Disclaimer: I don't own Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire
Alyssa I Targaryen
Book : The Long Night
Chapter 2: The Great Council of the Wights
Beta:
Trigger warning: Implied canon typical underage
"Thank you everyone for your hard work in organizing the upcoming Great Council," Alyssa said addressing the Small Council inside its dedicated chamber of the Red Keep. "You have all done wonderfully and I am sure that the Council will be a success as a result. So till then, or something urgent comes up, you are all dismissed."
The various members of her Small Council offered their thanks and began filing out of the room, Alyssa waiting for them all to leave until it was just her and Loras. The latter doubling as her Queensguard shadow today for convenience's sake since as Lord Commander he was also a member of the Council.
"Your grace," Lady Olenna said from the door with a mischievous look on her face that was only subtly different from when she was scheming and something Alyssa could only tell from careful observation of Margey who shared the same tells. "It seems you have someone waiting for you?"
"What do you mean?" Alyssa asked, too tired after their long meeting reviewing preparations for the Great Council to entertain her Hand's games.
"I think I will let you find that out yourself," the elderly woman said with a chuckle as she left whilst addressing someone outside the door. "She's waiting for you."
This turned out to be Elia. She looked stunning in the Dornish style dress in traditional Targaryen red with black she wore that exposed her shoulders and with a neckline that offered a tantalizing glimpse at her breasts. A beauty that was somehow accentuated by the angry look on her beautiful face.
"You needed something from me Elia?" Alyssa asked curiously, unsure of why her concubine seemed upset with her.
Her reply was Elia leaning down and pulling her into a hungry kiss, even as she pulled Alyssa out of her chair. Startled, the Queen didn't resist as the Dornishwoman pushed her lightly and she fell on top of the large round table that dominated the Small Council chamber. Through some expert maneuvering on Elia's part this did not break their kissing for more than a second or two as she merely climbed atop the table herself, straddling Alyssa in the process.
"E-Elia, s-stop." Alyssa pulled away from her concubine long enough to gasp out.
The Dornishwoman pouted but obeyed. She did not however get up and kept Alyssa pinned atop the table.
"What's gotten into you?" Alyssa asked as she struggled to steady her breathing and calm her stampeding heart.
"I thought it was obvious, Alys," Elia said with a shrug. "I want to lay with you."
"Didn't we agree to proceed slowly between us to appease your family?"
"To the seven hells with that! If I'm going to be your Paramour then I'm going to live up to the title. I will not let my family dictate my love life. I didn't before I wanted you, I won't now!"
Alyssa blushed. She had never heard someone so openly declare they wanted to lay with her. Margey had came close when she had been trying to seduce her back in Highgarden but even she was never this blunt.
"What do we have here?" Margey said, almost as if summoned by Alyssa's thoughts.
"Looks like Alys is allowing Elia to have her way with her in the Small Council chamber," Jeyne joined in with the same teasing tone as Margey. "Shame on you two. Can't you at least save this for your rooms?"
"I would if Alys would visit my rooms!" Elia shot back irritably, looking down at Alyssa with a glare.
"Alys, you haven't?" Margey asked in faux surprise. As her First Consort, she was also de facto Lady of the Red Keep and thus in charge of its management. There was no way she didn't know that Alyssa was as of the moment only laying with Jeyne and herself.
"No," Alyssa admitted nonetheless.
"That explains a lot," Jeyne said with a shake of her head.
"About what?"
"Jeyne don't!' Elia said, covering her face as she blushed prettily.
The Riverlander had no mercy for her fellow concubine however and with a smirk continued, "About why Elia has been suffering from hysteria lately."
Hysteria? Alyssa thought as she blinked in confusion.
Margey laughed at that and Jeyne just sighed, even as Elia blushed even harder.
Jeyne opened her mouth to explain but Elia cut her to the chase.
"What Jeyne means," the Dornishwoman said, her face practically glowing. "Is that I've been feeling very needy lately."
Alyssa blushed as she finally caught onto what her concubines meant.
"What they mean," Nymeria who was serving as Alyssa's second shadow for the day chimed in from where she was leaning on the doorframe casually. "Is that my sister has wanted to lay with you so badly the past couple months that she has been pleasuring herself at least twice a day to smother the urge."
"Nymeria!" Elia, now resembling a tomato despite her tan skin, hissed angrily at her sister.
Sitting up and pulling Elia into a hug, Alyssa shot Nymeria a stern look.
"Nymeria, please stop going around airing the royal family's secrets in public." Alyssa chided. "Even if said royal family member whose secrets you are sharing is your sister."
