Of Bastards & Dragons || Aenar Targaryen

56 • YEARS OF LONELINESS

FIVE YEARS LATER

Lord Lyonel was dismissed from the Small council, after the King learned he fathered Maekar with Francesca Tully. Having confessing his crimes in private to Aenar, of being the real father of Elissa, Viserys pleaded for forgiveness, but his younger brother renounced his claim as heir to the iron throne and fled Kingslanding to Essos.

His actions drove Viserys into a frenzy heart attack, and immediately Otto Hightower was reinstalled back at court as Hand of the King, governing the affairs of the realm.

Queen Alicent liked the break from Viserys, no more making of babies, or meaningless sex. All everyone could talk about was the vacant position of heir apparent and the health of Viserys, who was still a thorn in her flesh.

Within two years, things changed, happened as it always does. Prince Aenar, still widowed, often frequented the capital and DragonStone, three years later, after Viserys had pleaded with him to return home, Aenar came back and soon became a permanant resident of the Red Keep once again and was immediate named Prince Regent of the Seven Kingdoms, a feat that ruined the Hightower's joy, much to their dismay and plots of scheming Aegon to be the King's heir.

Nonetheless, three days, after the King crowned Aenar Prince Regent, he had a stroke, lost an arm and his sight. Viserys the peaceful, suddenly become Viserys the blind.

At the King's willful blindness, Prince Daemon slithered his way back into Westeros with his wife Lady Laena and their daughters Rheana and Baela, official residents of Red Keep, much to Alicent's dismay, the rogue prince was given a seat on the small council as Master of Whispers.

Maekar and Elissa were sent to the Riverlands as wards of House Tully, for the time being, bond with their grandparents.

Princess Daenerys gave birth to another child in the Eyrie, a girl with silver white hair, naming her Aemma.

Princess Rheanyra's marriage to Ser Laenor, proved a blunder, the Seasnake's son is noted to have an attraction to men, which resulted to the princess producing two healthy son's with black hair, who are rumoured to be Harwin Strong's bastards.

Either way, Rheanyra's affair gave way to open defiance of Queen Alicent Hightower, who often preaches of duty, honour, decency at any given opportunity, outrightly challenging Aenar's station to be Aegon's birthright, a feat she never brought up, after Prince Regent dismissed her from the small council, to tender to her ailing husband.

The once upon time lovers, were nothing but enemies of each other.

In the past five years, Viserys continues to fade more and more, the very flesh being stripped from his body by his disease. Alicent traded his company, filled with quarrels over Rhaenyra's preferred status in all things and Daemon's outrages and little else, for loneliness or her father attempting to use her to further his secret schemes, and Aenar treating her like a bloody stranger.

Since their rift, Rhaenyra had been her friend in their childhood, but now been an enemy of hers for two years. Alicent had never been so alone, aside from chatting with Ser Criston and spending time with her children, although as they grew, those times grew fewer.

Ser Criston Cole hated Rhaenyra, as well, it was relatively plain to see. The hurt of her actions and the shame of his role in it never left him. He considered it just as well he was now the close companion of someone Rhaenyra was at odds with.

However, it was not all motivated by spite. Him and Queen Alicent prayed together, spoke, even conferred on issues with the children when the king was too ill. It was increasingly often, he was disfigured to the point it was almost too much for the children to see him.