he does have a sealed letter with the personal seal of prince Oberyn to prove it." Ser Alliser said after opening the door. He walked to the desk and put the letter in front of Rhaella.

Rhaella stopped reading her paperwork and took the letter, the seal wasn't a fake, that much was immediately clear for her; Oberyn's personal seal was distinctive in a way that any fake would be easily spotted. She broke the seal and opened the letter.

Queen Rhaella

I humbly ask you to listen to my old friend, archmaester Marwyn.

He has discovered a plot against the royal family that dates back to the time of the conquest and it's still active.

I can't put more on this letter; the information is too dangerous to talk, except in person.

I ask you again to please listen to Marwyn; he only wants to help.

Oberyn Nymeros Martell

Prince of Dorne

Rhaella frowned a little, the letter was short and didn't held much of an introduction to this archmaester Marwyn. It was also unlike Oberyn to write such short letters devoid of any information, he must truly believe that the plot this archmaester discovered is dangerous. Something that scared a man like Oberyn, who lived for danger, was certainly something she wished to hear.

"Let him enter, Ser Alliser, and bring him immediately to my solar." Rhaella responded the kingsguard knight.

Rhaella went back to her documents as she waited for the man to arrive, the earnings from the ships of their Jade Sea fleet were slightly bigger than the previous year; they were also having fewer issues with lost cargo from pirate attacks or other causes, a number that lowered year after year. Rhaella thought that the reason for said low numbers was because their sailors were properly employed and well paid free men, instead of the slaves that almost all others who traded in the Jade Sea used. A well paid free man is more willing to defend his ship and cargo than a slave would ever be.

She signed the earnings report and put it into her 'done' pile, she was about to grab another document when she heard the knock on the door.

The door opened to show Ser Alliser, Lady Tysha and a man she presumed to be the archmaester.

The man was short, shorter than Rhaella; thick neck and strong jaw, large hands, an even larger belly and thinning grey hair, a rod that was clearly made of valyrian steel in his hands and dressed in unusual robes. If it wasn't for the chain around his neck, Rhaella would say the man was a hedge wizard instead of a maester.

"Welcome, archmaester Marwyn. Please, sit and share bread and salt with me." Rhaella said in a welcoming tone, pointing to the chair in front of her table.

The man walked forward, entering the room and seating in the offered chair. Ser Alliser walking with him until he was standing to the right and slightly behind Rhaella; she understood why the kingsguard had positioned himself there, the rod the man carried could be used as an effective weapon. Tysha also walked forward, putting the tray she carried on the table, a tray that held two goblets of wine and the bread and salt for guest right. After sharing bread and salt with the maester Rhaella turned towards Tysha and said.

"You can leave now, Lady Tysha."

Rhaella smirked a little seeing the annoyed look on the young woman's face. After almost two years, Tysha had finally relented and started to take lessons in what was expected of a Lady, but she still insisted in working with the servants and still showed annoyance every time someone acknowledged her title. Rhaella could somewhat understand the young woman, a fortnight living with her husband and a two days visit in Lorath was not enough to a crofter's daughter to get used to her position as Lady Lannister. After Tysha left the room, closing the door behind her, the man in front of Rhaella spoke in a vaguely interested tone.

"A lady doing servants work, i never thought i would see something like this one day."

"Lady Tysha is still not used to her new position in life." Rhaella responded.

"A lady by marriage, there are not many of those around." The maester said.

"True enough. Now, archmaester Marwyn, the letter from Oberyn might have convinced me to see you, but i still have little information as to the reason of your visit; i suggest you say the reason for it without much delay." Rhaella said looking the man in the yes.

"As you wish, your grace. I am known by many as Marwyn 'the mage' and i was recently elevated to the office of archmaester of magic in the citadel, as an archmaester, i have unlimited access to anything within the citadel, like many of my predecessors in the office i now hold, i am mostly interested in my own research of the higher mysteries, but unlike them, i don't shy away from other pursues and still make some time to advance other fields of research." Marwyn stopped to take a sip of his wine before continuing.

