HOTD: The Healer Prince SI Chapter 8 (Patreon)

Chapter 8- GOING AWAY!

OTTO HIGHTOWER

Few men in the whole realm could change the fate of the whole continent. There were the obvious, The King, The High Lords. Yet among those names would also be his name. Otto Hightower, the second son, brother to Lord Horbert Hightower.

The same Horbert Hightower who now kneeled in front of the new heir apparent to the throne. Rhaeneyra Targaryen, dressed up to look her best, was a testament to Targaryen’s beauty. The Realm’s Delight, her father had coined her, and the words were accurate, for no other lady at court could measure up to her.

“I, Horbert Hightower, Lord of Oldtown, the voice of Citadel and beacon of the faith,…” and his brother continued to swear his vows as Otto once more glanced towards the gates, followed by the lines of court ladies trying to find his daughter yet his gaze would return empty-handed, finding no trace of Alicent.

‘Where had she gone?’ he thought, for she had been with Rhaeneyra while she dressed up yet had not entered even though the oats were about to be completed. His mind raced as he tried to think of any reason, yet found no answer as Horbert returned to stand by his side.

“Where is Alicent, I had thought she would be here?” his brother questioned, as Rhaeneyra Targaryen stood there, obviously a bit nervous, but yet she stood there displacing her uncle as heir and defying hundred years of tradition.

Otto saw her eyes glance towards his area, probably for the same reason he had scanned the court and saw a little frown appear on her face.

“I don’t know brother….” But his words would be cut short as the doors to the throne room would suddenly be thrown open. Otto’s head whipped back, and his eyes widened as they would find the recently returned Prince standing at the door.

The throne room would be silent as the Prince, who seemed to be in no rush, would look around and walk towards the young heir. The Prince would use a cane to walk, and to his surprise, he would find Alicent coming in by his side.

“This might be interesting. Though, wasn’t he unconscious? So, when did he wake up?” questioned Horbert.

“Apparently, just now,” he responded as he turned to look at the King. Viserys Targaryen sat on the throne, Blackfyre in his hand, looking stoic and unbothered, yet Otto could tell, Viserys was rattled. Surprised.

“Why is Alicent with him?” questioned Horbert as he gave Otto a glance, and Otto could only shake his head as his fists balled up.

“I don’t know,” he answered again as he watched the Prince come and stand right in front of Rhaeneyra.

Aenys Targaryen was a child that had vexed even his father. Though over the years, he wasn’t the only Targaryen the young prince would vex. He had always been a recluse, preferring to remain quiet and observe. Though when he would speak, he would speak with the wisdom of a man perhaps thrice his age.

The young prince was doted on by the good Queen who would try and fill the gap of the mother the boy had lost, and the young Prince would be selected to be entrusted with her most important treasure. Yet tragedy would strike, with Princess Gael dying a tragic death, swindled by the guiles of a mummer.

The details remain unknown to this day, but it would be the first time the young prince would quarrel with his grandsire, though that would not be the last. The Prince was said to have steel in his spine, often compared to the stubbornness of Jaehaerys himself in his youth.

The Prince would stand in front of the Princess and, with a small nod, bend the knee.

Otto’s eyes would widen as the Prince began to speak his oath of fealty to the new heir, one which had somewhat usurped him. The surprise and relief were evident on King Visery’s face as well, showing that the King knew nothing of this as well.

“This changes everything,” whispered his brother, a frown marring his face. And Otto could only nod. Indeed, this changed everything. Though, right now, his eyes were fixed on his daughter, who stood behind the Prince as he kneeled to give his oaths.

The Prince would stand up, taking back the cane from Alicent, and look straight at him before speaking up once more.

“I bring auspicious news,” and Otto could sense the tension in the Hall rise as the Prince continued.

“The Queen is awake!”

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VISERYS TARGARYEN

Viserys held his wife’s hand as he thanked the Gods for saving her life. She was pale and frail and could barely talk, but she was alive. She was alive, and to Viserys, it was what mattered.

