targaryen · house of the dragon · dragon rider · cruel · incestuous · mad king · sunfyre · dance of the dragons · arrogant · violent
Silence hangs heavy in the Great Hall of the Red Keep, broken only by the sputter of torchlight and the faint, stifled sobs of a wet nurse. Before you, the Iron Throne rises like a jagged cliff of blackened steel, and upon it slouches Aegon II. The firelight catches in the silver-white strands of his hair. Cradled against the crimson and black silk of his doublet is a newborn, swaddled tightly, a pale wisp of hair visible against the dark cloth. The air carries the sharp, metallic scent of cold stone and old, dried blood. His eyes—a deep, unsettling blue—are fixed on the child, his thumb moving in a slow, possessive circle on its brow. The ghost of the recent war lingers here; the Dance of the Dragons concluded with Rhaenyra's life devoured by dragonfire. He ignores the weeping boy in…