The Winter Queen

Chapter 35

Lionel Beesbury

If anyone had ever asked his opinion, he would have told them that he knew that Ser Otto was not as trustworthy or as loyal to the Crown as he claimed as the man always seemed to find major flaws in anyone he could not manipulate or pay off or stood in his way, Prince Daemon being the one Otto hated the most despite Daemon’s unwavering loyalty to his brother, Queen Aemma and especially the often ignored and often overlooked little Princess Rhaenyra. A girl who was surely not so little anymore that she was finally a full grown woman of 17. At least Rhaenyra had been kept safe from the bulk of Otto and Alicent’s plots since she was married off to Lord Cregan Stark. It was definitely going to be interesting everything that Daemon was able to uncover from Otto.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BRUTAL TORTURE SCENE BEFORE THE SMALL COUNCIL~~~~~~~~~~~

Daemon

He had long known that Ser Otto never truly wanted what was best for House Targaryen but what he did not know was just how very ill all of the crimes and schemes Otto had been part of would make him feel. Here he was a war hardened warrior and a mere bureaucrat’s treasons were well beyond bad although the pathetic man did not ever confess to the crime that Viserys imprisoned him over. What he did confess to was far worse though.

First, Otto confessed to having had his daughter, Alicent, trained in the art of seduction and having slipped a mild drug in the King’s drink following Aemma’s death. This made it easy for Alicent to enter the King’s bedchamber, seduce him and then pretend that she had been a virgin by cutting her foot and letting it bleed on the bedsheets so that the King would believe that he had taken her virginity. He then kept having Alicent visit the King in the middle of the night and whore herself out to him all the while he pushed Viserys who “had taken his daughter’s virginity” to marry her and make an honest woman out of her.

At the same time, Otto had manipulated the King in naming his only child, his daughter Princess Rhaenyra as his heir. He believed that Daemon would never harm his niece to usurp her and that a mere girl would be far easier to usurp when Alicent gave the King a son than if Daemon was heir as Daemon would never surrender heirship to a member of Otto’s family.

Third, plotting to have Rhaenyra marry a Northerner and then be forgotten about in an out of sight, out of mind way. Otto also confessed that while he wanted the girl gone to a place where she would fade from memory, Alicent wanted the girl dead. She was the one who decided to insist upon the immediate bedding and conception of the young girl with the hopes that the girl might die of humiliation or die in the childbed.

Fourth, plotting against the North and Vale. Otto admitted to deliberately trying to make the North and Vale go to war against one another so that Jeyne Arryn would lose her seat and so that they could mandate a full conversion of the North to the Faith. He admitted to loathing that everyone in the entire realm was not forced to worship the Faith of the Seven, the “True Gods” and that a woman was allowed to rule in her own right, which went against their Faith. He also did not care how many people died just as long as the North ended up converted to the Faith and all of the Godswoods had been destroyed.

Fifth, spying on members of the Royal Family. Yes, Otto had developed a spy network whose entire purpose was to spy on members of the Royal Family. He also used his network to spy on anyone he wanted to blackmail or destroy so that he could gain the needed dirt on them. Daemon had always been his favorite target as Otto knew that Daemon suspected him of less than savory dealings which meant Daemon needed to be eliminated before Daemon managed to find hard enough evidence against Otto.

Sixth, having a role in Aemma’s death and  the death of her other children. It had been  decided by the Faith that Viserys could not sire a son on anyone they could not control, like Alicent, and so they sought to weaken Aemma more and more with each pregnancy to the point where it would be extremely hard for her to birth more children. However, they did not calculate things correctly and so Aemma did not weaken fast enough. This meant they had to take drastic measures and have Aemma gutted with her last pregnancy under the guise that if nothing was done, Aemma and her child would both die. It was far from true as Aemma could have and would have survived along with Prince Baelon. Otto had also helped orchestrate the death of all of Viserys’ other sons. Rhaenyra was only able to live because she was a “worthless girl” and because of her dragon.

Seventh, lying about the state of the Realm. The Realm wasn’t thriving as Otto claimed and many were suffering greatly due to all of the increased taxes. The places that were hardest hit with the taxes were places Otto wanted to either control or wanted to ruin the noble family that dwelt there, which meant Driftmark and the Vale were among the hardest hit (the North being protected by Rhaenyra’s dowry gift).

Eighth, the plot with the Triarchy. Otto admitted to spending insane amounts of the Crown’s funds to have Daemon killed during the Stepstones war. This way Daemon could never return to the capital or be a threat to him and his power or be able to turn the King against him.

Ninth, only providing aid and tax breaks to his allies and those who benefited him. House Hightower paid almost nothing in taxes and had actually been receiving aid from the Crown for the loss in revenue they’d been experiencing due to the conflict in the Stepstones. The Lannisters, Florents and Redwynes had also been getting tax breaks and specialty “aid” due to losses caused by disruption in trade because of the war.

Tenth, manipulating the Old King into not allowing Rhaenys into remaining his heir. Otto had directly led to the disinheritance of Princess Rhaenys and her children as Otto feared Lord Corlys, his wealth and power and refused to bend the knee to a woman. With his religious fanaticism, Otto could not handle even the thought of a “mere woman” sitting the Iron Throne. It had to be a man. When it became plausible that Viserys, a pathetically weak man, could possibly take the Throne, Otto knew it would be far better for him as then he could control the King. Otto also knew that he would never be able to control Princess Rhaenys and so eliminating her from the line of succession was the best way to ensure that the next monarch was one he could control.

Viserys

As the truths of Otto’s crimes came to light, Viserys struggled to believe it even though he knew deep down that much of it had to be true. After Otto had spilled his secrets, he had ordered Lord Beesbury to fetch the Crown’s financial records which also proved the truth of Otto’s words.

How was it that he had been so blind for so long? Was he truly as weak of a person as Otto claimed he was? How had he  never guessed at the plot to weaken and hurt his precious girl? Was that all he and his daughter were to these people? Just a tool and a stepping stone for the ambitions of others? 

Regardless, Otto had to be punished and it seemed like there was only one thing that was entirely suitable.