When the raven reached Highgarden, Margaery Tyrell, betrothed to King Robb Stark, was the first person that Maester Lomys found. She had been on her way to visit Sansa and her brother Willas when the Maester had come charging out of his chambers with a scroll in his hands.
"My lady! My lady! A raven from the North! King Robb's seal!" the Maester shouted, having seen Margaery's form at the end of the corridor. Margaery whipped around, picking up her skirts to hurry towards the Maester, all but snatching the two scrolls from his hands. She saw the grey wax direwolf's head seal and felt a flutter in her chest as she pulled the first scroll apart to have her eyes whizz across the parchment, with each word her smile broadened, until she lowered the scroll with joy in her golden brown eyes.
"My lady? Good news?"
"Great news! Robb has reclaimed the North and taken Winterfell. He executed the traitors Petyr Baelish, Roose Bolton and Theon Greyjoy and has left Ser Rodrik Cassel as castellan of the castle with most of the Stark men left under his command. Robb himself is marching out with the southern army for the Shadow Tower at the time of the letter. He should have arrived by now."
"The Shadow Tower, my lady? Why has he gone to the Night's Watch?" Lomys asked curiously, receiving an impatient click of the tongue from Margaery.
"He will join his fleet before sailing to the Iron Islands where he intends to vanquish the troublesome Ironborn. Maester, find my father. King Robb has requested that Lady Sansa and I ride to King's Landing to be ready to receive his mother and sister Arya. He has named an Acting Small Council to establish order under Lord Randyll Tarly...and under me." Margaery smiled, breaking the seal on the other scroll to read the words that Robb had penned himself.
"He has named me Princess-Consort to the King, and has given me authority to act with his voice in King's Landing." She said almost breathlessly, her head spinning somewhat. Maester Lomys himself looked like a fish out of water as he gaped at her. King Robb was setting a new precedent in Westeros, one that could send potential shockwaves through the realm.
"But…how is that possible? How can he do that…?" Lomys couldn't help but ask, earning a sharp look from Margaery Tyrell.
"He is the King, Maester. He will do as he see fits. I must tell Lady Sansa at once. Bring this news to my father and Loras, I wish for us to ride out within the fornight."
"My lady, Ser Loras will want to plan a suitable date-."
"I am to be Queen, Maester. And my brother will soon serve me. Please tell Loras and my father that I wish to ride out within the fortnight." Margaery said with a smile that was somehow also barbed with thorns. The Maester faltered slightly, bowing his head once before turning on his heel to find Lord Mace and Ser Loras.
Margaery herself made her way down to the grand receiving halls of Highgarden, where her larger extended family spent their days in leisure. Though she intended to find Sansa at once, Margaery could not help but go to her grandmother first with the news. She found Olenna surrounded by her cousins and other noble ladies on one of Highgarden's amazingly grand pavilions , overlooking the sprawling gardens and beautiful fountains of the palatial grounds.
"My word!" Olenna's eyes nearly popped out of her old, wrinkled face as she read Robb's edict.
"And you haven't even married him yet. Good work, my love!" Olenna declared with a chuckle, handing the scroll back to Margaery delicately.
"Its not that, Grandmother, Robb…trusts me. He trusts me to rule and he knows I will do it well." Her words were thoughtful as her cheeks tinted pink in longing for her betrothed who had been fighting for what seemed like the better part of three or four months.
"Oh Margaery…" Olenna sighed rolling her eyes "Off with you, silly girl. Make your preparations to leave."
"Will you join me, Grandmother? I could use your advice in the capital. Robb wants it cleared out of the corruption that King Robert and the Mad King left behind. I cannot do it alone, and Randyll Tarly is a difficult man at the best of times. He's scared of you though."
"Of course he is." Olenna sighed, before thinking for a few moments "Why not? To see Tywin Lannister and his golden twins languishing in the Black Cells is a treat this old girl just cannot pass up." She laughed, causing Margaery to smile.
"Excellent. We leave within the fortnight. Loras shall ride with us, and father and Willas will use the reserve force they've been raising to guard Highgarden." Margaery declared, earning a nod of approval from Olenna.
However before Margaery could leave to find Sansa and Willas, they found her. They had hurried into the room behind Loras and Lord Mace who looked deeply, deeply disturbed.
"You cannot go to King's Landing." Margaery's father sounded incredibly serious, something she had rarely experienced.
"Father…?"
"We have just received word from Lord Randyll, Margaery. There was an accident in the Guildhall of the Alchemists." Willas explained, leaning heavily on his cane as Sansa Stark had a supportive hand on his back.
"What?" Margaery asked in shock, rising from where she was sat by her grandmother as the ladies-in-waiting gasped dramatically.
"Fighting broke out in the city between hidden Lannister loyalists and our Stark loyalists, it was city-wide, Lord Randyll had to have the castle and city sealed off. No-one knows what the cause was yet, but Cersei Lannister had commissioned the pyromancers to create thousands of pots of wildfire for the siege."
"Foolish woman. Where was it stored?" Olenna Tyrell asked, looking from her son to her grandsons.
"Beneath the city. Most of Rhaenys's Hill is destroyed, Flea Bottom, the Street of Silk, the Street of the Sisters, Cobbler's Square and the Dragonpit. Thousands are dead, but nobody can know for sure how many. Lord Tarly evacuated the city as soon as the fires began, the rains came but the city burned still. Visenya's Hill and Aegon's High Hill have remained untouched. Blame is being placed on the Lannisters, and the whole city calls for their heads. Lord Tarly has not the men to keep the peace." Loras explained after looking to his father for a moment who had remained silent.
"Then we must go, father! The city needs Highgarden now more than ever. King Robb is fighting in the North and has left us, left me to rule in his stead. I cannot sit idle in the safety of Highgarden when my people need me. Robb's orders are clear, he wishes for me to rule. As Princess-Consort, I declare that Highgarden will assist King's Landing relief efforts at once." Margaery's words were met with shocked stares from her family until she showed them Robb's edict.
"I suppose we cannot deny her now. She is one step away from being our Queen." Loras said wryly, placing his hands on his belt to smile at his sister.
"No time for jokes, Loras. Ready the men our King left under your charge and march for the capital at once. Lord Tarly will need assistance in keeping the peace. Leave behind four hundred men to escort Lady Sansa, grandmother and myself, and the supplies we will bring. We have no time to waste."
