Gasi

Maegor XXV 

2nd Moon, 37AC

"Important things, huh? How unlike you," I said to my brother with a smirk. We were currently sitting on one of the sizeable balconies that were attached to my new manse. There was easily enough room for five tables, filled with a half dozen people each. But I cleared them all out to speak with my brother. 

I had been quite surprised to see my brother actually take me up on my invitation. Especially not with my eldest niece and nephew. I was expecting him to simply not reply again, even after he took in my wife and children during the war with Braavos. 

Yet I was proven wrong, Quicksilver and Dreamfyre appeared over the city and landed in my expansive courtyard, which was now much too full. "I ought to move Vhagar to the coast,' I thought with a frown. As it stood the entire courtyard was taken up by dragons, and my dragonpit in the city had barely begun construction.

"...Yes… I am afraid I have erred deeply, and I need to figure out how to fix it," my brother looked both nervous and apologetic. Like he was dreading what was about to happen or what we would discuss. 

I was not surprised he was fearful. He did effectively ignore me for years on end. I could easily hold it against him and squeeze some concessions from him. But I would rather not do that, hold it against him I mean. I would get my concessions through other means. 

"This will not be the first time I have talked you through a problem. Shall we begin?" I offered and my brother returned a nervous smile. 

"Yes, yes… Now then. Where to begin," he said, twiddling his thumbs. 

I let out an internal sigh as I remembered the headache it was to deal with my brother in these situations. He was hopelessly nervous about making mistakes in some places and cavalier in others. It seemed I would have to lead this conversation along. 

"Do you have any questions for me?" I said with a sigh. Perhaps leading with some lighter topics could ease our way into whatever was troubling my brother. 

"Oh… uhm. Yes! Yes, I do!" my brother looked thanfkul for the lifeline I threw him and I simply nodded my head. 'Right back to before,' I let myself smile a bit. 

"Well, then. Ask away," I said even though it looked like my brother was already preparing a lengthy series of questions. 

"First I must ask, where do you keep finding all of these trinkets and bobbles? The "printing press" you sent over has been a large discussion of court for well over two moons now. Do not tell me you are inventing them yourself?" my brother looked excited and I could not help but smile proudly. The printing press might just be "my" most important "discovery" after all. 

It had been a goal of mine for a while, and once a successful prototype had been produced by one of my artisans, I simply needed to refine it further. This was simple enough, more artisans were brought onto the project and soon enough, I had a real bonafide printing press. 

The doors it opened for me were like nothing else. The literacy campaigns I had been organizing were finally beginning to get moving. More and more Pentoshi were now qualified to begin teaching and the systems were finally in place. 

"Of course not, I have people making them for me, full-time, all they do is invent things for me. I am much too busy to do it myself," I told my brother, keeping the identities of my workers secret for now. I doubted my brother was smart enough to try and poach them from me but I didn't need Westerosi getting ideas. Surely I could outbid any potential competitors for my artisans but I did not want to. 

"That must be quite expensive, no? I cannot think of a single lord who would potentially waste gold on these men, not even the Lannisters," my brother looked confused and I barely repressed a sigh. I had been working on reforming the attitude of my friends and allies regarding the nature of technological and societal progression for a while now but it seemed my brother was inflicted by the same curse. They simply could not see the benefits until they were in front of them. 

It was part of why I was so heavily invested in the education of my own children. I had hired the greatest scholars Essos had to offer to teach my children, but I did not simply trust the stagnant scholars with the future of my children. I heavily controlled what they learned and from whom, and I made it a point to personally teach them lessons when possible. 

I also made it a point to watch what exactly my mother and wife were teaching our children. I loved them both dearly but I had reason to believe they would not be a wholly positive influence on them. Given my own abnormal childhood and how I knew the me from the book in the past turned out. I made sure to watch what exactly my mother intended to and was teaching my children, so far it seemed she was fine but I still watched her regardless. 

Shiera on the other hand had exceeded my expectations. She returned from Dragonstone far closer to the Shiera I knew back in King's Landing, much to my delight. She was still demure and obedient in public but a bit of the fire I knew her for had returned. She was more than happy to coordinate with me regarding the instruction of our children so I devoted a bit less of my attention to watching her actions. 

"I have plenty of gold to spend. Not to mention, many of these inventions are making me plenty of gold back in return," I said proudly. I was not merely having these new technologies made to stare at them. I already had prospective buyers in each of the Free Cities for Printing Presses, not to mention several very kind letters drafted by the Citadel in Oldtown. 

I had many more inventions making me gold here in Pentos. The Bank I had set up following my conquest of Braavos finally got operational in the last year and began drawing in gold itself, not that I was necessarily dependent on my bank of course. I had more sources of income than I knew what to do with. 

Perhaps my most lucrative were the trading companies I had set up. Most of Pentos's trade was still conducted with the Northern Coast of Essos and Westeros but there was a market to be tapped. Organizing many of the merchants and sailors into trading companies was not a hard sell, especially when they learned they would not be taking on all the costs of ventures. I did not have the pull to set up trading companies to trade east, with Volantis, Qarth, Slaver's Bay, and further beyond as of yet. But those plans were on the docket. 

Then of course there was the simple increased productivity of my lands in Essos. Small scale land reform in some areas, getting motivated and skilled farmers indebted to me and working toward increasing their farm yields, not to mention the proliferation of iron plows and draft animals among the countryside led to an explosive increase in farm yields last year. Granted, the peace Pentos was in also likely played a side in that, but I benefitted all the same.

"Right, you conquered Braavos… how is that going?" he said a little disinterestedly.

"It is going about as well as can be expected, their economy is in shambles but I have allowed them to maintain their trading fleets, albeit lesser than they were before. So they should recover eventually," I said with a shrug. Truth be told I did not care much about Braavos, they had been humbled and made weaker than Pentos which was what I was after. If they managed to recover it hardly mattered either, the center of Northwestern Essos had unequivocally switched to Pentos now, and so long as I remained here it would stay that way. 

