Over the past few months, our nation has experienced more troubles due to the rise of the Dragon Reborn than any nation save Arad Doman and Cairhien. Every other nation has been affected, but the Dragon or the Seanchan have been able to restore order with seeming ease. In our nation, we have lost our Queen to the Forsaken, but only after she went on a rampage against her strongest supporters. We as a house must take this opportunity to throw our support behind one of the candidates in the hope of seeing her gain the throne and giving us a prime position in the new administration. We should approach the Lady Dyelin of House Taravin and offer her our support, for she is experienced in holding power, has close ties to important players in the Game of Houses, and even if she does not become queen, we have gained a powerful ally.
You could proclaim your own candidacy for the throne; we as a house have spent more than a century sitting by the wayside as other houses claimed the power for themselves. We as a house would do well to remind the others of our past glories and current strength. We have a number of lesser houses that do, but the other Great Houses take us for granted, as we rarely make our position known until the day of the elcection, if at all. Perhaps the time has come to change that.
As you know, our house is rather low on steadfast allies among the other Great Houses. This would make it near impossible to gain the support needed for the throne. In addition, our finances are strained by the refugees from Cairhien and Arad Doman that have been welcomed onto our lands. We simply cannot afford the mercenaries to take Caemlyn by force. Even if we were to force our way onto the throne, we would make enemies of every great and minor house in the nation, ensuring our downfall within a year.
Another option would be to back Arymilla of House Marne; she is of an ancient and well-respected house. We and House Marne have had our differences in the past, but were we to help them gain the throne, those differences would quickly be forgotten. House Marne is possibly the single most powerful house in Andor, its holdings and retainers rivaling those of Trakand, thus making them an important ally if we choose to back them. Arymilla herself is quite ambitious, a quality well respected in a queen; she has already taken out two rivals for the throne and bound their houses to her cause.
However, she has no idea what to do with power. When the Queen disappeared, Arymilla raised armies within a month to defend her supposed claim to the throne, even though it was made clear that Lady Dyelin of House Taravin was acting as Regent until the houses could meet for the election. Arymilla is quite notorious among certain circles for her loose tongue and propensity for spreading false rumors, a quality far from being queenly. Arymilla has also recently laid siege to Caemlyn, a dark omen for any aspiring to power. House Marne has also done nothing to inspire our friendship, especially since they exiled your great great grandmother the last time they had the throne.
The Lady Elayne, Daughter Heir, is technically the rightful heir. Her House is likely the most powerful house, having held the throne more times than any other house; only House Marne stands as a rival. Trakand has had close ties to us in the past; indeed the Queen was a great friend to our House, for a time at least. If we were to back Trakand, we would be secure in the knowledge that the laws of our nation were firmly on our side, as a Succession is always a messy occurrence.
Nevertheless, we cannot be seen as directly supporting her claim after the incidents involving her mother, the Queen. The exile of multiple of her closest friends and her refusal to allow you into the capital cause House Trakand to be on the list of Houses we cannot openly associate due to past dishonors. She is also young and could do well with a few more years to ready herself for the throne. Elayne's ally, Lady Dyelin of House Taravin would make an excellent Queen in the meantime.
Backing House Taravin gives us the best of all possible outcomes. We shall not bring dishonor onto our house through supporting a house that dishonored us, nor shall we support a woman that could never make a suitable queen. Lady Dyelin of Taravin has already proclaimed her house in favor of Trakand, but we may act in her support and hope that Trakand retracts their claim in her favor. If Trakand does gain the support needed to enforce their claim to the throne, we may offer our support by stating we trust in House Taravin's judgment.
Lady Dyelin as a woman is the best possible candidate for Queen, for all she has refused to make an official claim to the throne. As High Seat of House Taravin, she has acted with the utmost decorum and shrewdness. She has amazing skill at Daes Dae'mar, the Game of Houses. She was able to maintain neutrality as Regent while many were vying for the throne around her, until the technically rightful heir arrived in the capital. Dyelin has also proven her close ties to the Dragon Reborn, as she had been proclaimed Regent under his direction.
The Lady has also shown a great deal of experience and fairness during her tenure as High Seat and also as Regent. She has been High Seat for twenty-five years, and during that time, House Taravin has grown in influence and wealth three-fold. In this time, she also maintained a certain level of neutrality regarding the other houses, being considered on friendly terms with all and enemies to none, an amazing feat that no queen has managed for three hundred years. On top of this, she has built cordial relations with a number of the Great Houses in Cairhien and Tear, potentially laying the ground for a royal marriage to expand our influence as a nation. As Regent, she has increased support to those displaced by the Troubles throughout the world, winning the support of the peasantry and merchants, an integral part of a queen's base of power, but one often overlooked.
If Dyelin adamantly refuses the throne, we may tie our support to her in such a way as to have it transferred to whomever she supports without us directly supporting that party. We can thus begin to repair relations with Trakand without openly reaching out to them, which would be social suicide as bad as being friendly to Whitecloaks. Whether Dyelin or Elayne becomes Queen, House Taravin shall be our bridge to repair relations with Trakand, a house with whom we have ancient ties.
Some will tell you to reject all notions of support to House Taravin, for they feel Dyelin is too old, too friendly with Trakand, or simply because they think Arymilla is so much better. To this, I say that we have had too many young queens that act recklessly. House Taravin may be friendly with Trakand, but we are supporting Taravin, not Trakand. If Trakand does gain support to enforce their claim, we may indirectly support them by way of Taravin. Those that support Arymilla prove themselves no better than she, as they want a woman on the throne who feels the only way to power is to crush all in her path. As a house, we Candraeds should pride ourselves on our subtlety, of which Arymilla has none.
Our nation is at a crossroads; shall we go the way of Cairhien and Arad Doman and fall into chaos and weak leadership? Or shall we regroup and move as a nation into the future? To keep our strength, we must elect a stong leader, a leader with experience and the backing of the Great Houses. If we as a house choose to back Dyelin, we can trust in her judgment that our nation shall have a good leader, be it her or someone else. With her experience in the Game and high ranking friends across the continent, we can be assured that we have made a powerful friend if we back her, and what house isn't better off with a powerful friend?