All You Need Is Guts Chapter 10 (ASOIAF x Berserk)

Baelon

Baelon was no stranger to castles, in his last life he had taken many and even been allowed to walk the floors of a few of them without the need to kill everyone inside but entering the Red Keep was something else entirely, it made him feel small and he was the tallest person around so he couldn’t even imagine how the others saw the monstrous castle. Baelon wondered if his mother ever dreamt of him arriving at the castle as he did escorted by knights and right beside the king…

Shaking his head slightly Baelon refocused on the now dwelling on regrets wasn’t what he wanted, his father shot him a strange look when he noticed what was happening but probably thought that he felt nervous and Baelon was nervous but not for the reasons his father thought. The roar of the Cannibal echoed in King’s Landing as if to signal that he was aware of what Baelon feared and perhaps he probably was aware of it since according to his uncle dragon and rider were one.

“Baelon this place is great but what is most important here isn’t the castle itself but the throne” Viserys expression changed as he mentioned the Iron Throne, it was a look of wariness not one of happiness that crossed his father’s face, perhaps he much like Baelon understood that leadership, that being king was not as good as people said. As Guts, he had seen a thousand lords sacrifice everything in their ambition for an empty chair, their people, their health, their family, and even their own life.

As they passed the servants bowed but Baelon could feel the stares on his back, the eyes following him and his hard-won battle instincts felt them as he walked, this was what had concerned him, the stares, the eyes tracking him all the time, the fear. Another roar came from outside the castle and he heard some mutterings about it, of how the Cannibal was dangerous or that maybe he didn’t have it under control, that last comment had garnered his attention.

With a steady gait Baelon moved toward the knight that had questioned his bond with the Cannibal, the man had the symbol of a lion emblazoned on his chest, he smelled of perfume and if Baleon wasn’t wrong his cape was sewn with gold, in other words, he was a rich asshole. But a rich asshole who understood the gravity of his statement as the shadow of Baelon covered his form.

“My Prince” the man bowed his head but there was clearly some hesitance to the movement either because he didn’t believe Baelon worthy of the title or because he was afraid.

“The reason the Cannibal is so upset is that King’s Landing smells like shit, unlike you, he is not fond of the smell” Baelon’s rebuke had the people around them laughing and behind a wave of golden hair he could see that the lordling’s ears were turning red from embarrassment. At least everyone around him bought the lie and wouldn’t question any of the Cannibal’s actions for a while.

The man seemed tempted to draw his sword but as his eyes met Baleon’s surviving eye he reconsidered the idea. Baelon wondered what he saw in them that had made him back down but in the end, it wasn’t important as the man spoke again “I apologize for my words my prince, I’ve been here a while and forgotten how rough it is on the new people arriving”

Baelon gave him a single nod and then turned back to his father who was looking at him proudly, everything seemed to be going great and that’s why he was not surprised when a page told the king that his wife was going to meet him in the throne room. Baelon wasn’t expecting a warm welcome from the queen and he didn’t want it, but he still prepared himself in case there was going to be violence subtly he made his way to one of the walls and put himself in apposition in which he could see everything with his remaining eye.

After a lot of walking, they arrived at the throne room and finally, Baleon understood why his father’s face changed when he talked about the Iron Throne, it was as monstrous as Baleon’s sword, too ugly to be a throne and made with more iron than was needed, it was a warning to everyone around.

“A thousand blades of defeated foes were fused to make the Iron Throne, dragon fire was used to shape it, dragons forged this throne for us Baelon and it’s the dragons that let us keep it” the king looked at his side from a different door the queen had arrived.

Baelon had to admit that his father’s wife was beautiful, she had pretty auburn hair and her skin looked well cared for, she also had some big tits but that was probably because she had been popping out children like a rabbit as his uncle said, an unkind thing but Baelon figured that the comment came from jealousy. Daemon didn’t have an heir after all.

She gave him a curious look instead of the hateful one he expected, she bowed to the king and smiled but Baelon had seen that type of smile before in the faces of whores who were forced to sleep with men they didn’t like because that was their only way to live. The difference in age was one thing but to have to marry a man that had probably more in common with her father than her was not something Baelon was prepared to contemplate.

At least his half-brother looked healthy, though the child was obviously scared of him as he peeked from behind his mother’s skirt, his hair was exactly like the king’s but the facial features and body type were clearly inherited from his mother.

“Don’t be shy Aegon go say hi to your brother” the tension in the room disappeared with those words from the queen and Viserys let out an audible sigh of relief at the fact that he wasn’t about to fight with his wife for bringing Baelon here.