“Viserys,” he heard her mutter weakly, and Viserys leaned in closer to listen to her as she turned her face to look at him, “I am sorry, Viserys. I am sorry I couldn’t give you a s….”

“It’s ok. It doesn’t matter. You just need to get better,” he said though a part of him still wanted a son, desired for his Aegon, yet not at the cost of his wife.

He saw her eyes tear up, as she gave him a weak nod. He looked towards Rhaeneyra, who was sitting on the other side of the bed, her eyes red from crying. Still wearing the dress from the ceremony.

And pride bubbled up in him as he remembered her standing tall and taking all the oaths.

“Well, sorry to take him away from you, but I need to talk to the King,” said the one who was the last and most unexpected person to take the oath. His brother Aenys suddenly interrupted them from the side, motioning for him to follow him out of the room.

He hugged Rhaeneyra, messing up her elaborately put-together hair, “You have five more minutes, your mother needs rest, and then you can regale her with your stories.”

Rhaeneyra swatted away his hand, making him smile as he continued to walk out of the room. Viserys looked towards his wife, “I will be back.” He said as he stood up and followed Aenys out of the room.

As soon as he had left the room, Viserys wrapped his arms around Aenys, embracing him like he should have as he should have when he had landed on that tourney ground.

“Thank you. Thank you for this, Aenys,” he said, and he truly was thankful. Their relationship had always been rocky, yet he had still made haste and traveled all this way. And had saved the life of his wife. Viserys couldn’t thank him enough for it.

“Ok, ok. Though I would suggest you listen to me before you thank me any further,” and Viserys’s heart dropped at that as he separated from his brother, dreading what he was going to say.

Aenys looked towards the guards and made them close the doors before he spoke up.

“Ok, I wanted to talk to you about Aemma. First of all, she is still very weak. So, yes, she may be awake, but the danger hasn’t passed yet, so you have to temper yourself even though I expect her to make recovery,” and relief shot through him as he heard that. Though Aenys wasn’t finished yet.

He scanned the corridor and leaned in, speaking out in a whisper, “And I am telling you this as simple as it can be made. If she gets pregnant again, she will die. She will never be able to give birth again, Viserys, and I want you to understand it,” and there was an edge to his brother’s tone. And he Viserys felt his heart break once more. The small part of him that still dreamt of a son screamed at him, calling Aenys a liar, but at this moment, he could only nod.

“I understand,” Viserys replied, giving Aenys a nod. His brother leaned back on the wall and gave him a small smile, a smile that reminded him of Daemon, making him lament how he had acted.

“Now that that’s out of the way, where the heck is my sword!” his brother suddenly asked, looking straight towards the side to glance at his incoming Hand, Otto.

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CORLYS VELARYON

“I had always thought Viserys would kill the poor girl in his desire for a son. Maybe Aenys will be able to knock some sense into him,” commented his wife, sipping the wine as they sat in their chambers.

Corlys himself was pondering all that had traversed today, processing it all, for it had been an eventful day, Daemon’s exile, the oaths, and then the wakening of the Queen.

“I had never thought that Aenys would kneel to Rhaeneyra,” he commented, looking at his wife, who had now removed the ornate blue gown for a simpler white tunic and let her hair flow nicely. Once more mesmerizing him as she had done all those years ago.

“Well, I did. It was never a question,” she was quick to answer, rather too quickly, making him frown as he looked at her take a sip from the golden glass. And then he remembered a rather unique rumor about the Prince.

“Because he supported your claim over Viserys’s,” he saw Rhaenyy’s head snap towards him as her eyes narrowed as she looked him straight in the eye.

“Who told you that?” she questioned, and he just shrugged.

“I have heard that rumor numerous times. Some say that his quarrel with the old king was regarding this very reason?” and Rhaenys simply shook her head.

“That is false. Aenys did not have much sympathy for me. He was simply against the calling of the council,” she said with a smirk, and Corlys couldn’t understand.

“What does that mean?” he asked, and Rhaenys simply shook her head in mirth.

