Shadows of the Realm: Rhaegar's Resolve (ASOIAF) (Completed)

284 AC

Dragonstone

Rhaegar Targaryen

Rhaella survived, to say the least, and so too did Daenerys, I believe that the main reason why Rhaella survived was that she didn't have the burden of a fallen dynasty on her shoulders, and along with that Aerys was already dead and I had won the war so I believe that may have helped her survive along with the fact that Qyburn was there to help her, that is not to say that the birthing was easy.

No, because the birthing was extremely difficult for her, in all her pregnancies this was by far the hardest she barely survived by the skin of her teeth, and of course like the OTL there was a storm during the birth which means that Dany will again be a Stormborn.

I of course knew about the storm and so I had the Targaryen fleet brought to King's Landing and Duskendale. My fleet survived thankfully. It was one hell of a cyclone but my beloved fleet made it through. I am kind of attached to it, I don't know why.

My mad father during his less mad moments desired to have a great fleet to challenge the Titan of Braavos and while history records it as a failure, he did manage to beef up the fleet to the point where it could go toe to toe with both the Iron fleet and the Redwyne fleet and now with my flamethrowers almost in commission they will be unchallenged on both the Narrow and the Sunset Seas.

Three hundred of the finest ships that King's Landing and Dragonstone could produce, galleys, triremes, caravels, carracks, cogs, longships, dromonds, and a whole lot more. I have an unhealthy fascination with them I wonder why.

The cyclone managed to damage a good number of my ships but thankfully they were all repairable and not a moment too soon as Qyburn's flamethrowers are now almost finishing the testing stage and with the tests giving good results so far they will go into production and by the time that dimwitted nincompoop Balon rebels I will be ready and of course, I will destroy him and his good for nothing house and his worthless people, his pisswater rapist culture and wipe them off the face of the earth and history will record the-

"Ooh, Daenerys, such a pretty name for such a pretty babe" Elia coos over Dany and that brings me out of my bloodlust that I had suddenly found myself under, I need therapy.

We are in Rhaella's chambers, Rhaenys and Viserys are outside playing in one of the puddles made by the storm while Aegon and Maekar are in the nursery of Dragonstone.

Elia loves babies which is a good thing. "I know, I named her Daenerys, with the hope that this might help mend relations with Dorne," My mother who is sitting up on the bed says to her with a pointed look at me which I of course ignore.

Elia chuckles "I doubt it, my brothers are terrified of him right now"

Which is true, literally the entire court is scared shitless of me, my mother looks aghast at that wondering what I had done to make the Red Viper of Dorne and his Grass scared of me, I try to assuage her fears "I didn't exactly do much, just ripped out a few tongues and did a few personal executions" These words of mine, didn't exactly calm her down but rather made her even more worried, which in hindsight I should have known.

"What he means is that he ripped out the tongues of the fools who called Maekar a bastard and the beheading were of rapists and murderers" Elia chimes in to calm Rhaella which admitted works. I should have started with that.

"You did all of them personally," Rhaella cautiously asks and I nod which causes her to close her eyes and pinch the bridge of her nose before he says " Let me guess, Lyanna told you how things are done in the North and you decided to follow that" Elia nods at that "Most likely"

I don't exactly reply to that and when I go down to my memories with Lyanna, she didn't exactly mention anything of the sort and the main reason why I decided to do personal executions was less to do with the Northern honor concept and more to do with the fact that a casual beheading does wonders for my reputation.

"Rhaegar, I am going to pass over the fact that you are now holding court like a Northern savage and I will now ask why are you rewarding the Royces so much and the other leaders of the rebellion for that matter," Rhaella asks me in a tone that goes from exasperated to serious.

"What do you mean?" I ask her although I have a feeling that I know what she means.

"You reward the Royces with a Royal marriage and a Prince for a squire, you gave the Blackwoods, one of the main rebel leaders in the Riverlands after the Tully more power than ever, and the Starks were left alone and at the same time, you divide the Royalist faction by promoting infighting among them," She says to me in a very serious tone.