_______________________----______________________

Alicent Hightower

The man and Allicent couldn’t bring herself to call the giant that now walked the halls of the castle anything other than man, was surprisingly gentle and he seemed to like children or at least her son, and despite his size and the color of his hair (or rather the majority of it), he looked startling like Viserys (if Viserys was a mountain of muscle that looked harder than stone) and yet her son didn’t act like he normally does when he sees his father. Perhaps because they were half brothers they could feel some kind of bond that everyone else couldn’t see, the fact that they were both males would certainly help here instead of being a hindrance as it was with Rhaenrya.

The three-year-old looked wide-eyed at his half-brother his little mouth opening and closing as he tried to stutter out something, surprisingly the bastard kneeled down so that her son wouldn’t feel so intimidated but even like that Aegon had to look up at his face.

“You’re very tall” a laugh came from the king as his son pointed out the obvious and it was soon echoed by the rest of the court. Her son looked on the verge of tears as he believed that they were laughing at him but the bastard didn’t laugh he only nodded.

“You’re very short” slowly like he was trying to approach a skittish horse the bastard moved his hand toward her son’s head, she along with everyone else got to see the scars on his arm and a blacked piece of armor that was combined with it making it look almost as if he had scales. Aegon looked suspiciously at the hand but once the bastard started patting his head the tears on the corner of his eyes went away.

“I want to be tall like you!”

“I don’t recommend it, it makes using a lot of stuff more difficult than it should be not to mention that being this tall makes everything else big too. The bastard was probably referring to his hands as he used one of Aegon’s as a comparison but some of the ladies in court couldn’t help but glance at his crotch while some men looked away in shame. “Looking at people can also be a bother since you always have to look down on them, want to try being tall?”

Aegon nodded furiously and was soon picked up by his half-brother and put on his shoulders, then the bastard stood up and her son started to realize just how far he was from the ground but unlike other times he didn’t seem afraid of falling.

“I’m the tallest in the room!” her son started tugging on the bastard’s hair but he barely showed a reaction, the rest of the room was all smiles except for one person. Daemon wasn’t smiling and that didn’t surprise her but the look of longing on his face told her that he wasn’t as unaffected by his lack of children as he always said.

“Perhaps that’s enough, put him on the ground” Allicent did her best not to sound too friendly or too distant from the bastard but it was hard to do so when her husband looked expectantly at her as if she could just be his son’s friend or worse even try to be his mother.

The bastard complied and even looked relieved as he put her now pouting son on the ground, how anyone could prefer Rhaenrya to her little Aegon must have been blind, her son clearly had a better temper and had a kinder disposition than Rhaenrya. The bastard had a dragon and one bigger and meaner than Rhaenrya’s or Daemon’s, the only reason he was worse than them was because of a lack of practice but once he had some practice only Vermithor and Vhagar would be a true match for the beast he had tamed.

Slowly a plan formed on Allicent’s head, she would invite the bastard to her side of the Red Keep with the excuse that Aegon wanted to see more of him, she would put all her ladies in waiting around him and order some of them to try and approach him to see how he reacts and once she had a measure of the man she could make a good offer. Allicent was sure that her father had a similar plan and in his greed, he would try to marry Baleon to a cousin or something similar without realizing just how dangerous could be for their house.

A branch of their house wouldn’t be able to pose a threat to them but backed by a dragon and with many years of resentment for having a lesser status even though they were from the same family pushing them forward? that was a true threat. Daemon wouldn’t even need to pay them to go against them as their own ambitions would make her cousins move and that was the last thing House Hightower needed was to split itself like House Targaryen.

The bastard would be useful as a shield or distraction and if things couldn’t be resolved peacefully with Rhaenrya then he would be a combatant without peer, having to fight a dragon slayer would make anyone hesitate more so when the dragon slayer had a dragon as a mount.

“I’m glad you’re getting along well with Aegon Baelon, it feels good to have my family come together to celebrate a new arrival, now we’re just missing Rhaenys and her children but I’m sure that once Corlys comes back from the Stepstones he will bring his family with him” Allicent nodded at her husband’s words and reluctantly Daemon followed suit but he gave a nasty look at Aegon that nobody but her caught.

“Perhaps we should celebrate brother, The Stepstones are mine, commerce will flourish in our kingdoms and now you have a dragon riding son!”

“What a great idea Daemon! The fifth-year anniversary of my marriage with Allicent is also close, we could celebrate it all together!” her husband definitely didn’t put a lot of attention in her feelings as he continued talking about a celebration that should be for them with his brother but Daemon could keep his little power plays, Allicent had bigger plans.

_______________________----______________________

Author note: sorry for the wait life got heavy on me, more than i expected but i'm alive and that's what counts