Chapter 49: 49
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187 AC
Harrenhal
Aerion Targaryen
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"It's big." Gwenys says as she takes the shaft of the mighty great axe into her hand and I quickly look over to her sister Mya and wickedly smile.
"Don't you do it, just let this one go." Mya quickly blurts out causing everyone to look from the axe to her and she turns away suddenly finding the wall interesting.
"Ignoring Mya, it is indeed big and will yield enough steel for two blades if I had to guess." Gwenys looks like a Valyrian warrior with the axe in her hands and the axe head held high into the air. "Put that down before you hurt someone..." I pull Danny back to get my babies in her arms a safe distance away.
"Sorry, it just feels so light I almost feel like it is fake." She lowers it back onto the table and one by one other's come up to try it out for themselves.
"You never held Aerion's sword before? It is also pretty light, it makes a nice sound when swung through the air as well." Bellenora says some pretty ambiguous words and if the small smile she throws my way means anything she did it on purpose.
"I have not held Aerion's sword, but I have heard him swishing it around in the training yard." Sweet and innocent Gwenys presses on not even picking up on anything.
"You should ask Aerion to let you try his sword out for yourself, I think your Mya has been enjoying it as well so no reason you can't." I groan as Bellenora corrupts my innocent Gwenys who is only tilting her head in confusion at the topic. "I might see about getting some practice in with his sword soon as well, you might be able to join me if we ask him together." Gwenys seems intrigued at the idea and I narrow my eyes at Bellenora who only gives me a coy look.
"Maybe talk about sword training somewhere else..." Rhaena who definitely knows what Bellenora was insinuating cuts in with a small voice.
My aunt Rhaena is about as devoted to the faith as my Mother and gets a bit awkward around sex talk. I think being locked in the maiden vault really melted her mind a bit as far as that kind of stuff goes. She came to Harrenhal with her sisters to 'help' and has been in charge of various matters, mainly the supplies that are given to the new townsfolk. The new town is making very good progress and the people who live and work there all love my aunt. When she goes out to inspect things she is swarmed by kids trying to show her things and she eats it up.
I am not a follower of any of this world's gods, for obvious reasons I would say, but Rhaena definitely is. My lands will welcome and religion so long as it's not causing problems, mainly because it's too much of a problem to remove religion and there is no real gain from doing so. This is why I am funding Rhaena and her construction of a decent-sized Sept in the new town. I am hoping when it comes time for me to make a wife out of Mya that my Sept building will offset my multiple incestuous marriages. Plus giving the common folk a sept to pray at seems to improve morale and they will thank me for it instead of building their own.
"Agreed, talk about playing with his sword some other time, Aerion agreed to go on a hunt with me when he returned." Daena joins in and as she picks up the axe I quite literally can see her imagining using the damn thing.
Sometimes I wonder why she is sticking around, It has been quite some time since we moved into Harrenhal and everything is settling into place. Everyone who came with me and has stayed behind has sort of sprouted roots and taken up a duty or responsibility. We all work as a well-oiled machine as Harrenhal is repaired and the town is built along with all the business deals I forge from my Solar.
But my aunt Daena seems content to just be a lazy cat and lounge around my castle, not that I mind too much. But the monthly hunt, which would be more frequent if she had a say, is actually something I have come to enjoy. Going off onto the game trails with some of the old Weirwood bows that were left behind in Harrenhal and tracking a stag or boar can be quite fun. My aunt has a ton of experience hunting in the Kingswood and thrives out among the trees, reminds me of a stag king that will never be born. If she was a man she would have been the stag king herself most likely, she was passed over in succession so if she had a cock she would wear a crown at this point.
I can already see the royal vault stripped bare and women pregnant from Dorne to the wall while the forests stripped of their game. It is almost enough to convert me to a faithful and send a prayer of thanks to the gods that made her female.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I snap out of my thoughts seeing Daena furrow her brows at me.
"I was wondering if you are prepared for a hunt or if you are waiting for me to get everything set up." A sly grin appears on her face as she sets down the axe.
"I am sure my nephew does not mind getting everything ready for the hunting trip with his favorite aunt." I roll my eyes and take Rhaella as she starts getting fussy in Danny's arms.
"I thought you knew Rhaena was my favorite aunt." Daena playfully scoffs and turns her nose up.
"I am sure." She turns to walk off likely to start preparing for the trip so she can prod at me once she is ready to speed me up.
