Hugh Hammer (ASOIF/SI)

 The clash of steel on steel was invigorating, his opponent willing to

 give him the type of fight that he wanted. Not the precision that the

 better knights sometimes displayed, nor the oft lacking skill of

 squires or other such. No, this spar with Ser Hugh was exactly what

 he wanted, the lad was strong, fast and had enough unpredictability

 to challenge him, and not just challenge him, to actually push him as

 hard as possible.

 And to make things even better as far as Daemon was concerned,

 the lad shared the blood of Old Valyria, making him automatically

 superior to any Andal or First Men, or anyone else on Planetos for

 that matter. The lad's features were not as refined as the classical

 Valyrian look, he was too big for one, and the planes and sweeps of

 his face lacked a certain fineness, but he was a good enough

 specimen of the Old Blood, especially accounting for his bastardry.

 Hugh claimed to not know his father and his mother had not had the

 features of the Old Blood according to Hugh, so his blood might be

 somewhat diluted. That did not matter to Daemon, the lad could ride

 a dragon and had the silver/gold hair and violet eyes of a true

 dragonrider, and that was enough for him!

 And sometimes Daemon wondered if the lad was one of his get,

 some blowby from a serving wench or tavern slut on Dragonstone.

 He had seeded enough smallfolk lasses in his time that he scarce

 remembered any of them, and it was entirely possible that this Hugh

 was his baseborn son. Not that he cared one way or the other really,

 Hugh was a dragonrider and that was enough for him, at least for

 now anyway.

 The pair of them had been sparring for what must have been a good

 half an hour now, Daemon having four victories to Hugh's one, and

 he was beginning to feel the first twinges of tiredness in his muscles.

He had not been pushed this hard in training in a long time, and

 mayhaps he had been lazy these last few moons in his training.

 Well, this lad Hugh would certainly make up for it, of this he was

 sure. Hugh moved unconventionally and unpredictably, and was not

 unafraid of using kicks, punches and elbows to gain any advantage.

 Something which Daemon loved when training, he loved to see

 someone actually fight as one would fight in a real life or death

 situation.

 And of course, all this pondering by him led Hugh to slipping his

 blunted blade past his guard and winning the latest fight. Daemon

 laughed it off and grasped Hugh's arm in the traditional warrior's grip.

 "Good fight lad, we will do this again, methinks you can offer me a

 decent challenge!"

 "Thank you, your Grace" replied Hugh, giving him a slight bow.

 "This afternoon, at the Hour of the Pig1 I will call upon you, dress

 finely, we will be leaving the Red Keep for a dinner and some

 entertainment."

 Daemon could spot the sudden flash of alarm in the lads' eyes at this

 but noted that he hid it well and Hugh replied, "of course your

 Grace."

 At this Daemon took his leave of the training yard, not before

 noticing Hugh start upon a complicated set of stretches and

 exercises, the likes of which Daemon had not seen before. He must

 get the lad to teach him those, for stretching before and after training

 were supposed to be good for one, according to the Maesters. And

 he was putting on the years, of that there was no doubt, and he was

 beginning to feel them in the odd twinge of pain and hitch of stiffness

 in his bones.

 He put these concerns aside and returned to the quarters that he

 shared with the Queen for a quick bath, before he dressed and broke

his fast. Afterwards he proceeded to the Small Council meeting

 chamber, where Rhaenyra liked to work from, when she was not

 holding court or otherwise engaged.

 Entering the room he gave her a bow, before giving his wife a kiss on

 the head, Rhaenyra barely acknowledging his presence, her head

 buried in some scroll or other.

 Daemon sat himself down and waited for Rhaenyra to finish with her

 reading, which she eventually did, putting aside the scroll and fixing

 him with something of a glare.

 "What?" he asked flippantly, feeling the slightest of aggrievement

 that the Queen was displeased with something he had done, though

 for the life of him he could not fathom what he could have possibly

 done that displeased her so this morn.

 "These, these plans that you have drawn up?"

 "Which ones my love, I am rather busy at this time, I sometimes

 scarce can keep track of all I am working on" Daemon replied glibly.

 "Daemon….." Rhaenyra hissed in annoyance.

 "No my love, genuinely…."

 "These plans for redrawing the boundaries of the Seven Kingdoms,

 are you mad?"

