Degenerates // GoT

Chapter 1

Most of the time, Jaehaerys didn't mind being the heir. 

The perks were obvious. He had more gold to spend than almost any other man in the world, even the most famous of Knights or powerful Lords had to bow to him, he had his very own Palace to call his home as he waited for the Palace to be made available for him, he was never told no (not even by his Father who has recently been styled as the Mad King), and he had a veritable flotilla of servants and advisors, all leaping over each other to satisfy his every whim.

Honeyed wine for breakfast? Right here, your Royal Majesty, in a golden goblet encrusted with dragons and rubies.

A new ship for his endless voyages to the Free Cities? That might require a few months to procure, but we shall get on it straight away.

A small elephant? We shall find one for you immediately!

For the record, Jaehaerys had not requested an elephant. Of any size. But it rather cheered him to know that he could. 

So yes, being the Heir was frequently delightful. It was like being King without all the responsibilities and titles. 

But not always, and one could not generally complain, because one sounded like an ass when one complained about being the Heir. But there were drawbacks. 

One enjoyed a disturbingly small degree of privacy, for example. Your private matters were everyone's private matters, and your secrets were whispered about everywhere.

But Jaehaerys had accepted that fact a long time ago. When the first whispers about him got back to him, he had been a boy of ten and had gone to swim in the Blackwater Bay, just below the Red Keep.

He and his companion Lucerys Velaryon, now the Lord of Driftmark and Master of ships at the Great Small Council, had stripped and swam in the Bay, seeing no issue with it. They had been boys of course, and had escaped Jaehaerys's King's Guard (Ser Barristan Selmy and Ser Gerold Hightower), as well as their Master at arms who was supposed to teach them sword-fighting. 

Jaehaerys had been exceptional at the art already and had a promise to be a great Knight and make a name for himself. He could ride a horse, use a bow, throw a spear, and fight with a sword all at a very early age. His brother Rhaegar was much alike, though younger by two years.

In any case, Jaehaerys and Lucerys had spend the afternoon splashing around in the water, happily. As children did.

The very next day everyone at court knew about it because some servant boy had seen them, told his Lady, who told every Lady at court, who told their husbands and sons and daughters. 

Of course, half the court had shrugged it off as child's play, while the other half, who seek drama and dislike the Targaryens, had argued that this was the first sign of... an irregularity in Jaehaerys or Lucerys or both.

Lucerys's father had been instructed by Lord Tywin to take the boy back to Driftmark and raise him there for a few moons, let the rumors and whispers die down. While Jaehaerys was to not skip lessons, and instead of fighting with an equal (Lucerys) would now fight with his brother Rhaegar.

Jaeherys's father, King Aerys, had not even blinked an eye about the rumors if he even heard them.

But one afternoon, after Jaehaerys had spent a grueling hot day outside learning how to fight with a sword, how to hold a lance, and how to shield himself properly in a fight, he heard a knock at his chamber door.

Jaehaerys was freshly washed and cleaned, per his request of course, and had begun to enjoy his limited time reading poetry. An activity frowned upon by other Lords, seeing as he was the future King of the Seven Kingdoms and was not required to know poetry to be good at his Kingly duties.