Chapter 36: Chapter 36
- Flashback - Days Prior -
Cersei was brought into the room by the Unsullied. Her wrists and ankles were shackled with chains rattling as she walked. The woman had fought them every step of the way, but her already weakened strength was no match for the sheer muscle of the eunuch men taking her to their King. When they entered the room, Cersei saw it was the King's solar where the work was usually done despite Robert using it for fucking his whores one after the other.
But unlike when Robert used this room, the stench of sex and wine were none existent here with the new King clearing out anything related to his predecessor. The room was more organized from what she could see and it was clear this Targaryen meant business.
Speaking of the man, he was sitting in his own chair at the desk in front of her with that Seven cursed masked helmet on. She hated it. Not only because it secretly frightened her given its design, but Cersei could not read the man's face and know what he was thinking. She needed to know in order to outmaneuver him one way or another. To get sense of his mood so it could be turned against him with words and if necessary seducing the man in order to gain the upper hand. While not at her best right now, Cersei knew if she could turn up the seduction level high enough, any man would give into temptation to fuck her.
And when he did, Cersei would strike while choking the life out of him with her bare hands while smiling all the way through it.
Or at least she would, if not for the fact Ser Barristan was in the room with two Unsullied at the only door being the entrance and exit behind her.
"Hello Cersei. I trust your time living in the Black Cells has been accommodating to one of your station?" asked Aegon with Cersei snarling slightly at him.
"You are making a big mistake doing this to me. Treating me, the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, like some criminal. Along with my eldest son no less. Where are Tommen and Myrcella?" questioned Cersei while she glared at the King.
"They are both fine. They are being watched over by Ser Jorah Mormont and our Lady Missandei. Unlike you and your son Joffrey, I do not torment innocent lives for some cruel form of amusement. I will not stoop so low as to act like a monster and then hide behind my title of King like your son has done. As you as Queen have done," commented Aegon with Cersei clearly not caring about such things.
"I am a lioness. My son is a lion. My Father told us long ago that lions do not care about the opinion of sheep. That is what the people are here in King's Landing and throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Mere sheep. Mindless sheep," commented Cersei with Aegon not moving in the slightest.
"And yet, even the lion must bow before the might of the dragon," countered Aegon with Cersei glaring now.
"Lions bow to no one. Not even dragons!" challenged Cersei with anger burning in her eyes.
"And yet your Father is coming here to bow to me," replied Aegon with Cersei smirking at him now.
"My Father is going to come here with an army. Our House's army. He is going to crush your House once and for all. I'm sure you heard the stories of how he crushed two Houses that rebelled against him and what happened to King's Landing when sacking this very city. I guarantee my Father will do far worse to you and to King's Landing in order to get his family back. To make you pay for what you did to me. To Joffrey. To all Lannister bannermen who were killed because of you. A Lannister always pays his or her debts," said Cersei with Aegon, to her surprise, letting out a chuckle at the threat.
"I am well aware of the saying Cersei. I am also aware of how ruthless and cruel your Father can be when it comes to hurting people. Which is why I have taken the initiative here to make him pay some of his debts by destroying most of House Lannister's army and its desire to fight. Or rather, his desire to fight. Your Father isn't coming here with an army to sack the city and crush me. No, he is going to come here, bend the knee, and beg for his House to be spared from being burned to the ground," replied Aegon with Cersei looking at him in disbelief.
"You lie! My Father would never do that. He is a lion! Like me! Like Jamie!" exclaimed Cersei, but it was clear to Aegon there was a sliver of doubt.
"Did you not see the dragons out there? The bigger one of the two, is named Vaderon. I had him go to your Father's military encampment and burn it down. Only your Father, your Uncle, and little brother Tyrion, the only family left among the army with them, are alive from that attack. My dragon burned or devoured everyone else. What is left of your Father's army at Harrenhal has retreated back to Casterly Rock on his orders. I sent him a message stating he was to come bend the knee or else both of my dragons would finish the job and burn the West to the ground. Can you see it Cersei? See your childhood home burning? All the forests, all the trees, and all the land burning? The gold mine entrances being closed and collapsed with just the velocity of my children flying by over them. I will turn your home into a wasteland filled with nothing, but fire, ash, and death! Your Father knows I will do this without hesitation. I made my point with him already on this, as I stated earlier regarding the Lannister army taking heavy losses," replied Aegon with Cersei looking fearful.
