Chapter 238: Chapter 239 - Back to the North (IV)
"Humanity's true immortality, the legacy passed from blood to blood, until the end of time." Aenar Targaryen, holding his first descendant.
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"How do you feel?" Aenar calmly asked Rhaenys, who was eating in complete silence. Her gaze was down, and her expression indicated that she had no idea what she was feeling at that exact moment.
"Relief and emptiness." Rhaenys replied with a slightly lost tone. She looked at Aenar confused, not knowing what to do.
"Very well, now you can start anew, bringing with you the memory of your loved ones." Aenar looked at her and said in a gentler tone. He knew that changing overnight was extremely difficult, but it was necessary. Time and destiny waited for no one, not even gods.
"Start anew…" Rhaenys murmured and nodded her head. Just as Aenar had said, she had to live for herself, no longer for revenge. A life of truth and no longer of hatred and resentment.
Seeing the small sparkle in Rhaenys' eyes, Aenar showed a satisfied look and smiled gently. Although the change was small, it was the first step towards a larger and complete change.
Then, Aenar looked at the four women around him; he focused on Visenya, more specifically on her belly. His daughter was being conceived at that moment, becoming stronger and healthier every second.
"I have something to announce." When Aenar spoke, the eyes of Daenerys, Visenya, Rhaenys, and Rhaella focused entirely on him.
"Visenya is pregnant." Aenar said directly, looking at Visenya with an amused laugh. His wife's expression was simply hilarious; he mentally took a picture and saved it for a distant future.
The spoon Rhaella held fell to the floor; she looked at her eldest daughter with wide eyes. However, the shock turned into the purest happiness. She would be a grandmother again!
Daenerys looked at Visenya with an envious gaze; she wanted to have been the first to be pregnant, but apparently her older sister got there before her. However, she was happy for her sister and her husband.
She would be an aunt!
Rhaenys, who was still undecided about the future, looked at Visenya with wide eyes; she looked at her aunt's belly and saw no sign of pregnancy, but she didn't doubt Aenar's words.
Visenya herself looked at Aenar in disbelief at her husband's words. She had simply slept with Aenar once and got pregnant! Although the sex had lasted a few hours, it was her first time!!!
Nevertheless, a strange feeling bubbled in her chest. Visenya touched her own belly and found it hard to believe that there was something there being generated. It was a strange feeling; it was as if the world around her was heavier, yet more alive than ever.
"This is great!!!" Rhaella said with a smile on her lips; she hugged her daughter and kissed her forehead affectionately. Visenya's pregnancy was like a symbol of hope at that moment, the new member of House Targaryen to be born in fourteen years!!!
"Will it be a boy or a girl?" Daenerys asked curiously; she looked at her sister's belly trying to see something, but there was only her flat belly, with no sign of pregnancy.
Aenar didn't answer and looked at Visenya. "If Visenya wants to know, I'll tell her." Although he knew it would be a girl, he didn't know if Visenya wanted to know the baby's gender beforehand.
"You can tell me, husband." Visenya didn't care to know at that moment; she touched her belly and felt that she would love the child regardless of its gender.
"It will be a girl, my heir." Aenar said in a gentle tone. He really liked his eldest daughter. You can call it favoritism for being his first descendant, but when you have a perfect descendant to inherit everything you have, that favoritism is quite real.
The four women's eyes widened, hearing that the girl would be Aenar's heir. "Isn't that inappropriate?" Rhaella asked with a worried tone. The example of Rhaenyra Targaryen was well alive in the history of House Targaryen.
"Whoever says my daughter is inappropriate to be my heir will have been destroyed, and no one else will be against it; she will be my heir." Aenar said with an indifferent and even murderous tone.
"Besides, we are immortal." Aenar concluded with an indifferent tone. His family is immortal, and it is unlikely that the heir will become empress while he is alive.
Everyone's concerns disappeared with Aenar's words. A second Dance of the Dragons can never occur. Aenar was not an indecisive and weak man like Viserys I.
Visenya caressed her belly and smiled gently; she was carrying the future heir to the Iron Throne, which made her nervous and afraid that something would happen to her daughter. Without her noticing, she was worrying about her unborn daughter.
"Well, I want to see the expressions of those lords who dared to express dissatisfaction to Aenar." Daenerys said in a playful tone, but everyone in the room felt that the girl was plotting something evil.
Aenar looked at Daenerys and spoke calmly. "After the war, Dany."
Making a conspiracy against the nobles on the eve of the battle that would decide humanity's survival was not a smart thing to do.
"I know, I would do it after things calmed down. When my niece is born, to be exact." Daenerys rolled her eyes at Aenar's words. She wasn't stupid enough to do something like that in times of war. Any failure could result in losing the war; how could she risk something so important?
Aenar nodded his head; he knew Daenerys was intelligent, but he couldn't allow mistakes at this moment.
"But spread the news of Visenya's pregnancy to everyone. Let them know that the heir to the Iron Throne is about to be born." Aenar said, looking at Daenerys. The news of Visenya's pregnancy came at a good time; everyone was calmer with his possible heir.
It may seem strange, but having a child can calm people's restless minds. Especially a king's heir, as it means the next generation can pass without any power struggle.
Power struggles mean wars, and wars cause deaths and make Noble Houses disappear. Nobles hate a troubled power exchange, as they may cease to exist in a future conflict.
Daenerys nodded and smiled; she could very well deify the image of her future niece, making it easier for others to accept her. At least reduce some unnecessary deaths.
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The news of Visenya's pregnancy spread through the army in half an hour. The soldiers of the Red Legion, the Saudarkar, and the Northern Army, and some nobles from the Riverlands did not hesitate to celebrate.
Although they didn't know whether the king's first child was a boy or a girl, they didn't care, as it meant the king was fertile and could have many children, especially with three wives.
Even silent and calm, Eddard Stark was drinking with his vassals. As Aenar's adoptive father, it could be said that he felt his mission as a father was over.
"The king is fast; he just got married and already has children!!!" Greatjon said in a loud and excited tone as he drank a large mug of beer.
"HAHAHAHA!!!"
Greatjon's words brought laughter to everyone in the North; joyful laughter and toasts could be heard throughout the army. Visenya's pregnancy, in everyone's eyes, was a blessing from the gods, saying that victory would be certain!
Eddard also drank a large mug of beer and let out a sigh of relief, as if a weight was lifted from his shoulders.
"Lyanna, you're going to be a grandmother." Eddard murmured with a nostalgic look. "If you were alive, you would probably teach him or her to ride a horse…"
A sincere laugh escaped the lips of the Lord of Winterfell and Protector of the North. Just imagining such a scene made him laugh, as that was certainly what Lyanna would do when she became a grandmother.
"A toast, Lord Stark." Howland Reed said in a calm tone, but his lips were also curved in a sincere and genuine smile. Obviously, the news of Visenya's pregnancy truly brought him great joy.
"May he have many children!!!" Eddard said loudly.
"May he have many children!!!"
"May he have many children!!!"
The northern lords raised their full mugs of beer and spoke loudly.
If they knew how many children Aenar would have, they wouldn't have toasted with such fervor.
Aenar heard the roars outside his tent and couldn't help but smile. It was just the first; many more were yet to come.
Three months later.
The gigantic army of hundreds of thousands of people did not stop at Winterfell and approached the gigantic ice wall on the horizon.
The Wall!
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Note: I find English interesting, but different from my native language. For you to understand the difference, in Brazilian Portuguese, every word has a gender. Yes, EVERY word has a gender. The door has a gender, the doorknob has a gender, and even shit has a gender.
I really find the neutrality of words in English strange; it's a strange habit I have to adapt to.
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