"How are you running this realm anyway?" my brother asked a bit nervously. 'What is he thinking?' I tried to deduce, even if it was likely hopeless. My brother switched between stubbornness and abject stupidity so often it was hard to fathom. 

"Pentos is being governed by myself, along with the conclave to a lesser degree. The interior towns and cities are typically governed by councils of free landholders, who work with my courts, officers, and the local garrisons to enforce my will." Truthfully it was a little bit more complicated than that. There were local laws and edicts passed by the individual free landholder councils that were in addition to edicts of my own. But the courts I established were mostly sorting that out, with the aid of the pliant conclave as well of course. 

The conclave remained useful, even if their previous powers had been heavily reduced. Much of the new court system I established was now staffed by longtime loyalists within the conclave. Given that most of what they did nowadays was sort out conflicts between local laws and broader Pentoshi ones. It was fine to peel a few off onto other assignments. 

"..." Aenys looked discouraged and I let out an audible sigh before staring my brother down. 

"Spit it out." 

"Huh?"

"You had something important to discuss, yes? We have dithered enough." I had hoped that I might ease our way into whatever topic was eating at him but it seemed like it had failed. 'Time to pull off the bandage,' I thought with my maintained glare. 

"Very well then, do you intend to stay in Pentos, Valonqar?" Aenys said as he seemed to muster his courage, returning my stare. 

"That is a good question," I spoke my thoughts aloud. It really was a good question, one I did not really have the answer to. 

While my brother's look turned to one of despondency. I turned my mind inward, I did not know how to answer him. Obviously I wanted to return to Dragonstone, to secure dragons for my children and eventual grandchildren and return my childhood home to its rightful place. But I had a lot of things keeping me here, not just out of duty but out of want here. 

I had built a true life and future in Essos. Not all of it was necessarily planned but I ended up with it all the same. I had wealth that would even make the Lannisters jealous, I had a burgeoning empire to pass onto my children, and I had a happy and safe family. 

'Should I really return to Westeros?' I thought with a small frown, I hoped that Aenys did not see it in the dim light of the night. 

Obviously, I would never relinquish my holdings in Essos, they were too valuable and I had put in too much effort to lose them. But returning at all would draw my attention away from what was happening here, and it seemed like Essos was rearing for war once again. 

First and foremost was Khal Oko's Khalasar. My Black Company had shared some small clashes with his raiding parties a few times outside of Norvos. But it seemed like he was getting ready to leave the region for good.

He had ramped up his taxes, essentially pillaging the countryside that used to feed his armies year-round. He had also moved his base of operations from Ar Noy to Qohor, indicating that he may be bringing his horde east. Most damning of all was his retreat from Ny Sar. I had to scramble my forces to secure the city but I just barely managed it. If he were to leave the Northern Rhoyne valley, it would make a power vacuum, one that Volantis looked eager to fill. 

Volantis long since had designs on the entire Rhoyne basin, even before they acquired the perfect casus belli. One just needed to look at their efforts on Dagger Lake to see that they had designs on the region, and I could not very well leave them unchecked. 

Essos had essentially been split into two camps following the humbling of Braavos. On one side sat my new Pentoshi state. With the rump states of Braavos and Norvos as official vassals, and the state of Lorath as an unofficial vassal. 

Then there was the Volantene empire. They still officially went by the name of Volantis but their realm could only be described as an empire. Outnumbering the rest of Essos west of the Forest of Qohor by a factor of three. The only reasons they were not currently in charge of the entirety of Essos were the timely intervention of my father and an unofficial coalition of all the other Free Cities, not to mention the inefficiency of their slave state. That coalition was gone now, however, and Volantis seemed to have recovered. 

They had conquered Mantarys last year and had even made an official peace deal with the three whores to the south of Pentos. Who had in turn created a defensive pact between the three of them. More troubling than that, however, I had been hearing rumors of Volantis attempting to clear the Hell Road from Mantarys to Oros. All I had to go off of were rumors but if even one of those rumors proved to be true, I could not afford to leave Volantis alone. They would have to be destroyed, root and stem.

So the prospect of leaving Essos for an extended period of time was not really possible, not without a reason of course. I did want to reestablish ties with the other half of my family and protect my foolish brother, but I had my own responsibilities here. So if my brother really did want me to return, and help him in whatever way I could manage. I would need a really good reason. 

"Unfortunately, Brother, I cannot return fully. I have obligations here that I must fulfill," I began and my brother's look turned from one of despondency to one of despair before I continued. 

"But I might be able to be convinced to return, in part at the very least," I said and my brother seemed to have a bit of hope return behind his purple eyes. I disliked essentially extorting my brother for concessions but I could not help him out of the kindness in my heart. I had a family I had to provide for, and I could not afford to devot my time and energy in an endeavor that did not benefit them in any way. 

"Name your price," my brother said instantly, without a moment's thought. Like he had been thrown a lifeline and held onto it for dear life. I was shocked at his brazenness. 'How bad does he want me to return?' I could not help but wonder. 

"Dragonstone," I said simply. It was ultimately the most valuable thing my brother could give me. It was the last place on earth that the dragons called home, it was where their eggs hatched, and it was my childhood home too. If my brother would not give me Dragonstone, then I would not return, it was as simple as that. 

My brother uncharacteristically looked deep in thought and I imagined he would end our haggling here. If he refused me my rightful possession then I would not return to Westeros. I would not be against giving him advice to ensure he did not die, but I would not help him rule or solve the rebellions that were no doubt stewing right as we spoke. 

"I… I need some guarantees…" my brother started and I was intrigued, I had never seen my brother actually haggle for something. 'Did he actually learn something back in Westeros?' I thought with a smile. 

"Which are?" 

"The hatcheries on Dragonstone, you and your descendants cannot deny me or my descendants access to them," Aenys said with a clearly faked confidence. To say I was impressed would be an understatement, I figured he would either try to kick the pot down the road or he would simply deny me. To hear that he had actually thought this through, I was shocked. 

