Twin Flames: Ashes Beneath the Crown
Chapter I – The Old Wounds Reopened
POV: Viserys I Targaryen
Grief has a sound.
It is not loud.
It is quiet.
Like parchment unfolding.
The chamber was sealed when the newest report arrived from Driftmark — another coded dispatch from Corlys' agents inside Oldtown.
Viserys did not want to read it.
But he did.
And as his eyes moved across the page, his hands began to shake.
Two names stood written in careful ink.
Prince Aemon.
Prince Baelon.
His uncles.
Sons of Jaehaerys I Targaryen.
Heroes of their age.
Dead decades now.
Dead… naturally.
Or so he had believed.
Chapter II – The Heir Who Should Have Been King
POV: Rhaenys Targaryen
They brought her the copied record at dawn.
She knew before reading it.
Because her father's name was written at the top.
Aemon Targaryen — Prince of Dragonstone. Rider of Caraxes before Daemon.
He had died from a crossbow bolt in Tarth during a Myrish skirmish.
A random shot.
A tragic misfortune.
The report from Oldtown told a different story.
"Subject Aemon: Increasing consolidation of dragon influence in succession line. High charisma. High martial loyalty. Recommendation: destabilize military engagement. External asset utilized."
External asset.
Rhaenys' fingers dug into the parchment.
There was attached correspondence between a Citadel intermediary and a Myrish contact.
Payment noted.
Timing precise.
The crossbowman had not been random.
He had been placed.
Her father had not fallen to chance.
He had been removed.
The Queen Who Never Was closed her eyes.
History had not turned naturally.
It had been pushed.
Chapter III – The Spring Prince
POV: Daemon Targaryen
Baelon.
The Spring Prince.
His father.
Baelon Targaryen had died not in battle.
But of a burst belly.
Sudden illness.
Maester's care.
Daemon stood over the council table as the report was read aloud.
"Subject Baelon: Strong military consolidation. Popular among dragonriders. Likelihood of aggressive pro-dragon policies high. Biological vulnerability window identified. Medical acceleration recommended."
Medical acceleration.
Daemon's knuckles split against the stone table.
"Say it plainly," he snarled.
Rhaenys' voice did not waver.
"They hastened his death."
The chamber felt colder.
Records detailed unusual instructions sent from Oldtown to the attending maester days before Baelon's decline.
Specific dosages.
Uncommon herbal mixtures known to thin intestinal lining.
The maester who treated him had returned to Oldtown immediately after the funeral.
Promoted within two years.
Daemon's breathing grew dangerously slow.
"They murdered my father with ink and herbs."
Viserys could not meet his brother's eyes.
Because if Baelon had lived—
He would have been king.
Not Viserys.
And if Aemon had lived—
Rhaenys' line would have inherited unchallenged.
The Great Council of 101 would never have happened.
The fractures would never have formed.
This was not random death.
It was succession engineering.
Chapter IV – Alicent's Horror
POV: Alicent Hightower
She was not meant to see the evidence.
But she did.
A copy left unattended in the Tower of the Hand.
Her breath caught as she read the lines referencing her own city.
Oldtown intermediaries.
Hightower couriers.
Encrypted financial transfers routed through merchant guilds loyal to her family's region.
Not proof her father ordered it.
But proof that Oldtown's power structure had known.
Her legs gave way beneath her.
If Prince Aemon had lived…
If Prince Baelon had lived…
Viserys might never have been king.
She might never have been queen.
Her children might never have been born into claim.
Her entire life rested upon manipulated deaths.
She found her father that night.
"Tell me it is false," she demanded.
Otto's silence was answer enough.
"Containment of dragons is preservation of the realm," he said quietly.
"They were men," she whispered. "Not wildfire."
"They were future tyrants."
"They were family."
For the first time, Alicent saw not a cautious statesman.
But a man who believed himself righteous enough to decide who should live for the realm's "balance."
And something inside her broke.
Chapter V – The Shock of the Seven Kingdoms
POV: The Realm
When the Crown confirmed the findings publicly, Westeros trembled.
Two princes.
Two engineered deaths.
One pattern stretching across generations.
The Stormlands roared in outrage for Aemon, who had died defending them.
The Vale demanded inquiry for Baelon, husband to one of their own bloodlines.
The Reach fractured — Hightower bannermen insisting upon forgery, others demanding transparency.
The Faith called for calm.
The Citadel denied direct authorization, blaming "rogue archmaesters acting beyond mandate."
But the damage was done.
Trust had shattered.
The idea that dragon decline was natural had collapsed.
Every sudden Targaryen illness was now suspect.
Every maester's chain felt heavier.
Chapter VI – Fire's Restraint
POV: Aenarion & Daenerys
We stood in the throne room as Daemon demanded blood.
"Oldtown burns," he said flatly.
"Not yet," Rhaenys countered.
Viserys looked decades older.
"If we attack the Citadel openly, the realm splits," he murmured.
"They already split us," Daemon replied.
He was right.
But open war would validate every fear the Citadel had written in those hidden scrolls.
That dragons were instability.
That Targaryens were uncontrollable.
We stepped forward together.
"This was slow war," Daenerys said calmly.
"With ink," I added.
"If you answer with fire, you prove their thesis."
Silence followed.
Viserys looked at us — truly looked.
"What would you do?" he asked.
"Expose," I said.
"Reform," Daenerys added.
"Remove influence quietly. Replace maesters in key castles. Elevate loyal scholars. Encourage dragon births."
"And if they strike again?" Daemon asked softly.
My eyes flickered briefly with something ancient.
"Then we stop restraining ourselves."
The air warmed subtly.
Not threat.
Promise.
The Citadel had shaped succession through shadows.
Now the dragons were awake.
And history would no longer be edited without consequence.