Dream Of Winter | C. Stark & H. Targaryen

Emerald City

Gwayne POV

The eldest son of a second son, Gwayne Hightower knew he had to make his way through life on his own merit. He wasn't the heir to a great House. And he wasn't a once in a generation fighter like the Kingsguard.

His father was himself a self-made man. His skill in politics and diplomacy had him elevated from a simple courtier to Hand of the King.

But Gwayne would be a fool to think his father's ambitions were just limited to a tenous non transferable position. Otto Hightower wanted to build a legacy. To birth a dynasty that would last a thousand years.

His children would serve his visions, one way or another. His sister was condemned to a miserable marriage with an abusive fool.

It might've seemed the best possible arrangement. To keep Alicent at their side and offer her more influence than most of the women in the Realm. But would a man who refuses a better political match, to fulfill his own desires, logically think of stability in regards to inheritance.

It's treason to slander the king, but Gwayne doesn't actually give it that much weight. The court of Viserys the peaceful - and what a presumptuous epithet - is a cesspool of schemes and blatant treachery.

The betrayers aren't confined to just his side of the family. His nephew Aegon is heir by all customs of the country. Even the Conqueror was initially Lord of Dragonstone, instead of his elder sister Queen Visenya. But the king's own chosen successor has carried on an affair with his direct superior Ser Harwin Strong, disguising the product of their union as legitimate heirs to House Velaryon.

He knows his sister's slowly but surely falling into despair. Fearing day and night for her sons to meet a tragic accident to allow a safe transferable of power.

Their father had long left court. But his shadow looms as grand as a giant.

War could be inevitable.

***

Gwayne found himself standing at the edge of the Blackwater, his eyes fixed upon the fearsome monsters atop the vast expanse of water.

About an hour ago, he had gathered his subordinates to track down the missing accused, Daemon Targaryen.

He never had a good thing to say of the Rogue Prince. Since his youth, he could remember his father describing him as impulsive and violent. A thorn in his side. And a Maegor in the making if allowed to claim the crown.

The fact that he nearly died in his very first tourney at Daemon's hands did nothing to embellish his opinion of the man.

But hunting him down now goes beyond nursing a nearly two decade old grudge. Daemon is effectively a fugitive of the Crown's justice. An outlaw to be returned in chains to face judgment for numerous crimes. A kinslayer cursed and shunned from divine grace and a social pariah.

If he resists arrest, he can be killed with impunity. So were his father's words when he gave his orders.

Princess Rhaenyra was already accused of treason. Eliminating the only military man in her corner will destroy any dreams of a bloody coup - or restoration, depending on where you stand - and secure the throne.

A great many plans of capture swirled in his mind. Until the shrieking of the Blood Wyrm invaded his senses.

You would think that seeing a dragon soaring above for years would ever make that infamous mixture of fear and awe go away. But it never does. House Targaryen claimed sovereignty over an entire continent because of their mythical mounts. He doesn't think it gave them the right of course. But it's not too hard to consider their own perspective.