 "Mad?" asked Daemon, tilting his head to one side, it looked like this

 might be more of an argument than he had originally predicted.

 "Yes, mad Daemon! Do you think that the Lords will stand for this,

 and you did not even have the sense to keep this under wraps until

 we are fully victorious!"

 "These are just proposals your Grace" Daemon replied, a smile

 plastered on his face, but it never reached his eyes, Rhaenyra was

 acting like a child, again, and he would have to treat her like the

spoiled child that she was. It was such a pity that he could not

 dispense with her and rule directly, but unfortunately that was

 impossible, at least for now. And there was still the thorny matter of

 her children by Lucerys Velaryon, bastards by Harwin Strong that

 they were and all. Even if his Queen did tragically slip away into the

 Strangers embrace, he would have to do away with the two boys

 before his son could rule.

 No, it was actually better to rule indirectly through Rhaenyra with his

 current title as Lord Protector of the Realm, he would just have to

 make sure that he kept his powers and his position once the war was

 over. And once the war was over then what? Why take back the

 Stepstones of course, and then Dorne, for only conquerors were

 truly remembered, ask anyone, smallfolk or noble what Jaehaerys

 had done, and many would struggle to tell you anything beyond a

 few generalities. Ah, but ask them what Aegon, 1st of his name had

 done, why everyone could tell you!

 But for his dreams to be realised he needed support, and he needed

 a realm solidly behind him, and the Iron Throne of course. And the

 best way to do that to his mind was to reward those who had

 supported Queen Rhaenyra and punish those who had supported

 King Aegon, 2nd of his name. And if those that were rewarded were

 those who either owed him or who were loyal to him, why all the

 better as far as Daemon was concerned.

 And equally importantly as far as Daemon was concerned, he had to

 make their Andal subjects, Lord and Smallfolk alike, understand that

 the Blood of Old Valyria was superior to them, that it ruled them by

 right, and by the might of their dragons. Too long had House

 Targaryen accommodated their Andal subjects, letting their Septons

 and Septa's preach their nonsense to their children, poisoning their

 minds before they were formed. Too long had his House refrained

 from showing the Andals that they were not subject to their petty

 laws and customs, and that their pathetic Seven Gods held no sway

 over the children of the Freehold. It was high time that the realms

were reminded of this fact and what better opportunity than after a

 war where his House and his blood would emerge victorious?

 He had thought that Rhaenyra was of the same mind as him on this

 matter, well not all of it obviously, he had not shared all of his vision

 with his dear wife. For despite her blood, she had a woman's mind,

 too narrow and small to truly appreciate the grand sweep of his

 visions and where he wanted to take the realm. But alas apparently

 Rhaenyra had decided to think to know what was best for the realm,

 what was best for their house. He would have to make sure to bring

 his dear Queen back around to his way of thinking on this matter,

 would he not? The usual way would work, it always did, a good, long

 hard fucking with his big pillar and Rhaenyra was usually receptive to

 any suggestion he would make. Though she did not listen to him

 always after a good fucking, for during those years of Dragonstone

 his wife had not consented to his post coital suggestions to the

 murder of Alicent and her brood. Ah, but if she had then things would

 not have gone the way they had now would they?

 "If they had been leaked Daemon! What of them then?"

 "We could just have spread the rumour that they are false, you worry

 too much your Grace."

 "Daemon, of course I worry, the war is not yet won. And my enemies

 still abound, some of them in this very keep!"

 Ahhhh, that hoary old matter…..again. His dear Queen was rather

 thirsty for vengeance and wanted to visit appropriate retribution upon

 her enemies that were currently residing at her pleasure in the Red

 Keep. Despite their value as hostages Rhaenyra was champing at

 the bit to kill all who had opposed her. An endearing trait, but one

 which clashed with the realities of the current situation and the need

 to bring this war to as swift an end as possible. And hostages might

 very well assist in this matter, but of course the moment the

 prisoners that they held ceased to have any value to them, they

 would be sent to the Strangers Halls forthwith.

"I predict that the war will be over by the end of 130 AC at the latest

 your Grace, everything is moving towards this inevitable culmination"

 he smiled his best smile to placate Rhaenyra.

 "I'm still not sure of this Daemon, it's a huge change, the Lords might

 not accept it."

