[Chapter Size: 3200 Words.]
Third Person POV.
Stormlands.
...
...
Storm's End had no resistance against the new wave of ships that had come from the ocean.
More than a hundred ships docked along the coast, while the gates were opened even before the soldiers could act and create a siege around an impregnable fortress like this one.
However, even as the soldiers from those ships barely set foot on the beach, the castle was taken swiftly, placing any threat under custody, while the ships continued docking and soldiers disembarked from them, advancing toward the castle, the Baratheon seat.
Not even the maester managed to pass on information about the arrival of the ships from Essos, for he was restrained by the men of the castle itself, under orders from the current interim lord of the fortress, Edric Storm, the bastard son of Robert Baratheon, raised at Storm's End since he had been taken in there by order of the king, with Renly overseeing his education until the latter's death. In Stannis's absence, he was in command of the castle.
Or so he had claimed after fleeing the pursuit of Stannis and that witch.
With the ravens prevented from being sent, no one to the north had news of what was happening there yet, and they would not know for some time.
While the men prepared the camp, a specific group entered through the main gates of the castle. Those who tried to resist were being kept as prisoners; the others, who surrendered, were still being supervised, but still kept their swords in hand.
A young man with black hair and blue eyes stood beside the maester and the castellan when the group arrived. Everyone knelt immediately before them, but this technically occurred before only one member of the group: the boy with platinum hair and violet eyes, who stood beside Jon Connington and also the commander of the Golden Company, Harry Strickland.
Also with him was Oberyn Martell, who had joined the group as soon as they arrived in Essos; he was accompanied by his bastard daughters.
"As Aegon the Conqueror entered through this gate with the fall of Storm's End, 300 years later, we have another Aegon making the same history." Jon Connington declared amid the silence taken by the arrival and the bent knees.
The mentioned boy displayed a firm and proud posture, staring at the kneeling men, while those at his side waited for him to say something.
"You must be Edric Storm, bastard son of Robert Baratheon," Aegon finally spoke in a confident tone.
"Yes, Your Majesty. And, as you can see, the Baratheon seat is yours to use as you wish," declared the bastard boy as soon as he received the recognition of his name. Edric did not fight, he merely handed the castle over to Aegon.
"And do you wish to be the lord of the Stormlands and lead this kingdom?" Aegon asked.
The young man looked at him and nodded. "If it is Your Majesty's wish, I would be honored."
"Even with your uncle still alive?" Oberyn did not fail to ask from the side, with an ironic smile.
A glint appeared in the young man's eyes upon hearing that. "He tried to hand me over to that red witch," Edric said, spitting on the ground.
"I managed to escape in time, otherwise I would have been burned like so many already were. Stannis is bound to the madness of that sorceress and her red god. He himself killed his own brother with her magic.... Stannis is not fit to become the lord of Storm's End, much less a king seeking his throne, Your Grace. But I will be loyal to you, Aegon of House Targaryen and rightful king of the Seven Kingdoms."
Aegon nodded, satisfied, upon hearing this.
"Isn't he the son of the man who massacred your mother and your sister?" Harry Strickland did not fail to remark at his side, making the bastard boy shrink slightly.
Oberyn did not fail to growl at that mention beside him.
Obviously, he could even be killed for vengeance, when the Lannister family had massacred Aegon's family, Elia and Rhaenys, his mother and sister, killed while Aegon was somehow saved and replaced by another baby posing as him... And what did Robert Baratheon do when he saw the bodies? He laughed at them, making absurd statements about it.
"Calm yourself. We cannot simply judge him like that." Aegon intervened. "I know the look of the boy before me," he began, with everyone turning their eyes to him. They seemed impressed, but Aegon held a firm gaze on the bastard, for he had not yet finished.
"He has fire in his eyes, as if he wants to fight the injustice of the world. He was almost killed by his own uncle and now seeks justice. It is the same thing I do. My sister and my mother were massacred by the dogs of Tywin Lannister. I am here for justice, and it comes making everyone feel it."
