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Jon Arryn III

Gates of the Moon, Vale, Year 281 AC

To my friend Rickard,

This is my version of what transpired at Harrenhal which I'm sure you are eager to read.

I must confess that everything was going smoothly at first. As we anticipated, Rhaegar Targaryen's intention was to use the tourney to call for a Great Council in order to depose his father and this was all to be set into motion upon him crowning Princess Elia the Queen of Love and Beauty. However, for some reason, he canceled it at the last minute and instead donned your daughter with the title.

It bothers me that your daughter is being called a whore by the entire realm because of the Prince's action, I would hate my daughter to be called such prude things and I doubt any child raised by you would be what they insist.

The biggest consequence of this mummery is that we will need a new plan to fix our problem regarding the Mad King. I still believe that Rhaegar is the best candidate to replace his father but he must be closely watched from now on as he may have some sort of madness in him as well.

This leads me into something else I wish to write to you and it is about your son Ned. It turns out that during the tourney he has taken a liking to Lord Solomon Dayne's daughter and from what I have seen she seems smitten with him as well…and I…I couldn't help but suggest for him to ask your permission to marry her…I know it wasn't what we originally planned for him but you ought to consider that the woman is a lady-in-waiting to Princess Elia and from what I saw they seem quite good friends so she may be a good way to enter Rhaegar Targaryen's inner circle.

And yes…I may be slightly biased into seeing my foster son happy with a pretty lady…he is like a son to me and what father doesn't wish to see his son happy? Especially when it benefits his family or in this case, families? I leave this to your judgment, you are the Lord of the North, not me.

And finally, the last thing I wish to inform you about, I have found Hoster incredibly obnoxious at Harrenhal, he kept insisting on us crowning Robert the new King but as I have said many times before, I don't believe my foster son to be suitable or ready for the position. I'm growing tired of our ally and I do hope he calms down because this is getting on my nerves.

I trust you will do the right thing with this information and I hope to hear your thoughts on how we should proceed next as soon as possible.

Lord Paramount Jon Arryn

With his letter finished, Jon went on to the Gates of the Moon's rookery so he could send the raven to Rickard Stark but while he did so, he found his nephew in one of the balconies, watching the mountains in the distance. His first thought was of course what the lad was doing…

"Elbert, what are you doing there?" Jon asked. "Where is Robert?"

"With Mya." Came the reply to the second question. "While I have been here…thinking about…life…"

"Have you now? And what exactly have you been thinking about?" Jon questioned as he walked to his nephew's side. Sometimes the lads surprised him and it wasn't such a bad thing at times.

"About how I'm your heir…and how you were…right at Harrenhal…I have been acting not as a proper heir…to you…but…as a cunt…"

"Don't be too hard on yourself lad. You are no cunt or something of the sort no matter what you do." Jon couldn't help but think that there was something odd with his nephew…the way he was talking…it wasn't the usual way he talked. "I was young once…" Jon admitted. "I used to show my smiles to the maids too, court them…and I found myself in some fights too…what I'm trying to say is that we all need time to understand that we are not young and without responsibilities as children are. It's never too late to do it, some of us do it earlier others do not but we will all get there someday and you are getting there by the looks of it."

"I…I had responsibilities…I…I promised…Lysa Tully…I would dance with her…again…but…but…" The Tully girl? Was he smitten with her too?

And there was definitely something wrong with Elbert…he was struggling to speak… "Elbert are you alright?"

"I failed her…" When his nephew said this, he collapsed and Jon caught him barely before he could fall into the floor and potentially break something…His first instinct was to place his hand onto Elbert's forehead and as he did this, he noticed that his nephew was boiling with fever. Not good…not good…

Jon quickly brought him inside the castle walls and looked around for servants. He found a few female servants coming in his way. "You there, I need the Maester and quick!" he ordered as one woman ran to do what he ordered while the other two came to assist him.

