Aegon Snow

-Chapter 179-

-POV Viserys Targaryen-

As we were out of earshot, I observed the tense exchange between Daenerys and Aegon, more concerned than anyone else to see this alliance come to fruition because it would propel the empire and House Targaryen as a whole to a whole new level.

Today, just by being a Prince, I was more powerful, more respected, richer, and nobler than all the deceased kings and lords of our House, and that was because we undeniably dominated the world.

The Empire had the largest and most powerful army in the known world, thanks to the overtrained imperial troops.

Although we were not yet the true hegemons of the seas and oceans, we controlled the Sunset Sea as well as the strait, the greatest maritime crossroads in the known world.

The improvement of our fleet was still ongoing, and I am convinced that in less than a year, we will be able to compete with the fleets of cities such as Volantis and Braavos, which had thousands of warships.

When I saw the two begin to raise their voices, I prayed that I had not bet my head and those of my family on a foolish dream, but I quickly felt relieved when the mood eased, and they signaled for us to return.

I moved forward, uncertain of what was going to happen, and finally Daenerys took my throne and sat on it, as we all stood before them, waiting to know what their verdict would be.

Aegon did not leave any time for suspense and said, "We have agreed. She has surrendered to the empire, her crown is now mine, and all her lands and possessions are also mine. In exchange for this, I made her two promises: the first is that she will hold the title of Empress as my wife, and the second is that the exile of all her vassals is now lifted. You can all now return home."

"What about our lands?" said Edmure Tully, addressing Daenerys and not Aegon.

'This is a grave insult since he is not only contesting Dany's decision but also Aegon's,' I thought, placing a hand on Loyal, simply waiting for Aegon's signal.

"Nothing changes. All confiscated lands and those integrated into the imperial domain are now part of the lands of the Imperial House, House Targaryen," said Aegon authoritatively, accepting no contestation.

"But…"

"Edmure…" his uncle tried to say to silence him.

"No, we fought for you, my queen. You promised to return to us…"

"Return what to you?" I said in a low and dangerous tone, knowing full well what he wanted.

"What belongs to us. Although I understand that House Targaryen granted us control of the Riverlands, Riverrun has been my family's seat for countless generations," said Edmure Tully.

"And you lost it by refusing to bend the knee. Of course, for me to pardon your crimes, you will have to swear loyalty, obedience, and you will all kneel before me and the Court once we return to Dragonstone," said Aegon.

"Unless you prefer to die in disputed lands like a common mercenary, Ser Edmure," Aegon added, emphasizing that he was no longer a noble but nothing more than a hedge knight, which I greatly appreciated.

Honestly, I was a bit afraid that he might agree to give them back their former fiefs, but I could see that I had nothing to fear and that he honored his word to leave Riverrun as a fief for me and my descendants.

Brynden Tully, the Blackfish, pressed hard on his nephew's shoulder, forcing him to kneel, which the young man, realizing the reality, finally did docilely and said:

"We are grateful for the grace you grant us. We will serve you with the greatest loyalty today, and this will not end until we have drawn our last breath."

Aegon nodded and waited for the others to do the same, which they all did easily.

I was surprised to see the sand snakes kneel and swear loyalty to Aegon, but what surprised me the most was to see Aegon accept the loyalty oaths of all, even Tyene's.

'He is planning something. I just hope he does not cause any damage to the budding relationship between him and Dany,' I thought, eagerly awaiting the moment when she would start giving birth to real dragons, dragons that would make me the grandfather or great-grandfather of the future emperor.

A small smile appeared on my face as I thought of the Lannister whore who thought she still had a chance to sit on the throne.

'What a fool, I almost feel sorry for her when she finds out that Dany will marry Aegon and she sees what a true empress looks like.'

'Only a dragon can rule another dragon. No lion will dictate anything to me.'

---

-Tonight-

-POV Joffrey Lannister-

"Joffrey," said my uncle, approaching me with a small glass of wine.

'At least that hasn't changed about him,' I thought as I saw him dressed in strange clothes with a long beard.

He no longer looked like the Tyrion who had left the capital; he looked more like a sort of beggar who had taken a bath but could not hide the grime emanating from him.

"You don't seem very happy with the result," said my uncle, seeing my lack of response.

I raised my eyebrows without saying anything, thinking, 'Who would be happy about this? Being a true Lannister, we could have had a Lannister Emperor, and this whore from nowhere tried to screw it all up.'

"You learned a lot from father, but know one thing: you will always remain yourself. Even if you try to copy Tywin Lannister, you will only be a pale imitation of him. Be inspired by him, his strengths, and not his weaknesses."

"Grandfather had no weaknesses," I said, squinting at the only person who helped me become who I am today.

'The person who helped me see that I was living in an illusion all my life, the only person who told me that I could have everything as long as I put in the effort because I am a Lannister.'

"I wouldn't have shot him in the abdomen with an arrow while he was shitting if that were truly the case," said Tyrion before leaving.

