Introduction
[torn out]
Chronology of Events
Spring 281
Lord Walter Whent hosts the great tourney of Harrenhal.
Rhaegar Targaryen, Prince of Dragonstone, crowns Lyanna Stark of Winterfell as Queen of Love and Beauty.
Lady Lyanna Stark bestows the wreath of Queen of Love and Beauty to Princess Elia of Dorne during the tourney's final feast.
Winter 281
Robert Baratheon, Lord of Storm's End and Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, weds Lady Lyanna Stark.
Brandon Stark, heir to Winterfell, weds Catelyn Tully of Riverrun.
Winter 282
Jon Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, Lord Paramount of the Vale, and Warden of the East, weds Cersei Lannister of Casterly Rock.
Great Council of 282 is convened.
Aerys II Targaryen is cited of numerous instances of contributing to political decay of the Seven Kingdoms.
Prince Rhaegar Targaryen is put forward to immediately succeed his sire, Aerys II.
Lord Robert Baratheon is put forward as rival claimant by Lord Jon Arryn;
Rickard Stark, Lord of Winterfell, Lord Paramount and Warden of the North;
Hoster Tully, Lord of Riverrun and Lord Paramount of the Riverlands; and
Tywin Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock, Lord Paramount of the Westerlands, and Warden of the West.
Tensions escalate in the Great Council of 282, and after a spontaneous report of a standing host in the Riverlands, culminates in the detention of Brandon Stark, among others, and their later deaths in detention.
Prince Rhaegar Targaryen detains Aerys II.
Robert's Rebellion begins.
Queen Rhaella and Prince Viserys Targaryen take ship from Dragonstone to Sunspear.
Eddard Stark, now heir to Winterfell, weds Lady Catelyn Tully, who is proven to
be a maid still.
Winter 283
Prince Rhaegar Targaryen dies at the Battle of the Trident.
Shortly after, Lord Robert Baratheon succumbs to his wounds, leaving behind only a stillborn daughter, Branda.
Aerys II is found dead. Lord Varys, master of whispers, is found dead.
Princess Elia of Dorne proclaims her son Aegon VI, appointing herself as his Regent, and sends ravens with offers of marriage negotiations.
Council of 283 is convened.
Suit of Stannis Baratheon, the new Lord of Storm's End and Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, is considered and dismissed. Lord Jon Arryn pronounces that Lord Stannis Baratheon's suit will be considered for one of the banners of House Nymeros Martell.
Princess Rhaenys Targaryen is betrothed to the newly born Robb Stark of Winterfell, for a joint rule on the Iron Throne.
Prince Aegon Targaryen is betrothed to the as yet unborn daughter (predicted by Grand Maester Pycelle) of Lord Jon Arryn and his lady wife, Lady Cersei.
Council of Regents formed: Princess Elia of Dorne, Lord Walter Whent, Lord Mace Tyrell, Ser Arthur Dayne, Lord Jon Arryn, Lord Hoster Tully, and Grand Maester Pycelle.
Queen Dowager Rhaella dies in childbirth.
Doran Martell, the ruling Prince of Dorne, takes as wards Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen.
Ser Jaime Lannister is released from his Kingsguard vows, reinstated as heir to Casterly Rock, and is betrothed to Lysa Tully of Riverrun.
Winter 284
Cersei Lannister, the Lady Arryn, gives birth to a stillborn boy. The betrothal to Prince Aegon Targaryen is put on hold.
Winter 285
Lyanna Stark, the Dowager Lady of Storm's End, comes to court and is appointed lady-in-waiting to Princess Elia of Dorne.
Winter 286
Sansa Stark of Winterfell is born, and considered for betrothal to Prince Aegon.
Summer 291
The Lady Lysa suffers her third miscarriage to Ser Jaime Lannister.
Summer 293
Cersei Lannister, the Lady Arryn, remains childless.
Summer 295
Princess Elia of Dorne visits White Harbor, and is crowned Queen of Love and Beauty by a Mystery Knight.
Betrothal of Prince Aegon Targaryen to Sansa Stark of Winterfell is officiated in White Harbor.
Summer 296
Princess Elia of Dorne gifts a bed sheet of Qarthian baudekin and Lengii fustian, and bed coverlets of grey fur lined with Braavosi purple dye, to the Dowager Lady of Storm's End for the latter's name day – the most expensive gift yet in the history of the Red Keep's household scrolls, cementing the Lady Lyanna's status as Princess Elia's favourite in court.
Rhaenys Targaryen and Robb Stark ascend to the throne.
Rhaenys II Targaryen commissions the construction of a new palace a few leagues from the ruins of Summerhall for Her Grace the Queen's Mother.
Her Grace the Queen's Mother visits Highgarden with the Dowager Lady of Storm's End.
