The King wanted to go hunting. And not in private, as one might wish to do when their goal is to simply hunt deer. Oh no, Viserys wanted it to be a whole-ass event. The Royal Hunt. With the lords of other houses present and everything.
It gave Otto a headache. Because the burden of organizing it fell on him, and how he hated organizing public events. Why didn't they have a Master or Mistress of Entertainment or something to do this shit? Dragonstone did. Well...
Their "entertainment" was different from what the King had in mind, Otto was pretty sure, but he was also sure that his point still stood. As long as he didn't have to do it himself... but, unfortunately, he did.
On the bright side, Otto managed to vaguely dedicate this Royal Hunt to Aemond's second nameday. Not like Aemond would remember, but he was still a prince and his namedays should be celebrated... even if technically the celebrations were happening a bit after the actual nameday. And it was an excuse to order a cake Aemond liked and Aegon would most likely enjoy as well.
'Thinking like a father,' Diane pointed out when Otto told her about it. 'I like it,' she added with a mischievous smile, and Otto definitely got rewarded for all his troubles that evening.
Perhaps organizing the Royal Hunt wasn't so bad.
***
The weather was warm and sunny on the days of the hunt. Rhaenyra thought it was a good idea to get out of the city at least for a short while. Visenya definitely enjoyed the change of scenery and was easily entertained by Bianca, so the princess had all the hopes to have a nice rest and spend some one-on-one time with her husband. Daemon would definitely take part in the hunt, but more for a performance's sake than for an actual thing. He wasn't a fan of hunting.
'Isn't it the same as the "justice spree" you and your golden cloaks go on once in a while?' Rhaenyra asked him then.
'No. Totally different. When we are hunting at King's Landing, we are hunting people. Criminals. And here it's just... deer,' Daemon made a face. 'How can I feel morally superior while killing a deer?'
'I don't think it's about moral superiority, love.'
'Well, it is to me!'
Diane didn't care much for the hunt as well. She cared even less about it being five moons pregnant and having to go in the middle of nowhere for some men to pretend that they know how to kill animals. She actually knew how to do it - years on the road taught her a lot - and she could tell that most of those "hunters" would be killed at the first real confrontation with wildlife. Don't mind deer, some of the men looked like a rabbit could kill them with one well-aimed jump.
Pathetic, really.
Maybe she was being just a little bit too mean, but her pregnancy didn't play well with travel, so she was in the mood. At least Aegon and Aemond seemed to be having a great time, so she focused on that instead of her own discomfort.
Diane was showing a lot more than she used to, but the right-shaped dress did marvels at hiding her figure, and no one seemed to suspect anything. Or if they did, they kept it to themselves, which was just as good.
Otto didn't seem to suspect anything either. They hadn't seen each other much in a few weeks before the hunt because they were both busy, and when they did see each other, they were more or less clothed, so it was somewhat understandable that Otto didn't notice how rapidly Diane's stomach grew in the last month. But it meant she was running out of time, and she had to tell him soon because she had a feeling she wouldn't be able to get away with hiding it for much longer. And well, there was a pretty big chance that Otto was the father, so he deserved to know.

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To Take What Is Rightfully Ours
FanfictionDaemon Targaryen learned from his own experience that being nice to your bastard daughter might be surprisingly beneficial. Even more so when she was sent back in time by the Old Gods and now is very keen on saving your life, helping you marry the o...