 "Then we will visit Fire and Blood upon them my Queen! These

 changes will only happen once the war is won, and we have

 defeated all our enemies. Then what will the Lords do? Stage a

 revolt? No, they will stay quiet and accept the supremacy of the

 Dragons, if they want their lines to continue!"

 He would spit into the faces of those Andal cunts, every last one of

 them, who had sneered at him, belittled him, even as he had fucked

 their wives and not a few of their maiden daughters. For a moment

 Daemon wondered just how many bastards he had fathered, and

 just how many of his children that vengeful fathers and husbands

 had killed by forcing the mostly willing recipients of his seed to drink

 Moon Tea. Probably quite a few he mused sourly, for the Andals had

 a very annoying hangup about bastards. Not that he cared one whit,

 if they were his and if his blood showed true, why they were

 absolutely superior to the variegated scum that normally issued from

 the loins of Andals. These fathers and husbands should have been

 thanking him for blessing those Andal wombs with his seed, if they

 had any sense at all.

 "You wish to attain quite a few noble families, move vassals around

 seemingly by the hundreds and redraw the borders of Westeros in a

 fashion not even attempted by the Conqueror. I am worried that this

 is too radical, that it is foolish even."

 "All those who will be attained are our enemies, you gave them the

 chance to swear to you, in the year 105 all the Lords and the Knights

 of the realm swore to you. Any who are your opposition have already

 forsworn any rights or privileges that they once had. They are traitors

 and should be treated as such, in doing this you will cow the Lords

 for generations to come, ensuring the peace and stability of the

realm for your sons and theirs after them. And in the place of traitors,

 we can reward those who were loyal to us, those who stood by their

 oaths, and those men who proved that words are not mere wind."

 He would find out who had been whispering in Rhaenyra's ear on

 this matter and they would find a dagger buried in their back soon

 enough.

 "This Ser Hugh fellow, Vermithor's dragonseed, he is one of those

 that you want to raise to Lordly status, am I correct?" Rhaenyra

 asked, Daemon knew she was trying to move off topic by first

 diverting the conversation slightly.

 "Aye, he has proven loyal and smart, him and his Grace Prince

 Jacaerys are something of friends and compatriots, as is Addam

 Velaryon. The lad fights well for one who never squired, and he

 seems to know a thing or two about dragons! He shares our blood

 also, he has the looks of the Freehold of old." A slight little lie, but a

 harmless enough one at that, not that Rhaenyra would care one way

 or the other he hoped.

 "I've heard that this, this so called 'alert posture' is actually Ser

 Hugh's idea and not that of my son Prince Jacaerys?"

 "I had not heard that" Daemon lied, for of course he knew all about

 Ser Hugh and how he had been whispering behind the scenes into

 the ear of Prince Jacaerys. Not that what the lad had been saying to

 the Prince was objectionable, far from it in actuality, but still, such an

 influence would have to be minimised or eliminated. It would not do

 for Ser Hugh to have such influence over the heir to the Iron Throne.

 "Even so, I doubt that some smallfolk lad, even one as accomplished

 as Ser Hugh, would be able to come up with such a brilliant idea as

 the 'alert posture' hrmmm?"

 This so called 'alert posture' had at least two dragon riders stationed

 at the dragon pit for a shift of eight hours, to be ready to take to the

 sky at a minute's notice. This was to prevent a surprise attack from

crippling their dragons on the ground, either by an attack on the

 Dragonpit by enemy agents or by an attack from the remaining

 dragons of the Greens. The number of troops guarding the Dragonpit

 had also been increased at Hugh's urging, which Prince Jacaerys

 had accepted with little comment. No, Hugh needed to be removed

 from his position to influence the Crown Prince, but maybe not until

 the war was over, the lad had smart ideas in that head of his.

 And Daemon became even more determined to knife whoever was

 whispering to the Queen.

 "And you propose to raise him to a Lord and give him 'new' lands in

 this enlarged Crownlands that your and my Hand propose?"

 "I do your Grace, I plan to have all the dragonriders close at hand to

 Kings Landing, and to increase the size of the lands directly under

 the Iron Throne, I want to make the Iron Throne as powerful as any

 of our vassal kingdoms, despite the dragons. We have tried ruling

 these Andals with accommodation and trust, that time is over, we

 must instead rule them the only way they understand, with fear and

 strength!"