GOT/ASOIAF: Ruler Beyond The Ice

Chapter 623 - 625: Kingship and Truth

He succeeded.

Daenerys's shoulders trembled slightly. She lifted her head and looked at Aegor with wide eyes, surprise filling her gaze.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" The words burst out at once. She did not even mind the pain in her arm from his grip. "'A king should not sit comfortably.' If today I melt the Throne in anger just because it pricked me, how would I be any different from my father? And what would the Seven Kingdoms think of me if word spread?"

"'A king should not sit comfortably'?"

Aegor smiled faintly, dismissively. The logic behind that sentence was as absurd as saying that scholars must remain poor. It sounded reasonable, yet was utterly illogical.

"Your Grace, ask yourself. Are you quoting this because you truly believe it as a creed, or simply because it was spoken by Aegon the Conqueror? What inherent connection is there between sitting comfortably and ruling well?" Aegor loosened his grip on her forearm, casually discarding the remaining gauze, and gently supported her injured left hand with his right palm. It appeared as though he was checking the bandage, but in truth he was savoring the smoothness of her delicate hand. "If there must be a connection, I would say the harm outweighs the benefit. Whether a king or a Hand of the King, if they must constantly endure discomfort beneath them and guard against iron spikes and sword tips while seated, how can they remain focused and listen carefully to the pleas of their subjects? By placing such unnecessary pressure upon themselves and exhausting their emotions wrestling with a lifeless object, how can they preserve reason and goodwill for long, and govern calmly?"

"Fine, you have a point." She interrupted him. Knowing that he always had an argument ready, she did not even try to debate. "But the Iron Throne is not merely an uncomfortable chair. It is also a symbol of power, and that is precisely what I need most right now."

"Agreed. But why is the Iron Throne a symbol of power?" Aegor nodded, then answered his own question. "Because it was forged by Aegon the Conqueror, founder of House Targaryen's rule, and it carries the weight of the prestige of the seventeen kings who sat upon it after him. Across the known world, whenever people hear 'Iron Throne,' they immediately think of the supreme ruler of Westeros. That is the effect you want, correct?"

That was true.

But what of it?

Confusion crossed her face as she waited for him to continue.

"But who is Your Grace? Or rather, who do you wish to be?" A faint yet unmistakable fervor appeared in Aegor's eyes. "A second Conqueror following in another's footsteps, or Daenerys Targaryen the First, the first and greatest queen?"

He paused, allowing his provocative words to settle before speaking again.

"The meaning of an object is not inherent. It is bestowed by people. The achievements you have already made, are about to make, and will make in the future will far surpass those of the Conqueror. As the Dragon Mother, you do not need this heap of scrap iron to prove your bloodline or legitimacy."

A faint smile tugged at his lips. He remembered his former self dreaming of sitting upon a crude imitation of the Iron Throne. Who would have thought that one day, even the real Iron Throne would appear to him as nothing more than scrap iron.

"To speak more boldly, once the grand design we have conceived is realized, your seventeen predecessors combined will not surpass you. In that case, clinging to a rusted throne, when you are clearly a towering tree, yet choosing to stand in the shadow of those weaker than yourself, does that not seem strange?"

Was that not too arrogant?

To be praised so highly by the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch stirred secret joy within her. Yet no matter how confident she was, she could not truly believe she would surpass seventeen former kings combined. The Great King's Landing Plan was indeed grand and astonishing, but it had not yet been fulfilled.

Should she admit she did not have absolute confidence in its success? Of course not. Yet if she wished to refute him from another angle, she found no words.

"What you are about to accomplish will be an earth shattering feat unprecedented in history. Even if you still desire an iron chair, you should forge a new one from the blades of the enemies you yourself defeated. What meaning is there in ruling a new Targaryen dynasty while seated upon the swords of foes conquered three hundred years ago by another? Even if it did not scratch you, you should destroy it yourself to mark a clean break from the old order buried in history."

"You remember the phrase 'a king should not sit comfortably,' but you misunderstand it. It is not that discomfort aids governance. It is that victory defines truth. Once you achieve a deed unmatched and uniquely yours, who will still remember that a skeleton named Aegon once decreed such a thing? The people are fickle. They will praise your courage in destroying the Iron Throne to usher in a new age and pass it down as legend. By then, who will mourn this scrap iron forged into something new, or believe it still symbolizes power?"

His torrent of persuasion ended, and silence returned to the Throne Room.

Grey Worm stood to the side without a word. Daenerys, though not entirely convinced, was momentarily shaken by the intensity and force of Aegor's speech. She remembered the surge of excitement she had felt when she first heard him speak of the Great King's Landing Plan in the lakeside tower at Queenscrown.

Melting the Iron Throne. For anyone else, such words would be sheer arrogance. But Aegor was different.

She had not forgotten that this man had once melted an unnamed Valyrian steel sword in the Gift and forged it into seventy seven Lightbringers. After the fall of the Night King, those blades became legends, eclipsing any single Valyrian steel weapon.

As queen, she disliked subordinates overstepping and influencing her decisions. Yet as a woman, she found it difficult to resist the confidence and fearlessness he displayed when speaking boldly, especially when it was for her sake.

To accomplish great deeds, did one not require such spirit?

While her thoughts churned, Aegor himself felt emotions surging within him.

What was happening?

He had only intended to speak wildly to draw her from her thoughts. Yet as he continued, he nearly convinced himself.

A few breaths later, he understood the source of his excitement.

For some time, he had been suppressing much.

The former guardians of the Wall had stepped into the struggle for the Seven Kingdoms. Responsibility had multiplied, his workload had grown immense. He had been busy.

After killing Varys and Petyr, he had endured constant mental strain to conceal the truth. He had been tense.

Organizing, commanding, and fighting in successive great battles had drained him physically and mentally. He had been exhausted.

All that pressure had poured out through his grand speech.

Boasting was indeed a fine way for a man to release stress.

Beyond that fleeting relief, he gained sudden clarity. Interacting with Daenerys solely as ruler and subject was far less effective than maintaining the bond of close comrades. Recently he had grown cautious and overly formal before their cause was complete. That was the wrong path.

Boasting felt good. Fulfilling those boasts would feel even better.

"Even setting aside grand ideals, from a practical standpoint the Iron Throne cannot remain." Aegor exhaled and prepared to deliver a final argument before stopping, lest he truly persuade her too far. "When Your Grace ascended the steps just now, did you hear the steel groaning beneath your feet? The throne is already severely decayed. It has not collapsed only because it was forged solidly, much like the seemingly prosperous realm under the usurper Robert. No matter how stable it appears, decay and collapse are only a matter of time. Do you wish to leave such instability to your future self and descendants, or eliminate it decisively now?"

"Rest assured, your servant will preserve every remnant of the power it symbolizes. The steel from the Iron Throne will be forged into two great cannons. One shall be named Royal Power, the other Truth. In the past, subjects across the realm could only stand in this hall to behold the throne and feel its authority. In the future, Your Grace may sail the seas with Royal Power and use Truth to persuade all who dare resist."

(To be continued.)

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