As he looked to his nephew he couldn't help but remember Ronnel's last moments or Rowena's…or Jeyne's…or his sister…Don't die on me lad…not like them…

Half an hour passed by and his nephew had been inside Maester Colemon's quarters for that amount of time. The Maester was young but the Citadel assured he was a capable man so the only thing left to Jon was to wait for hopefully some good news. He was worried of course…

"Jon," Robert spoke as he walked in Jon's direction. "I heard some of the servants say Elbert collapsed and fainted…is it true?"

"It is." Jon nodded. "He has been inside Maester Colemon's quarters for half an hour."

"What happened to him?" His foster son inquired.

"I'm waiting for the Maester's diagnosis but he was boiling with fever when I held him and he was also struggling to speak…I just hope it's nothing too serious…I would hate to lose him too…" Jon confessed.

"Ah cheer up a little Jon! Elbert is a strong lad and he will make it out of this, you know he will." Robert proclaimed just before he clapped his back as to support him but Jon was not too keen on it, he wanted to see his nephew well before he could cheer. If his nephew died then his heir would be Denys who Jon had named the Keeper of the Gates of the Moon after Ronnel's death and was now resting from his punitive expedition against the mountain clans. Denys was a distant cousin descending from a brother of Lord Donnel Arryn who supported King Daeron the Second against his half-brother Daemon Blackfyre. Jon liked Denys but if Elbert could survive then it would be better, House Arryn was on the verge of ending so two strong and healthy Arryns were very important.

The door to the Maester's room opened a mere minute later with Maester emerging from inside, using a towel to clean his sweat. "My apologies My Lord, I'm still quite unused to treating some illnesses…"

"That is understandable but is my nephew alright?" Jon cut the Maester's speech, right now he only cared for his nephew's well being.

"I would say he is beginning his recovery, My Lord." The Maester said. "He caught a bad flu I'm afraid, and the disease takes time to pass as you may know." Thank the Old Gods and the New that he is recovering. Jon sighed internally in relief. "I shall transfer him to his room once his fever stabilizes, anyone who got in contact with him will need to drink a special tea I will make, we can't let it spread or we may have a big problem."

"Of course, I will call the servants who helped myself." Jon said.

"Can we see him?" Asked Robert curiously.

"For now, no one is to see him." The Maester refused. "Let him rest a few days on his own."

"Ah…what a bummer…" Robert sighed as he rubbed his chin a little. "Well…I guess I will go to the yard and practice some with the sword."

"Ser Nestor Royce will likely be there," Jon said. "And Denys will join in as soon as he wakes up I'm sure."

"Good, Royce is good with the sword, his cousin Lord Royce is better but he will do." Robert laughed but Jon was still perhaps a little too serious… "Ah come on Jon, Elbie will be fine now cheer up!" His foster son insisted as he clapped his shoulder yet again.

It was hard to be cheerful in such situations but…he made a weak smile "He will I'm sure."

"Good that's the spirit!" And there was yet another clap on his shoulder…I need to be more stern with him, this works with Ned but not with Robert…

"With My Lords' permissions, I shall retire to my room and do what I must." Colemon said as he awaited the permission, both Robert and Jon had kind of forgotten he was still there…

"Permission granted Maester and do rest some when you are able." Jon suggested.

"I will try My Lord." The Maester bowed and returned inside, closing the doors as he did.

"Now I must be going Robert, I have a letter to send." he informed his foster son.

"Alright, see you at dinner, Jon." And there was another clap…before Robert left…

And now that he was more relieved, Jon sent the letter to Rickard, hoping it would get there before Ned, his siblings, and lady friend arrived…Hopefully, this helps him a little and also the realm…Seven save me but I'm too soft…

Elia Martell II

Dragonstone, Narrow Sea, Year 281 AC

Elia walked at a fast pace ever since she left the ship. She was excited and could not contain the anticipation of seeing her daughter again. Her ladies-in-waiting moved right behind her but they seemed to be rather tired from all the walking…the distance from the docks to the castle was quite long so she wasn't that surprised...Elia herself usually struggled with it but today she felt an unusual energy inside of her that made her not be tired.

