Hugh Hammer (ASOIF/SI)

 "No."

 "What do you mean no?" came the smooth and far too dangerous

 sounding words of the Lord Protector of the Realm, an insufferable

 smirk upon the man's face.

 "I mean no, I do not give my consent for this."

 "You have no say, she is not your daughter my Lord Hand" came the

 voice of Queen Rhaenyra, low and sibilant with menace. But Corlys

 did not care, loyal and all that he was, he felt he had no choice but to

 stand up to Rhaenyra and her husband, least this latest idea of theirs

 be the last straw to break the camel's back. Though it was wider than

 that, the Rogue Princes grandiose plans to remake Westeros in his

 own twisted image, and to replace many of the great Houses that

 opposed him with his own men, was foolish in the extreme the Sea

 Snake thought.

 Sellswords, smallfolk and jumped-up Hedge Knights, and worse, all

 elevated to positions far above their station, and all on the basis that

 they were loyal to Daemon Targaryen. Hah! Loyal!? That was the

 greatest joke of them all, Loyal? No, this crop of newly minted Lords

 who would owe their elevation to Lordships might be loyal at first, but

 the first major travail or setback for Daemon? Ah, that would see

 many of these rats scurrying for cover and hiding places,

 abandoning their Rogue Prince in droves.

 For how could they understand the value of their words, the weight

 of the oaths they would swear, with none of the tradition and

 breeding that went with the admirably long traditions of the Houses

 they would be usurping and casting down into the dust.

He had argued somewhat successfully that some of the old Houses

 that Daemon wanted to destroy should be left in situ, in the case

 where an unmarried daughter of suitable age was available, with the

 new Lord, the majority of whom had no names of their own, taking

 the name of the existing great House. That would placate and

 smooth over some of the backlash, but not all of it he knew.

 Corlys feared that between the two of them, Lord Protector and

 Queen, they would win one war only to plunge Westeros into another

 and all together bloodier conflict.

 The Small Council chamber held just the three of them, each at a

 separate end of the table that dominated the room, only the Queen

 was seated, looking as usual rather pinched faced and annoyed.

 "This Hugh lad, he is a fine fellow, I will grant you that, and he rides a

 dragon, but, but to elevate him so? To gift him, a bastard your very

 name, and my Granddaughter? No, no, this is too much, you have

 gone too far with this. This will be too much for the Lords to bear,

 especially coming on top of how you plan to remake the kingdoms of

 the realm! Please, consider again what you plan to do your Graces!"

 "Our enemies are still in the field, still resisting our rightful authority

 as Queen" came the reply from Queen Rhaenyra "they still plot and

 contrive to strip me of what is mine. They have made approaches to

 our Dragonseeds, offering wealth and power beyond compare, if

 they would only turn their cloaks."

 Corlys noticed the tension in the air between the Queen and her

 husband as she spoke, noticed the darkening of both their faces as

 she spoke, and wondered what argument and troubles had passed

 between then over this matter. This pair were a disaster, but it was

 far too late for him to turn his cloak, nor that he wanted to. Alicent's

 get were even worse, if such a thing were possible, arrogant,

 conceited and utterly lacking in any ounce of good sense or restraint.

 The only thing staying his hand was the knowledge that Jacaerys

 would be King, though in the deepest reaches of his mind, where

treacherous thoughts whispered, he suspected that Jacaerys was

 not fully of his blood.

 And even if Jacaerys was not fully of his blood, the lad was level

headed and sensible, and Baela, the lads betrothed, was of his

 blood. But the girl was far too alike with her father for his tastes,

 Rhaena now, she was different, much more like her mother in

 temperament, sweet and gentle. And an asset of great value, and

 not something to be thrown into the dirt to wed a bastard, even one

 who was set to rise so high.

 "Hugh, and your grandson Addam are by far the best of the

 dragonseeds, though as a dragonrider the Iron Throne will assert its

 right to the choosing a bride for Addam" announced the Queen, and

 Corlys wondered how Daemon had managed to change the Queen's

 tune so quickly, for had not his agents warned him that the

 dragonseeds were going to be killed for alleged treason? He had

 even been prepared to get Addam to flee Kings Landing the very

 night he had head these rumours.

 "Your right?" Corlys stammered, his fists balling reflexively at this

 affront to his Houses privilege.