"Of course, how might we distribute the hatchlings and eggs?" I continued pulling on the thread, hoping to actually get a deal done. The prospect of actually returning Dragonstone to myself was a longshot but it might just happen. 

"Uhm… I do not know. But there remain plenty of eggs in the pit, I suppose we can simply discuss any new hatchlings and eggs, perhaps the future of each can be decided between the Prince of Dragonstone and the King of the Seven Kingdoms." My brother looked to be gaining a little confidence in his answers and I smiled. I did not mind if I had to share the hatcheries, so long as I could get a stake in them. 

"Very well, the castle will be open to all Targaryen visitors, and the hatcheries will be jointly shared," I laid out the terms and my brother seemed to smile at the extra term I had thrown in. Dragonstone being a place of peace where any and all Targaryens were welcome was an idea I liked. Hopefully, it would mitigate the potential for the island to one day be turned into a contentious possession of my house, even if it was likely to happen anyway. 

"Excellent, once I assume the throne I will transfer Dragonstone to you. Will you rejoin me in Westeros then? Be my hand as we discussed oh so long ago?" my brother looked hopeful but I could only offer a light frown. 

"Brother… I cannot devot the time needed to being Hand of the King with my own territories here in Essos. I will help you however, but we are not done discussing," I said with a more obvious frown then, and Aenys returned a similar look. It seemed like he was truly hoping for me to be his Hand of the King, unfortunately, I did not think that was possible. 

"More to discuss?" my brother looked incredulous, as if he was surprised I would not merely settle for Dragonstone. It was my main goal, and one I would not agree to without, but there was more I wanted from my brother. Thankfully this would be less one sided. 

"I think this is a great time to discuss betrothals, don't you think?" I said with a small smile. Regretfully the age gap made the chance of getting my blood on the Iron Throne unlikely, but my brother had more children, and depending on the sex of my soon to be born child. I may just need another Targaryen. But my smile was quickly dispelled as my brother paled at my words.

"I uhm, do you think we might be able to postpone this talk, Brother?" Aenys offered weakly and I was even more befuddled. 

"And why would we need to do that?" I offered him an incredulous look of my own. I could not let my brother continue to kick the pot down the road. If I was to justify my intervention in Westeros to my wife and mother, and later to my children, I needed concrete promises and oaths. 

"I… have already angered my wife greatly. I fear that she may never speak to me again if I return and declare betrothals without her knowledge," my brother said while scratching his teeth. 'Did he upset her by coming here?' I thought before smiling a bit.

"She will get over it, my wife is not particularly enthused by the prospect either," I said, trying to assuage the fears of my brother. It was truthful of course, I had already discussed my plans with Shiera, to get one of Aenys's daughters for our son Daeron to marry. She was not thrilled with the prospect, preferring for Daeron to marry Visenya.

She was kind of indoctrinated into the false notion that my mother reiterated no doubt hundreds of times. That House Targaryen married sibling to sibling, as they were the most pure. On the face of it that was true, it was at least for the last one hundred years. But in the Freehold they were far more political about marriages, and the situation I was quickly finding myself in resembled that far more than our isolation on Dragonstone. So with my mother's support, Shiera begrudgingly accepted, even if she remained somewhat unhappy at the prospect of Daeron marrying one of his cousins.

To say that my wife disliked Alyssa Velaryon was an understatement, they seemed to dislike each other at the very least the moment Alyssa dropped my wife from her retinue all those years ago. But it seemed in the intervening years, Alyssa had grown to hate Shiera. Not that it mattered anyway, like it or not. This was a world where husbands made decisions, and I merely needed to convince Aenys to make one here. 

"Perhaps, but still…" Aenys said with a shudder. 

"Aenys," I said calmly and with an authoritative tone, getting his attention. 

"Are you going to let your wife rule your kingdom when you ascend to the Iron Throne?" I asked him the simple question and Aenys looked a little insulted. 

"Of course not!" Aenys said quickly, and I smiled. 

"That is what she is doing now, part of being king is making deals and hard decisions. Taking the opinion of those around you is well and good, but do remember that you and you alone will one day be king of the Seven Kingdoms," I tried to remind my brother, hoping that this would both reinforce his own reign one day and get me the betrothal I wanted right now. 

"Right, right… so then, betrothals," my brother seemed to muster his false courage once again and faced me down. 

"I would propose we betroth your daughter Alysanne to my son Daeron," I said and my brother looked deep in thought. 

This was the only match age wise that worked right now, and I knew that tying my branch to Aenys's was the best chance I had at the moment to prevent our two branches from fraying and potentially dancing. 

Alysanne came with her own concerns of course. If she ended up anything at all like how she turned out in my past life, then my son would be in for a tough marriage. Even then, I had faith that if the betrothal was made early enough, my mother would find a way to muscle into my currently one year old niece's education. Plus I am certain I could get my wife involved as well. 

I felt a bit bad knowing she would likely have had at least what seemed like a decently happy marriage with my nephew Jaehaerys, but politics and my own children came before my past life here, and securing Alysanne for my son would bode well for my house in the short and long term. 

Aenys hummed to himself before I continued. "We could even bundle in the transfer of Dragonstone into the betrothal as the dowry, for optics," I offered. Truthfully, it would not look good if Aenys simply handed over the island of Dragonstone to a formally and de facto independent state in any way, but making it part of the dowry would at least make it seem a bit more justified. 

"I… if we are to do this, I would betroth my son Viserys to your daughter Visenya as well. If my son cannot marry his little sister, then he needs a new prospect for his future match," Aenys said and this time it was my turn to hum and offer a bit of a frown. 

'That won't go over well with Shiera…' I thought with a bit of dread. It was fair at first glance, a daughter for a daughter. But it was not quite so simple, Alysanne would presumably be the ruler of much of Essos with my son, meanwhile, Viserys's and Visenya's prospects would be in question back in Westeros. Even discounting the fairness, this was sure to cause an argument between me and my wife.

My wife was very invested in the future of our first and currently only daughter. Importantly as well, we never discussed this possibility. She was under the impression that Visenya would marry Baelon if I managed to secure a cousin match, which would not come to pass if this were to happen. 