"You wouldn't dare. Such an action would make people rebel against your House once again," said Cersei with Aegon chuckling.
"Considering how your Father did things, I highly doubt it. Besides, I would only destroy Casterly Rock and the surrounding area. The rest of the West would remain untouched for the most part. Still, the sight of your girlhood home burning would be quite a sight," remarked Aegon with Cersei glancing at Ser Barristan.
"And you would let him? You wouldn't say anything to change his mind?" asked Cersei to the Kingsguard.
"It is not my place my Lady. Besides, when your son Joffrey was King for a short time, he did as he pleased regardless if people told him what was right or wrong. Why should this King not do as he pleases?" asked Ser Barristan with Cersei glowering at him.
"My son has every right to be King. You stole it from him! You are the Usurper here," challenged Cersei with Aegon being amused by her words behind his mask.
"That might be true, if I was in fact a mummer, there were no more Targaryens left in the world, and the boy actually was the Usurper's son," said Aegon with Cersei's face going pale for a few seconds, but it was enough to further confirm what the man already knew.
Sending her away, Aegon watched Cersei leave his solar with less confidence, less sure of herself, and that cold dreadful fear of certain secrets coming to light. Even as she was taken back to the Black Cells, her mind screamed out to him though the Force regarding all the fears related to the children she had birthed.
Did the King know the truth about her three children?
Did he know they weren't Robert's, but Jamie's?
If he did, how did the King know?
Who told him? Who betrayed her?
If he knew, would the truth be exposed?
How could she stop him from exposing the truth of her children's real parentage?
"That woman is poison made flesh your Grace. She kills all she touches or claims to love, yet hates everyone around her. To this day, I am happy Cersei never married Rheagar like Tywin Lannister wanted," commented Ser Barristan.
"Of that, I have no doubt Ser Barristan. Some people just can't be with others. Their souls are just too toxic and ugly. They poison and kill everything that's pure," said Aegon with a sigh.
(End Flashback)
A surprise addition to the group of lions was Kevan Lannister's only son, Lancel, who was caught trying to escape the city after Aegon had taken it. Of course, the City Watch had King's Landing under lockdown before he could get out through the gates, and by the time he made it to the city port, no ships were allowed to take anyone onboard. So Lancel hid in the city as best he could before the Spider caught him in one of his webs and was soon grabbed by the City Watch. Usually, word would have spread of the young man's capture by the people, but Lancel had been evading capture for so long by hiding in the dark underbelly of King's Landing. As a result, his appearance had gone from a young man in fancy clothes to that of a low born commoner living in filthy ragged clothing that had seen better days.
When Kevan saw his son, he winced since the boy had clearly had a hand in something nefarious to put him in this position. Either the sword or the Wall awaited the boy unless Kevan did something to prevent it.
The next and final person to come in brought gasps, cries of panic, and some among the court with weapons getting ready to draw them. And for good reason since the person in question was practically a giant. Chained from head to toe, the now disfigured face of one Gregor Clegane was forced into the room by no less than thirty Unsullied with weapons ready, and being watched by Ser Jorah, Jon Connington, and Robb Stark with all of them ready to draw swords if necessary. And behind all of that, stalking silently without even making a noise was the giant snow white dire wolf. Eyeing the Mountain careful with each step, calculating each move made, thinking of where to bite, where to sink its teeth into the flesh of this monster in order to cripple or kill it.
In short, the Mountain was essentially bound in a way where even his own monstrous strength could not help him escape. His arms were forcibly crossed in front of his chest, the hands covered past the elbow in special binder locked in place. The angle of his arms made the use of his strength impossible. The giant of a man also had pole's with binders connected to his wrists, ankles, neck, and even two poles with large binders wrapped around his waist. Each pole was handled by no less than three Unsullied with orders to treat Gregor Clegane with the utmost caution and keep him contained at all costs. To finish off the design, a metal bar with leather straps on each end of it had been fitted for the man's drooling mouth to keep him from biting anyone should they get to close.
It also muffled the man's voice so they wouldn't have to hear him curse everyone around him every single second of every single day.
It was a sight many thought would never come to pass. The infamous Mountain had been contained, if only for the moment, and brought to heel for all to see at Court. Even Tywin Lannister was shocked his prized monster had been caught and contained so effectively when forced to stand in his own area before Lord Connington kicked both knees out of the giant from behind and made Gregor Clegane go to his knees despite it barely reducing his intimidating size.