After two steps, he stopped and said, "I would like you to be careful in the Summer Isles. They say Prince Viserys doesn't like Lannisters. So, if you ever go there, remember the words of your nasty dwarf uncle and be careful of Prince Viserys."

"You think he could harm me?" I said.

Tyrion shrugged and went off to talk to Oberyn's whores.

Meanwhile, my thoughts wouldn't stop spinning in my head.

'If he ever tries to kill me, then he will have a hell of a surprise. The Targaryens aren't the only ones who can do magic,' I thought with a sly smile.

---

-POV Tyene Sand-

While everyone was having fun, drinking, and partying, pretending to like each other, I couldn't take my eyes off the Emperor.

Since Arianne had managed to get me out of the capital, I had done everything possible to put as much distance as possible between myself and the emperor.

I didn't think he would go after Arianne.

I knew full well he would try to go after Dorne, but I didn't think Arianne would let him.

'Who would have thought he could repudiate her,' I thought.

"Stop staring at him," Ellaria said, putting herself in my line of sight.

"I can't help it," I said, emptying my wine glass.

She smiled and then said:

"Keep smiling and do nothing. The instigator of this whole story was Illyrio Mopatis. He manipulated you, and in a moment of distress, you gave in. That's all. You will plead with him, and you will bring my daughters back safe and sound because the Empress will not tolerate him torturing children."

"And if he already has?"

"She gave me her word that she would return my daughters safe and sound as long as we all renounced our revenge."

"And we are really going to do it?" asked Obara.

"We lost. We must accept it. We were on the brink of death. Fortunately, we were all with the Queen and not in Meereen, otherwise, we wouldn't even be here to talk about it," said Ellaria.

Obara frowned, displeased, but said nothing. Ellaria did not stop there, as she said:

"We cannot and will do nothing. Is that clear?"

Nymeria added: "If something happened to our little sisters because of our desire for revenge, our father would curse us and not be able to rest in peace."

Obara finally said: "Very well, but how are we going to ask the Emperor for the return of our sisters?"

"We will do nothing. The Queen…"

"The Empress," I said, correcting Ellaria. The title of empress was much stronger, imposing, and significant in Westeros than that of Queen.

"The Empress," Ellaria corrected herself, "promised to address the issue with the Emperor once she arrived at Dragonstone."

"The Empress has little power in the Empire as long as the Emperor is there," said Nymeria, unenthusiastic about the new Empress's promise.

"Arianne had little power because she was not the Emperor's equal, which is different for Empress Daenerys because she is a Targaryen, she owns a dragon, and Prince Viserys is her most loyal supporter within the Empire"

"Viserys?" said Ellaria, surprised.

I nodded and then added:

"Viserys wants a true dragon as the Emperor's successor. Although he did not directly formulate it this way, everyone knows he is ambivalent about the Emperor's birth circumstances, and a marriage with a non-Targaryen woman, especially a non-Valyrian, would dilute the dragon lineage even further."

"That's good to know. I might mention it to His Majesty tonight," said Ellaria, looking at the Queen, who hadn't spoken to her brother once.

'She is trying to get into the Empress's good graces,' I thought, looking at Ellaria who was doing her best to make a good impression even though I could see her worry for her daughters sweating out.

"Once all this is over, we should return to Dorne. I don't feel safe near him," I said, referring to the Emperor, while making a sign with my eyes so she would know who I was talking about.

"You're so funny," said Obara, mocking me.

I frowned, and she said:

"I talked with the others earlier, and Queen Bellegere is dead. She was killed because it was proven she participated in the attack. With Arianne's dismissal, this places the Empress as the sole ruler alongside the Emperor. As long as we continue to stay in her good graces, we have nothing more to fear from the Emperor."

"In any case, we can no longer return to Dorne. Doran would only welcome us with spears and snakes ready to bite us, given that his grandson lost his title of heir to the Iron Throne because of us," said Nymeria.

"Not to mention Quentyn's resurrection. Now I know why that weak bastard agreed to sell my daughters to the Emperor," said Ellaria.

"The frog won't accept us either now that she has found a backbone. She will do everything in her power to erase all of Arianne's former supporters," said Obara.

"If you keep calling her that, she will surely continue to hate us," said Nymeria.

'They don't seem to realize how hard it will be to change this man's mind. I saw him at work when I was Arianne's lady-in-waiting, and it won't be an easy task.'

"You have too much faith in her. You don't know Aegon well enough. I know him, and I doubt he will change his mind because she asks him nicely."

"You don't know the queen either. She can be extremely persuasive," said Ellaria.

Obara and Nymeria nodded, and the latter added:

"If Daenerys Targaryen said something, then she will do it. She only has one word."

Although I was not reassured, I sighed to relax and, while serving myself some wine, I met the Emperor's gaze. He gave me a big smile before raising his glass in my direction.

'May the Seven help me and grant me their mercy,' I thought as I finished speaking.