I doubted she would throw a shitfit like Alyssa was no doubt going to do. But the anger that would spawn from her would absolutely not be fun. Not to mention it would throw the future bride of my second son into question, depending on the sex of my child in my wife's womb of course. If we had another son on the way, then I would need to begin searching elsewhere for brides. 

House Velaryon would be my first pick, of course. Aeron welcomed his first child into the world almost two years ago, a wonderful little girl named Lianna. As of now, she was effectively the number one option for Baelon's potential bride publicly, if I could not secure another Targaryen, be they a cousin or sister. If I were to get another son, however, I would need to find another. 

Daemon Velaryon's progeny were next up. He has also welcomed a daughter into the world a year ago, his third one actually. I would not mind betrothing my potential third son to one of his daughters, but if I could not get one of them, then I would pursue an Old Blood family. 

There were other Valyrian-descended houses in Westeros and Pentos of course, but the benefits brought from a Volantene marriage outweighed them. I already controlled Pentos and a marriage to the Celtigars did not bring me much. To a member of the Old Blood, however? Their blood was nearly impeccable and could get me more eyes behind the Black Walls. 

So I was loath to promise my daughter's hand to my nephew Viserys, but I did so anyway. "Very well, I can agree to that. Our daughters can wed their respective spouses when they turn six and ten," I said, trying to dispel my frown, and my brother tried to do the same. 

"Six and ten? Shouldn't we just wait for their flowering? That is the traditional time for them to marry," Aenys said and I let a little bit of rage seep from my tone. 

"No. If they flower before they are six and ten, then they will wait, and if they have not flowered by then, then we will wait for them to do so. I will not marry children to each other," I said with venom in my tone. I would not marry any of my daughters, present or potential, to anyone before they were well and truly ready. Childbirth was dangerous enough in this world as is. 

"Then perhaps we can just decide the date of their marriage at a future time, as we do not exactly know when they will be ready. What about the dowry? Dragonstone will be the dowry of my darling Alysanne, to be delivered to your family upon my ascension to the Iron Throne, but what of your daughter Visenya?" Aenys realized he had stepped into a touchy subject and quickly shifted the topic. 'Smart,' I thought with a glare. 

"What is it you want? If it is gold, I assure you that she will have the dowry of a proper Targaryen princess," I promised easily. Honestly, I was damn near drowning in gold. Even with my extensive investments in property and trading companies, I still had so much gold it probably put several Westerosi Kingdoms combined to shame. 

"Hmm, I am not exactly hurting for gold as of now. I am more interested in your artisans. I want their proteges and their inventions for Westeros," he laid out his demand and I damn near let out a tsk. I was more than happy to let Westeros acquire the inventions being created by my artisans, as getting the inventions implemented and used by the population was half the battle, but I would prefer they pay for them. 

'I suppose they technically are,' I thought with a bit of a frown. The price for Westeros to access my artisan's innovations was Princess Alysanne Targaryen and the Island of Dragonstone. 

"Very well, after you ascend the throne, I will send some artisans over along with some of the inventions and experts in their usage, along with the gold needed to pay their salaries for a year," I promised and Aenys looked pleased with himself. I threw in that last bit to improve the optics of this. A dowry with no gold exchanged would look odd after all. 

"Excellent, I will announce the betrothals when I return to Westeros. I ask that you wait for me to do that before announcing the betrothals here," Aenys said as he tried his best to return to his previously calm demeanor. I did the same before asking a question of my own. 

"Will our father raise objections to this?" I was curious, to say the least. I had not spoken with my father once since my last plea to escape my betrothal. So all I had to go on was my wife's words. 

"No, he has already told me he would like it if our families reunited," Aenys said quickly before pausing.

"Well… he might have some complaints about the dowries. But we can simply wait to announce them. Our daughters will not be marrying for well over a decade after all," Aenys said tiredly and I could not help but share his sentiment. We covered quite a bit in this discussion, he was correct in calling it important. 

With the hard stuff out of the way, I wished to lighten the mood, so I figured I would offer a little challenge. "Tomorrow we should race to and from Ghoyan Drohe. It has been far too long since we had a proper race," I said with a smile and Aenys readily followed. 

"Of course, it has been far too long since I last humbled you," Aenys said pridefully and I almost choked on my spit. I forgot how prideful he was about that. 

"We will have to see about that brother, in case you have not noticed. Terrax is quite a bit bigger than Quicksilver now," I said with a cocky smile. Terrax was likely around one-third the size of Balerion, whereas Quicksilver was barely one-quarter from what I could tell. 

"Size does not indicate speed, Valonqar," Aenys said as he stood from his chair. We argued about the merits of our dragons all the way back to Aenys's guest chambers.

'I will prove that asshole wrong,' I decided as I watched him disappear into his dark room. 

…

As the screams of my wife once more rang out through the halls of my manse. I could only grip the walls of the balcony harder. 'This is the worst,' I thought as another scream of agony crashed through the air. 

I hated how scary childbirth was in this world. Not only was the process itself horrendously dangerous, with the prospect of a breach birth meaning essentially the guaranteed death of the mother and the baby. Thankfully, the healers and my mother already confirmed that Shiera did not have to worry about that, but the weeks afterward were almost as worrying as the birth itself. 

Targaryens rarely got sick, with only the worst diseases like the Shivers and Red Death being a threat to non-dragon riding Targaryens. Dragon riding Targaryens meanwhile had essentially nothing to fear from illness or disease, so long as they were physically healthy and fit. 

The extremely young and old were more susceptible, but even the blanket protection allowed me to feel a bit less stressed about my son or daughter who was about to be born. Especially with the knowledge that if worst came to worse. I could place Baelon's egg in their cradle and pray. My wife on the other hand was a far greater concern.

Shiera was distinctly not a Targaryen, and even if she was, she was still much more susceptible than any of the rest of our family given her diluted blood. I had essentially beaten the idea of cleanliness to the healers working with Shiera and my mother. Forcing them to wash their hands and damn near the whole room with the cleaning alcohol I had one of my artisans work on. 