With the Mountain subdued, the snow white dire wolf made its way to the Iron Throne, the Unsullied easily letting it pass without concern for their King for they were already told to trust the great beast. It soon took a spot beside Aegon, signifying he was not only half dragon, but half wolf too.
A perfect blend of the North and South with the blood of both being in perfect harmony with each other.
Nearby, Sandor Clegane grinned at the sight of his big brother being held this way like some damn side show attraction or freak of nature put on display. The Mountain had been frothing at the mouth like a rabid animal when they had initially tried to restrain him and get the beast of a man here. Which was no small task unto itself given who they had to restrain on the long march to King's Landing. Fortunately, help came along in the form of an unexpected ally found in Harrenhal following House Lannister forces pulling out of the castle with Northern forces coming there soon after to see all the prisoners from this war had been freed.
The ally in question? A former Maester named Qyburn, who was kicked out for carrying out questionable experiments and practices not sanctioned by the Citadel. Still, the man had proven to be useful to Robb Stark when they were transporting the Mountain and the man offered his services in providing potent concoctions that would keep someone like Gregor Clegane docile long enough to get to King's Landing. Which was where Qyburn wanted to go in order to see and possibly study the dragons there. Not to hurt them, but rather to see, study, and learn what he could about their potential since such knowledge was only in ancient or lost books with vague stories being the only other resource to go on.
Now the former Maester would have a chance to be near one after they had been gone for well over a century. To be in a position of power he never thought possible. And all that was asked of him, was complete, if not absolute loyalty to House Targaryen.
Which he gladly gave Aegon earlier in front of the others and was made the new Grand Maester within King's Landing. Oh it was unofficial of course, but Aegon had made it clear that the Maesters, or at least some of them, within the Citadel were not to be trusted.
Qyburn agreed since those stuffy men with their chains and grey robes always acted so high and mighty when they all just sat around talking to each other about nothing. So when Qyburn was approached with a position to get back at the Maesters and be given access to nearly unlimited resources to continue his experiments, he nearly jumped at the chance. Of course, any and all experiments that Qyburn wished to perform would have to have Aegon's approval after careful explanation of what he would doing and what was the intended end result. If Aegon said no to an experiment for whatever reason he chose, the answer was no and was considered final.
Qyburn understood and accepted the conditions since they were not unreasonable.
"Lord Holster Tully, step out among the people, and join this little group of traitors and criminals here in front of me," ordered Aegon with Holster now swallowing a lump in his throat and did as he was told despite some protest from his son.
"Your Grace," said Holster giving a respectful bow while Aegon was glaring at him.
"Do you know why I called you out here to stand before these men? Why I have you beside these traitors and criminals?" asked Aegon with Holster nodding slowly.
"I do," whispered Holster with Aegon scowling.
"Louder Lord Tully. I want them to hear your voice," commanded Aegon with his tone leaving no room for resistance.
"I do," said Holster louder so the room could hear.
"Please, tell the people here why you are standing among those chained in front of us," commanded Aegon with Holster hesitating and looking back at his family.
"I...uh...I...I...I," said Holster while looking nervous since he didn't want this past sins against House Targaryen to be made public.
"Tell the people here why you are here in front of me Lord Tully. Or I will! Do not try my patience!" stated Aegon his voice getting louder with Holster reluctantly nodding.
"I am out here among these traitors and criminals of the Crown and House Targaryen because I, Lord Holster of House Tully, betrayed the dragon. I broke my oath of loyalty to House Targaryen, the same House that brought us up from nothing. I did this in order to raise my House even higher in position and power by supporting the Usurper during the rebellion against the Crown," said Holster with many gasping out loud despite this being common knowledge among the people of House Tully's position during Robert's Rebellion.
Just not the reason. Fighting against a Mad King for justice and peace was one thing due to being a righteous cause. But plotting to do it in advance and for the sake of power was another.
"Good. Now we can begin. Starting with you Lord Tully and your decision to betray my House!" replied Aegon while glaring at the nervous fish in his sights wishing not to say anything about his actions about siding with House Baratheon over House Targaryen.
Not that it mattered anymore. There was no going back now. The dragon standing before this group of traitors and criminals was going to reveal all their crimes for all the Seven Kingdoms to know.
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