The Winter Queen

Chapter 34

Daemon

It was a great day  to be alive! His long time nemesis had been enjoying the hospitality of the Black Cells for a couple years already and Viserys had given him the full right and opportunity to break the man. Hells! Viserys even commanded that the entirety of his Small Council be present to bear witness and to watch as well as half of the Kingsguard, the ones who were not on duty guarding him or Alicent and the little beasties, keeping her from killing all of them. Daemon knew that Otto was one slimy serpent who had committed treason all while Viserys refused to see it so having witnesses get to hear even as Daemon extracted every dark and dirty secret from the man was going to be super satisfying. This time, everyone would get to learn the truth about Otto and his whore of a daughter. Although, there was a single drawback about getting to torture Otto. It had already been five years since he had last seen his pretty little niece on the bridge at Dragonstone and he was very anxious to go North to see her.

How was she, truly? Were the Starks treating her okay? Was Lord Cregan treating her well? How was she handling her marital duties to the older man? How was she liking motherhood? How was she liking Winterfell and the North as a whole? How traumatic was the birth for her? What did her hatchlings look like? Did she miss him or did she think he abandoned her? How was her relationship truly like with Jeyne? What stupid and foolish crap had really been pulled at her wedding? What did she even look like now that she was both a woman grown and wed and a mother? Did she want another child? How was she getting along with her own stepchildren? There was just so much he wanted to know about her and her new life. However, he also realized having the truth behind Otto’s schemes might just be an amazing gift for her.

Viserys

His brother had finally returned home and soon he would finally know what Otto and his whore of a daughter had done to him! Perhaps he might soon be able to sire another child just as perfect as his precious little girl! It was going to be so wonderful to be able to present his little darling with the full knowledge of the plots Alicent and Otto had towards them when he took Daemon North to be reunited with their girl.

Yes! He could not wait to finally meet his grandchildren of whom he had only heard stories about so far! He already knew that they were absolutely perfect as they were his daughter’s children but to get to see them and to hold them was a dream come true! However, he did know that they were Starks and Starks belong in the North.

Alicent

She knew that vile beast of a man Daemon Targaryen had returned victorious from war and that her husband had welcomed him back warmly. It just was not right! Her father was still imprisoned in the Black Cells all for trying to do what was best for the realm and now Daemon was going to be able to do anything he wanted to her poor papa. Why hadn’t the Gods been listening to their prayers? The Starks and Arrys were supposed to be at war, ultimately allowing for the True Faith to take over the North and Lady Jeyne Arryn was supposed to be deposed of since she was a woman and so never should have been allowed to rule in her own right. It was the will of the Gods that only men could rule.

Her worthless stepdaughter was never meant to have had success in the childbed, while she, the pious Queen, was meant to have birthed the Future Hightower King by now. Yet her stepdaughter had reportedly successfully delivered three worthless girls and a son to her Northern Barbarian and was still capable of having more offspring. Unlike Alicent herself who birthed a female beast who rendered her sterile and led to her husband being highly unfaithful.

She did not deserve to be punished by losing her title as Queen and relegated to being a glorified nurse to the King’s beasts! Viserys might blame her and her father but Alicent knew that it was all Rhaenyra and those pagan Northerners who had cursed them using their dark Northern Magic to thwart the will of the True Gods. Time would prove their innocence although Alicent feared it would be too late to save her poor, innocent father.

Otto

The Gods were surely testing him and his faith as somehow Daemon Targaryen had survived that blasted Stepstones war despite how much of the Crown’s funds he had used to pay off the Triarchy to kill the dragon man. Daemon was supposed to have died a failure and a traitor rather than being allowed to live and come home to manipulate the pathetically weak King away from the True higher purpose. Only Otto was supposed to be the King’s Puppet Master.

Now, unless he quickly managed to coerce the King into saving him, it seemed like his life would soon be forefit after a lengthy torture session at the hands of Daemon Targaryen as he knew Daemon would absolutely refuse to give him a merciful and quick death. The fact that Otto would not have been merciful towards Daemon, had their roles been reversed was beside the point.

If only his good for nothing daughter had managed to successfully perform her one and only purpose in life and birth the King a proper Hightower Prince, none of this would have happened. Aemma’s daughter would either be dead or forgotten about in the North. Daemon and Corlys Velaryon would have died in the Stepstones. Alicent would still be Queen. The King would never have taken mistresses or begun siring massive amounts of bastards on whores and he, Ser Otto Hightower, would still be the most powerful man in the realm with his grandson as the future King. Everything would have been as it was meant to be.