I would keep a tight leash on alcohol as a product. Given that true spirits and high-proof alcohols did not really exist in this world, I was wary of introducing such a substance into the world at large. There were no societal stigmas or stipulations against such substances. I wanted to move this world forward not backward and I feared the spread of alcoholism would certainly make that more difficult. 

But even with my precautions, I still feared deeply for my wife. I knew that every childbirth could be extremely dangerous and infections regularly killed women and all I could do was wait. 

"Fuck!" I said as I brought my armored hand down onto the balcony wall. Smashing the excellent wooden furnishing. 

"You alright there?" Aeron asked, tiredly, and I fixed a glare on him. I welcomed the distraction truthfully, but I was not in a happy mood. 

"Better than you," I quipped and I heard Aeron wince. He himself offered to spar with me to distract myself from Shiera's labors but he still stood no chance against me. I threw him and a few of my guards around the training yard for a few hours before I got bored and returned to the balcony. It was the closest my mother would let me get to my wife. 

"Yeah… at least I get what you are going through this time," Aeron said as he leaned on the balcony, wincing all the while. I felt bad momentarily before another scream of agony from Shiera ended those thoughts. 

"How is Lady Narha?" I asked, desperate to distract myself. I just had to have faith that my mother would keep Shiera hale and healthy. She knew plenty of tinctures and medical practices unknown to even the most skilled archmaesters. If anyone could assure me she would be alright, it would be my mother. 

"She is fine, she seems to have gotten over her morning sickness, so that is good," Aeron said with a bit of a chuckle. He himself was still getting used to being a father, so I could not blame him too much. 

House Brenyl pounced hard once Aeron made it clear he was looking for a wife. As it turned out they were actually keeping Lady Narha unwed to pursue Aeron. Whether they had some big-picture idea in mind or not I had no clue. Regardless, my backup was born and my friend had a proper distraction from military matters. 

"Ah, there you are," I heard my brother say from the entrance to the balcony and I welcomed his presence. I did not mind speaking with Aeron but we spoke so often that we rarely had new things to talk about. 

"Yeah, where were you?" I asked my previously absent brother. He disappeared without a word about an hour ago, and I had not seen him once in that time. 

"I was with the children, Rhaena is quite worried," Aenys said as he took a seat on one of the many fine chairs on the balcony. 

'That makes two of us,' I thought with a frown. I had no real idea why, but Rhaena was quite fond of my wife. It seriously made me question the parenting of my goodsister. Given what I knew from my previous life, it was safe to assume my questions would be backed up by her actions. 

Another scream made the three of us wince before Aenys smacked himself on the cheeks before speaking. "I cannot believe I have forgotten until now, but Maegor. What are those dark spectacles on Shiera's face?" my brother asked and I quickly answered. 

Aenys and his family had been in Pentos for just over two sennights before Shiera started her labors. In that time Aenys had asked me plenty of things, and I was kind of waiting for him to ask me about Shiera's glasses but he never did. 

"They are spectacles, to both aid her vision and protect her eyes from the sun," I said curtly before Aenys offered me a look that said he wanted to know more. 

I let out a sigh before continuing. Ordinarily, I would have loved to delve into the process of their procurement but they were both incredibly complicated and I was in a particularly bad mood. 

"I hired on some Myrish Glassworkers to work on some of my projects. Their work in lens-making led to a breakthrough, and they managed to produce lenses that aided Shiera in seeing properly again. They were tinted to provide a little relief for her eyes," I explained simply. 

Getting Shiera's sight restored to how it was before was a multi-year-long project and was only completed three moons before Aenys and his family arrived. Her tinted glasses would not protect her sensitive eyes from direct sunlight, but they should make bright areas a little less unpleasant. 

She told me previously that it did not bother her very much. She tended to stay indoors anyway after all, but I insisted on it. It was a small price to pay to make her life even marginally better. 

"Hired on… I suppose I have never asked you, Brother, do you use slaves?" Aenys asked with a hint of disgust on his tone but I quickly dispelled that notion. 

"Absolutely not," I answered quickly. I of course did buy plenty of slaves' freedom, but I never personally owned any. Slavery disgusted me, and since I was currently crusading against its usage in Pentos, using slaves myself would make me a colossal hypocrite. 

"Good," Aenys breathed a sigh of relief, and I took a moment to thank my ancestors who had given up the practice of slavery. Trying to get rid of it among my own family would have been far more troublesome. 

My efforts in the city to end the institution of slavery were far easier in comparison to what a nightmare that would have been, given I can simply impose my will for the most part. The new methods of wealth generation elsewhere, particularly in trade and production, had led to many of the smaller magisters turning toward those more lucrative means of enrichment. Getting them to free their slaves in exchange for shares in trading companies or patronage licenses was an easy feat. 

Dislodging slavery from the major landholding magisters was a much harder sell. The ending of the slave trade had been an easy start. As now all slave trades had to be done with governmental approval, which was never given. So no new slaves were coming into Pentos, which meant that all I had to do was work on reducing the current population. 

Providing a successful alternative with my own farming patronage system with free landholders and my own successful farms without slaves got a few to move toward emancipation, but not enough. Some promises of extra land grants to my allies got them to move on but I was debating whether or not to just pay for the freeing of the rest of the slaves. 

Compensated emancipation was not what I really wanted but it would also avoid the extreme unpopularity of outlawing the practice of slavery while there still existed tens of thousands of slaves within Pentos. It would also put a bit of a dent into my finances truth be told. I could likely afford it but I was debating whether or not to spend my gold or simply accept the blow to my popularity. 

"Wealth or popularity," I muttered under my breath. I was effectively an autocrat now, so I supposed I did not need to really be popular, but being popular made my reforms much easier. In contrast, I had plenty of gold and the means to earn a lot more. Especially if war really was brewing again on the horizon. 

