Jaehaeron Targaryen - The Northern Dragon

The Old King and The Precocious Prince

101 AC

Jaehaerys Targaryen, the First of his Name, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, was exhausted.

His trip to Harrenhall had taken its toll, and the countless Lords and Ladies that tried to curry his favor had given him a headache. He expected Viserys and Rhaenys to be among the contenders for the Iron Throne, but he hadn't expected twelve others to try such a blatant attempt to steal the Iron Throne from the House of the Dragon. One of those imbeciles had dared pretend he was his bastard, Jaehaerys had imprisoned him and would have his tongue taken in the morning. He had never had another woman than his Alysanne and he would be damned if anyone said otherwise. Another one of the pretenders had struck his heart the second he saw him, he had been the spiting image of his younger self, and had pretended to be one of Saera's bastards. The Old King could not deny his claims, his daughter had found a way to repay him tenfold for their quarrels. She had hurt him more than Maegor ever did.

Sitting on his balcony, Jaehaerys looked at the forest of tents that circled the castle of Harren the Black. All the Lords of the Seven Kingdoms had come to vote for their next King, though, that was the official reason, the real reason was the pissing contest that they were all having in this sea of linen.

Jaehaerys released a deep sigh, if he was honest with himself, he was impatient to die. He had lived too long, ruled for too long, lost too much. There was nothing in the World that kept him alive other than his duty.

His children were either dead or far away, like Vaegon and Saera. His grandchildren... he was never really close to them. He had sacrificed most of his life to do his duty as a King, but he knew by now that if he was the greatest King who ever was, he had been a terrible father, and an even worse grandfather. Today, his grandchildren had all grown without any supervision from him, Rhaenys and Daemon were too independent to listen to him, and he was too busy teaching Viserys how to be king to spare any time to build any loving relationship between them. He was never good at that anyway. Alysanne had always been the one to spoil and love all of their offsprings, so much so that he had never seen the need to do much in their regard, and had focused on ruling. Today's Council was proof that it had ended up being his greatest failure as a ruler. Indeed, he hadn't prepared the next generation to continue his work after his death. Jaehaerys blamed himself for this failure, he had been so selfish and self-centered... Why did he have to try and do everything himself during his rule? Had he kept some projects of his for his heir, then perhaps he would have found the time to be a patriarch instead of just being a King... Now, his grandchildren were fighting for his Crown, but none were truly prepared to succeed him. He knew Alysanne would berate him for that once they were reunited, if only he could be given one last chance at being a parent, one last chance to right his greatest wrong.

His great-grandchildren were all so young, none of them had the patience yet to listen to a dying old man.

Laena was a headstrong girl and because of her mother's anger towards him since he had chosen Baelon as heir in 92 AC, they had never been close, for she was as resentful as Rhaenys. It had been easier to approach Laenor, for Lord Corlys Velaryon had tried to prove to him that his son was the best choice of an heir despite his young age. Yet, Laenor was not as bright as the Sea Snake had pretended; he was a shy little boy who was easily intimidated by the Old King's reputation. The two had never really been close, Laenor would rather spend his time with boys his age than with an Old Man who scared him. Rhaenyra, Baelon's granddaughter, was a cute little thing, but more interested in her young dragon Syrax than in any of Jaehaerys' story or lesson, and Jaehaeron...

Jaehaerys stopped himself, Jaehaeron... He had never truly spoken to Daemon's son. Most of the time because his damn memory betrayed him. But today would not be one of his bad days, he remembered the strong willed Lyanna Stark, who had become Alysanne's favorite lady at court, and who had reminded them both of their daughter Alyssa. He remembered Daemon's behavior when he was married, never before had he seen his rogue grandson so happy and so self-conscious. He remembered Grand Maester Allar's praise for Jon's intelligence. Perhaps...