"So we will have the lion's head?" Oberyn could not help but smile as he said that.
"Of course we will. The Lannisters will pay for what they did to my family. They will learn that they should never have meddled with the dragon family," Aegon spoke openly, receiving approval in looks and small nods from everyone around.
Aegon turned his gaze back to Edric Storm, who also seemed impressed.
"I understand what you want, seeking your right. After all, you belong to the Baratheons. But the Baratheons fought against my family, laughing at injustices instead of correcting them... Your father did not even consider my sister, the body of a three-year-old girl, left full of stab wounds, as a human child," Aegon said, casting a dangerous glint in his eyes.
"I do not yet know what I will do with you, Edric Storm, but I want you to prove your worth. If you do so, perhaps I will place you as Lord of the Stormlands. But if you disappoint me, I do not intend to ever restore House Baratheon to power, for it will be destroyed. Your father is dead, your younger uncle is also dead. It seems Stannis is still alive and, the last time I heard anything about him, he was in the North without a fleet. Well, he still fights for another king and will be destroyed along with the bastard."
Jon Connington looked at him with a glimmer of pride at that small speech worthy of a king, someone who knew when to make extreme decisions when necessary.
'Do you see it, Rhaegar? Do you see how your son has grown and the king he has the potential to become?', Jon thought internally.
"I will do everything to impress you, then, Your Majesty. My sword will bleed for you," Edric Storm said, still kneeling.
"Excellent. Now rise. Prepare a place for us in the castle and let us begin some meetings to learn the state of the realm, since we have had no news since we were in Pentos," Aegon said, and everyone nodded.
"Well, it seems I arrived at a good time," a smooth voice drew attention. Everyone turned to the side as a hooded man, somewhat plump in appearance, approached, pulling back his hood and revealing his hairless but friendly face. Those who knew him certainly knew who he was. His face and his calm, pleasant voice were merely a façade. This was Varys, the Master of Whisperers, who approached carefully before kneeling before Aegon.
"I am here to serve you, Your Majesty," he replied, with a touch of pride, looking at Aegon.
"Ah, you are here, Varys. Rise," Aegon said, watching Varys stand once more. "Well, since you are here, let us prepare things and meet," Aegon said quickly.
The maester and the castellan led them to the chambers. After that, they gathered in a room overlooking the sea, with no ears to hear their plans.
"So..." Jon Connington broke the silence. "...how is Westeros?
"We know that the Tyrells have abandoned the Lannisters, so the conquest will be much easier. An open path for Aegon to simply crush the lions. But we should still have some trouble with the North, correct?" Jon Connington did not hesitate to get straight to the point, better breaking the ice of that meeting.
At the table were Harry Strickland, Oberyn Martell, Jon Connington, Varys, and Aegon. Edric Storm was not present; as he still did not have a significant number of men supporting him, there was no sense in placing him in the meetings, since he had not yet proven his worth, according to what Aegon desired.
"Yes, the lions are isolated. They are in a worse situation than you can imagine. But the situation in Westeros is not as simple as it appears at first glance. To begin with, Stannis knelt before the self-proclaimed Daemon Targaryen," Varys began, making everyone react in different ways.
"He knelt before that false dragon?" Jon Connington shouted, slamming his hand on the table, while Varys remained calm in the face of the outburst.
Harry Strickland grimaced.
Oberyn frowned, not failing to show a small ironic smile, while Aegon remained silent, thoughtful.
Daemon Targaryen. When he heard that name for the first time, Aegon was shocked.
The man known as Jon Snow and bastard of Winterfell, who had disappeared from Westeros for eight years and returned much older, claiming that he had been in another world, that he had learned magic, and now stood there seeking vengeance.
A vengeance that Aegon himself had already been seeking.
That was what he was fighting to claim, not someone stepping into his place.
Someone who claimed to be his brother.