"I did all that I did to ensure that no one person on our side would stab us in the back, what is it with the two of you and kissing the asses of these nobles, the very same people who would have most likely killed us if they didn't benefit from our lives, I mean do you both for a moment think that any one of these bitches that claim to be Royalists are loyal to us" I snap at them.

"My brothers-" Elia begins but I cut her off, "For a kingdom that boasts fifty thousand men your brother sent only ten at the Trident" Now, of course, the real number is closer to thirty but that's alright I will use this fifty thousand supposed Dornish spearmen for my argument.

"It takes time" Elia feebly tries to defend Doran's slow response, but I jump in "It takes time, It takes time you say, that is by far the most bullshit excuse that I have ever heard in my entire life, Robert was kicking ass in Summerhall in the year 282 while the Trident happened in the year 283, he had a whole bloody year to prepare, besides when I came to King's Landing, I planned and executed an assassination and a coup and then I marshaled an army from the Crownlands and rallied the loyalists from the Riverlands and the Stormlands and brought in a few Reachmen into the mix and raised an army more than fifty thousand strong, all of this within six months, so don't give me that bullshit"

Elia can't say anything because I am right, Doran was slow, If that idiot in the OTL had deigned to send at least fifteen or twenty it would have changed the tide of the battle, the Royal army was by far too inexperienced and the Rebel army was a battle-hardened force, the narrow five thousand numerical advantage was negated.

I continue with my rant "And don't even get me started on the Tyrells, that fat assed buffoon named Mace was playing both sides, that bastard had no intention of helping me, all he intended to do was to lay siege to his beloved banquet table in the command tent, while I fought in the Riverlands, that pig head had fifty thousand men while Stannis had only five hundred if I hadn't arrived he would have stayed there, then again everything was that harridan bitch Olenna's scheming, she never liked us and she would have been more than happy to see us fall, those up jumped Stewards need to remember their place"

I stop to catch my breath, when Rhaella finally speaks "Is she still upset over the lost betrothal" I nod at that, I will one day teach that woman that there are more things important in life than some marriage. If I have my way, I will drown her entire family in the Blackwater and make her watch before snapping her neck.

"You are right Rhaegar, we are surrounded by enemies, So I have to ask you what is your plan to deal with all this," Rhaella asks me with certain steel in her voice.

The Lannisters, Greyjoys, Tyrells, Blackfyres, The Citadel, I will destroy all of them.

"I have already begun, I will tell you when the time is right"

Chamber of the Painted Table

I sit on the elevated chair next to the table right near the part where Dragonstone is located, I am alone in this room because right now I am scheming my future moves.

I sit on the same chair where Aegon the Conqueror planned his conquest, here I sit planning my future dominance of Westeros because, by the time I die, I will ensure that I will transform this backwater Feudal society into a moderately advanced (not too advanced) autocracy.

Now, of course, I will have to rule like a benevolent dictator, at least as far as the smallfolk are concerned, and as for the nobles, piss on them because I will soon begin on a series of steps that will see to empower the crown and crush the power of the nobles, I have no illusions that this will be a generational project for both my sons and their sons but I am sure that soon after a few generations we will have all the power like an iron fist along with a velvet glove.

Scholars, Educators, Inventors, and Innovators will be soon brought to my court for technological progress and advancement and also to destroy the power of the Citadel.

Speaking of destroying the Citadel, I have done something unprecedented in the history of unprecedented, I have removed the position of Grand Maester from the Small Council, the Conclave may elect a Grand Maester but they will have no place in the court, to rub salt on the wound I gave the position of Chief Physician and a place on the Small Council to Qyburn.

I justified it by saying that Pycelle had second allegiances *cough* Tywin Lannister *cough* it was a threadbare excuse but this is my Small Council I decide on who gets in and who gets out so it went my way, to complete it I had the Maester from Dragonstone removed, the medical practitioners in the military fortresses were now to be Qyburn's students and in fact, it was Qyburn who helped deliver Rhaella here in Dragonstone and from now on all Royal births will be delivered by Qyburn. Now he is a trustworthy person who has some use.

