𝕭𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕬𝖘𝖍𝖊𝖘 - 𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚘𝚗♔︎

𝕿𝖔𝖚𝖗𝖓𝖊𝖞𝖘 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕸𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘

It was the day of the Tournament. The long-awaited Tournament for the King's Heir. This heir who had not even been born yet. But that didn't matter. The Prince's birth was just one more reason for more than half the city to gather and watch useless men fight their own kind. If not for the immense insistence of Rhaenyra and Viserys, along with Daemon's participation, Aerin would not even have bothered to come and watch. Aerin had little to no appreciation for tournaments and jousting, I mean, if she couldn't compete herself, what was the fun in just watching?

Aerin wore a black dress with red trim that had been given to her by Daemon years ago. This matched his own armor. Beside her, as the two climbed the stairs to the small platform, Rhaenyra was dressed in a bright red dress and had her hair in a few small braids wound around the nape of her neck. As for Aerin's hairstyle, she just wore her traditional braids. The braids meant a lot to Aerin. She said that for each victory achieved, a braid would be made in her hair and for each defeat suffered, all braids would be cut. Aerin had never cut a single braid before. I think that, just for this information, Otto Hightower should rethink his ideas, no? Back to the point, at the top of her silver waterfall, Aerin had a tiara of pure obsidian, curiously also given by Daemon. Aerin liked to spice things up, and what better way to do that than to challenge the King's power without the King himself noticing?

As the two climbed, Viserys made a short speech.

"Be welcome! I know many of you have traveled long leagues to be at these games. But I promise, you will not be disappointed."

But, as on any other occasion, his speech was cut short when Aerin emerged. The people, together with some nobles, rose to their feet with shouts and whistles at the appearance of the Princess. The people had a huge adoration for Aerin, not just because she was the Mother of Dragons, no, from the moment when she was born the winter stopped abruptly, the story was passed down from generation to generation, making many think that the birth of Aerin was a sign from the Gods, an answer to their prayers for mercy. The entire city soon adopted Aerin as a source of devotion, they revered her, for she had brought the sun and rain, she had brought the crops and every source of food in the realm. She, was their goddess. Some even screamed.

"LONG LIVE THE MOTHER OF DRAGONS!"

"HAIL!"

Aerin immediately smiled, raising her arms. Behind her, Rhaenys and Corlys smiled along with Laenor and Laena who loved it when Aerin told them stories about Valerian, Queen of All Dragons. But, not everyone was happy, an example? Well, as usual, Otto Hightower. It was hard to see why he harbored such an ancient hatred for Aerin. But, I think it could be started by saying that he could never get the King to see the evil in Aerin. Let me explain. Aerin and Daemon, as we know, didn't have a relationship, let's say 'normal', although their ancestors can't say much about it, but Otto always knew about these meetings and secrecy between the two. His spies, or little birds as he liked to call them, had filled him in on Aerin and Daemon's various customs several times. Otto tried to warn Jaehaerys about the matter, but the Old King never listened to him, there was nothing he could say that would spoil the affection Jaehaerys had for his favorite granddaughter. Now, Otto had tried to warn Viserys of Daemon and Aerin's relationship, but again, the King would have none of it. Aerin was his older sister and nothing was going to destroy Viserys's vision of her, of wisdom, of trust, of courage. Otto even thought that Aerin used some kind of witchcraft to bewitch Jaehaerys and then Viserys. But that theory was never proven, since, if she bewitched her grandfather and her brother, why didn't she put a spell on him so that he would stop bothering her? Furthermore, it was inconceivable to Otto that Viserys would not notice that Aerin wore a tiara. Not even Queen Aemma wore one! It was an outrage, a betrayal of the kingdom and the king himself, but no one seemed to care. Otto would never realize how Aerin always got away with whatever she did, but that's a topic for another time.