I catch Elaena's eyes and give her a quick wink, she is honestly my 'favorite' but Rhaena is a cinnamon roll and I want her to feel good. Elaena knows this full well with the sheer amount of time we spend together going over most of my business and reports. If we did not like each other we would have ended up fighting with how much back and forth we had during 'work hours'.
Though now that I think about it whenever we start to get a little ruffled at each other she usually convinces me to play her a song or two. That begs the question if she would put up with me if I was not so good at playing music.
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Signing off on the letter that will make its way to my 'friend' the Prince of Pentos I slowly roll it up and pour the black wax that shimmers red. Pressing my seal onto the wax it leaves a black circle with the wax melting down the sides away from the circle. In the middle of the circle is a 'reddish' three-headed dragon, a custom wax that costs a pretty penny.
I was in the market for a wax that smelled good ever since I smelled the wax my Kingly brother used. That is when I discovered this wax that once you press your seal onto it and hold it long enough it will leave a slightly different color. Thus now the only wax I use is this type from Tyrosh, with a small mix of wax from Volantis that smells like laundry. My supply closet in my Solar is filled with enough bricks of this mixture to fill it front to back, I may have bought enough in bulk to last me my whole life.
It might also be one of the reasons I have not even begun to imagine changing my sigil to something different. I rightfully could and no one would have a problem with it, but I love the black with red and everything I buy is styled in my Houses colors. I could swap the three-headed dragon for something else but it's just so iconic I can't let go of it.
"Are you going to come on or am I leaving you?" Daena sighs as she leans against the door with a quiver full of arrows and her weirwood longbow on her back.
"Just finished up, let me say goodbye to my babes and I will be ready." I already got Roach prepared and he is fired up, he takes great pride whenever we manage to get a stag.
"Going to kiss 'all' your babes goodbye?" She raises a brow with a playful smirk and I just idly nod as I put all the sealed letters for the day into the 'to be sent off' box beside my desk. "Well, I think Mya is with her sister so we will have to hunt them down first." I stop as I latch the box shut with the custom lock.
"Are you going to poke fun about it the whole hunt?" I sigh as I just give up any token resistance, everyone already knows and I do not care if they do.
"I don't know, I expected you to put up more of a fight about it honestly." She keeps her back on the door as I approach and doesn't move as I stand before her. "I was just surprised you actually did it, I thought it would be Shiera to break you down once she was finally 'old enough'. But Mya beat her and I feel like I lost a bet even if I never put out any coin it still rubs me wrong." She pushes off the door and spins on her heels before opening the door.
She did not say anything too out of place but I still detected something amiss about her. Either way, I am sure I will figure it out on the hunt, I feel an itch to get out there and bag something and show it off to my kids. Even if they are too small to remember stuff like this or even care I can't help the impulses I feel, and I do not think they are anything to resist thus far.
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"You ready big guy?" I rub the mane of my partner in crime and feel some guilt at not going to Tourneys anymore.
He snorts and nods his head like a smartass as I climb into the saddle with the bags loaded down with everything we will need. I may feel bad about sending him into early 'retirement' but he has been pumping out his own young who will wreck the Tourney grounds eventually. Better to end on a high note and with an untouchable record than to go until you are too old to even run down the line. The rest of his days will likely be fucking and hunting with lots of tender love and care from the stable hands.
I ride up next to Daena who is waiting outside the stables, she nods before lightly tapping her heels on her horse to get it moving. Roach follows after and I take a look behind me at the gigantic stables capable of holding a whole army's horses and still having room. Just another only partially used part of the massive Harrenhal, lots of room to grow. At times I feel like a kid who put on the shoes of his father when I look at all the empty space in Harrenhal.
"Well buddy, we have a lot of work to do with we want to fill up all the spaces around this place." I pat his neck and he once more snorts as he picks up the pace heading for the tunnel that leads through the behemoth walls of Harrenhal.
The spot we always ride out to before starting to look for game signs is not far from the new Dragon Road I am paving. We can get to it in easily less than an hour and we will probably find a trail pretty quickly but I still brought my tent to make sure if we camp out I won't be sleeping under the stars. You only make that mistake one time and then you always bring a tent along, bugs crawling all over you in your sleep does that to a man.
Daena's horse races by Roach who was only warming up and he whines before making a mad dash to catch up. The dragon road is the perfect place to really let them stretch their legs so I lean in and enjoy the ride. It may not match the exhilaration of dragon back but I can see how people get addicted to racing on horses, it has its own taste of thrill as the wind catches your hair.
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