My idiotic forefathers could have become virtually unchallenged dictators especially back when they had dragons, but they decided to keep the status quo, and just like that now that we don't have dragons, we have to deal with all the shit that they have piled on to us.

Speaking of dragons, I searched the castle, and thankfully the dragon saddles back from over a hundred and fifty years ago are still there and are very much usable.

And also speaking of dragons, I did some research on how old the Cannibal is, and according to my findings hoping that the Cannibal hasn't grown during his hibernation, I believe that the Cannibal will be somewhere around ninety to a hundred years old.

In the year 48 AC when Jaehaerys rebelled against Maegor, Vermithor was considered to be the third-largest dragon after Balerion and Vhagar which means that Cannibal was hatched after the year 34 AC and it also says that Sheepstealer who was younger than Cannibal was hatched when the Old King was young which for the sake of simplicity lets say it to be the year 50 AC which means that the Cannibal was somewhere in between 34 AC and 50 AC and using a little bit of math I have rounded it off to the year 42 AC, the same year that Maegor seized power.

This means that Cannibal will be around the same size as that Vermithor during the Dance of the Dragons. Because he disappeared in the year 132 AC which means that if he hasn't grown during the hibernation he will be somewhat ninety years old.

My musings on the Cannibal were interrupted when Arthur came into the room, "Your Grace, the Queen Dowager has requested your presence for dinner" He says in an emotionless tone and I kind of feel bad for him, Elia along with other Dornishmen will never forgive him for what we both did, and he will forever be shunned by his countrymen for following me, Dammit Rhaegar, the fall out of your actions are just too much to clean up.

"Arthur wait, I want to ask you something" I call out to Him, He looks at me and says "Yes, your grace" I shake my head "Not as your King but rather as my friend, Do you think that I have gone overboard in my brutality and my ruthlessness"

He doesn't for a while before he finally says "No you weren't, those idiots who called Maekar a bastard lost their tongue because they deserved it, they knew what would happen if they called Maekar a bastard, the rapists, and murderers that you behead isn't new either it's just that the fact that you are doing it personally that scares most people but because we have just come out of a rebellion I think that a little bit of fear is needed to keep the nobles in line, just don't go overboard like your father, be harsh only on those who deserve it, be gentle but firm"

"Thanks, Arthur, it means a lot coming from you" I thank him and I continue "I am sorry Arthur, for everything that I did, I know that it must be hard for you and I honestly don't know how to make it up to you, you are suffering for my actions" I try to apologize to him but he waves it away "It's alright Rhaegar, It what friends are for"

What exactly did Rhaegar do to receive such good friends and such an amazing wife? This dickhead just threw it away for his bloody wretched prophecy.

I walk out of the Chamber to the dining hall, and I see Benjen in his white armor, the poor kid arrived a few months ago and is having his ass handed to him in the training yard but he is improving and soon enough with a year, he will join the Kingsguard.

Speaking of which, the Royal Guard selection is over now the training is going on, and it has been kept hushed as much as possible, We have not acknowledged the presence of such an elite force, all that the court is told is that it is just another military unit. Now those with spies might know what is going on but other than that no one else.

Their training goes beyond simple halberds, they are taught to wield every single weapon possible, and to add to all of that, blind loyalty to House Targaryen is emphasized the most.

Citadel, Oldtown

The Reach

Gormon Tyrell

"This is an insult, an outrage, who does he think that he is that he can just remove the position of the Grandmaester from the Small Council" I ranted at the Conclave the moment that word came from King's Landing that Rhaegar had removed the position of the Grandmaester from the Small Council. Just when I was about to be elected Grandmaester after the most harrowing election in history.

Now of course we all knew that Pycelle had second loyalties to the Lannisters, but that was only after the Citadel but now Rhaegar has thrown everything out.

"He is the King, and while the Conclave elects the Grandmaester, it is the King who decides who gets to be in the Small Council" The smug voice of Archmaester Marwyn replied to me, How I hate that man. He is more than happy at our fall from grace.

