Chapter 33 - 32 - Valar Morghulis (4)
The news spread fast. From the filthy alleys of Flea Bottom to the clean streets of the Street of Silk. Everyone knew what had happened. It wasn’t every day that a prince was attacked in King’s Landing, under the King’s very eyes. Not to mention by a legendary Faceless assassin.
If Maekar’s reputation was well-known before, it was now widespread. Previously, it had only been a fight between nobles; commoners hadn’t even had the chance to see what happened. However, this time was different; commoners saw everything before their own eyes.
At the same time, Maekar’s words, claiming that Loreon had hired a Faceless assassin to kill the prince, came as a complete shock. However, no one really thought Maekar was exaggerating or falsely placing the blame on Loreon.
Even for the poorest commoner, hiring assassins is expensive; hiring Faceless Men was even more so. House Lannister, with its gold mines, could certainly afford an amount of that magnitude to kill the prince.
Although no one said anything, the suspicion was more than real. After all, the prince’s only enemy was Loreon, whose son Maekar had just killed a week ago.
In the Red Keep, the air was oppressive. The Gold Cloaks patrolled in silence while the maids went about their work with heads bowed.
In the Great Hall, all of House Targaryen was gathered. From Daemon to Alysanne. All eyes were focused on the small figure bound with thick steel chains. Below her, five human masks could be seen.
Daemon stepped forward and picked up one of the masks. He felt the texture of the human skin, and a touch of curiosity shone in his eyes. He approached the king and placed the mask in the king’s hands.
Jaehaerys touched the mask with a calm and deep expression. Looking at the unknown male face in his hands, his expression hardened slightly, becoming colder, and a piercing gaze swept over the Faceless assassin.
"Tell me, you use vile blood magic to create these masks, am I right, assassin? After all, you came from Old Valyria." The king’s voice rang through the Great Hall, but Myria only looked at him in silence, acting like a dead object.
Seeing this, the king’s expression grew even more glacial; it had been a long time since anyone dared to ignore him. "I presume you were trained to resist torture. I hope you enjoy the coming days of your miserable and useless life."
Ignoring the assassin’s cold and indifferent gaze, Jaehaerys’s eyes fell on Maekar. He looked at his grandson and spoke in a chilling tone. "Since he dares to hire assassins to kill you in King’s Landing, he has no loyalty or respect for the Crown, nor does he respect me as his king."
The attempted assassination of Maekar had exhausted the last bit of clemency he had for Loreon. Since the Lord of Casterly Rock dared to assassinate a prince in King’s Landing, there was nothing else he wouldn’t dare to do.
Attempting to kill Maekar in King’s Landing, especially with a Faceless Man, had crossed all the boundaries Jaehaerys had set. So what if it was for revenge? He didn’t give a damn if Loreon was trying to avenge his dead son. His reputation, that of House Targaryen, and that of the entire realm had been challenged by this assassination attempt.
Maekar looked at the king, who was cold on the outside and furious on the inside, with a thoughtful gaze. He was certain that Jaehaerys wasn’t angry because he had suffered an assassination attempt; he was angry because he had been provoked.
"Don’t worry, Your Grace, the rumors have already spread through King’s Landing," Maekar said with a smile. "If he ignores the accusations... well, he is confirming that he did it. Of course, he will deny any of the charges and blame someone else in his place."
Jaehaerys showed little reaction to Maekar’s words; this was within his expectations. Without proof, Loreon would be safe according to the laws. However, Loreon forgot something very important.
He was the King; if a reason didn’t exist, he could create one. Jaehaerys generally didn’t resort to this, as using it too much could cause more chaos than necessary, but now that Loreon had ignored his clemency and dared to try to assassinate Maekar in King’s Landing, he was already planning to kill Loreon.
As for whether the Westerlands would rebel, he wanted to see if there was still anyone with balls big enough to shake his reign after sixty years.
"He can deny it, but... hehe," Maekar said with a laugh, looking at the Faceless assassin.
Originally, he thought Loreon would only use normal assassins and had other plans to force Loreon to request a Trial by Combat, but with the Faceless assassin in hand, he only had to create a narrative, and Loreon would have no way to escape.
And so what if Loreon accused someone else in his place? Besides House Lannister, there was no other Great Noble House with the motive and resources to hire a Faceless assassin.
No one is stupid; everyone knew it was Loreon. And when everyone knew it, they wouldn’t complain if Loreon died. After all, the king had already given him the chance to leave without consequences, but he chose to ignore it and remained in King’s Landing.
Even if Loreon had reasons, and everyone understood them, they wouldn’t care about him. Interests spoke louder than anything or anyone. No Noble House was an eternal ally of another. Not to mention that even among vassals, there were those with the ambition to take House Lannister’s place.
When a whale dies, the fish take the opportunity to feast. Things were no different in this situation.
Maekar wanted to laugh but restrained himself.
Jaehaerys looked at the shrewd boy and couldn’t help but snort in dissatisfaction. Although Maekar’s problems would be resolved with Loreon’s death, it was he who had all the work of appeasing the remaining nobles. After all, fear was very bad for a long-lasting reign.
The idea that Maekar would get all the easy work while he handled the heavy lifting made the king’s eyes look at Maekar with even more dissatisfaction.
He was already buried in work because of Alysanne and would be even more so with the events that would follow the Trial by Combat.
"Bring the Lord of Casterly Rock so that he may explain himself before the entire court and prove himself innocent." Jaehaerys’s voice reverberated through the Great Hall.
Viserys appeared hesitant at that moment. He took a step forward and asked in a worried tone, "Your Grace, why don’t we try to resolve things more peacefully? Pressuring the Westerlands too much could lead to a rebellion. In the end, we killed his son. Every man has the right to avenge his descendant."
Maekar, who had been happy that his plans were working out, heard those words, and his joy vanished completely. He looked at Viserys with a deep gaze.
He had managed to survive the Faceless assassin because he had Eternal Arms Mastery. Anyone else would have had great difficulty even surviving, let alone capturing her. In other words, Viserys was asking him to ignore that he was nearly killed because of the fear of a rebellion.
As for a father avenging his son, Maekar agreed with that too—but only when he wasn’t the target of that revenge.
Even Jaehaerys looked at Viserys with a touch of surprise, but his expression was much more patient than when he looked at Maekar:
"Viserys, you have to understand something. It is precisely because Maekar killed his son that he will not stop. From the moment Maekar cut off Tymond’s head, this matter was already destined to be tragic."
"Trying to resolve things with dialogue is good, but you must remember that, in the end, the fist is the greatest dialogue in the world. Do you think that if he had a chance to win, Loreon wouldn’t rebel and march on King’s Landing? No, he only refrains from doing so because he knows we have dragons."
"As for whether the Westerlands rebel, it shows that they already harbored resentment and only needed a valid reason."
Seeing Jaehaerys teach Viserys without any intention of hiding whom he preferred, Maekar couldn’t help but show a dissatisfied expression. In his eyes, what Jaehaerys was doing was the same as saying to him, "Look, this is my successor."
At the same time, Maekar looked at Viserys and noted this scene in the black book of grudges in his mind. He was someone who held a grudge. Viserys preferred peace over defending him, which made him realize that this half-brother was somewhat pragmatic.
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Note: I will write another Chapter in honor of the first person to explain the origin of Maekar’s horse’s name.
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Read my other books:
House of The Dragon: The Pale Prince
Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos
Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.
Game Of Thrones: The King’s Court Wizard