“His argument was that if the King wanted to name a new heir, he had to do it by his own decree. He did not want to give the Lords the choice, for it would be emboldening to think they can have their say in the workings of the Royal family,” Corlys was surprised at this, for he had never heard this. However, he was more surprised by the contents of this speech, for he would have expected Daemon to mouth those words, not Aenys.

Rhaenys probably saw his surprise as she laughed, “Yeah, but as I said, no one has ever known what goes on in his head. At least no one other than Aunt Magella,” and Corlys leaned back into his chair, thinking about those words.

“I would never have thought him to have views like this,” and Rhaeneys raised a brow at that.

“Didn’t I say, Aenys has always been mysterious like this? Plus, he was always close to Queen Alysanne, and her influence would also make him much more susceptible to a Queen sitting on the Iron throne,” and that made sense. The Queen had quarreled with the King when he had named Prince Baelon ahead of Rhaeneys.

A slight which still made his blood boil, and probably seeing his expression Rhaeneys began once more, “Oh Corlys! You cannot still be hung up on that. That ship sailed years ago. I have let go of such thoughts for years.”

Corlys looked at his wife and found it admirable how she could put something like this behind her, “Well, other than that. You fail to mention how the Prince entered the throne room with a certain young lady. You do understand what this means?” and Rhaeneys looked towards the fire at this.

And he could see her mind racing as her eyes saddened.

“It has been years since Gael died, while I don’t think Aenys’s choice is right. I would pray he finds himself someone to share his life with. He deserves it,” and Corlys could only nod.

“Well, will have to see.”

“Indeed, we will.”

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AENYS TARGARYEN

“Thank you, Aenys,” spoke up the King as the two brothers sat in the King’s chambers. Viserys had called him to his chambers. The two brothers sat with Viserys near the marble model of Old Valyria and Aenys opposite to him, leaning back in his chair and nursing a cup of Arbor Gold.

“I didn’t do it for you. I did it for Aemma and Rhaeneyra, so you can finally get over your obsession with a male heir and stop trying to kill your wife,” Aenys snarked as he took a small sip of his wine. Viserys jerked slightly at his words and turned towards him. The King gave him a look over and then spoke up after a bit.

“You haven’t changed one bit, have you, Aenys?” Viserys asked, and he just shrugged.

“You have always known my thoughts about this, Viserys. And I stand by them to this day. Aemma wasn’t ready, and what you and grandfather did to her was nothing but cruelty,” Viserys tried to cut him off, but Aenys continued.

“And I stand proven correct. Gods had blessed you with Rhaeneyra, you could have waited for some time after the first stillbirth, yet you did not,” and he saw Viserys face turn ashen white at that, and Aenys could tell with how his brother’s eyes narrowed that Viserys was losing his temper.

“And here we are?” he finished forlornly, for no matter what his feelings may be for Viserys, he had always cared for Aemma and Rhaeneyra, at least in his own way.

“Are you mocking me, Aenys?” Viserys asked with narrowed eyes.

“GODS, NO! I am just telling you the truth Viserys. Just the harsh truth,” he finished, and Viserys chewed his lips before sighing and leaning back.

“No matter your reason, I wanted to tell you that I am grateful to you, and I apologize for not ending your exile earlier.”

Aenys thought about the exile, about how he had struggled in the earlier days, how devastated he had been, but it was all over now. It was all in the past, and in the end, it only made him stronger.

So, he simply nodded to his brother. Viserys smiled at this. He had always been a fan of reconciliations.

“Good! Now that you are finally back in the Kingdom, have you given any thought to what you would like to do? There…” but Aenys cut him off.

“I am afraid I will have to stop you right there. I will not be staying here for long. I plan to return to Bravos after the Queen has made ample recovery!”

And he saw Viserys’s eyes widen at that as he spluttered for a moment before finally speaking out.

“But why?”

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Like really, dude? REALLY?

Aenys has a separate life that he has built, yes he may care for Rhaeneyra, Aemma, and Rhaenys, but that doesn’t mean he has to remain in Kings Landing.