Chapter 5
~NINE YEARS LATER~
BAELOR TARGARYEN
Nine years had passed since that fateful tourney at Storm's End, and much had changed in the real ever since. The hastilude at Storms End was an insignificant event in the annals of history, but in a way, the tourney had been the beginning of the change they now witnessed all over the kingdom.
Much had changed in these years, and Valarr had wed a Tyroshi Princess and suffered through the tribulations of still births. His brothers had now all married, with Rhaegal and Maekar being blessed with more children of their own.
Yet the person who had changed the most was none other than his second son, Matarys Targaryen.
Born the spare, at a time when there were more Targaryens than castles to house them, Matarys was destined for a painful life. He would always be a Prince of the realm, yet the realm was littered with Princes and Great Bastards.
Yet he had never displayed any envy or jealousy over his condition, and had taken to rectifying it himself. Even in his youth, he had always been a strange child, with a strange intuition, and had hoarded for himself quite a small fortune by saving and swindling.
Many thought it to be a prelude to a vice that could ruin their House, yet to him it felt too controlled to be a vice. Still, not all the drunks were known to drain barrels in their youth.
In the end, he would make his demand, and it was not for horses, or armor, or blades. No, it would be for something far different.
Land.
He wished to try his hand at farming, believing that he had hit upon a new method to revolutionise the act which had gone unchanged for some thousand years. Still, it was a small ask, and Baelor could always intervene.
Yet he would not have to.
Work would begin within months, and he would gather the men from Flea Bottom and offer them gold to work his farm. It was a steady income, and we were skeptical. Many third and fourth sons accepted the offer and relocated to the massive swathes of land he had given them.
He had thought it would be a simple farm, yet it was anything but. He would have the smith make him strange tools, and then use horses and oxen to use them. His methods were strange, and while many whispered such thoughts, few cared enough to speak against them.
Years changed, and Baelor kept waiting for him to fail, and yet the time never came. The first harvest came, and the yield was somewhat better than the surrounding lands. It was a success, but nothing too out of the ordinary, and yet the true success would come over the years.
Canals would be dug, and in nine years, Matarys had built an entire town on the outskirts of the village. A town that produced not just grain and beans but strange wines and spirits.
His land had nearly three times the yield of regular farmers, and his wines and spirits had been making a hefty profit ever since they had come to the market some three years ago.
Even now, Baelor himself had his son's infamous 'whiskey' in his goblet, and the drink was hard, and burnt the throat as it went down, and though he did not favor it over wine and ale, the drink had its own admirers.
Yet in these nine years, Matarys had only ever been a visitor in his Halls. He had earned his spurs a few years ago during the celebrations held for Valarr's wedding and had quickly gathered his sword and lance to join his grandfather and uncle in their campaign against the Vulture King of the Red Mountains.
Matarys loved his books, yet he loved his sword and lance just as much. Maekar, as dour as he was, would always praise his son's martial prowess, and he had made quite a name for himself in the Red Mountains.
He had led a charge against the Vulture King on his own, and in the three years since, he had not just defeated the man, he had also dedicated himself to closing down all the caves in the mountain that allowed such creatures to rage and pillage the lands around them.
There were rumors that he had gone sweet on a village girl during the campaign, who would later be slain by the bandits during the raid, and that Matarys had held her during her dying breaths and made a vow to her.
"When I am through with these lands, no Vulture King shall ever rise again," and though Baelor did not know if it was true or not, his son still remained busy in those mountains while another tourney beckoned them to Ashford.
"There is to be another tourney," he told his wife, and she had been the rock beside him in all these years, and was the first person to notice her son's uniqueness. The years had done little to dim her beauty, and Jena remained the same as she was years ago, even as grey now began to fill his head.
"Ashford," she guessed, and he nodded.
"Lord Ashford has been a good ally to our House, and has given us much support during the campaign against the Vulture King," and the dragons were now gone, and House Targaryen needed to rely on oaths and alliances to rule the realm.
"Father has ordered both Maekar and me to make an appearance on behalf of the throne," and that was nothing strange.
"I am afraid I won't be able to come along," she said, with thinned lips.
"The loss of her child has hit Kiera hard," Jena whispered, and Kiera was Valarr's wife. It was a match brokered by their father, yet he had offered his son only pain and suffering.
Baelor had suffered through the pain of a stillborn himself, yet the Gods had taken mercy on him and given him two children. They were yet to show his eldest the same mercy, who had now suffered through this pain twice over.
"She is still weak, and with Valarr gone, she will have need of me here," and he would have preferred to have her with him, but with Maekar there, he would not be lacking company.
"So be it. I shall ride on my own then," he accepted, as Jena gave him a brittle smile.
"Any word on Matarys?" she questioned, and ever since he had gone to the Red Mountains to face the Vulture King, they had not seen him once. Three years had now passed since Matarys had left the Red Keep after earning his spurs, and now both he and Jena hungered to see their son again.
"He was supposed to join me for this, yet he remains lost in his campaign," and Baelor knew of war and what it entailed.
"I worry for him," Jena added, and so did he.
"He will be fine," he assured her.
"I know, and I pray to the Seven for him every day, but I am a Mother, and we are prone to worry," she answered, and he would not begrudge her that.
"Still, I will never know what prompted him to go to this campaign. He is a Prince and has enough accolades already. He had nothing to prove," and Baelor would agree with that, for on his own, Matarys had built a little empire for himself.
He had asked only for land, and yet he had produced wines and spirits, soaps and much more. Baelor had seen his ledgers, and his son had enough gold to build himself a castle.
Many within the Red Keep were much interested in his ventures and wished to speak to him, yet his son wished to prove himself a warrior as he had proven himself in his ventures.
And now he had.
"Perhaps it is time to see him wed," Baelor suggested, hoping that a woman would lessen his thirst for adventure.
"Really?" and Jena's eyes lit up at his words, and he nodded.
"Father agrees as well, and Valarr was married at this age," and his father spoke of this for a different reason. Valarr and his wife had now suffered two stillborns, and while it was not out of the ordinary, Matarys was the spare.
Whispers were afloat that Lady Kiera may not be able to give Valarr an heir, and if such a time were to come, then Matarys would be his brothers' heir and his children.
"I have had so many inquiries about this from the ladies," and Jena seemed rather excited.
"It would serve us well to have some celebration after all these recent troubles," she countered, and he agreed with her.
"What of the rumors about this girl in Reach?" and he had not written to him about such a thing, but perhaps he had mentioned it to her.
"It is a lie," Jena answered easily.
"There was no such girl, though he did witness a destroyed village filled with dead, but there was no girl," and so that was a relief.
"So why haven't you dispelled the rumors then?" he asked, for if she knew the truth, she could have easily put these rumors to rest.
"There was no harm in them, and all Princes should have regal tales about them," she countered proudly.
"Girl or not, it does not take away from the fact that Matarys helped put down the Vulture King and is now sifting through the Red Mountains trying to close all of the caves there," and that was true.
"So do you have any matches in mind?" he asked, and Jena shook her head.
"Not yet, but I will have a few soon enough..." and this was her battle, and she would happily let her fight it.
"Well, I leave it in your hands. I intend to leave in two days, and Valarr shall ride with me..."
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