I Just Pray For Your Fall ||| Cregan Stark

twenty

The loss of life in the Dragonpit was devastating. A dragon breaking through the ground beneath people's feet was unpredictable and the Gold Cloaks shutting people inside didn't help. That was of no consequence to the Greens, however. They had more to worry about.

With Rhaenys gone, having escaped her confines, as well as one of the Kingsguards missing, they knew it was only a matter of time until Rhaenyra found out about what they had done. She would find out all at once that her beloved father was dead and her half-siblings and stepmother used that death to make her eldest brother King. The betrayal would be devastating and she would likely be provoked to anger and to declare war. Amara would've done the same if their circumstances had ever been similar. That was why she was so afraid of what was going to happen.

The rest of the Royal family from the Pit were taken quickly back to the Red Keep from the scene of the massacre. The Gold Cloaks were tasked with fixing the mess Rhaenys made and calming the city while Aegon would sit the Iron Throne for the first time. There were plans to make and messengers to send but it was important the Lords saw Aegon sit the Iron Throne as further proof he belonged. Even better if the Throne didn't cut him. The lords needed to swear fealty to him before they could proceed and deal with Rhaenyra.

Amara was practicing much self-restraint when she stood in the Throne Hall and watched Aegon approach the Iron Throne. She very much needed to go to her rooms and rest, the fear from mere hours prior was still present in her, but she didn't have a choice. Alara has to stand next to her husband and watch. The Kingsguard announced him again, with his fancy new titles, and Aegon held his head high as he walked toward the daunting Throne. Amara bowed once more before he began to climb the stairs to his seat above everyone else.

He climbed those stairs with much more confidence than he'd climbed the stairs to his coronation in the Dragonpit. Aegon took his seat carefully, resting his hands on the armrests as he looked down upon those gathered beneath him. During his first time sitting the throne, Aegon was careful enough not to get cut. That could change. There was no question of how much he enjoyed the immense power he had been given. Looking down on everyone lining the Hall to bow before him and swear fealty.

Any who refused, any lords who chose loyalty to Rhaenyra, the woman they swore oaths to, were arrested and imprisoned on the spot. They weren't executed immediately because war hadn't yet been declared. The goal of the Greens was to attempt negotiation first. Perhaps if they gathered enough allies and support, enough defence, Rhaenyra would be forced to cease a call to war. There was a chance she could be reasoned with. Killing her loyal supporters at court would do nothing to help their effort at preventing bloodshed and being seen as callous and cruel, which would lose them support.

When the lords had sworn fealty and those who hadn't were arrested, Otto called the small council for the new King. While Amara hated much about her situation and didn't want to be involved at all, not being allowed in the small council chamber was difficult to be okay with. That was where the news of the war that seemed inevitable was likely to be shared first-hand.

It wasn't as if Aemond would skip out of those meetings and run to Amara to tell her what was said either. He didn't believe his brother deserved the Throne but he hated his sister and her bastard children, so he was loyal to a fault to Aegon. He was closer to sitting on the throne through Aegon than he was through Rhaenyra. Aemond still didn't treat Amara like his wife, he didn't treat her as if she had any meaningful value to him, and he wouldn't care to tell her accurate updates about their situation. Amara only knew what she did through word of mouth and what she could discern from Helaena, who was allowed in the small council.