When Aegon saw him for the first time, he did not know his name. He only learned that Illyrio had been killed by him, shortly after his death. He appeared in Pentos somehow, on the same day he was seen in Winterfell, interfered in Daenerys Targaryen's wedding the following day, and openly challenged Khal Drogo.
He killed the Khal, took Daenerys, and vanished from everyone's sight. He left behind chaos that the Dothraki struggled to control within the khalasar without a Khal. It was not easy for the men of Pentos to deal with a khalasar without leadership. They sought someone who could lead them. Chaos took over outside the city walls, and it took at least fifty days before they finally left, many complaining that Pentos had deceived them or that they had been led into a trap, and they had to pay tribute to a new khal, Qotho, in order to depart.
Later, even more was heard about Daemon Targaryen. A lone man entered the capital and began a chain of events, killed King Robert, created chaos and panic in King's Landing using magic and sorcery. He saved Lord Stark and went to the Riverlands.
He mutilated Gregor Clegane, the man who killed Elia Martell and supposedly smashed baby Aegon against the wall.
He destroyed the fortresses of the Cleganes and the Lorchs. Despite not doing anything directly against Ser Amory Lorch, Daemon killed his entire family by destroying his castle.
He not only killed the murderer of Aegon's mother, but also dealt, in a way, with Ser Amory Lorch without killing him, the man who stabbed Aegon's sister, and that too was something for which Aegon had a duty to seek vengeance. But someone else was already doing it...
Not even the Martells were pleased with this; Oberyn grumbled constantly, and Aegon was reminded many times of the dissatisfaction he heard about the so-called Son of the Northern Wolf, the one who seduced Rhaegar and made him trade Aegon's mother for Lyanna, who also brought shame upon Elia and, in the end, produced a bastard who now claimed to be king...
Yet it was this bastard who had somehow gained power and become a bastion of justice, avenging Aegon's slain mother and sister, while showing no mercy to the enemy.
After that came the next piece of news that shocked everyone. A few months later, Daemon somehow secured the support of the Iron Bank. This caused a certain panic in Harry Strickland, who had initially counted on that support. He went to Braavos to try to negotiate, but the negotiations failed.
Braavos seemed, somehow, bound to the agreements Daemon had made.
Daemon later entered the North, bringing down the Wall with two thousand wildlings.
Jon Connington always claimed that this was a weapon to be used against him. He brought wildlings into the Seven Kingdoms, and Aegon could easily use that to destroy his reputation. After all, Daemon possessed Targaryen blood, but his reputation put him at a disadvantage.
Jon always said that when Aegon arrived, as the older brother and the legitimate one, everyone would support the true king, while Daemon was considered the bastard, the younger son in the lineage, the product of his father's illicit relationship with the woman who seduced him.
He was causing horror in Westeros. Jon repeated that it would be easy to convince the Seven Kingdoms that Aegon was the true heir, while his brother brought death and chaos like a new Mad King, even more so with that group of northern wildlings beyond the Wall.
He had a dragon. A white dragon that spat ice. Another thing Jon could also use, after all Targaryen dragons breathed fire, not ice.
But knowing that Stannis had knelt before Daemon might only be the beginning.
Aegon turned his gaze back to Varys, who looked at him as if studying his expressions.
"Tell me what happened," Aegon said, holding back his anger. He knew he would have to deal with that brother who was trying to take what was his.
The main problem was that Daemon might be married to Daenerys Targaryen. The latest news from the North indicated that they intended to marry. Because of this, Jon Connington had sent a group to confirm it and even eliminate her, if necessary. She was his aunt, but there was nothing to be done when she was a threat and might be carrying a bastard.
Aegon hoped that, that night, Varys's news would confirm her tragic death.
Varys felt all eyes turn to him. He took a deep breath before continuing.
"Daenerys Targaryen married Daemon Targaryen," Varys declared, and all of Aegon's predictions proved correct in the end.
"Blackfyre," Jon Connington corrected. "Call him Blackfyre."