Turning away from the chastised Queensgard, she put her hands on Elia's cheeks and kissed her. Not with the passion of earlier but a more chaste, romantic one.
"You should have told me sooner." Alyssa told her honestly. "I'd have visited your bed sooner. But I promise I will do so tonight."
"Or we could have a go at it now, right here in the Small Council chamber." Margey suggested, only half-joking and causing Loras who had uncomfortably stood silent through this all to begin edging towards the door.
"I'd be game." Jeyne added.
Elia who was once again blushing hard just shook her head.
"Tonight," she said in a whisper. "Promise?"
"Promise." Alyssa told her kissing her again in assurance.
"So how was Elia last night?" Margey asked as Alyssa walked with her through the Red Keep's gardens. "Was she as passionate in bed as she is in the yard?"
"Quite the opposite actually," Alyssa told her lover. "She was all sweet and innocent, I suppose that's the best way to describe it. Which was strange since she was also clearly experienced."
"That's not strange at all. Just because she's experienced doesn't mean she has to be aggressive in bed."
"I suppose not." Alyssa agreed. "But enough of that. You can see how Elia's like in bed yourself soon. She's agreed to try out that little deviant fantasy Jeyne and you came up with yesterday."
"The four of us in the Small Council chamber?" Margey asked eagerly, even as poor Ser Royce who was escorting Alyssa for the day stumbled in shock though he thankfully caught himself before he fell.
"Yes," Alyssa agreed. "Now seriously, let's move on. You said you wanted to remodel the Red Keep's gardens?"
Margey pouted at having her fun denied but quickly grew more serious.
"Yes," she said and gestured to the various beautiful plants around them. "This is wasteful. Almost the entirety of the gardens' plants are purely ornamental, at least back in Highgarden roughly two thirds of the plants were food-bearing plants as well."
"I see where you are going with this, but have you spoken to Myrcella about your plans like I asked?"
"I have," Margey assured her. "Myrcella is only really concerned with her small garden. And did you really have a gardener sent down from Winterfell just to help her grow some Winter Roses?"
"Yes," Alyssa said with a shrug. "The Imp got her peach blossoms from Yi Ti."
"That girl is so spoiled," Margey said with a shake of her head as if she wasn't just as privileged and pampered.
Alyssa was smart enough to not mention it though. She did not want to be barred from Margey's bed as punishment.
"So can I have your permission to remodel the Keep's gardens?"
"Draw up a budget. I'll need to run it by the Imp. Even with the reparations we've levied from the Westerlands, gold is tight at the moment." Alyssa told her.
"Don't worry, I'll keep costs down." Margey assured her. "Besides, once we can start harvesting, the food that the new plants will produce will help to cut costs."
"True."
"So I have your approval?" Margey confirmed.
"Subject to your proposed budget, but yes."
"Thank you, Alys!" Margey said with a grin as she pulled Alyssa into a grateful kiss.
A groan of disgust came from nearby and the two women pulled apart to find Arya pretending to gag just ahead of them on the garden path, clearly having just rounded the corner. She was not alone however as along with her shadow Ser Emmon Cuy and direwolf Nymeria, she was also accompanied by a stern looking girl with long, straight raven black hair and startlingly expressive brown eyes who was looking at Alyssa's sister with disapproval.
She looks adorable. I wonder who she is? Alyssa thought as she felt the faint but familiar stirrings of her magic. It wasn't quite sparking yet and was more akin to her earliest reactions to Myrcella which was worrisome in itself.
"Arya!" Margey scolded. "That was rude."
"Ugh! I don't care," Arya shot back with a playful smirk. "If you want to kiss then don't do it in public. It's gross."
"You only think that because you're still just a girl." Margey countered. "In a few years when you're a woman flowered, you'll think differently."
"Never," Arya declared defiantly.
Rolling her eyes at her sister's antics, Alyssa addressed the rambunctious girl.
"Arya, more importantly what did you think would happen if someone hostile saw the little mummer's show you put on?"
"Huh? What do you mean Alys?"
"It would be used to justify the impression that you disapprove of the Queen's relationships with other women, Lady Arya." Her sister's friend said, to everyone's surprise. "An impression of disunity within her grace's family. One that will hurt her politically."
Arya paled.
"I didn't know that!"
"Obviously not," Margey said with a sigh. "You wouldn't have done it if you did. But now you know. So no more teasing like that, is that clear Arya?"
"Yes, Margaery." Arya said contritely. "Sorry Sister, sorry Margaery."
