The King and Queen

Maekar crossed to her quickly; they were the only two in the room yet apart from Ser Jon Gaunt who stood aside against one wall. The young king took his wife's hand and raised her up out of the curtsy, pulling her close in an embrace. "I did it…" he murmured so softly she had to strain to hear, but when he spoke again it was at a more conversational tone. "Our work is only beginning, love. I will need you by my side in the coming months," he said, releasing her hand and placing his own gently on her belly which was only just beginning to show her pregnancy. "I will need you both," he added with a smile.

Maekar slid his fingers in between Visenya's and smiled down at her, tiling his face slightly toward her touch. "I have never fought another dragon rider before, I do not thin any of us have save for…" he trailed off for a moment, instead of saying 'our fathers', and paused somewhat awkwardly. "I have never felt so alive, and yet never felt so close to death. I should have warned you of my intentions, given you time to prepare yourself, but it was so sudden. Delinaal and that witch murdered the King and somehow framed Vira; I am sure of it, though I do not know how they did it."

"I have a boon I would ask of you, that I think none but you would be able to accomplish. I do not want to ask it of you, for it will involve you leaving me for a time, but there is nobody else I can trust," he said gently, meeting Visenya's eyes with his one, and pulling her close to him. "I need you to find Trajan and bring him back to the capital."

"It was not the King. Somehow that witch gained access to the King's seal, or used some sorcery. The more I think back on the last week of his life, he was erratic and out of character," Maekar replied. "When he sent me to Winterfell to kill Lord Stark, had I not been so blinded by greed at the offer of being legitimized and made Prince of Dragonstone, I would have realized that his offer was completely contrary to the plans that he and I had already discussed. Perhaps the witch used some magic to gain control of the King for her own purpose… my grandmother once told me that such things were possible in the East."

"I know that we will need Trajan and Zyraxes if we are to prevail over Aegon. There are six dragon riders in King's Landing; Aegon flew east with the same number, and three more have gone to join him since then. There are two dragons on Driftmark as well, which will likely declare for Aegon the instant he returns. We are outnumbered, and badly," he said, raising her hand to his mouth and kissing the tip of her fingers. "He will not harm you if you bear my standard, and carry a message from me. What can he do but return with you, when he finds out what has happened?"

Maekar paused for a moment, and looked at her silently before speaking up again. "I will not command you to go; it was wrong of me to ask," he said, leaning down to kiss her gently on the cheek. "As for Dragonstone… Were I Aegon, that is the first place I would return to upon hearing the news of the King, and the Queen sent him a dragon rider bearing Gods-know-what message, so he is likely on his way back already. I do not have the dragons to risk one being caught by his flight at Dragonstone when he arrives there."

"You know where your brother is?" He asked, looking up sharply. "I'd heard he was in Dorne, but that was rumor only and I had heard nothing more definitive since he fled on the night before our wedding. If Rhaegar swore himself to my banner, I would certainly grant him permission to claim a new dragon, and even find him an heiress to marry as well."

"They do not, so they would have little reason to treat with us to begin with. You should write to your mother and lord Grandfather at Yronwood, if you think she is there, to see if they know anything about Rheagar's whereabouts. Tell them to pass him a message, if he is in hiding, that I will see that he is granted a good marriage and a new dragon, if he swears himself to my reign," Maekar said. "Our reign," he corrected, smiling widely. Maekar sat down in a chair, pulling Visenya into his lap and kissing her playfully on the neck. He placed his palm flat on her belly again, and she heard him sigh happily in her ear.

"We have so much more to fight for now, on behalf of this child. It is his birthright to be King after me, and I will never rest until I am sure it will be so," he said, kissing her again.

"Thank you, love," he said, running gentle fingers through her hair. "With luck we will not be parted for long, and I mean to see us both crowned the day after tomorrow, before you depart for Dorne; I must speak with lady Lannister before we can move forward. I thought to introduce you to her, once she and I have concluded our official business; I suspect you and she could become quite good friends, and such would further bind her fortunes to ours.

"What man could ask for a better wife?" he asked, kissing her affectionately.

"You will have as many new gowns as you desire, my dear," the King replied, meeting her kiss with equal passion. "I will not have my Queen dressed in second-hand garb at her own coronation. Darkheart's treasury can bear the costs for now, even if the royal treasury cannot," he said, idly twisting a lock of Visenya's hair between his fingers.

"I need her gold, her soldiers, and most of all her public support for my reign," he admitted, in a tone that indicated he wished he did not need so much from the Lady of the West. "When we are crowned, if she and Lord Baratheon publicly swear for me, the other Lords will begin to fall into line, when they see the allies that I have arrayed."

Maekarnnoddednappreciatively at her instinctive understanding of the importance of appearances and projected stength, even with regards to a matter as simple as the Queen's dress.

"Just as I cannot refuse you a thing," he replied with a light laugh. The king kissed his wife fondly and shifted beneath her so that she settled in his arms more comfortably.

"Is there anything you would have of me, love? I fear that the fenzy of recent days has led me to neglect my lady wife far more than she could deserve," he added with a smile.

"Take a break, Gaunt," Maekar called out over his shoulder, turning his attention back to Visenya without waiting to see if Gaunt obeyed.

He kissed her playfully on the neck, nibbling her earlobe as he whispered in her ear.

"What is it you would give me, my lady wife, now that we are alone?" He murmured teasingly, idly undoing the laces of her bodice with deft fingers.

Visenya flew back to Kings Landing after burning her grandfathers corpse as quickly as Silverwing could take her.

she landed in the Pit and rushed to the Red Keep, pausing only to wash her hands in a basin and comb her tangled hair back from her face. She went to her husbands chambers and asked to see him.

It was very awesome, but the second and third times were even more awesome.