Traitor / Larys Strong / Otto Hightower (3)

8. Broken Enough

Aelsa heard the bells on their journey home. She tensed pulling her boys close.

"Whats going on?" Atticus demanded his eyes searched the darkness looking back to the castle.

"You boys go home. Tell your father-"

"You are not going back there!" Ollivander demanded. "Not alone."

"Baby im hand of the king which means-"

"You are my mother." Ollivander corrected. "We need you. If there is an attack what will you do? Sass them to death?"

"Rude." Aelsa countered.

"But true." Atticus mumbled. "You are not a fighter mum."

"No. But-"

"Aelsa?"

"Larys- Lila baby." Aelsa pulled lila into her arms.

"Mommy whats happening?" Lila questioned as larys looked over the boys and Aelsa for injuries.

"I dont know. I was coming home to you when-" aelsa glanced back at the path they had come from.

"I am the king!"

"Yes, Your Grace. Uh, please, Your Grace."

" Traitors and villains!" Aegon shouted throwing a little building replica against the wall it crumbled on impact "Fire from the sky. This is war! I declare war! I declare war!"

"The gates have been shut." Otto assured "The search progresses. The villain will be found. We mustn't be shaken by this. This act. The child."

"The child is dead." Alicent whispered recalling helaenas broken words

"His pain is ended." Otto added

"But what they've done to-to-to my girl." Alicent sniffled.

"Yes." Otto agreed. "And they will pay for this."

Aelsa sucked in a tight breath as they got ready for what was about to be the worst council meeting in the history of council meetings. 

"And where were the member of this council while the murder threatened their king?" Aegon demanded.

"Were you also threatened, Your Grace?" Tyland questioned.

"Shut up Ty." Aelsa begged.

"I could have been!" Aegon shouted. "My son is my legacy! My son is heir to the Iron Throne! And where were you," aegon turned sharply on criston. "-the Lord Commander of my Kingsguard?"

"Aegon lets not play the blame game here." Aelsa begged. "We will deal with punishing our own soon enough we need to focus on the enemy-"

"I was abed, Your Grace, having ordered the Night's Watch." Criston answered leaving out whos bed he was in.

"Abed." Aegon nodded. "Abed!" He shouted. "Instead of safeguarding the sanctity of my family!"

" This is not the time for blind accusations, Your Grace. We'll know who did this soon enough." Aelsa assured

"Who did this? Who d... What?! Is there any question who did this?!" Aegon countered. "Who would do this save the bitch queen of bastards, the smug cunt of Dragonstone? There she sits across the bay, on her rock, laughing at me." Aegon shouted. " She's fucking laughing at me!" He threw a cup and it shattered against the wall "You wished her life to be spared." Aegon recalled looking to his mother.

"Yeah we could have ended this before but Alicent had a conscious." Aelsa agreed. "Shame."

"If I may, Your Grace. My Lords." Larys interrupted stepping forward. 

"Please interrupt honey." Aelsa begged, Otto's face pinched. 

 "The guard has detained someone. The man we apprehended is known to us. He's a gold cloak." Larys added. "Noted for his brutal nature. We caught him, fleeing the Gate of the Gods with the child's head in a sack."

"I'll kill him myself." Aegon decided marching forward but criston held him back

"We'd do well to get what information we can from the blackguard." Aelsa countered. "Everything we can get out of him, by any means necessary." 

"I trust in the mastery of your trade, Lord Larys." Otto added. 

"Oh, always studying, always protocol." Aegon grumbled.

"Yes I know how boring but it is protocol for a reason." Aelsa agreed moving to Larys. "Larys," aelsa whispered grabbing his arm. "Do what needs to be done." He nodded kissing her cheek before limping off.

 " We know our enemy!" Aegon countered. 

" A king may have more than one enemy, Your Grace." Jasper countered "We would do well to ascertain if this is your sister's hand... or if there is a serpent nestled closer to our bosoms.

"I suppose you're right, Ironrod." Aegon agreed. "Could be anyone. It could be any one of you in this room." Aegon snarled.

"Lord Jasper is correct. In one sense, we must determine what happened and... if we in the Keep are still in peril." Otto added "In another sense, of course... it doesn't matter."

"You mean to blame Rhaenyra." Alicent realized "Tell the realm she has done this."

" I'll have the realm told nothing." Aegon countered "We were assaulted within our own walls. Within our own beds. I will not be seen as weak."

"You're already seen as weak, Aegon." Aelsa corrected.

"You fucking..." aegon muttered throwing the closest object. Aelsa flinched away looking to a wide eyed Ollivander. 

"A hasty coronation, a dragon escaping the pit. The people see an omen. They whisper in the streets. They say, perhaps Rhaenyra should be queen. And so, you would name her: monster. Slayer of infants."

" I would do more than that." Otto countered "A funeral progress. Let them see the child. Let them look upon the works of this pretender to the throne."

"Father." Alicent countered.

"Otto." Aelsa countered. 

" My king..."

"No." Aegon corrected. "I will not have my little son's body dragged through the street like a dead dog."

"Not dragged! Honored!" Otto assured. "Escorted to the dragon pit to be burned as a Targaryen prince. Your Grace."

"No." Aegon cried out.

"Let no one say I do not grieve. Jaehaerys was my grandson. I loved him." Otto assured. "I will not have him die in vain, Aelsa you know I'm right." Aelsa debated that. He was already dead, what harm could it do besides rallying the people behind them. 

" Those who declared for Rhaenyra, will they still support her when they hear of her depravity? Or will they rather not renounce her? Jaehaerys will do more for us now than a thousand knights in battle." Aelsa realized. "THey will see what she did, what her people did and they will think her a monster, they will see her as she truly is, Aegon. They will see what happened to Jaehaerys, we can't change that he is going." She added "but we can make his death mean something." Aegon sucked his a tight breath. 

 "You will have your war, Your Grace. But if you wait a short time, you may yet double your strength." Otto added. 

"Mother." Aegon begged unable to make this decision

"The Hand sets on a difficult path, my darling, but it, it might be the right one." Alicent offered moving to him.

"Thank you." Aelsa agreed. 

"Let the Silent Sisters ready the prince for his final journey. And riding behind him, his mother the Queen, and with her, the Queen Dowager." Otto decided.

"No, I do not wish to be a spectacle" alicent corrected.

"Helaena is broken enough, I dont think-" Aelsa agreed, being a mother herself she couldnt imagine such things and having to witness it, watch as her sons or daughter were rode along for those to pay their respects, look upon her weeping face. 

" The realm must see the sorrow of the crown, a sorrow best expressed through its most gentle souls. I think you'll all agree the king himself must be spared." Otto added.