The Dragon Gate succession law

"Enough!"

Earl Owen Merryweather, Aerys's newly appointed Hand of the King, could listen no longer and interrupted the Master of Whisperers and the Master of Laws as they argued before the court.

After Tywin resigned in anger, the head of House Merryweather from Longbow Hall in the Reach had successfully filled the vacancy, becoming the new Hand.

Earl Owen was advanced in years, but affable and fond of flattering his monarch.

Previously, no matter how frail his aging body was, every joke His Majesty Aerys made, every witty remark he uttered, could draw the most exaggerated peals of laughter from the old man to please his king.

After becoming Hand of the King, he had grown even more self-important, no longer paying any heed to his former colleagues-the Master of Laws, Simon Staunton, the Master of Coin, Qarlton Chelsted, and the others-let alone the opportunistic bald eunuch.

The old man, who had only recently become Hand, first stopped the dispute between the two royal ministers, then turned to the gaunt king on the throne, who frequently feared being poisoned and dared not eat, and said respectfully:

"Your Majesty should decide."

The king had the silver-gold hair of a Targaryen, but his long hair was tangled and unkempt, and his nails were a full half-foot long-he allowed nothing sharp near him, not even to cut his hair, trim his beard, or clip his nails.

Upon his silver hair, which had no style to speak of, sat the crown passed down from Aegon IV, adorned with exquisite dragon designs.

The seventeenth king of the Targaryen Dynasty had not always been like this. In his youth, he had been neither the wisest prince nor the most diligent, but everyone had acknowledged his abundant charm.

He had been handsome, generous, and bold, but he tired of the old and embraced the new, transferring his affections with particular speed, in politics as much as with women.

Early in his reign, with the help of his good companion Tywin Lannister, he had brought peace and hope to the realm, and his future had seemed boundless.

Tywin had indeed helped his king govern the country steadily, setting aside the affairs of Casterly Rock in the Westerlands to keep everything in King's Landing in perfect order. From Oldtown to the Wall, people began to say that although Aerys wore the crown, Tywin was the true ruler of the Seven Kingdoms.

In hindsight, this had also sown the seeds of the king's repeated insults toward Tywin and their eventual rupture.

After his wife's repeated miscarriages and stillbirths, and the deaths of no fewer than three sons, Aerys's disposition gradually became erratic.

Added to this was the unforgettable experience of being imprisoned by a rebellious lord for half a year during the Defiance of Duskendale, which finally plunged the king into a kind of madness.

He could no longer control his temper, frequently venting groundless suspicion and cruelty. His relationship with his heir, Rhaegar Targaryen, Prince of Dragonstone, also grew visibly strained.

Now Tywin Lannister, who had been a pillar of stability, had left the court and returned to the Westerlands.

Suspicious, cruel, and quick to erupt in fury, Aerys suspected that someone was questioning whether he could still attend to affairs, whether he could still govern the whole country, whether he could still hold on to his throne...

Aerys, who had just been sulking on the throne, now seemed to regain his senses like someone with intermittent bouts of madness. Carefully avoiding the spikes on the armrests, he took his tangled beard between his fingers and asked gravely:

"Must I go? I don't want to watch Rhaegar and the others joust... Damn those Whents, insisting on holding some gathering in their wretched castle!"

"Ahem, Your Majesty, it is no wretched castle. It is your castle too," Symon, the Master of Laws, reminded his king.

Seeing this, the eunuch Varys added:

"Rather than charging down the lists to compete in a tourney, our 'Silver Prince' prefers poetry and playing his ancient silver-stringed harp. I fear he wishes to use the tourney as a pretext to have a 'heart-to-heart' with the great lords of the realm..."

"What heart-to-heart! Are you suggesting that Prince Rhaegar intends to assemble the great lords and hold an unlawful Great Council?"

The elderly Hand, Owen, laid bare the eunuch's implication. "Varys, mind your words! To claim that the prince plots against his father is outright treason!"

Varys lowered his head and stepped back, indicating that he had meant no such thing.

Although King Aerys seemed somewhat mad at times, he had never inflicted serious harm on the realm.

Old Owen, who understood Prince Rhaegar's character, did not believe the prince would risk universal condemnation by taking such extreme measures against his royal father as privately courting nobles, defying him by assuming the regency, or forcibly deposing him.

Thus, his words to the eunuch were stern and sharp.

Had Titus been present, he would certainly have said, "The Dragon Gate succession law." He understood.

In truth, if Rhaegar really dared to rebel, Titus would have advised him to take the Iron Gate or the River Gate. Those two gates were closer to the Red Keep, and the latter would make it particularly convenient for him to advance from Dragonstone, making success easier...

Seeing the Master of Whisperers, Varys, sternly rebuked and sent back by the Hand.

This time, the Master of Laws, Simon Staunton, did take the side of Varys, with whom he had previously been at odds.

Simon Staunton's current standing at court and before the king depended entirely on King Aerys's backing, and he had no desire to gamble on the ambitions and character of the heir to the Iron Throne.

As soon as the Hand finished speaking, Earl Symon of Rook's Rest stepped forward to offer a tactful rebuttal:

"Even without the conspiracy just mentioned, if Prince Rhaegar, who has performed quite well in past tourneys, competes... whether you all acknowledge it or not, he will buy people's loyalty and win the favor of those foolish commoners. Is that not how it is in King's Landing? The ignorant commoners are always fond of shouting the name of the 'Silver Prince'..."

His tone shifted as Symon turned toward the old Hand, Owen, and continued:

"...And the nobles! Prince Rhaegar's victories also remind the lords watching that he is the true warrior, the heir to Aegon the Conqueror.

"Quite a few young nobles have already been drawn into the prince's circle, and their numbers will only grow! As the king's ministers, are we simply to let him expand his influence?"

Finally, Symon turned to face the throne and bowed slightly:

"There are too many possibilities that offer every harm and no benefit. I beseech you! Your Majesty must put a stop to this quickly and issue a stern command to Harrenhal forbidding this tourney!"

The Master of Laws had spoken so bluntly, yet the king offered not the slightest objection.

Nor did the other senior ministers attempt to mediate or interrupt. Clearly, this was far from the first or second time they had spoken behind Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen's back at a council meeting...

Owen Merryweather, who seemed thoroughly satisfied after becoming Hand and wanted only to pass his tenure peacefully and safely, did not wish to dwell on conspiracy theories built on nothing more than shifting shadows.

Ignoring Earl Symon, he earnestly urged the king:

"It is only a tourney for a little girl's Name Day!"

Dragon Gate: