The Realm's Delight

Chapter 11

Things had not been so different since my little trip to Dragonstone. As planned, my uncle was off to the stepstones for the war. I knew well enough that the man would return safely, that the battle might be over sooner since our side had more men than they would originally have. The Stepstones would be occupied this time, so another uprising would not occur.

A matter that did change though was the addition of Mysaria's services. The woman was an asset, albeit one that had yet to be refined. In a future that I wish would not come to pass, she was a good spymaster. She was used by Daemon for revenge against Aegon during the Dance, and later on, acted as the Mistress of Whispers to Rhaenyra. She used her whores to get the information she needed, amongst other sources. Eventually, she met a gruesome end, but her usefulness was remembered by all.

My kindness towards her was not something she took for granted. She was well aware of what would happen should she fail me once. But she was a confident woman, and with the backing of royalty she believed she could give me what I need and then some more.

I bought the whore house she was employed in on the Street of Silk and put her in charge of it. Of course, it was done anonymously through her so nobody knew who the real master or mistress of the establishment was. My orders to her were simple, I would take no capital earned from the establishment, nor from any of the other establishments that would join her watch in the future. She was to use the wealth earned to better the people that worked under her and to get me the information I desired. I was her patron towards her Salvation from fear. But then again, the fear of losing one's head for failure would be a fear she would not find salvation from. I doubted she'd fail me and so did she, so there was no fear, to begin with.

There was one more thing that bothered me, nothing life-threatening so I let it be for the time being. Father was being a little distant from me. Ever since the day I returned from Dragonstone, something had changed between us. I know it was by no fault of mine because if it was, the man would have pointed it out. My father was many things, but someone who wouldn't point out what I did wrong and why it was wrong was not one of them. I was a member of the Council, so I had a right to suggest plans and give my opinion. And it was not like my plan was thrown out the window and I had done it anyways. It was accepted by Father and he had agreed to do it my way. So I was positive that it was not that.

I had let the matter stew for a moment so he would approach on his own and we could talk about it. It had not happened like that, and my need to know was trumping my patience. I suppose it was about time that I approached him on the matter.

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I knocked on the door and waited to be allowed admission. When the doors were opened for me, I entered without a second thought, thanking the men guarding them.

My father was present in the room, not a surprise since this was his room. Another not-so-surprising thing was finding Alicent there. The two seemed to be having a good conversation, judging from how the two were all smiles.

"Rhaenyra!" my father greeted me with a smile. "You look-"

"Girly?" I asked with an amused smirk. "Yes, well I made someone upset and now they insist that the only way they will forgive me is if I act more like a girl than a boy out for blood."

My accusing half-glare was pinned at Alicent, who did not look the slightest bit embarrassed. Rather she looked smug about it.

My stunt with riding to Dragonstone on Vhagar had some sort of an effect on Alicent. She was happy about my return no doubt, but she was pouty and dissatisfied that I had gone there in the first place, a matter that men should have been allowed to deal with.

I apologized to her, but it was not enough. So I asked her what exactly I could do to get her to forgive me. Her terms were simple but such a bother. Attend morning prayers with her, dress more like a lady, behave more like a lady, and be a lady. There was only one thing amongst her demands that I did not mind, the rest were just a drag. Dressing up did not feel so bad.