Maegor

The study in Hand's Tower was quiet that afternoon, filled only with the scratch of a quill across parchment.

Otto Hightower was bent over his desk, signing documents one after another.

When Queen Alicent pushed open the door, Otto did not look up. He merely raised a hand to signal for her to wait.

A moment later, Otto finished the final line of his signature and pressed his seal into the wax. Only then did he look up at his daughter.

"Is Aemond's Name Day coming up in the next few days?"

Alicent paused briefly, then nodded. "Three days from now. You remember."

"Of course I remember Aemond's Name Day."

"It's just that next week I'm meeting with envoys from the Triarchy on the Stepstones. I'm afraid I won't be back in time to attend his Name Day."

"While you're at it, please pass along my apologies."

Lord Hand Otto pointed to a small round table against the far wall of the study. "I've prepared a gift for him. It's over there. Please give it to him for me."

Alicent nodded politely and walked over to the table.

There was only one thing on it: a dark gray wooden box without any ornamentation.

Alicent lifted the lid. When she saw what was inside, she was taken aback.

It was a ring.

The band was a dull gray, with no jewels set into it. Its design was rugged, almost crude.

But engraved on its face in clear, sharp Old Valyrian were the words: "Blood is fire, the children of the true dragon."

"This was a gift from Queen Visenya to Maegor the Cruel." Otto's voice came from behind her. He had risen at some point and was now walking toward his daughter, Alicent.

"To be precise, it was a gift for Maegor's coming of age. Queen Visenya asked Qohorosi craftsmen to forge it for him from Valyrian steel."

Alicent turned around, her green eyes fixed on her father. "What are you trying to imply?"

"Why use something that belonged to Maegor the Cruel as a gift?"

Otto did not answer her question. Instead, he asked, "Alicent, tell me: who was Visenya Targaryen?"

Alicent thought for a moment, then replied.

"She was the founding queen of the Targaryen dynasty. She conquered the Crownlands and the Vale for her husband, Aegon I."

"She also founded the Kingsguard for Aegon I."

"After her sister, Queen Rhaenys, died, Aegon I ruled the Seven Kingdoms together with her..."

Alicent finished hesitantly and looked at Otto.

Otto spoke gravely.

"But in her later years, Queen Dowager Visenya Targaryen chose to support her only son, Maegor..."

"Even though it meant making enemies of her entire family and the kingdom."

"Without Queen Dowager Visenya's support and endorsement..."

"Without her flying Vhagar across the Seven Kingdoms to champion Maegor, without her using her prestige to cow the wavering lords..."

"Even if Maegor had won the Trial of Seven, he would never have been able to take the throne from his nephew, Aegon."

He walked slowly back to his desk, tapping his fingers on its surface as he looked at his daughter.

"Visenya was Aegon the Conqueror's sister and wife, and the woman who ruled the Seven Kingdoms alongside him."

"But Queen Rhaenys gave birth to his firstborn son, Aenys, while Visenya had only one son, Maegor."

"And her prestige... far surpassed that of Rhaenys's descendants."

"Are you talking about Aemond?" Alicent asked softly.

Otto did not answer directly. Instead, he continued.

"Queen Dowager Visenya helped her son win the war against the Faith, forcing the High Septon to acknowledge the legitimacy of Targaryen incestuous and plural marriages."

"Most of the families in the Crownlands and the nobles of the Vale were among Maegor's early supporters."

"They were all nobles who had submitted to Visenya Targaryen during the Targaryen conquest of the Seven Kingdoms."

He paused.

"Even though Maegor was infamous for his cruelty, even though he killed his own nephews and tens of thousands of Faith of the Seven worshippers..."

"As long as Visenya was alive, those nobles remained loyal to him."

"Because to be loyal to Maegor was to be loyal to Visenya."

Alicent picked up the steel ring.

"But what happened after Visenya died?" Otto sighed. "Those nobles no longer supported Maegor."

"In the end, Maegor was abandoned by all. Not a single Targaryen or noble stood by his side."

"Maegor killed every possible rival, and every possible ally."

"The nobles across the realm ignored their king and paid lip service to his commands."

"Until the surviving third son of Aenys I... Jaehaerys, raised his banners in the Stormlands."

The study fell silent.

"When Maegor summoned an army to defend his throne, only a handful of nobles answered the call."

Otto walked over to his daughter, his gaze settling on the ring in her hand. "Even his most loyal follower, Earl Harwin, knelt before the Iron Throne, weeping as he urged Maegor to abdicate."

Alicent listened in silence.

"Maegor furiously beheaded him. And after that night..."

Otto shook his head. "People found the king dead on the Iron Throne, his body pierced by its blades."

"No one knew who had done it. Perhaps it was a guard, perhaps an assassin sent by some noble, or perhaps the Iron Throne itself had rejected its cruel master."

He reached out and took the ring from his daughter, holding it up in the light from the window. The steel glinted coldly.

"Maegor had the strongest dragon, the Black Death, Balerion. He was also acknowledged throughout the Seven Kingdoms as the greatest warrior."

"The songs called him a warrior made flesh, a man who could fight a hundred opponents at once."

"And yet, in the end, he died mysteriously on the Iron Throne, with no one by his side."

Otto placed the ring back in the wooden box and closed the lid. The soft click sounded unusually clear in the silent study.

"Alicent, Targaryens seem like gods only when they're riding dragons. Once they're on the ground, they're no different from ordinary people."

"As long as they're human, they can be wounded, betrayed, and killed."

"Dragonflame can burn castles to the ground and make people fear you, but it cannot burn loyalty into them, much less earn their support."

Otto handed the wooden box to his daughter, Alicent.

"After Maegor's death, Visenya's line came to an end."

"Of Aegon the Conqueror's two wives, his elder sister Visenya and his younger sister Rhaenys, only Rhaenys's bloodline survives to this day."

"Even someone as powerful as Aegon the Conqueror or Maegor the Cruel could not truly control the entire Seven Kingdoms."

"Do you know why?" Otto continued.

Alicent shook her head.

"Because the Targaryens are outsiders."

Otto spoke earnestly. "They have little power of their own, and their family is small."

"If they do not choose to cooperate with the noble houses of Westeros, whose lineages stretch back thousands of years, the Targaryens cannot rule the Seven Kingdoms. Even with dragons..."

"They still cannot..."

Alicent held the box close and asked hoarsely, "Are you worried Aemond will become like Maegor... and disregard every rule?"

"He has that potential." Otto settled back into his high-backed chair and wearily rubbed his brow. "He's clever and calm, but he's also arrogant, vindictive, and extreme."

As he spoke, Otto gave a look of resignation and smiled at Alicent.

"He has all the traits of a Targaryen."

"Aemond doesn't like me. I can feel it."

Otto pointed at Alicent.

"But you and Helaena can influence him."

"What exactly do you want me to do?" Alicent asked.

"Do what you must, Alicent."