The Memoirs of Moon Boy
Second Moon, Summer 288
The Princess Elia was impatient, I can tell. She was impatient with that funny lord, Lord Mace Tyrell. – ha! It rhymes!
My lord Tyrell is not funny.
But I find him funny.
I was near enough to Her Grace in the Throne Room this morning. She was calm as the skies outside, well, there were seagulls' cries, but there were no fat clouds scowling – you get what I mean. It rains frequently in the Bay. Princess Elia's face, though, was smoothly calm and brown and lovely, framed by curling black hair. Hers is a face which gives nothing away save for a gleam deep in her black eyes. But this morning Princess Elia was rubbing an inch of her skirt between her thumb and forefinger. Her Grace only does that when she's annoyed with someone.
Lord Tyrell droned on and on and on. Mostly about his lordship's suggestion about the price of peaches and lemons. His lordship wanted to know if summer meant imposing more coin for the fruits, and not the other way around.
Princess Elia continued rubbing that inch of her skirt.
Dorne and the Reach have not always been the friendliest, I've known about that. I've read about that. - Oh, you must be wondering how I knew how to read! Another time. You must wait. Like I waited for a long, longer, longest while before I could taste for the second time a cream of mushroom soup. But yes. Nasty history between Dorne and the Reach, perhaps as long as the realm itself. But the Tyrells are loyal to House Targaryen, and Princess Elia is married to House Targaryen. And I know, when I look at the council of regents filing past to the Council Chamber every morning, I know that Lord Tyrell is one of the few surely on Princess Elia's side.
Princess Elia eventually told Lord Tyrell that they can have a quarter of a silver coin increase. As Lord Tyrell smiled his buttery, fruity smile and bowed out, I shook my rattle in good bye.
Her Grace turned to the Dowager Lady of Storm's End. The Lady Lyanna is the highest-ranking noble lady in the court, just behind Princess Elia who is a born princess herself and her daughter Princess Rhaenys who will be queen, and so it was the Lady Lyanna who handed the cool cup of lemon water to Her Grace. Princess Elia stopped rubbing the material of her skirts as she sipped from the bronze cup.
Her Grace's skirts were lovely this morning. The brightest yellows and oranges they were. I'd wager my cream of mushroom soup that they were of costly Tyroshi dyes. Some days ago I heard her mention to the Dowager Lady of Storm's End that that gown was a gift from Prince Doran.
Now that's an improvement! Those two great ladies refused to talk to each other about all matters dye and cloths for close to a year, last moon turn. The Lady Lyanna started wearing canvas and undyed cloths – she reckons that coin for Tyroshi and Braavosi dyes should be put aside for reconstruction after the war. And oh, Her Grace was not pleased. Not at all. The dyes were part of a deal, she told the Lady Lyanna. A deal involving gold and wool from Westeros.
"And is not wool to the benefit of the North?" Her Grace told the Lady Lyanna in her mild tones.
They were in a corridor outside the Council Chamber, and I was a little ways from them, and two white knights were a little ways from us.
"It is," the Lady Lyanna said.
My lady is a tall handsome woman. She's a good head taller than Her Grace even though she's also a good decade younger than Her Grace. But everything about the Lady Lyanna has always looked restless. She looks like she's ready to bolt, with her brusque strides and her impatient flicks of the hands and her swinging dark braids and her snapping dark grey eyes. She makes Her Grace look all the more tranquil.
Then the Lady Lyanna said, "What do you mean, Your Grace?" My lady's eyes narrowed, but Her Grace had her face turned away.
"You, and your brother, and your lord father," Princess Elia murmured. She started rubbing the red brocade on her black velvet skirt. "And your – esteemed - friends here with us. All around us. It is not as if nothing is unfair in this small matter of dye and wool, yes?"
The Lady Lyanna was silent.
I slowly gripped the bells of my hat. I knew I shouldn't make a noise. I put my finger to my lips so that the two white knights could understand too. Princess Elia was annoyed.
Drumming her fingers against the knuckles of her other hand, the Lady Lyanna said, "If Your Grace wishes to dismiss me from your service –"
"I do not wish," said Princess Elia.
I have always wondered how Her Grace does that, that art she has of making her voice loud enough without raising it. Every word she speaks makes a dent in your ears and in your brain. It's like the way she walks too. Firm steps.
Princess Elia turned. "Come," she said to the Lady Lyanna. "We are to dine with the Stokeworths and the Hayfords."
The Lady Lyanna's face was stern and cold as she fell into step behind Her Grace's elbow.
The white knights followed.
As Princess Elia drew near me with her measured steps, firm deliberate clacks on the stone floor, her black eyes slightly curved into crescents. I could admire how long her black eyelashes were. My grip on my hat bells loosened.
"You are to come with us, Moon Boy," she told me. "I like your jape about the oysters."
Beaming, I gave a cheery whirl of my rattle and skipped after them.