I let out a sigh as I resolved myself. I would speak with Rego later about accruing the funds and meeting with the different magisters. I would give them one, non-negotiable offer. If they did not accept. then they would be left holding the bag when I abolished slavery within Pentos in a years time. That was the conclusion I came to. I was not happy about the dent it would put in my wallet but the entire purpose of money was to spend it to reach your goals. 

Just then, another, much longer scream flew through the air and I had a gut feeling. Giving a glance to Aenys and Aeron, we all made our way into the manse proper. It seemed my gut feeling was correct as I preempted the female messenger sent to inform me of something in the hallway just outside of the room Shiera was in. 

"Oh uhm… my prince! Lady Shiera has…" she began before I lightly pushed her aside and rushed into the room, Aenys and Aeron followed without a word. 

The hectic room was about what I expected from the previous two births I had gone through. I noticed some of the healers working with my mother on presumably cleaning my child off but I first rushed to Shiera. 

Dropping to one knee beside her bed, I took her hand into mine. "Are you alright, Shiera?" I whispered and she tiredly raised and lowered her head. She looked exhausted again and I could not help but feel like we were playing with fate once more. 

I decided then and there that whatever the sex of our child was. I would not put her through this again. I already had an heir and a spare and I would much rather keep what I had than risk my wife's life again for another child I did not truly need. 

Shiera would likely be upset by the decision. She saw it as her duty to provide me with children after all. But we already had four, and I was unwilling to put her life at risk any longer. She was worth more to me alive right now than another daughter or a son. 

If it was not a girl, then I would look for other sources of brides. If it was a girl, then I had all the matches I needed. Either way, I kissed Shiera's hand gently and whispered some words of encouragement her way. It was just about all I could do. 

"My prince," the head healer, brought all the way from Lys, spoke to me from behind and I turned to see my mother holding a little bundle of red cloth. 

I gingerly took my son or daughter from my mother's hands and turned to look at my head healer for information. I would have asked my mother but she predicted what I was going to ask her and she left the room, going to gather the children. 

"Well?" Shiera was the one to actually ask, saying the word through a serious wince. It sounded as if she barely repressed another cry of pain. 

"You have a daughter, my prince. Congratulations," he said in his heavily accented High Valyrian and I quickly turned to see the smile on Shiera's face. We had already discussed it earlier and she both wanted and suspected it to be a girl. 

I allowed myself to relish in the moment. I knew that my life was likely going to get harder from here. Especially because I had yet to inform Shiera of my betrothal plans with Aenys. I did not want to upset her before her labors and I simply used the excuse that Aenys and I were still finalizing the terms. 

I resolved to tell her the next day. She was clearly exhausted and the last thing I needed to do was spoil the moment. So I simply stood there and stared at the small face of our second daughter, another princess. Shiera was so exhausted I was wary of giving our daughter to her. So I leaned down so Shiera could see. 

Shiera huffed and puffed, wincing the whole time before I pulled our daughter back up and knelt down to be next to her ear. "So then… we are going with Daenys right?" I whispered and Shiera tiredly nodded, which was all the confirmation I needed. 

We had long since decided on names, we actually decided on this seven moons before her labors even began. If it was to be a boy, we were going to name him Gaemon, after our glorious shared ancestor. If it was a girl, we would name her after Daenys, the dreamer who saved our families. It was only right that she receive such an honor. 

"Congratulations, Brother," Aenys said excitedly, quickly followed by congratulations given by Aeron too. This likely meant that our families would not immediately wed, but I would be sure to find good prospects for Aeron's children. They could very well make much needed husbands and brides for my grandchildren after all. 

Before too long, I actually stepped outside of the room and made my way to the nursery. Aenys and I dropped off the children in about the farthest possible spot for them to be while still being in the manse. So my mother took more time than was expected to bring them. 

I figured that six loud and excited children were the opposite of what my wife needed right now. So I simply moved to the nursery and told Aenys to go ahead and inform my mother about it. Meanwhile, I told Aeron to go and spend some time with his wife. I was fine, so I didn't really need his support any longer. 

I basked in the momentary peaceful moment in the nursery, Daenys had begun to cry a bit so I handed her off to her wetnurse. I knew it was probably only going to be a few more moments before a wild bunch of Targaryens came barreling in. 

I was proven correct as I saw Rhaena speed right past the open door of the nursery, her younger brother not far behind her. I chuckled at them moving right past me, especially when my son actually stopped to look into the room. 

"Father!" he said with a smile and ran up to hug me. His small body certainly would have let out a loud clang when he inevitably ran into my chest at full force, but I swiftly extended my arms and lifted him into the air. I knew that one day he would be too big for me to do this so I did it as much as I could with all of my children. 

It was not an understatement to say that my firstborn was everything I had dreamed he would be. I think I heard at least one complement about my son every single day. Granted much of it might be brown nosing but I could see the curiosity, infectious energy, drive, and effort he possessed.

Just as I suspected, I soon heard an adorable voice call out into the hallway. "Brother! Wait up!" I heard my second son shout through the hall, and he would have blown clean past the nursery as well had my brother not caught him. 

"Ah, Baelon. They are in here," he said while pointing toward me, and soon enough. I had another silver-haired child of mine rushing toward me at full force. I quickly set down Daeron to catch Baelon before I turned to look at my brother. 

"Where did they go?" he asked looking around the nursery and all I could do was laugh. I wondered how long it would be before Aegon and Rhaena realized that there was no baby in Shiera's room. 'Probably when they are turned away at the door,' I thought with a smile. I ordered my guards to ensure that nobody bothered Shiera besides me, myself, and I. 

"They ran right past the door," I said to Aenys before he let out a long sigh and made his way out of the nursery. 

"Good day, Daeron, Baelon. How are you two doing?" 

"Good!" they both said quickly, impatient as ever. It was both a blessing and a curse, they were eager to move and learn but hated sitting still. 'A worthy trade-off,' I thought as I ruffled their hair. 

"Where is Mother?" Daeron asked while looking around and I could not restrain the smile from my face. 

