Baelon King of all Dragons

5th Moon, 101 A.C.

King's Landing was a city big enough to hold half of the Crownlands smallfolk and still have enough space left for streets in every corner so that the nobles of the realm could find their way to the red keep placed atop Aegon's hill. But if the old king were to call all the nobles and knights that held land under him to King's Landing, or more specifically, to the Red Keep, it would be much too crowded to get anything done. And even if they could get anything done, no one would be able to safeguard all of them or even the quarters of the royal family. Even if it would work, he didn't want to give the nobles too much power by giving them a great council.

With those thoughts in mind, the old King Jaehaerys, who at that point in time ruled from the Iron throne for 53 of his now 66 years of life, sat behind his desk in his solar awaiting his oldest living grandchild and his eldest great-grandson. Why his oldest great-grandson? Well, his father, the prince Viserys, was still grieving for his own father, one of the last living sons of Jaehaerys himself.

But the king couldn't grieve until a solution for the succession had been found. With his children and heirs dead, he had to turn to the offspring of those dead heirs. The problem was that Rhaenys was a woman and only had a daughter, but Rhaenys was still first in line to the throne and her daughter was still second in line.

As Rhaenys went to see her grandfather about something she hadn't been told about, she began thinking about her life so far; she had been born as the eldest child to the eldest living son of King Jaehaerys. She had always known that her father would probably have a son, and he would be king one day while she would be married to some fat old lord. The first surprise was when she was given the option to marry the Seasnake Corlys Velaryon. Of course, she had done her duty, but later it couldn't only be called duty; later she would call it love born from duty. They were overjoyed, as she had given them their first child, Laena Velaryon. But as she was due to give birth to her son two years later, all that happiness was on the brink of collapse. The birth was difficult and traumatized her to this day; that and the stillbirth were Corly's reasons to wait until she was ready to try for a son again.

At first, she hated her cousin for the fact that his son was living and hers was not, that his son was such a genius with the fastest-growing dragon the world has ever seen, and that her own son would never even get the chance to compete.

Just because she didn't have a son and Viserys did, the nobles in a Great Council would vote for him as the next heir. And even if they didn't, she herself was a woman, and never has a woman sat on the Iron Throne, so how should she be able to convince all those old men to vote for a woman who, under normal circumstances, would have been married to the highest bidder, maybe even to them or their heirs?

So, no Rhaenys knew she wouldn't sit on the Iron Throne, but that didn't mean she or her husband, especially, had no ambition to sit their blood there.

Over the seven years it took from then to now, she realized that Viserys wasn't such a lucky person to begin with. Having lost her own child, she wondered how Aemma and Viserys must feel after losing two children before and after Rhaenyra's birth.

As she entered the solar of her grandfather, she was welcomed in a place of peace and quiet in the bustling red keep. As she sat down across from Jaehaerys, she saw Baelon sitting in the chair next to her before she could properly greet him. Jaehaerys spoke up.

"Now that we are all here, I wish to discuss the topic of the hour with the both of you. My heir is dead again, and I want to grieve for him like I have grieved for my other children and my wife, but before that, we must settle the succession. Baelon and Rhaenys, you are not here to have a say in the succession, just to give me your opinion on a betrothal I would like to make."

"Of course," Rhaenys answered, having come to want the same betrothal she was hoping her grandfather was talking about.

Baelon, ever the skepticism, just hummed in agreement and waited for his great-grandsire to continue.

"I think we can all agree that if I were to call a great council, Viserys would be king after me and Baelon after him. But I don't want to call a great council for such a trivial thing if the outcome is clear beforehand. That's the reason I would name Viserys my heir and Rhaenys as Master of Dragons on the small council; that position would always go to the most experienced dragon rider in the realm or the family, whatever wording you prefer. Additionally, I would like to betroth Baelon and Rhaenyses daughter, the lady Laena, to one another so that the lines of Aemon and Baelon the elder will be united, as will their claims to the throne."

"I agree with your Grace." The words came out of Rhaenyses mouth a second after her grandsire was finished talking.

"Me too, but what about Driftmark and Rhaenyra? If Princess Rhaenys doesn't have any more children, driftmark would go to Laena, but as queen, her children would inherit the iron throne, not driftmark. Or do you want to size Driftmark and High-Tide for us? If you do, it would work without problem. And then there is Rhaenyra; our parents are talking about betrothing us to each other, just like you and great-grandma."

Rhaenys looked horrified at that statement and looked pleadingly to her grandfather so that he would confirm her daughters and her children's right to Driftmark not to be taken by the crown.

"I don't want Driftmark, High-Tide, or even the Velaryon fortune; it can just be given to a second child. It should be a son to appease Corlys; he could take the name Velaryon and rule after Laena or her father.

And who said you couldn't marry both Rhaenyra and Laena, just like our Valyrian traditions show us?

You will marry both in a ceremony on your eighteenth nameday, then both should be old enough to carry your child if needed, and you will be old enough to rule Dragonstone as the prince of it."

"That sounds good, but you have to tell my father he doesn't like those traditions; he fears the faith will retaliate, but if you command it, he will do it even if you are dead at the time."

"Then that is settled, or do you have anything to say, Rhaenys?"

"Well, as your newly appointed master of dragons, I would recommend calling a great council to Harrenhal; there they would choose Viserys, and we would accept it, but afterwards you can seize the castle and its lands by right of conquest because of Aegon the conqueror, and just let the Strongs go back to their ancestral lands on the trident. If somebody asks, you do it not only because it is your right but also because the castle is just a waste of money if it isn't restored. They shouldn't grumble too much; after all, they just got to have a say in the sucsession."

"And why should I do that?"

"Well, we have more and more dragons than ever before, and the lands of Harrenhal have the gods eye in them, which is said to have an underground vulcano, and if we add the lands and castles to the domain of the prince of dragonstone, we would not only get more place for the dragons, but we would also get more influence in the riverlands and probably the vale, and if that's not enough, the lands are fertile enough to feed one or two northern lords in winter, so it would just further our standing in westeros. The reconstruction would be paid for by the Crown and House Velaryon, as it would be part of Prince Baelons seat, and the reconstruction would help to make the price seem more in touch with the small lords for the deals he would make for the matreials."

"Okay, we can do it, but you are going to explain to Viserys why he and his son will have two castles to look after."