( ACT II; age of the dragon. )
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chapter 2: a cask of wine to kill some time.

THE evening following the visit of the Unsullied barracks, Vaegon and Selmy sit at a small table on the upper deck of their ship to catch up on life's events. The Targaryen brought out a cask of fine wine that had been seized from Xaro's villa for the occasion, the both of them working their way through one chalice at a time. They were both fairly drunken and feeling of high spirits, once the sun had disappeared over the horizon and stars, began to make their appearance.

"Tomorrow-," Vaegon says just as he finishes the last bit of the contents of his chalice. He leans forward to fill it once more as he speaks. "I plan to gain the Unsullied as my army."

"They are slaves, Vaegon. Ultimately, I cannot make your decisions for you. You are the king, afterall," Selmy agreed, pointing a finger with the same hand that held his chalice. "Hopefully you can rule the Seven Kingdoms better than Joffrey."

Vaegon chuckles. "Tell me of this boy king," he smirks as he sips. "I hear many things, but you of anyone should be able to tell me the best details."

Selmy shrugs as he seems to think of what to say. "He is a wretched boy for his age. Arrogant, twisted, and dangerous it seems. If anything, I would say his mother is the one swaying his decisions. That woman has always been a sly one."

Vaegon had heard only a few things about the queen of Robert Baratheon, whom he'd taken as his wife shortly after the Rebellion. She was a woman of golden beauty that hailed from the rich house of Lannister. Beyond that, he didn't know much.

"Whispers of infidelity have traveled through the Red Keep as well," Selmy goes on. "That Joffrey and his three siblings are products of incest between the dowager queen and her knight brother, Jaime."

Vaegon grins and raises a brow in surprise, yet the thought of siblings loving one another had never quite been an issue in his mind. His family had always done it, yet their Valyrian blood seemed to be the excuse. He didn't know what the Lannister's could claim.

"My, my, it seems these Houses have all these secrets," Vaegon remarked as he took a drink. "There is always something to talk about."

"Oh, there is. For as problematic as the Lannister's are, I truly feel for many of the servants of the royals. Especially Princess Malkyn's handmaiden."

"What makes her so special?" Vaegon asks. "Isn't she just a servant like all the others?"

"I'm afraid not," Selmy tells him. He leans back against his chair and sighs. "Raina Snow, the bastard daughter of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell. The poor lass was forced to see her father beheaded on false pretenses. Not only that, she faced just as much abuse from the boy King as his betrothed, Sansa, who shares a father with the bastard."

"Did you know her then?" Vaegon asked. "Personally?"

Selmy frowns as he seems to dwell on a thought that was painful to recall. "I made my best effort to protect her. She is a very kind girl, with a strong-willed personality that never quite fit in the Red Keep. Her personality is much like her father's, which is part of the reason he was executed. To me, she was the daughter I never had."

Vaegon feels for the knight, knowing it must feel horrible to know you couldn't protect those you truly cared about. He could only imagine how he would feel if he were in Selmy's position with Daenerys.

"I pray to the Seven that she has found a way out of King's Landing," Vaegon tells him as he places a comforting hand on the older man's shoulder.

"I hope that you can mend what has been done by the Lannister's," Selmy murmurs. "The common people do not know much. They hear rumors, that is all. I heard and saw what they did. The Throne does not belong to such insolence."

"It is my vow to myself and those I care for that I will make every effort to turn the Seven Kingdoms into what it should be," Vaegon sighs. "I hear so many awful things that I find myself often thinking of how I would fix them myself."

Selmy smirks weakly. "Rhaegar would be proud of you. You've turned into the exact man he would have wanted."

Vaegon's heart is warmed with the man's kind words. The effects of his wine have begun to grow stronger, causing his emotion to run higher.

"I would hope so," Vaegon replies with emotion. "I hope that I can make up for what my family has done. I've heard too many stories of my father's madness and my mother's abuse that I can't bare the thought of being anything like him."

"Do you share a similar relationship as your mother and father?" Selmy asked. "With Daenerys?"

Vasgon is unsure of how to answer. Would the knight judge him for something the Targaryen's had done for generations? Or would he accept it for what it was?

"Sometimes," Vaegon states the truth, catching himself off guard. It was true, they went back forth. Between betrayal and harsh times, they separated and collided together more times than he would like to admit. It was a cycle.

"Do you wish for her to be your queen then?"

Vaegon recalls the exact conversation he'd had with Daenerys in Qarth. At that time, he'd made his mind up that a different woman that could bare children would have to serve as his queen. Yet, he found that it was hard to separate himself from Daenerys. They'd lied together on their voyage from Qarth, further confusing his intentions.

"I wish for it, but I know it will not work," Vaegon sighs.

"The Seven Kingdoms would be understanding of your union-" Selmy begins to explain, but Vaegom cuts him short.

"Daenerys is incapable of bearing children anymore."

Selmy pauses, his drunken self trying to grasp what Vaegon meant. "Why wouldn't she be able to now? She carried a child for the Khal if I have been told correctly."

"He was born dead," Vaegon muttered, recalling the horrible time when he'd resented Daenerys and her Khal husband. "Deformed and twisted from magic. She'd sought help from a witch to save her husband, but gave the life of her unborn child in the process."

Selmy grimaces at the information, causing both to sit in silence for a spell of time. Vaegon refills his chalice and finishes it in a few large gulps before Selmy speaks again.

"How unfortunate," the man mutters sadly.

"Truly," Vaegon half scoffed to himself.

"If she is not your queen then, will she be but a princess in line for the Throne?"

Selmy was right, Vaegon knew. If Daenerys grew resentful of him, she could easily take a full-grown Drokar and retrieve an army to challenge him for the Throne. It would be the Dance of Dragons all over again if there was a quarrel between them both once more. Realizing what he was thinking, Vaegon shook his head.

"No, no, she will be no threat to me," He refuses to acknowledge the thought. "Now, what will become my need of a wife, then? If I cannot have Daenerys as my queen, who then?"

Selmy takes a moment to think, but eventually answers. "There are plenty of houses with eligible women. It would just be a matter of who you would like. I suppose if a treaty can be met with the Lannister's, Princess Malkyn would be suitable for you. She is younger but beautiful."

Vaegon doesn't like the thought of marrying a Lannister. They seem like a twisted bunch that he didn't want to be caught up with.

"In time, I suppose, all of this will be sorted out," Vaegon sighs. "But for the night, Ser, I think I shall find my way to my chambers."

The knight bids him goodnight, he himself is in a very drunken state. The effects of the wine have truly dampened Vaegon's inhibitions, for he can barely think straight. He stands, lumbering toward the steps that lead down to the lower deck. Many of the Dothraki are dozing as Vaegon makes his way toward the door that leads inside the ship, where Daenerys was.

As he enters, he clumsily closes the door behind. Daenerys' attention is caught as her attention is drawn away from the three dragons, who lie in bed with her. They perk at the presence of Vaegon, but quickly disperse as he crawls onto the bed.

"Vae, what are you-," Daenerys tries to say, but before she can finish Vaegon has pressed his lips against hers.

From the way she allows herself to sink back, Vaegon knows she is accepting of his advances. As the moments pass and they peel away their layers of clothes, Vaegon loses sense of time. He performs and loves Daenerys as he always has, but soon enough lies in the bed without a thought of what he'd done; not realizing all he had done was just further their vicious cycle more and more.