 "Aye, as a dragonrider Addam is bound to the Iron Throne directly by

 virtue of this. As such his seed is valuable and is not to be wasted on

 unsuitable candidates. Addam may only wed those of the Old Blood,

 it is so decreed by her Grace, Queen Rhaenyra, first of her name"

 Daemon smoothly announced, looking insufferably smug to his eyes.

 "This, this is preposterous!" he spluttered, "Unacceptable!"

 "Your Queen decrees it, here before me is the Law for the protection

 of Valyrian Blood, it has been promogulated forthwith. It is the law of

 the land, and to defy it is to defy the law, and by extension, your

 Queen" came the cold, furious voice of Rhaenyra in response.

 "Hugh and Ulf are subject to this law, as is your Grandson, as is

 Nettles, if we can get someone to pup her!" quipped Daemon, and

Corlys knew that he was fighting a losing battle here, frustration

 boiling over inside of him.

 It was not that he had any personal malice against Hugh, far from it,

 the lad appeared to be smart, courteous and he was a good fighter

 and a better dragon rider. He was not prone to any vices that he

 could see and was dutiful and sober in all his doings, unlike that sot

 Ulf, or that wild thing Nettles.

 Addam had been talking to him about some ideas that Hugh had for

 faster ships, and Addam wanted to try them out, on a small craft first

 obviously, a small sailing boat of several tons first, them a slightly

 larger ship for more testing.

 He had even brought several shipwrights from Driftmark to discuss

 these items with the men, who were universally dismissive of the

 proposals from Hugh, stating that the fineness of the proposed lines,

 the sharpness of both the entrance and the run, coupled with the

 excessive deadrise would lead to a vessel that was dangerous to sail

 in. The radical sail plan proposed, effectively the halving of lantern

 sails and the raking of the mast had his shipwrights gasping in

 dismay. When they ran their figures against their tried-and-true rules

 of thumb the results were, as one had stated 'gibberish' and would

 result in a ship that would likely sink in the first hard blow she

 encountered.

 Which was why Corlys wanted a small, test vessel built first, and he

 was even willing to build several smaller boasts to test Hugh's ideas.

 For had he not encountered the same resistance when he had first

 proposed the Sea Snake? The shipwrights on Driftmark had been

 full of dire predictions of disaster, and how had those forecasts of

 doom and gloom turned out?

 No, it would be better, especially for him, if Hugh remained his

 vassal, but that was unlikely he knew, but the extravagance of the

 lands that had been proposed to grant Hugh was sheer folly. Ulf was

 apparently being offered a similar deal, though thankfully there was

no talk of betrothals was of yet. The Gods themselves only knew

 what this pair would come up with for Ulf's lucky bride to be!

 A bubble of mirth escaped his mouth despite his best attempts to

 smother it, he wondered what likely lad would, or even could, be

 persuaded to wed Nettles?

 Hugh was far too valuable to him, if the lad's ideas bore fruit

 Driftmark would have a huge, if temporary advantage in shipbuilding.

 It might even allow him to stage another trip to Yi-Ti, hells if the boats

 were as fast as he believed they were, and if this speed could be

 scaled up successfully, regular trade with Yi-Ti might become

 something to be contemplated, along with the fabulous riches such

 an endeavour would bring.

 It was a pity he only really had one suitable female available to wed

 Hugh, and she a girl of only three years(1), so any betrothal would

 be a long one. And probably not worth pursuing he sighed, no, that

 would not work. He cast around for any daughters of suitable age

 and blood among his vassals, coming up empty handed, and he cast

 his mind further afield, to Essos. There might be possibilities in

 Pentos that were worth exploring, and maybe even Volantis, but his

 musings were cut short.

 "All those of the Old Blood and those who can ride dragons are not

 free to choose spouses, the Iron Throne reserves that right for

 themselves now and henceforth. The preservation of the cleanliness

 of the Old Blood and the gift of dragonriding is the foremost concern

 of the Iron Throne. All other duties, obligations, liens, customs and

 traditions in relation to marriage of those of the Old Blood and of

 dragonriders are heretofore null and void before the provisions of the

 Law for the Preservation of the Old Blood" Daemon announced,

 once again sporting that insufferable half smirk of his.

 "This will not sit well with our Lords" Corlys replied, trying to sound

 as calm and collected as possible in the situation.

"Then they will face Fire and Blood" came the simple reply from his

 Queen.