"Good. Now, would you do the polite thing and introduce us to your friend?"
"I am Lyanna Mormont, your grace." The girl said with a curtsy. "My Mother Lady Maege Mormont brought me along to get a chance to visit the capitol while she attended the Great Council. Lady Arya was being kind enough to give me a tour of the Red Keep."
"I see." Alyssa nodded as she rolled the name over in her head. Partly because the girl shared a name with her mother but mostly because she didn't want to forget this adorable child's name. "You have a good grasp of politics, Lyanna."
"Thank you for the compliment, your grace, but I am still only a beginner."
"That may be true but you're still better than my sister."
"Sister~!" Arya whined, blushing in embarrassment at the barb.
Everyone laughed at Arya's expense even Nymeria.
It thus no surprise when with a frustrated growl, Arya stomped off forcing Ser Cuy and her direwolf to follow after her.
"You best follow her, Lady Lyanna." Alyssa urged. "My sister is liable to do something foolish when she's in a huff. So please rein her in if you can."
"I will try, your grace." The adorable girl said. "By your leave?"
Alyssa waved in dismissal and with a curtsy, the young Lady Mormont scurried off in pursuit of Arya.
"I know the look on your face, Alys." Margey said teasingly as they watched the two young girls disappear down the garden path. "You do know that when I suggested you collect a mistress from every Kingdom in Westeros that it was a joke, right?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Alyssa insisted looking away from the knowing grin Margey must be sporting.
"Of course I do," Margarery said with a laugh as she leaned in to play with Alyssa's curls. "You were sporting the same look while talking to Lyanna that you did before Jeyne formally joined us. And look how that turned out? Doesn't she spend every other night, at least, in your bed? Hmm?"
Alyssa blushed. Though at what Margey was insinuating or the reminder of just how sexually active she was, she couldn't be sure.
"Lyanna is far too young."
"She is the same age as Myrcella,"
"And I haven't laid with Myrcella, magic be damned. She is only my concubine in name and for the sole purpose of tying the Westerlands to the Crown."
Margey laughed at that.
"Why don't you tell Myrcella that and see how she reacts?"
Alyssa winced. She could imagine the tears already and it twisted her heart. Unfortunately for her, Margey was not done with the hard truths yet.
"And, be honest, would you be able to turn her away when she comes to you once she flowers and demands she join you in bed?"
"I-I," Alyssa struggled to sputter out a denial knowing full well that she would be unable and unwilling to say no to such a request.
"You're hopeless about these kinds of things, you know that Alys?"
Loathe as she was to admit it, Alyssa could only nod in agreement.
The Great Council was held in a vast wooden amphitheater that came complete with retractable awnings copied from an ancient Valyrian design that kept it serviceable in all weather conditions which Alyssa had ordered built in the tourney grounds on the flat ground outside King's Landing's Lion Gate. And after days of pointless ceremony and equally inane discussion Alyssa sat stiffly in her throne as things finally came to what was truly important.
"All those against validating Lady Alyssa Targaryen as Queen Regnant of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men and Lady of the Seven Kingdoms?" Lady Olenna asked the gathered nobles of Westeros and was met with silence.
"All in favour?"
There was a forest of raised hands as every delegate did so.
"Any abstentions?"
There were none.
"Then as Convenor of this Great Council, I Lady Olenna Tyrell, hereby confirm Lady Alyssa Targaryen as the rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms." Her Hand declared before taking a knee. "All hail, her grace, Alyssa Targaryen, First of her Name, Queen Regnant of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men and Lady of the Seven Kingdoms!"
"All hail, her grace, Alyssa Targaryen, First of her Name, Queen Regnant of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men and Lady of the Seven Kingdoms!" The nobles of the Seven Kingdoms chorused as they too knelt.
Alyssa basked in the acclaim for a moment. It could not have ended any other way of course. Not when she had either earned the loyalty or conquered all of Westeros south of the Wall, to not back her now would be folly. Especially with the precedent for ruthless action she had demonstrated in her treatment of the Lannisters and the Ironborn. Nevertheless, having her rule validated like this was still an achievement that she rightfully took pride in.
Now comes the difficult part. Alyssa thought to herself as she gestured for her many lords and ladies to rise before stepping forward them.
"Thank you all, my lords and ladies," Alyssa told them. "For confirming my right to the Iron Throne. There is much I could speak to you about at this historic juncture, but there is one matter above all that we must disgust. To that end, I have something to show you."