"She is sleeping right now, Daeron. But don't you want to meet your little sister?" I said while gesturing toward the wet nurse standing in the corner of the room. 

"Sister!?" "But Vis is with Grandmother?" my two sons said in short order and I just had to laugh at what my second son said. 

'I told him he was going to have a new sibling,' I thought with a sigh and shaking my head but before I could correct Baelon, my son Daeron did so. 

"No Baelon, we have a new baby sister!" Daeron excitedly said as he all but dragged his younger brother toward the wetnurse still feeding my newest child. 

The wetnurse was kind enough to sit in one of the many chairs so my sons could look at their newest sibling. Meanwhile, I moved over to make sure they didn't get too excited. I trusted my sons to not hurt the wetnurse or their little sister but they were also very excited seven and five name day old boys respectively. 

While they excitedly babbled about how they could not wait to play and talk with her. My mother finally arrived, carrying my daughter Visenya with her, just as Baelon said. 

"Well Visenya, do you want to go and meet your baby sister?" my mother asked in a totally foreign tone and I still had to double-take when I heard it. 

It would be incorrect to say that my mother had gone soft ever since our war with Braavos had ended. She was still fundamentally the same hard-ass personality that raised me and essentially raised my wife, but she was certainly softer with her grandchildren than she had been with either of us. 

My mother was still harsh with their education of course, ever since Daeron turned seven one moon ago, my mother had been clamoring to begin his magical education. I permitted her to begin with the books and accruing of knowledge needed to learn it, but actual practicing of magic would wait until Daeron was older. 

Meanwhile, my mother was downright doting with my children in every other circumstance. She regularly took Daeron and Baelon up on Vhagar, she used essentially all of the money I allowed her for her personal needs on gifts and presents for my children, and she was generally the loving, doting grandmother I had no idea she could actually be. 

I was ecstatic of course, I wanted my children to love their grandmother after all, and I was even happier that my mother was finally allowed to wind down. She spent so many decades wound up, constantly preparing to fight some battle or execute some plot. I was pretty sure the last three years were the first time she allowed herself to truly rest since the Conquest. 

"Come here, Visenya," I said with a smile as my mother set my daughter down and she ran over to me. I saw a bright smile appear on her face as she ran over and I picked her up. Relieving my mother of the strain. She was certainly strong enough to lift my daughter, even at the age of five and sixty, she was in great shape. But it was only a matter of time until her back started hurting like mad. 'It probably already is and she simply is not telling me,' I thought with a small smile. 

"Do you want to meet your baby sister?" I asked her again and Visenya readily nodded. She was still clutching her stuffed toy that looked quite familiar but I set her down and moved over to the wetnurse, who had already stopped feeding my daughter. 

"She is done feeding?" I asked her with a raised eyebrow and the wet nurse nodded and said. 

"Yes, m'prince," the wet nurse said and handed her off to me. 

I then took a seat in one of the many rocking chairs and watched with a smile as my other three children all crowded around me. Trying their best to see their newest sibling in my arms. 

"They turned me away!" I heard a familiar voice complain from the hallway and it seemed I was going to get more visitors in no time at all. 

"Of course they did! She is tired and your uncle moved rooms!" I heard the unfamiliar scolding tone on the voice of my brother and I realized I had never really seen him parent before. When I was back in Westeros, I did spend time with my niece and nephew, but not so much as to actually see my brother parent. Granted, they were also quite young when I left. Both of them were younger than Daeron when I left Westeros. 

"Sister, come on! I want to see our new cousin!" I heard Aegon say next before the three of them appeared in the doorway. Aegon first, followed by Rhaena, with my brother trailing behind. 

"Ah, good day Uncle," Aegon said with a smile and ran over before his sulking sister followed close behind.

"Good day, Aegon. I apologize Rhaena, but Shiera is very tired. You can see her tomorrow," I said to my still-pouting niece. I was seriously confused as to why Rhaena liked my wife so much. Shiera did not have much to say about her time with my niece on Dragonstone. 'Perhaps I should pick her brain later,' I thought with a smile. I had spent a criminally low amount of time with my niece after all. 

"Father! Father! Can I hold her?" Daeron said first before every child besides Visenya around me were all clamoring to hold little Daenys. 

"One at a time," I said harshly, I rarely had to be harsh with my children but I did inherit the same stern voice my mother could and often did use when I was growing up. 

"Yes you can Daeron," I said to my son. Bringing him over to sit down before showing him how to hold his little sister. I was certain that Rhaena and Aegon would get a chance later, but my son was afforded older brother privilege and I was not ashamed by it at all. 

Daeron readily followed my instructions, like he always did, and held out his arms. When I placed my delicate newborn in them. His first words made the smile on my face even more pronounced. 

"She's heavy!" Daeron said, shocked beyond belief. 

I ignored the clamoring around me, the complaining from Rhaena, the excited questions of Aegon, the light pout on Baelon's face, and Visenya's adorable giggles. This was exactly what I wanted. 

My four children around me made me more content than I thought possible. I was correct earlier, I did not need any more. My little family unit was perfect for me, and the presence of my niece and nephew was a bonus. 

I was certain they would all get along in the future. I had been watching my eldest niece and nephew like a hawk since they had arrived, and they were everything I hoped they would be. Rhaena spent more time with Shiera and Visenya than I thought possible, and Aegon was far more talkative and friendly with my seven-year-old son than I thought a three and ten-year-old would be. 

My family was essentially whole, sure Shiera still had to recover from giving birth to Daenys, and I still had two more nephews and one niece to meet and bond with. But my family around me could not have felt more perfect. They were everything I could have asked for and more. 

…

"Uncle! Do you think you could train me more in the yard tomorrow?" Aegon asked me from across the table with an infectious glee and I nodded readily. He had excitedly asked to join me in the morning and I had been lightly training him most of the day. 

I was wary to ask my nephew if he wanted to join me at first. I knew from my previous life a little of how my brother's son acted, mostly from my notes of course, given I had forgotten a vast majority of my previous life's memories. But I also knew that my nephew was two years older than the name I knew from my notes, his personality could be quite different too. 

