House of The Dragon-A God Amongst Men
Chapter 318: The Next Step II

Chapter 318: The Next Step II

(Third Person POV)

[King’s Landing]

"Well, I suppose that is over now." Aemon said as he sat on the Small Council table, "What do you suppose we do now?"

Jaehaerys was looking down at the table, "That is what I am trying to figure out." He said, "I believe that releasing an official statement regarding the Trinity is in order."

Aemon looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"Passing a law that allows the worship of The Trinity." Jaehaerys said, "And any conflicts between the Faith and The Trinity would be punished."

Aemon sighed, "That would slow down any Faith or Trinity worshippers." He said, "It could be the right move. But the truth is that Drakken won’t care about the law if he decides to start another war."

"Something tells me he won’t do that just yet." Jaehaerys said, "Right now, what is most important is that the people are kept in control. We cannot let tension get too high between the religions."

"I understand." Aemon said, "What do you think his next move is? He brought our sister back and had Barth killed, displaying that the Faith is nothing to him."

"I don’t know." Jaehaerys said, "But he is still angry for what happened. And I don’t think he will forget so easily."

"It is strange, however." Aemon said, "That he could bring back Jocelyn, Maegor, and Daenerys.....but he cannot bring back his woman."

"Aemon." Jaehaerys said seriously, "That is why he is angry. We do not understand his power, he don’t know how he works....but we do know that he is incredibly angry at what happened. And I believe he is not done with the Red Cult. This is just the first step to what he wants to do as vengeance. He has your sister hostage to keep us in control...."

"We will soon come to a point where we need to choose, Father." Aemon looked at him, "We choose between the Realm or our blood.....and I pray that we make the right choice."

"What choice would you make?" Jaehaerys looked at him, "You will be King one day, Aemon. You know that when it comes down to it, you also would need to make that same choice. And it will have to pay off, no matter what everyone thinks of you."

Aemon let out a sigh, "What do we do?" He asked, "In order to ensure a proper relationship between House Drakkengard....what do you think we would have to do?"

Jaehaerys looked down again, "I have an idea." He said, "But it would not be something your mother would like to hear."

Aemon looked at him, "You don’t mean...." He said, "Right....that is the only choice, right? I mean, even Drakken voiced his desire for that to happen."

Jaehaerys then stood up, "I will go and check on them." He said, "Let me know if you’ve made any progress for Vaegon’s search."

Aemon nodded, "Yes." He said, "I have hundreds of men scouring the Stormlands. Not only that, I have demanded the Reach to search for him as well."

Jaehaerys began to walk away, "I hope that he is fine." He said,

"I cannot handle that kind of loss now."

*************************

Baelon was sitting down on a bench when his son, Viserys, walked up to him while holding a book.

"Father." He said as he reached him, "What are you doing?"

Baelon looked at him, "Hm?" He said, "Oh, I was just here thinking."

Viserys frowned, "About what?"

"Nothing much." Baelon said, "Just thinking about what the future holds for us."

Viserys sat on the bench next to him, "Can I say something?" He asked, "Father....?"

Baelon nodded, "Go ahead."

"Do I have to marry Rhaenys?" Viserys asked him

Baelon frowned, "What do you mean?" He asked, "You’re betrothed to her."

"It’s not that I hate her or anything." Viserys said as he scratched his cheek, "On the contrary, I do like her and all. But I don’t see her in that way, you know?"

"You’re so young and thinking that way?" Baelon raised an eyebrow, "How do you see her?"

"Well, she is my cousin." Viserys shrugged, "That is pretty much it."

Baelon sighed, "You know, things like these have to happen." He said, "There is not much we can do about them. Even us Princes."

"Hm." Viserys said, "I mean....if you say so."

"When the two of you are much older, you’ll grow closer and you’ll eventually have nobody but each other." Baelon said, "And when you have children, you will love them unconditionally....no... no matter what, you will love each other."

"Like you and Mother?" Viserys asked

"Right." Baelon patted his head, "Like your Mother and I."

"All of this...." Viserys said, "All of this conflict, is it really necessary? Do people need to keep fighting?"

"It happens, Viserys." Baelon said, "And we are meant to keep the peace....to prevent everything from burning down. But that person.....he doesn’t want it to stay that way. He is angry...and very vengeful."

Viserys opened the book he was reading, "Mother mentioned him to be an Old Valyrian God." He said, "An actual Dragon God."

Baelon sighed, "I know." He said, "She mentioned the same thing to me."

"Do you think Mother actually worships him?" He asked his Father, "That Drakken."

"I hope not." Baelon closed his eyes, "I truly don’t. But....without him...your Mother and Brother would probably not be here. And right now, I am anxious to even think of what his next move would be. He is unpredictable..."

"Right...." Viserys said, "Maybe things will be better when we grow up. He has two of my aunts with him, they will probably help out a lot."

"Maegelle, probably." Baelon said, "I don’t know about Saera. She is mad, that one. There is so much wrong that could happen with them."

"You think so?" Viserys asked

"I know so." Baelon nodded, "But right now....we should be fine, son. Don’t worry about anything."

"If you say so." He said, "Well.....I am going back to my chambers to read."

"Go on." Baelon said, "You should get as much knowledge in you as possible."

Viserys got off the bench and began to walk away as Baelon simply sat there, watching him as he did so.

Baelon then let out a sigh, "Man...." He said as he looked down, "Who knew that dealing with all this would be tiresome?"

"I am starting to get tired of it as well."