CHAPTER IV: The Brewing Storm
Author's Notes- Thanks for reviewing, I really appreciate it! The following chapter is just a small interlude to show how events are shaping up throughout Westeros. Next Chapter hopefully tommorrow with multiple points of view including the Queen of Thorns and Jaime Lannister who will play a major role in this fic. We'll also get our first look at baby Jon and Dany- see ya soon!
DISCLAIMER- I own nothing
The following weeks saw a flurry of activity on Dragonstone. Despite the naturally slow recovery time it was taking the Queen who was now actually Dowager Queen, and the Princess Lyanna it was now known throughout the isle that they were both recovering and their children were as healthy as possible. Word had also spread of what occurred in the capitol. Everyone on the island now referred to Lyanna's son as His Grace the King. After the ending of the two week long storm the ships of the fleet appeared battered, but came out relatively unscathed. It took little time before they looked as proud as ever. Word from the mainland was full of conflicting reports, but one thing was certain; the kingdoms were in a state of chaos. Considering that Robert Baratheon (now officially the Usurper to loyalists) sat the Iron Throne in a capitol city heavily garrisoned by Lannister and Baratheon troops- the situation in the rest of the kingdoms was vastly more complicated.
Word of the happenings at Dragonstone and Kings Landing, that was now being viewed as a form of plague by both Robert and the Lannisters, was beginning to spread throughout the Kingdoms from Dorne to the Wall. The people of Westeros now knew that their Queen was alive and had birthed a princess. They knew that Lord Stark had broken with Robert Baratheon and had decamped with the entire host of Northmen and that the men of the Riverlands had followed him out of loyalty and his connection with the Tully's. They whispered that the Targaryens now had the true alliegience of the Tyrell's now that Aerys was dead along with the full might of the Reach. The people also learned with utter shock of the Lannister sack of the city and the atrocities committed. That the Mad King was dead no one would be mourning, except perhaps Varys for reasons unknown. But that was not the case with the others. While Princess Elia was never exactly popular, she wasn't particularly disliked either. But the Princess Rhaenys had been extraordinarily popular and Aegon had been their little prince. Westeros as a whole had felt repulsed by their deaths especially. Then the ravens had gone out.
The whole of the continent now knew that not only had the Queen and Prince Viserys survived, but that a son of their Silver Prince yet lived. In the Queen's own words was the story of the love and marriage in Valyrian tradition of Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and her niece Lady Lyanna Stark of Winterfell. That the Queen then went on to proclaim her grandson King Jaehaegar I Targaryen caused loyalist hopes to soar.
It was rumoured that the host from the Vale was decidedly split and Jon Arryn himself was feeling monumentally conflicted. It was he who had raised and fostered both Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark. Some were begining to whisper that he had unleashed a demon onto the people, while the good and honourable son had been forced to flee to save his sister and mother from being butchered themselves.
The marriage of Robert Baratheon and Cersei Lannister could not possibly have been more unpopular. It was said that on their way from the Sept of Baelor back to Maegor's Holdfast there were shouts of "Down with the Usurper," and "Murderer" to the 'King' and that the people yelled out "Lannister Whore" to the 'Queen.' They had to be rushed back into the keep as the people threatened to rise up against the Lannisters. That night was the last the capitol saw of Jon Arryn as he had to head out to deal with the unrest within his own ranks. What that would lead to was anybody's guess.
The next in the series of upheavals was the state of and the fate of the Stormlands. The Siege of Storm's End led by the Tyrell's and reinforced by Stark bannermen had finally ended. The defenders, upon learning that Lord Renly(who they were never informed of what had befallen him) had been named ward of the Queen Regent and also created Lord Baratheon of Storm's End, mutinied against Lord Stannis. They had been forced to endure starvation to the point that over half of the garrison had literally starved to death yet still Stannis Baratheon would not yield. The mutiny had occurred when the some of the Tyrell archers shot the terms of the Queen Regent Rhaella over the walls. The Queen offered complete pardons if accompanied by fealty oaths as well as freedom of travel and most importantly food to every man, Lord Stannis included. She even still acknowledged him as kin. Stannis had had the terms publicly burnt. That had been the final straw for his men. It was said that the Onion Knight himself bound Lord Stannis and he was sent as hostage to Dragonstone when the defenders themselves opened the gates to the Tyrell and Stark host. Mace Tyrell raised the three headed dragon standard of House Targaryen atop the spires of Storm's End.
After that, numerous Stormlords under siege peacefully accepted the Queen's peace and raised the standard of King Jaehaegar I. By this point, and without any real battles recently of note, the realm was at a boiling point. Old alliances were being solidified, new alliances created, and enemies old and new were plotting alike. Perhaps none more so than the now mortal enemies in the form of the Old Lion of Casterly Rock, and the two she-dragons at Dragonstone. However, unknown to nearly anyone else was the destination of two men who could possibly help tip the scales one way or the other along with the secret they carried with them: a still injured but fast recovering legend Ser Barristan the Bold aided by the newly minted Kingslayer, Ser Jaime Lannister. There destination- Dragonstone.