Damn him, Damn that Rhaegar, he wasn't supposed to win, I talked with Olenna into ensuring that the might of the Reach remained tied up, but none of us ever expected Rhaegar to personally take command at Storm's End and undermined that fool Mace, I can't believe that spineless fool is my nephew, and this is not including the fact that everyone expected Robert to win in single combat, he was supposed to be a beast on the battlefield while Rhaegar was nothing more than just some Bard Prince.

The one time Robert should have won, he lost. It's like the Gods play with us and they love to piss on our plans even though we are doing our best to remove people from Westeros who think themselves to be above Gods. Those magic-loving fools should have been killed in the Doom of Valyria along with their like. The Dance, the Blackfyre rebellions, Summerhall, and now a coalition between four great houses everything we have tried, it just doesn't seem to work, those bloody Targaryens just keep on surviving.

The Maester from Starfall didn't even bother telling us anything about Lyanna Stark until after the war, but by then the child was already born. I have a good feeling that the Dayne forbade him from sending anything to the Citadel and kept a close eye on him either that or that Maester decided that his loyalty to the House he served was greater than the one to the Citadel.

And to make things worse, he chose Qyburn one of the most unethical and crazy Maesters the Citadel ever had the misfortune of having, he was chosen to take the place of the Chief Physician of King's Landing. A disgraced Maester taking what is rightfully mine, this is the greatest insult that the Citadel has borne, and now a few Houses from the Crownlands, Stormlands, and Riverlands are following suit.

Archmaester Ebrose leans towards me and whispers "Do you think that he is on to us"

I turn to him and whisper back "Most likely, What do you think that we should do?" Of course, Rhaegar is on to us.

He thinks for a while before he says "Now we burn our tracks, and wait out the storm, sooner or later he will let his guard down, but for now, we let things slide just like how we did during Bloodraven's time"

I can't disagree, we have to deal with Rhaegar like how we dealt with Bloodraven, with patience "What do we do about the Maesters of Winterfell and the Eyrie?" They were instrumental in this plot, of course, the ones in Storm's End and Riverrun are dead. Those bastards killed even the Maesters.

"Recall them and then hopefully they will get infected by some disease which will kill them," Ebrose tells me which is something that I agree with.

"Alright then, in the meantime, we should send Marwyn to King's Landing to make peace with the Crown," I tell him and he nods, Dealing with Dragons takes a certain finesse and patience, it's always the long game with them, Don't worry Rhaegar we will take care of you and your house, Magic will be eradicated from Westeros, that is a solemn duty of the Citadel.

What Gormon didn't realize however was that a certain Crow was sitting on the windowsill listening to the entire conversation before flying away.

Highgarden

The Reach

Olenna Tyrell

Listening to my son go on with his jabbering was simply too much for me, I left the hall and sat in my room contemplating this new turn of the game.

Rhaegar was clearly on to the Maesters if his recent actions were something to base on and he was displeased with House Tyrell as well for Mace's actions or rather inactions. He never openly did anything against us but rather it was all subtle in the sense that one has to be an oaf like my idiot of a son to not notice.

He began it by coming and undermining Mace at Storm's End and taking command of a good part of the army and Mace didn't even have a spine to disagree, then after the war, all he did for us was take Garlan as a squire and that too, after the Frey boy, an insult, he then gave key positions to our bannerman but nothing more than a useless title to Mace.

'The Victor of the Stormlands' That title has made Mace's fat head even fatter while in reality, it is nothing more than an empty promise.

And just when Tyrell was about to be elected Grand Maester, he removed the position from the Small Council, How many favors did I waste for this, Just when it seemed that Gormon was about to win, Rhaegar pulled another move that I have to say that I never saw coming.

Garlan is nothing more than a hostage in reality and with a standing army now built, the Crown might have a military edge over the others, and to add to all of that he forbade the Great Houses from marrying each other, and now unless we have permission from him which I doubt he will give, if we do otherwise it will become rebellion.