Nodding to Ygritte at the side of the dais where she stood, the Queensguard nodded back before disappearing outside for a moment and returning with a small squad of specially chosen knights and a familiar chained and heavily reinforced wooden crate. The sight of which had all the other Queensguard gripping their weapons tightly and ready to draw them at the slightest hint of trouble. All of them watched warily as the crate was moved to the edge of a pit that had been dug just in front of the stage of the amphitheater constructed for the Council.
"Open it," Alyssa ordered and the men did as they were told even as murmurs of confusion spread among the Westerosi nobles. Even most of the observers such as tall, thin, and gaunt Tycho Nestoris, representative of the Iron Bank and his Free Cities counterparts were looking on in barely concealed agitation. The only ones who weren't nervous were her men, the Night Watch's First Ranger Black Jack Bulwer, and Tormund's Free Folk delegation, all of whom knew what to expect and were ready to take action if things got out of hand.
The chains came off first and the moment it did the crate shook violently as the monster inside fought to escape. This caused the men handling it to back away fearfully but a stern look from Alyssa had them swallowing their fear and cautiously return to the task. Two men rushed forward with the keys to the three locks that kept the crate closed. One on the left and two on the right. They had no sooner finished their task than they sprinted back and another pair of men knocked the crate over the edge with long poles, sending the wight toppling out into the pit below.
Undeterred by the fall, the undead abomination crawled to its feet tossing aside the net that had first restrained it during its capture and let out an inhuman roar that spoke volumes of its hatred of the living. The wight had been a man once but all that was left of that life were the tattered remains of furs clinging to its rotting body. A body that was wholly missing a lower jaw, probably having been torn off by another wight when the man had first been killed, and its bones was visible in multiple places where its flesh had completely rotted away. Most chilling of all though was the icy blue eyes that shone with the desire to end the living that it used to survey the crowd of nobles who were now as a body recoiling in horror.
More than one person screamed and many of the warriors reached for weapons. Things seemed on the verge of degenerating into a panic, but Alyssa cut that off by speaking with such authority that the nobles were compelled to listen.
"Watch!" She barked, before nodding towards Ser Wendel. "Kill it."
The Manderly knight happily complied shooting a dragonglass tipped arrow into the wight. The moment the obsidian touched the monster, the blue fire that seemed to burn in its eyes disappeared and its body collapsed as it became a corpse once more.
"See! These wights can be killed!" Alyssa told her nobles. "By dragonglass like Ser Wendel has just demonstrated. Fire works even better. And we have reason to believe that Valyrian steel will as well."
This seemed to bring a sense of relief to the nobles and they began to calm. Those who had fled their seats slowly moving back to retake them. As Alyssa expected knowing that they were able to fight back against these undead horrors was enough to inspire some confidence.
"But these creatures are mere pawns, my lords and ladies. Isn't that right First Ranger?"
"That's right, your grace." Black Jack Bulwer said stepping forward. "They are naught but the foot soldiers of the Others."
This was met with incredulity by many but the vast majority were looking down at the pit and the former wight with fearful or contemplative looks.
"We have no Walker to show you. Trying to capture one is madness itself." The Night's Watch Brother said. "But I've seen them. The Wildlings have too. We can all vouch that they exist."
"And can they be killed?" Prince Doran Martell of Dorne asked from where he sat in his wheelchair at the head of the Dornish section of the theater, his eyes narrowed as he glanced up from the former wight.
"They have been slain by dragonglass." The First Ranger said with a nod. "And the Queen thinks Valyrian steel works too, though we haven't tried it."
"How many of those dead things, those wights are there?" Robb asked looking not at the Night's Watch Brother but at Alyssa. "Your grace, how many of them have you seen with your magic?"
"There are at least a hundred thousand wights," Alyssa said, citing an estimate she and her Brothers had made in her past life having never dared spy on the Army of the Dead in this life. "And their numbers grow with every death they cause as the Others raise the slain to fight for them."
Fear began to grip the nobles once more, so Alyssa pressed on.
"Lords and ladies of the Seven Kingdoms! We have no choice here, either we fight this threat or we die and become wights alongside our mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, sons, daughters and all we love."
"Can we flee?" Gwyn's father asked fearfully.
"We have nowhere to go." Alyssa pointed out. "Where in the world could take all of Westeros? And even if we found such a place would it truly be safe from the Others? Their wights need not sleep, eat or breathe. Would mere oceans stop them? And if they did, then for how long? Our only option is to fight. Fight with the might of all Westeros. Before the Others scour it of the living and add them to their dead host. Before they move on to cleanse the world of all life!"
