10th month of the 285 AC

Lords and Ladies of the Seven Kingdoms,

For the past five years you have been ruled by a man who, in his mind, has brought a peaceful period. He would be right. There has been no war, no attacks, no fighting between kingdoms. However, there has also been tension and poverty and indifference coming from the man who sits the Iron Throne.

Robert Baratheon's main goal in rebelling was to dispose of all Targaryens. Not because of my father's tyranny, but because of his hatred of me, Rhaegar Targaryen. This hatred is of course understandable but by no means was it worthy of a rebellion. So, after being saved by the loyal Kingsguard, my family and I have waited and regained our strength across the Narrow Sea. But it is now time for our return.

I am not my father. I do not burn people alive or punish those who do not deserve it. I also do not kidnap young maidens. Lyanna Stark went with me of her own free will, married me on Dragonstone, and is at my side as I write this declaration. She saw Robert Baratheon as the man he truly was long before the rest of the realm did.

King Robert is a man who drinks and feasts his way through the gold the realm works heard to earn. He spends it on tournaments and extravagances rather than aiding his people. He is the sort of king who looks down on a slaughtered woman and her blood-covered children with no remorse, for he sees dragon-spawn rather than murdered babes.

The very idea of another war pains me more than I can say. But I cannot allow that sort of man to continue to plunge the realm into disrepair. If you wish to fight along side me, I will welcome you gladly. If you wish to stay out of the war, I will respect your neutrality. I will retake the Iron Throne with the help of my allies and my family and I swear that, when I do, those of you who have been ignored or hurt in any way by your king will see prosperity under my rule.

Rhaegar of House Targaryen

Prince of Dragonstone

Rhaella finished the letter that was currently making it's way across Westeros. It was hard to believe that after waiting so long in Essos, they were finally taking back their family's legacy. She was worried, of course. Robert Baratheon nearly killed her son once and he would now have Tywin Lannister on his side with the man's daughter as his queen. If there was one thing she knew about Lord Tywin, it was that his ambition and determination knew no bounds. He would stop at nothing to keep his grandson as the heir to the throne.

But she could be just as determined. Her son would rule. His children and grandchildren would rule after him. Rhaella was unwilling to entertain any other prospect. She had not known, when Aerys sent her and Viserys to Dragonstone, that Rhaegar would live. She had hidden the family's wealth and taken control of the fleet so that she could one day put Viserys on the Iron Throne. She must admit, that when Rhaegar was brought to the island, she was beyond relieved. Already Viserys had been showing similarities to his father and she worried about his potential as a ruler.

She sighed sadly as her thoughts turned to her second son. They had left him in Pentos despite his rage-filled protests and tantrums. Illyrio promised to look after him but it wasn't his safety she was concerned with. She and Rhaegar had told Viserys that once King's Landing was taken, they would send for him, but she wasn't so sure that was wise. He was not pleased with the survival of Aegon and Jon for it pushed his claim as Rhaegar's heir further away. She loved her young son, truly she did, but she could never trust him. She would do whatever it took to keep him away from her grandchildren.

Viserys could certainly not be considered for a betrothal to the Tyrells. If they had the chance to put their only daughter on the throne, they would certainly do so. They would do anything for power. This was why she advised Rhaegar not to entertain the idea of marrying Aegon or Jon to young Margaery Tyrell, it would give the Tyrells too much power. It would be much wiser to consider Rhaenys for young Lord Willas, Highgarden's heir. Or any future daughters that Rhaegar's wives might give him. But she knew that her son wasn't keen on the idea of betrothing any of his children at the moment so they had time to consider things.

A knock at her door interrupted the Queen's musings. Calling for them to enter, she smiled fondly when her daughter, grandchildren, and Robb stumbled into the room. Every few days they would search her out, wanting to hear any of the Targaryen stories of old that she could remember. Rhaella knew that Lady Catelyn wasn't best pleased to have her son spending time with the Targaryen children but the younger woman hadn't spoken her disapproval.

"Hello, my dears, what tale have you come for today?" She moved over to the sofa that they had gathered around and watched in amusement as they all shared a quick glance before Rhaenys spoke.

"Daeron the Young Dragon!"

The following afternoon Rhaella was in Rhaegar's solar with her son and good-daughters when they received a message from Lord Varys. Evidently the Island Lords of the Crownlands had begun making their way to Dragonstone and Varys was certain that they would have control of the island within a fortnight. Stannis Baratheon, his wife, and daughter were in King's Landing as he is Robert's master of ships. So the only resistance will be the small force of Baratheon men that Stannis had left behind.

"The letter is a few days old. So, the news of Dragonstone will be circulating just around the time that your letter is received in the South," she said to her son.

"Yes. And Robert and Tywin will of course know that they can't truly trust the lords of the Crownlands, but they'll be unable to do anything about it until they have proof. They won't be able to get to Lord's Velaryon, Celtigar, or Bar Emmon as they'll be on Dragonstone with their families." Rhaegar read the letter one last time before burning it with a nearby candle. "The Northern bannermen will be here by the end of the month. Then we will head south."

"They will take some convincing," Lyanna said quietly. "The Northern lords, I mean. Besides Dorne, they had the most casualties in the Rebellion, and the North remembers. Although I believe they will have less of a problem with your two wives and more of a problem with who your father was. I hadn't thought it would be so difficult, until Catelyn pointed it out." When she saw the others about to protest, she rushed to continue. "She was right in her words against me. The lords will most likely blame me for the war, and you Rhaegar. But above everyone else, they will blame your father. He is the one who murdered their Lord and his heir. They will not want to risk supporting another ruler of the same blood."

"Then we will have to earn their respect and support," Elia spoke up. "We will make them understand what happened with you and Rhaegar and we will do whatever else it takes to prove to them that our husband is a worthy King."

"We have the trade agreements ready as well. And we will commission a new port city, on the western coast of the North. And any prisoners captured in the war will be sent to the wall, as they are becoming increasingly short-handed." Rhaella noticed that her and Elia's words improved the others' moods sightly but not enough to erase their worry. She decided that if she needed to, she would speak to the lords herself and make them understand that Rhaegar was not Aerys reborn. If anyone would know, it would be her.