I was pleasantly surprised when he sought me out. Apparently, the Kingsguard who arrived a sennight after Aenys and his family arrived was insufficient for his wants and he wanted to know how I managed to get so good. When I told him it was a mix of hard work and being a foot taller than he was at the same age. He was both motivated and deflated. 

It was the harsh truth. I had full faith that Aegon would one day be a great warrior but the chances of him being better than me were slim. My brother was likely a smidge shorter than my father but I cleared his height easily. Meanwhile, Aegon's mother was short and slim the last time I saw her, even if Shiera told me she had since gained weight. 

I was stronger, faster, and more skilled than basically everyone I had ever met. It was not surprising to me at all that my other self managed to beat seven of the Faith's best warriors with six nobodies. 

I was happy to train my nephew but he did have to know that training was not everything. Regardless, he threw himself into the same morning exercises I still held myself to and it was really the first time I had ever spoken with my nephew for extended periods of time. 

He reminded me quite a bit of Daeron, with an endless devotion to self-improvement and drive to succeed. He had not said it aloud, but I could infer he was trying to make my father proud. I imagined I should probably inquire about my brother's parenting style at some point, but I was simply letting myself enjoy the moment for now. 

My brother and his two eldest children had stayed in Pentos with me and my family for almost two moons and I could not be happier. Me and my brother had a lot of catching up to do and it felt like we were back on the path. My banishment had raised questions and made the prospect of myself ever kneeling to him impossible. But what I had seen over the last two moons proved our families could indeed coexist. 

"Of course I can, Aegon. Is there anything you would like to learn about in particular?" I decided to ask him. I could show him the ropes like I did in the hours before our dinner but he was already under the tutelage of the Kingsguard, so he shouldn't really require much from me there. 

"Uhm… I would like to know how you fought off that Faceless Man without your sword…" Aegon said after drumming his fingers on his chin. 

"Oh… you want to learn how to deal with an armed attacker while unarmed?" I asked. 'Smart,' I thought. He would of course normally be armed at all times and would have the Kingsguard too. But knowing how to protect oneself may just be important if the faith really did cause trouble.

Honestly, I was uncertain if they would. From what Shiera told me, basically everyone at court already knew that my nephew was betrothed to his sister, especially with their closeness. Yet the faith raised absolutely zero issue with their unofficial official betrothal and I had not even heard rumblings from Oldtown sailors. 

I greatly disliked not knowing what was going to happen, yet I was faced with not knowing both ways. I had no idea how the situation with Volantis was going to play out, as I knew for a fact there were peaceful factions within the city but the ones in power signaled war. I also had no idea what was to happen in Westeros. I got my concessions from my brother so I could excuse helping him but if that did not happen. I would have to shift my plans. 

'Volantis and the faith,' I thought with a blank expression. Two potential problems halfway across the world from each other. If the faith truly did not rise. I would deal with Essos undistracted, that is what I decided. Otherwise, I would help my brother, to keep him alive. 

"Yes please, Uncle!" my nephew excitedly said before I heard another clamoring voice accompany it. 

"Me too, Father!" I heard Daeron say next and I could only smile and shake my head. Daeron Targaryen, eager and excited as ever. 

"I guess I can show you a little as well, Daeron," I said noncommittally. Daeron was a little too young to pit him against others, so I resolved to hire an instructor from somewhere. There existed plenty of skilled warriors and martial artists in Essos, so finding one should not be too hard. 

"Why don't you focus on what your grandmother is teaching you, Daeron?" I heard the soft voice of my wife from my right and my smile was quickly replaced by a blank expression. I had not heard her speak much in the last sennight, and it simply reminded me of my calculated, but foolish decision. 

I had deliberately not told Shiera the full betrothal picture before her birth. I knew it would upset her and I wanted her to be able to focus fully on the birth of our child. Yet she was not very appreciative of my actions. 

I hoped she would get angry, and hit me with accusations and concerns that I could dispel before calming her, just like we often argued, but she did not do that this time. Even after I added on how I wanted us to stop having children due to her health and my concerns. She simply frowned and agreed, it was odd. 

She was certainly upset, that much I could tell by the decrease in how much she spoke to me. I did drop two things she was unpleased about on her and even kept some news from her due to her pregnancy, but she didn't react how I thought she would. So I did not really know how to fix it. 

'I will talk with her tonight,' I thought with a frown. I already dreaded learning just how much she was upset with me but I had no real choice. I would not let this fester. 

"But… but, Mother! I want to learn how to fight not dumb magic!" Daeron said and suddenly the entire table was listening. 

Shiera, my mother, and I all decided to keep quiet about our magical abilities and potential, both to use it as another negotiating piece for more concessions and to use it as a trump card if absolutely necessary. Outing it early wasn't ideal, but it was not the end of the world. 

"Magic? You know how to use magic?" Rhaena asked first before the more powerful voice of my brother overpowered it. 

"You can make sense of those texts in the library? I tried but I was not able to make them work," he said before both my mother and Shiera looked to me for guidance. They would act how I wished them to, it was both relieving and irritating. 

"Yes, some of them. We are still figuring out a lot of it but yes," I said and suddenly my brother looked very interested. I had no idea he was at all interested in it. From our talks, I knew he was currently interested in astrology. 

"Fascinating… you must tell me how they work some time. With the new printing press you are sending us, we can make copies of them," he said and before I could answer, a rushed messenger entered the room. 

"Prince… Aenys!" he said through huffs and puffs and I sent a confused look at my guards who rushed in after him. Receiving a stern look from Dick, who was currently their captain. 

'The hell?' I thought. My brother had received essentially no news for the last two moons. A rushed messenger was surely a change of pace, and I had an ominous feeling about the news. 

"Yes?" Aenys confusedly asked as the entire table quieted to pay attention. The messenger then ran up and whispered something into my brother's ear, who just so happened to announce it loudly to the entire room. 

"My father has had a stroke!?"