Damn those rebels, four Great Houses untied against them, and yet they won, and out of that three Great Houses have been wiped out while the fourth has been brought to its knees. The Dance failed to destroy them, the Blackfyres failed five times, and a 'Great Tragedy' also failed, they came close but they never completed the thing.

What will it take to kill these Targaryens?

Only a dragon can kill another dragon and right now Rhaegar's dalliance with the Stark girl has given another opening and this time it just might be enough to finish them off once and for all.

You may have won this round Rhaegar, but the game is not over, it is never over. Just wait.

Casterly Rock

Westerlands

Kevan Lannister

I am sitting in Tywin's solar along with my brothers Tygett and Gerion along with our sister Genna, we just received word that Rhaegar has removed the position of Grand Maester from the Small Council and replaced it with one of his sycophants.

The message clearly stated that Pycelle had second loyalties and so using that as an excuse Rhaegar removed the position of Grand Maester, it meant that Rhaegar knew that Pycelle was Tywin's pet and he was the one that killed Pycelle.

And to compound on all of that, Rhaegar subtly insulted Tywin by making him admit that his men were undisciplined and then he made a mockery and a game of the Mountain's executions, the very same man that Rhaegar knighted. Although to be fair, even I found Gregor's actions appalling, maybe it was for the best that Rhaegar took away the worst influences from the Lannister army, but then again Tywin has always wanted Mad Dogs in his army.

Tywin's main goal after the Battle of the Trident was won by the Royalists was that prove himself loyal to the Royal cause and also to get Jaime back, the first one can be considered a dubious success while the second wasn't even talked about, Jaime was adamant that he stay on in the Kingsguard Jaime has finally found a King he considers worth serving.

Any hope of getting Jon Connington to marry Cersei was also lost when Rhaegar refused to allow such a marriage. Rhaegar is trying to remove all of Lannister's influences from the court.

"So what is going to be your next plan brother, now that all your hopes with the Griffin have fallen" Tygett mockingly asked Tywin, Why do these two have to fight all the time?

"And not to forget Tywin what is your plan now that Rhaegar has blown away your reputation as the most dangerous man in Westeros" Gerion joined in, these two never miss a moment to make fun of Tywin.

In a way, it is true, that Tywin destroyed two houses from the West, and Rhaegar on the other hand destroyed three Great Houses. Thereby propelling him ahead of Tywin and if the report of how he is holding court is true then Rhaegar is doing nothing more than establishing himself as a ruthless ruler, a far cry from the Silver Prince everyone expected.

"That is enough, for now, we bide our time, with Rhaegar's bastard now made a Prince, there is a chance we can break them apart" Tywin finally speaks

"Careful Tywin, if Rhaegar hears that he will most likely rip your tongue out," Tygett says with an insufferable smirk, then he and Gerion howl in laughter.

Tywin doesn't bother to reply other than grinding his teeth.

"This is a new Rhaegar, we have to be careful, one misstep and that will be the end for us" He sternly warns us all.

Then Genna speaks "Who do we get Cersei to marry?" Now that is a question I want to know the answer to.

Tywin stays quiet for a while before he says "Rhaegar has forbidden the Great Houses from marrying into each other, but not into other regions, so I believe that the best bet is to marry Cersei off to Baelor Hightower, the Hightowers will be the perfect match for us, they are in the Capital, they are a powerful house, but not a Great House and we will be able to establish our presence in court"

Yes that is perfect, the Hightowers are our best bet for influence at court but then Genna reminds us "The Hightowers will not dare meddle in Targaryen affairs anymore" Which is true since the Dance of the Dragons, the Hightowers have all but left court, and even when they are in court they are not trusted to a degree at least until the White Bull, the Mad King trusted Ser Gerold and for once it was a smart choice, Ser Gerold was loyal and he knew politics and so he managed to navigate the Small Council without losing his head something that the Mad King's sycophants certainly can't say

Tywin waves it off "That's alright, Cersei will bring them back into the game, If Rhaegar thinks that he is done with us, then he is mighty mistaken"