That made Aegon frown, but he remained silent as he took a deep breath. 'Blackfyre… if only they knew,' he thought, before turning his gaze back to Varys.
"Well, Daemon 'Blackfyre'," Varys seemed a little uncomfortable with this and continued. "...married Daenerys. She is expecting his child. He began marching south, conquered the Twins, Pyke, and the entire Riverlands region. The lords knelt before him and raised five thousand swords to join Daemon," Varys continued.
The room seemed to grow immediately darker with that news. This was bad. The North first, now another kingdom lost.
"Wait, did you say Pyke? He also conquered the lands of the ironmen?" Oberyn could not help but note, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes. As soon as he brought down the Twins, he went there with his dragon. They say he burned the entire port. The ironmen did not even have a chance. Meanwhile, reinforcements from the North arrived. It is not known how he knew the exact moment to attack with the northern ships already there, after all he only flew to Pyke with the intention of launching the attack."
"He took the island easily with sorcery and killed Balon Greyjoy before a crowd of soldiers and survivors of Pyke. He conquered Riverrun after that and stayed there for a few days. Then he learned of some news in the North. It seems Daenerys was the target of an assassination attempt."
That made Aegon look at Jon Connington and Harry Strickland. The two looked at each other for a second, but said nothing, as if both knew the plan had failed.
"Did he find out who did it?" Jon asked, already seeming to know the answer.
"Yes. He killed all the mercenaries and declared that they were from the Golden Company, but said nothing more. He has now made you a target, I will warn you in advance," Varys added.
Aegon only felt a knot in his stomach.
"Well, we will deal with that dragon one way or another," Jon grumbled, as if he had no fear whatsoever of Daemon Targaryen and his army.
"And we should be careful, my lord," Varys warned. "We are talking about an army marching with one hundred and sixty-five thousand people behind Daemon Targaryen. There are one hundred and thirty thousand wildlings, ten thousand northerners, twenty thousand soldiers from the Stormlands, and also five thousand riverlords who joined them."
"It is an army far larger than ours. If we do not have allies, we cannot fight them, even with our weapons," Varys said seriously, as everyone looked at one another.
"Well, we will have twenty thousand spears from Dorne, correct?" Jon asked Oberyn, who nodded.
"Yes. They are marching here at this very moment. If I know my brother well, he is already setting everything in motion," the Martell prince replied.
"We can also have the one hundred thousand soldiers of the Reach. With that, we will match them, or be only slightly below."
"We can still recruit some lords from the Stormlands. Edric Storm can gather some men, perhaps hundreds, but he cannot reach thousands. However, if we seek other lords who bear no love for Stannis and who have kept their men in reserve, we can raise a few more thousand," Jon said, and everyone seemed to agree, beginning to discuss whom they should approach.
"Let us leave that for later. I want to hear the rest. I am sure it did not end merely with the lords of the Riverlands kneeling before my brother, did it?" Aegon interrupted and asked.
Varys nodded with a certain regret. "That is true, Your Majesty."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"They divided the army into three groups. Stannis did not enter the Riverlands with the rest of the army and went through the North, heading toward King's Landing. He is closer to the city than the other group.
Another group, with more than one hundred thousand men, went to Harrenhal, while a third, with thirty thousand, entered the Westerlands and began to conquer them. The last news of Daemon Targaryen is that he was personally with his men, executing the Westerling family, just as he did with the Freys because of the Red Wedding."
"I have no further news since then. They always take some time to arrive, but it is possible that he has already conquered even Casterly Rock, given his abilities and his dragon. It is only a matter of time before the Rock falls," Varys said, as everyone in the room felt the atmosphere grow increasingly tense.
All in the name of Aegon's greatest rival. Now, his own bastard brother — if he could even call him that.
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Raccoon Here:
This is the first introduction of Aegon Blackfyre. I want to do one more chapter about him, because I think it is still very shallow, and I also want to have him negotiate with the Tyrells and talk about another character, Euron Greyjoy, who will also have his participation.
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