She did not spend much attention on her surroundings nor the moisty smell of ash and salt that was unique to Dragonstone and that on that day she did not smell, she simply moved to her daughter's room and once she got there, she opened the door without thinking of anything else. Had she remembered her manners she would have knocked on the door…but there was no time for manners when one's children were involved…

Inside was a wetnurse she knew as Baela, a middle-aged Dragonseed with a huge pair of breasts, light brown hair and greenish-blue eyes who had been chosen as Rhaenys' wetnurse when her daughter was born. Elia's breasts were not the biggest, they were actually rather small when compared with other women's and they also did not produce too much milk so she had no choice but to resort to a wetnurse. Though it was normal for a noblewoman to rely on wetnurses, Elia felt that perhaps it reduced the time she could spend with Rhaenys…and then Harrenhal came and made it all even more difficult.

Speaking of her daughter, Rhaenys was seated with her legs crossed, a red dress made just for young children, a wool doll at hand and a surprised expression created by Elia's sudden entrance. Around the little girl slept that black kitten that Queen Rhaella had offered Rhaenys when she was born and whose name was Balerion. "Oh, my sweetheart!" Elia proclaimed while she picked her baby girl up and pressed a big kiss on her forehead. "Look at you! You have grown quite a lot, haven't you? And you have gotten quite heavy as well!"

Rhaenys looked at her wary…she likely did not recognize her such was the time they were apart from each other…Her daughter's eyes were a very dark shade of indigo which almost looked like Elia's black ones, her skin was a shade lighter than Elia's, so she did not have the classic Valyrian looks. This fact prompted the King to dislike his granddaughter if Ashara and Jasline's words were to be trusted, which she had every reason to trust, they were both Elia's dear friends.

The biggest differences from last time Elia saw her daughter were that her face looked less chubby and her black hair was curlier and quite the messy one too. Interestingly enough, there were some silver-blonde curls amongst the black ones…this was good for it proved that Rhaegar was the father and discredited some rumors that had circulated in the Red Keep by those courtiers that mistrusted the Dornish and there was plenty of them around…

Elia seemed like a total stranger to her daughter it seemed and that made her sad, no one liked their children to look at them as if they were strangers…she had to try something different and hope that her daughter relaxed a little. An idea came to her mind and she quickly implemented it, she lifted her as high as she could and began flying her around as if she were a dragon and that made her earn a big smile for her sweet daughter.

"You like to fly little one?" Elia cooed with a smile of her own as her baby kept giggling with the fun she was having now. Though no word left her baby's mouth…

"What a cute baby our little Princess has become." Emyly said by Elia's side.

"She will be a beauty when older I'm sure," Jasline added. "Oh Elia you are going to need to keep a close watch on her…she will have dozens of pretenders looking for her favor…"

"We will worry about that later, Jas." she dismissed. There was still quite a lot of time up ahead that there was no point in being concerned with it now. Elia, however, was concerned about something else, something that only Baela, who was smiling with them, could reply. "Has she begin to walk or talk yet?"

"She has My Princess." The wetnurse replied, if Elia was disappointed, now she was even more for she failed to witness her daughter's first steps and words. "The little Princess began walking her first steps about…four to five days ago if I'm not mistaken. Though she can't control her tiny feet yet so it's quite usual for her to fall to the ground."

Elia laughed at that. "We all struggle in the beginning, but sooner rather than later she will be walking like the rest of us do." Luckily Rhaenys wasn't born a premature baby as Elia did so she would not suffer from the constraints that Elia had to suffer. That was a victory in itself.

"Ba…le…lon…" Rhaenys stammered as she moved her little hands around frantically.

"Balelon?" Elia asked with a raised eyebrow. "Is she speaking of her kitten?"

"The little Princess has grown attached to the little kitten, she loves to hold it." Baela said.

"How cute!" Emy said all merrily as she hugged herself.

"My little daughter is a dragon rider it seems…flying with Balerion the Black Dread…" Elia murmured as she softly pinched her daughter's tiny nose, prompting the girl to giggle.

"Ba…le…lon!" Rhaenys giggled as she flew a while more on Elia's arms.

