House of The Dragon:The Rise of the Emperor of the Seven Kingdoms

Chapter 146: Chapter 145 – Before the Great Council of King’s Landing (II)

Dragonstone.

After Maekar burned every ship within a fifty-kilometer radius, he returned to Dragonstone, where he had remained until now.

Maekar was wearing a bathrobe as he relaxed on the couch. Not far from him, Alysanne could be seen knitting a pair of baby shoes.

“My prince, your wine.” Melinda, dressed in a yellow gown, offered a cup of wine to Maekar, who accepted it calmly.

Maekar’s violet eyes met the young woman’s golden ones and showed a hint of satisfaction. The former slave girl now looked like a real person. Despite the girl’s indifferent expression, there was something in her gaze.

A light called freedom. Freedom to choose and do as she wished.

Maekar drank his wine while looking at Alysanne; more specifically, he was looking at the small shoes she was knitting. A flash of sadness shone in the prince’s eyes, remembering holding his own son’s cold, deformed body.

“You don’t need to finish it,” Maekar remarked, still keeping his eyes on the small shoes.

“It’s exactly because I don’t need to that I have to do it.” Alysanne answered in a calm tone as she kept knitting. “When I am gone, the clothes, shoes, bonnets, and gloves I made will be the only thing my grandsons and granddaughters will have of me.”

The prince fell silent at those words. Time was the cruelest thing in the world. Watching the people you love leave was simply more painful than any torture.

“I will tell their stories; they will know that the blood running in his veins is the blood of Queen Alysanne, the woman who dared to try to change the world.” Maekar said with a gentle smile.

Honestly, in terms of progress, Jaehaerys was simply far behind his own wife. Alysanne had a mind ahead of her time; unfortunately, the woman’s idealism before him could never be realized, at least in this era.

“I’m not that amazing.” Alysanne did not think herself as amazing as Maekar made her out to be. The amazing ones were Visenya and Rhaenys, both women who had conquered entire kingdoms.

“Too much humility is arrogance, Grandmother.” Maekar said with a laugh.

Watching the scene before her, Melinda, seated on the couch with her hands on her thighs, could not help but think it was incredible to be in the presence of such famous people, witnessing something future generations would only imagine on the pages of books.

On one side was the queen of an entire continent; on the other, the pretender to the throne and a man considered a demon by much of Essos.

Alysanne Targaryen, the Good Queen, and Maekar Targaryen, the Slayer.

Melinda gradually grasped the magnitude of standing before two such illustrious figures. In the eyes of the common people, they were like gods riding beasts capable of destroying entire cities, but, just like ordinary people, they bled and suffered like normal people. That was fascinating in the eyes of the ten-year-old girl.

In the end, everyone was the same.

Melinda heard the queen speak in a calm tone. “I heard you put on quite a show in Braavos.”

The ten-year-old girl remembered the rumors she had heard in the kitchen. She had learned that names could be wrong, but never titles.

The Slayer.

That title had been built at the cost of the ashes of tens of thousands of people, at the cost of the purest misery and death.

This young man before her, with his inhuman beauty, was simply a man who had killed more people than she had seen in her short ten years of life. Yet, unlike the fear one might expect, she felt not fear, but admiration.

Killing one person makes you a murderer; killing ten people makes you a monster, but killing ten thousand people makes you an object of admiration. Humans were like that, incredibly hypocritical and subservient to the strong.

“This war will come to a halt for a long time,” Maekar answered Alysanne’s question, unaware of the complex thoughts running through Melinda’s mind. “Though there’s also a chance Braavos goes mad and attacks with everything it has.”

“That won’t happen.” Alysanne shook her head. She was not optimistic enough to think the war would continue after Braavos had lost so much, and just for one dragon rider. “The Sealord is different from a king; he holds similar power, but he is weak when it comes to uniting the entire ruling class.”

Maekar agreed with Alysanne’s logical words, but sometimes logic could be irrelevant to someone who had already lost everything.

The prince remembered a story from his past life.

A married man tried to flirt with a young woman at the company. After many refusals, and seeing that the man would not stop, the young woman told the truth to the married man’s wife. Because of this, the man lost his wife and custody of his children. In the end, the man killed the woman he had previously tried to flirt with, and then killed himself.

The Sealord was in a similar situation. Maekar would not underestimate his madness just because of something as simple as logic and reason.

“Don’t underestimate the madness of a man who has nothing left to lose, my dear grandmother,” Maekar said with a smile.

Alysanne looked at Maekar in surprise. Sometimes she thought there was an old man inside her grandson’s body. It was truly hard to believe a young man could be so experienced.

Changing the subject, Maekar looked at Melinda, then at Alysanne, and asked in an amused tone. “Is Melinda being good company?”

Alysanne looked at the golden-eyed girl with a gentle gaze and answered in a tone full of tenderness. “She’s a clever girl, learns fast, and is remarkably sharp. Though she does have the flaw of overthinking before doing anything.”

“Most importantly, she’s incredibly cute in so many dresses.” Alysanne said with a laugh.

Melinda startled at the mention of dresses and looked at Maekar with a gaze full of pity and hurt. The memory of Alysanne using her as a doll was incredibly torturous. Unfortunately, she had no way to deny the affection and love of this remarkably persistent woman.

“I was thinking of making her Gael’s lady-in-waiting; she needs new people around her, especially at this time. Someone as young and lovely as Melinda is perfect for the role.” Maekar said, looking at Melinda with an amused gaze. He could see that the girl had “suffered” at Alysanne’s hands.

Alysanne nodded and showed a smile. Melinda would certainly be a good addition for Gael. She, more than anyone, knew the pain of losing sons and daughters; having someone by your side is something very important after a great loss.

Melinda was surprised by Maekar’s words. She already considered herself incredibly lucky to be at Alysanne’s side; she had not expected that she might also be at Maekar’s wife’s side.

Just as Maekar was about to say something, he heard someone knock on the bedroom door. He looked toward the door and spoke in a calm tone. “Come in.”

As soon as he spoke, the door opened and Maekar’s unofficial cupbearer, Roland Tarly, entered the room with a respectful expression. “My prince, a raven has arrived from King’s Landing.”

Maekar took the message and began reading. After a moment of silence, the prince looked around at everyone and spoke in a calm tone.

“The King has fallen ill and declared Gael regent. At the same time, the Great Council will be moved up to the end of this year. He is summoning me and Viserys to appear at the Red Keep as soon as possible.”

Maekar had not expected Jaehaerys to fall ill; the old king should have held on for three more years. However, bear in mind he was at war and the king must have exerted himself far more than in the original history. Jaehaerys falling ill so soon did not seem all that surprising.

Alysanne did not care about the Great Council being moved up; she was worried about her husband’s health. Despite the disagreements, anger, and resentments, the couple loved each other deeply. It was only the pride of both speaking louder.

“Let’s all go to King’s Landing,” Maekar said, but he was speaking only of Melinda and Alysanne.

——

Read my other books:

House of The Dragon:The Rise of the Emperor of the Seven Kingdoms

Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos

Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.

Game Of Thrones: The King’s Court Wizard