Her words silenced the crowd and everyone looked thoughtful as they visibly weighed their options.
"The Riverlands will fight!" Lord Edmure Tully, of all people, declared as he stood and glared at the former wight as if it was a conduit to let his defiance be known to its White Walker masters. "I refuse to let Westeros be reduced to a land of the dead! Who is with me?"
"Dorne is with you!" Princ Doran shouted as his Dornish lords roared their approval.
"The North stands with the living!" Robb declared as the Northern lords raised their swords into the air behind him.
"The Reach fights with the Queen!" Lord Mace declared with as much enthusiasm as he could manage, his lords too raising to voice their support.
"For Westeros!" Lord Velaryon shouted as he led the Crownlands lords in adding their voices to the growing consensus.
"To the destruction of the White Walkers!" The elderly Lord Eldon Estermont, senior most surviving of the Stormlands lords shouted as he rose to his feet prompting his fellow Stormlanders to join him.
"The Westerlands march with the Queen!" The Imp said as he finally managed to find somewhere so his lords could see him. That this amounted to the captain of his guard carrying on his shoulder made it a comical sight and there was a burst of much needed laughter even as the Westermen answered his call and jumped to their feet to pledge their support.
"The Iron Islands gives its ships and men to the cause of the living," Gwyn's father said at last having finally finished the hushed but intense discussions he had been having with his bannermen. Considering most of those were newly raised to their positions by Alyssa herself, she reasoned the recalcitrant one was Lord Harlaw himself.
I'll have to ask Gwyn to go scold him later. Alyssa thought absently as her attention and that of everyone in the amphitheater settled on the Valemen.
"I speak not for Lord Arryn but I, Ser Harrold Hardyng, declare that House Hardyng will fight for the Realm!" A handsome young man with sandy hair and deep blue eyes said, looking disgustedly at Lord Robert Arryn who looked smaller and even more painfully thin than Alyssa remembered when she visited the Eyrie. Though considering his mother had killed herself after Baelish had been killed, she could understand somewhat.
His bannermen did not however and one by one they shot their incompetent lord dark looks as they rose to pledge their support. Said Protector of the Vale was shaking his head strenuously he and as his regent, the aging Lady Waynwood, argued. At last it seemed even the woman gave up and ignoring the boy she stood.
"As Regent for Lord Robert Arryn, I pledge the Vale to the cause!"
Lord Robert paled and shook his head in denial but by this point everyone was ignoring him.
I'll have to speak to Varys about removing him. Alyssa thought. We cannot afford such a weakling for Lord Paramount at this time. Kin to my siblings or not, the Realm is more important.
"Thank you for your support to the cause, my lords and ladies!" Alyssa said addressing the now raucous crowd and only being heard thanks to the excellent design of the amphitheater that allowed sound to carry. "To victory!"
"To victory!" The collective of all the lords and ladies of Westeros roared in one voice.
Alyssa smiled at this sight of Westeros united in defiance of the Night King.
We have a chance after all.
Done!
Why the hell are Alyssa and her harem so sexually adventurous? 'Cause I want them to be is the easy answer. ;) But seriously, it is because Margaery is the one setting the tone of their sexcapades and I've always seen her as game for it. In addition to her bisexuality, her being into kinky stuff has also always been my headcanon for her. Part of this is derived from her willingness to share Renly with her brother as political marriage be damned, making an heir is still a necessity of such. Another is just my general tendency to assume that the 'innocent' ones are hiding secrets, usually of the sexual variety.
Sorry if the chapter title is misleading. As you can see the chapter revolves around the Great Council but the event itself is mostly skipped over. Why? Because I am loathe to create all the ceremony from whole cloth and it would be something full of ceremony. Modern parliaments evolved out of such bodies and are still to this day full of ceremony, what more during a time when such ceremonies were even more highly regarded? Yeah, I'm not going to worldbuild to that extent.
Alyssa is going to arrange for Robert Arryn to be killed? Are you surprised by this point? I think it should be abundantly clear by now that while largely well intentioned, she is utterly ruthless. Remember her annihilation of the Ironborn? The reasons for this deviation from Jon Snow's unflinching dedication to the pursuit of the honorable path is manifold but fundamentally it's because she saw where honor led. I've tried to be subtle about it in-story but besides spurring her on the path to taking the throne, Ned Stark's death or more precisely her inability to stop it broke any dedication to honor she has left. In its place is a ruthless pragmatism.
Argh! A look AN after a short chapter? My bad! I'll try to avoid doing it again. But to not drag this out any longer let me just wish everyone oant sjen!