"Has there been any health problems with her?" Elia asked just to be sure, hoping that there were none and her daughter was healthy.

"No, My Princess's daughter has been acting like most of the babies I have been around, she is healthy and strong." Baela dismissed Elia's concerns which made Elia relieved. "There isn't anything worth noting regarding her health, she will be a strong Princess."

"I'm glad of that," Elia confessed as she placed her daughter back in the floor and she immediately crawled towards Balerion, picking him up and rubbing her cheek onto the soft fur of the kitten. "If you are in need of anything just ask, okay? I will be spending more time with Rhaenys but still…"

"Certainly My Princess." The wetnurse said in a nod. "Thank you."

Elia watched her daughter annoy the kitten and decided it would be better if she could take a warm bath for she stunk... "Rhaenys dear, mommy will come back a little later, okay? You ought to behave well with Baela."

"Mo…mi?" Elia's heart melted upon hearing her daughter trying to say, mommy…Maybe in a few weeks, she will be calling me mother…the thought of it made Elia smile and melt a little bit more.

"That is right, mommy will be right back." she gestured for her ladies to follow her as they moved towards her room so she could get the warm bath she so deserved. This time at a slower pace.

"Little Rhaenys is adorable." Emy proclaimed while they walked through the grim hallways. "Such a delightful child."

"I loved the words she said…Balelon and Momi…" Jasline giggled. "She is learning quickly it seems. Like her parents."

"She is so cute…" Nysah murmured with a shy smile. "I want to hug her…"

"Me too." Emy agreed.

"You should have allowed us to hug her Elia…it's not fair that you are the only doing it!" Jasline commented.

"Girls…there is enough time to do that later." she laughed. "Right now I believe we should all take a bath and get comfortable. Then we take a little stroll by Aegon's Garden to see if our flowers still stand and then we return to my precious daughter's side and we will not leave."

"Sounds like a good plan." Said Jasline.

"Do you girls think that the gardeners took care of them while we were away though?" Asked a concerned Emyly.

"I hope so, otherwise we will need new ones." Jasline proclaimed.

"But we will have to wait for spring to come…" Nysah added. "In winter we can't do much outside of Dorne."

"Yes…in Dorne, we would be able to grow some flowers now…" Emy said. "We could ask for some flowers seeds to be sent from Highgarden or some other castle in the Reach, there are no better flowers than those from there."

"And the damned Reachmen are very good at being gardeners, they even had a house with that name." Jasline proclaimed. "As much as I hate it, there is nothing we can do about it."

"First we will all take a bath, then we will see the gardens and then we will decide what to do," Elia concluded. "There is no point on us being here arguing about something that we don't know yet. So let us calm down and relax a little."

"Of course, we were just giving some suggestions, Elia," Jasline assured. "But you are right…as of now, my priority is too warm myself with a bloody bath."

"Oh me too." Said Emy.

"And me." Added Nysah.

Rhaella Targaryen I

Red Keep, King's Landing, Crownlands, Year 281 AC

Rhaella was in her private room applying some Lyseni lotion onto her skin in hopes to cover the scratches and bruises that Aerys had branded her with yesterday when he burnt some burglars.

Their relationship was never warm but it was growing increasingly abusive by each passing day. She never anticipated a warm marriage even if she did not marry her brother but this was too much, she wasn't even a broodmare anymore, the Gods had been unkind to her in that regard, instead, she was but a mere object for her brother-husband to use.

And so Rhaella was angry with those lords that made her son's strategy inviable. It was their fault that she was still being raped and their fault that people were being burnt instead of being granted fair punishments. No matter where you look, you will always find ambitious lords that make everything impossible, luckily my brother keeps most of them away with his madness.

She tried to have a talk with Rhaegar as she promised Elia but he told her he was too busy…Be it true or not she didn't quite know but she knew that the image of her son being the perfect alternative to Aerys was tarnished, no doubt the lords would be more hesitant into supporting him and she knew the consequences of it…more raping and burnings…

And then there was the fact that no one could help her…the King held to much power in his person and it could be used to do good things or he could be used to do bad things, as her brother does, there isn't much anyone can do but scheme.