"One of my many interests is lost books, pursuing that interest i was searching through the older, abandoned parts of the citadel when i came across a room that seamed in use; i decided to see what was inside the room and what i found there disturbed me greatly. I found a glass candle, various poisons of different types, not all of them lethal, a large collection of books on magic, two dragon eggs no bigger than chicken eggs, but the more disturbing sights were the various malformed human organs." The archmaester said.

"There was also this." Marwyn said, putting the old book he carried on the desk in front of Rhaella.

The man waited, looking as if he wanted Rhaella to read the book; she was starting to get annoyed with the old man, he still hadn't said anything about the supposed plot against her family he found, still, she decided to indulge him for the moment, maybe the book would have the information she was waiting for.

She opened the book and started to read, she immediately recognized the name of Ollidar, the first grand maester of the iron throne. As she read she started to feel rage growing inside her, the book detailed the maesters plots to destroy all magic in westeros, plots that started since the andal invasion, it detailed the many times they killed children from first men houses that showed potential to be skinchangers or greenseers, it detailed how even before the conquest, right after the doom of valyria, they started to plot against her family. They weren't alone in their plots, the book showed that the faith of the seven were willing and even eager participants, most of them seeing magic as anathema to the seven.

The book showed their many failed experiments in how to destroy magic, they didn't have any success until they became hypocrites and started using magic, their first success being listed as they used blood magic to cause the last dragon to be born sickly and misshapen. It also listed how they used subtle poisons to encourage madness in many Targaryens since the conquest, and in the case of the naturally mad Baelor 'the blessed' and her own husband, the poisons were even more devastating. One of their most heinous crimes in Rhaella's opinion was how, instead of helping him heal from his trauma, they manipulated a grief stricken boy into becoming nothing more than a puppet quite eager to kill all of his family's dragons, what was done to Aegon III was a true tragedy. That was the moment she read how all of her miscarriages and stillborns, apart from Shaena, were due to poisons fed to her by Pycelle.

She screamed as her rage reached heights that she never thought possible; she wanted to go to kings landing and rip out Pycelle's heart with her bare hands, she wanted to burn down the citadel until nothing but ash remained; she didn't see the looks of surprise with a hint of fear in the faces of the two men in the room with her when the fireplace lit up on its own, the flames rising high enough, and with enough heat to immediately blacken the stone, as she lost control of the magic she had been training for years now.

"Tell me something Marwyn, is Alyn a part of this?" Rhaella asked in a cold, threatening tone. She refused to say the word maester at that moment; Alyn, the former maester of Dragonstone, the one who helped her give birth to her little Daenerys, the one who even now was somewhere else in the manse teaching the children.

"Yes, your grace, he has been sending reports about what happens here to the citadel." Marwyn responded, unphased by her tone.

Rhaella used all of her self control to beat back her rage, she still felt like she wanted to burn everything down, the fireplace still burned high, showing the physical representation of her inner anger.

"Marwyn, you have our hospitality and protection for as long as you want; you have done us a great service, the Lannisters are not the only ones who pay their debts, any favor that is within our powers we will grant you." Rhaella said, her voice still cold.

"Thank you for your kind words and generosity, your grace." Marwyn responded bowing his head slightly.

"Did anyone come here with you?" Rhaella asked the man in front of her.

"Three acolytes that, like me, are interested in magic, your grace." Marwyn responded.

"Ser Alliser, send for a servant to organize the best quarters available to Marwyn and his companions." Rhaella said. The kingsguard was close to the door as he went to fulfill her orders when he stopped, surprised by what Rhaella said.

"And bring me a sword. I have a traitor to kill."

Rhaella didn't knew how to use a sword; she had also never killed a man before. She couldn't kill Pycelle nor could she burn down the citadel for now, so the traitor at hand would have to do to settle her rage.