Fire And Blood

One

Rhaenys IV

The initial awkwardness was starting to wane in the following days. They had decided to tell her uncle and Ser Jorah soon. Had she had no such desire before, now she found herself wanting to be wedded and bedded by her man. He was shy, there was no doubt. It probably was a combination of his virginity and the fact, that their new relationship was incestuous. That shyness would most likely disappear with their maidenheads once Aegon would have taken her and Dany.

To get there, however, they needed to be wed first because her dear brother insisted on it.

So, the three of them waited by the sitting room's table. Dany had offered the head of the table to Aegon – 'You are our king now, nephew.' – and they sat on either side of him.

They indulged in various fruits and cheese, waiting for the two elders of their group to finally return from their trip to the merchant.

"Who's maidenhead do you wish to take first?" Rhaenys asked, biting her lips when Aegon, in the middle of biting into an apple, started to cough violently while Dany turned away, her shaking shoulders betraying her silent laughter.

He took greedy gulps from his cup of wine and swallowed painfully, making her wince, before glaring at her. "Seven bloody hells, Rhaenys!"

"What? You can't deflower us at the same time, can you?" She shrugged. "One of us has to go first."

He was about to retort again but was saved by the arrival of her Uncle Oberyn and Ser Jorah.

"The time has come, children," Uncle Oberyn called out from the hallway before entering the sitting room with a bright grin. "I have come with the most interesting news from our Lord Hand himself."

"The King is dead and he has no heir," Ser Jorah said to surprised gasps. "The children, according to Lord Stark, are Cersei Lannister's bastards, sired by her brother Jaime."

As they were sitting down, one thought ran through Rhaenys's head: the Usurper was dead and it bothered her. She had wished for him to remain alive long enough to see as everything he had stolen from them would be ripped from his hands. Now he was gone and she would never see the king who had been indifferent to her family's slaughter.

But he had no direct heir.

"Who sits on our throne now?" Dany asked.

"Cersei Lannister's oldest son Joffrey. His and his sibling's bastardy is not common knowledge yet," Uncle Oberyn explained.

"If this gets out, there will be war. My uncle has to be careful." Aegon looked worried and sounded even more so.

"You are right about that, my Prince," her uncle said. "Everyone in King's Landing is as willing to lend you a hand as they are to stab you in the back."

Aegon frowned, the impatient, nervous tapping of his fingers on the tabletop immediately starting to grate on Rhaenys's nerves. She reached over and stopped him.

"It will be fine." Her voice was soft, and what she hoped to be reassuring. Turning to look at her uncle, she voiced the question she was sure all three of them were wondering. "So, the time has come to finally make our move? To finally begin our conquest?"

"Begin your conquest?" Oberyn gave her an amused look. "You wouldn't be able to conquer our neighbourly whore in your current state. No, we have thought about the Westerosi sellswords and we believe it would be a good place to start."

"In Astapor, there is also a group of elite warrior-eunuchs: the Unsullied," Ser Jorah explained. "Having them on our side would be a massive boon, but...they are expensive."