The only things that cheered her these days were her children, her granddaughter and her ladies-in-waiting which she shared with sweet Elia. She missed the ladies but she knew that Elia would need them more than Rhaella did. And she new her beautiful star had to…make a life for her own, a good life which Rhaella wished for her and all her ladies, that was the least she could do.

To warm up a little, she decided to go see her son Viserys. Rhaella had loved every day she had whilst the tourney at Harrenhal was happening, she had so much freedom for herself and she was able to spend a lot of time with her son. She, of course, took the necessary precautions in order to not have anyone whisper what she had been doing while Aerys was away, as it never hurt to be safe. Not that she did anything wrong, she merely spent a lot of time with her son, like she was to do now, albeit with someone watching but it was better than nothing.

She wore a very conservative red gown that did not show any of her cleavage, her breasts and neckline were full of bites and scratches so any soul would feel disgusted by the purple stains and Rhaella was not a woman to allow such things to happen, especially to innocent people. Not that she was that beautiful to be watched…

Outside of her room was Ser Barristan Selmy doing his duty of standing there because if Aerys was to come and rape her, he would do nothing else. For such a good knight as people thought of him…it was a shame this was happening…in fact, it was Ser Barristan who rescued Aerys for Lord Darklyn…had he not saved him and perhaps they would be in better shape now…she wondered what he would have chosen if he knew what he knew now…But there was no point in thinking on what could have been, she had to think of what will be and what she could do to help her son depose Aerys…

"My Queen." The knight greeted in a whisper. He always did it like this, she could see some regret in his face but it was not enough to make him go against his vows as a Kingsguard.

"I wish to go see my son, who guards him today?" she inquired.

"Prince Lewyn does, My Queen." The knight replied. Prince Lewyn was a funny man, she preferred him over Ser Jonothor who was Aerys' creature or Ser Gerold who was unrelenting even if the Lord Commander had manifested his support for Rhaegar.

"Let us go then Ser Barristan, I intend to use my time before dinner as much as I can to play with my son."

"As My Queen wishes." The knight nodded as they walked across Maegor's Holdfast to her son's room. Inside of the said room, she found Viserys having his lessons with Grand Maester Pycelle. Viserys had a boring look to him, Pycelle was not the most…entertaining of men…

"My Queen…" The Grand Maester acknowledged as he stood up, he had few strings of hair left but he had a large white beard to compensate it. He had a very large Maester's chain with many colors and he wore the grey robes that were common in all Maesters.

"Mother, are you here to play with me?" Her son asked with a hopeful look.

"I am," she assured with a warm smile but the Maester did not seem to like it... "But first, you ought to finish your lessons with Grand Maester Pycelle."

"But they are boring!" Her son spat out. "I don't care about additions or subtractions!"

"A good Prince knows the numbers, you are a good Prince are you not?"

"I am!" he said proudly.

"Then you will do all the additions and subtractions that Maester Pycelle asks are you not?"

"Okay…"

"Grand Maester, please do not feel pressured by my presence," she told the older man. "Do go on with the lessons, they may allow me to remember mine."

"Certainly Your Grace…what's twelve plus thirteen?"

Rhaella took the opportunity to take a seat on a nearby chair and patiently waited for her son to finish his lessons. Being a child had it's perks as they were unaware of the hardship of the world and she wished she was Viserys' age, when her grandmother Betha and grandfather Aegon were still alive…Ser Duncan the Tall too…those were the good days…and they would never come again.

So in this Chapter, only Elia's POV had been in the previous draft and so it was updated. Jon Arryn's POV was made to cover some plot holes regarding Ned's dialogue with his father and also show Elbert getting sick as in the previous draft it was poorly executed. Rhaella's POV was kind of a filler but nevertheless I made it.

It took quite a while to have this Chapter done and hopefully I will be able to rewrite these at a first-rate now that the semester is ending.

As always thank you for sparing time reading and I hope everyone has a nice day.