Oswell PoV

They were only three Kingsguard now here with their young King. Only the Lord Commander, Ser Barristan and he himself were left here after old Gwayne Gaunt was burned to a black husk in molten Armor. He and a couple of Goldcloaks had went down with the Tower of the Hand when the blasted thing was burning down with Green Fire. Damned Wildfire, the Gods joke on inquisitive men and how it bit them ever since.
Well, his Oath brother and the Goldcloaks likely died quick, that was at least something good in it.

He shifted slightly only to hear the near silent hiss of his Lord Commander to stand still. Damn the old stubborn Bull. Ser Gerold had always been an annoying overachiever in how to behave as a Kingsguard with Barristan as a close second but now, since the old King died through the Lion's teeth and said Lion even managed to escape and to even wrack part of the Red Keep, since then the Old Bull had become unbearable as the seven hells.

Oswell thought to himself not for the first time that it was nearly a shame that it had been Old Gaunt who was left in the Tower to watch over the King's prisoner. If the Old Bull had been the one instead, then either he would have been a black burned husk now and Oswell himself would have an easier Service or the damned Bull would have managed to stop the Lion from leaving, arrogant Tywin would then be slain by Ser Gerold with good reason and everyone here in the Red Keep would have been able to calm down.

The White Bat sighed inaudibly. O well, if wishes were horses then all beggars would ride. He forced himself to stop thinking about other possibilities and concentrated again on the task at hand. Behind him, he could hear the Voice of their new young King and then he felt said King's hand on his shoulder. Oswell obeyed the unspoken command and made way for Rhaegar Targaryen by stepping aside so that the King could pass him. Near himself, Oswell could hear the near silent plea of the Lord Commander to the King to please stay behind the Kingsguard and to not leave their protection.

Oswell could hear the slightest bit of annoyance in the King's answer. "Do you decide for me now, Ser Gerold? Should I heed now your words instead of you doing mine?"

The White Bat would have loved to see the White Bull's face in this moment but the fact that he had to watch forward to the room instead of being able to turn his head to the other two men and the fact that all Kingsguard were wearing the traditional helmet, made that wish implausible.

Still, Oswell could hear the embarrassing and shocked denial of his Lord Commander to the King's sarcastic words even though neither had spoken loud enough to be heard more than two steps away. The White Bat forced himself not to smirk. The new King was young but he already had quite a sharp tongue.

A quickly approaching person snapped Oswell out of his thoughts.
A Courtier stepped close to the King, bowed deeply and whispered a few words into Rhaegar Targaryens ear. After the King nodded, the Courtier then turned around and shouted into the Great Hall that the Reachmen had arrived.

He watched as all the others in the Great Hall shifted slightly to make room. Now they were all here. Yesterday morning the Tullys had arrived and yesterday evening the Lord of the Vale with his fosterboys. This morning the Dornish had arrived and now finally in the afternoon hours the Reachmen. Well, Oswell thought to himself, he hoped that the King knew what he was doing.

...

Elia PoV

While they all watched as the King went down the the stairs of the Iron Throne and talked briefly with his Kingsguard, she thought about how much fun Oberyn would have right now, how he would point out the flaws in all of the Lords and Ladys and Knights who were right now here in the Great Hall.

It would have been surely amusing but highly inappropriate to let him run free with his shameless vitriolic tongue and so their mother had decided that Oberyn would not be allowed to go with Elia and Doran to King's Landing. The ruling Princess was still too angry about how Oberyn had managed to scare away all the suitors for Elia's hand and she also had not forgotten that her youngest son had managed to get himself into the trouble with Edgar Yronwood barely a month after the Princess had returned with Elia and Oberyn from Casterly Rock last year. That the youngest Martell Prince had than been forced to tour the Free Cities for a couple of moons till the Situation with the Yronwoods could be brought under control, had not done anything to cool down Oberyns behavior and so he was not allowed to go with his siblings. Elia wondered how her mother and older brother had even had planned then to make sure that her younger brother obeyed but for once the troublemaker of their family actually did so, albeit reluctantly.

To be truthful, it might have been most likely because she, Elia herself, begged him to do so for once. Elia smiled when she remembered her little brothers face after that, he had looked stubborn and forlorn in the same moment and only when she promised him that she would not accept any suitors without telling him so, Oberyn had agreed to stay with Mother and behave himself for once.

Elia looked quickly to Doran and smiled. Poor older brother, always the dependable one, always the one who forced himself to behave and to lighten their mothers heavy workload. He would surely had preferred to stay in Sunspear with his wife, happy young couple that they are, but since Mother would not go, Oberyn really really should not go and their father, the Princess consort, with his rapidly dwindling health could not go, the honor and duty to represent the ruling House of Dorne had been forced onto Doran and Elia. Mellario had sadly been absolutely uninterested to go with her husband to King's Landing and thus had meant for Elia herself and all their Companions including Arthur Dayne, that her brother had been rather uninterested in anything during the journey on the ship and thus the whole group from Dorne was happy when they arrived in the Capitol and could escape the Heirs downtrodden mood.

Now though, not even Doran look sad anymore, instead he sharpened himself again into the politician that their mother had trained him to be and had seemingly completely forgotten how he had barely half a day ago had still spoken about his wife and how he missed her.
Now Elia could see with pride how his eyes had taken everyone in, had measured them and how his mind was already planning how to navigate among the amassed Nobility here in the Hall, how to get the best possibilities and deals for Dorne done.

Elia thought about her own mission that her Mother had given her. Nothing less than to make sure that the new King would choose her for his wife, that was the plan of her dear Mother, nothing less than for her, Elia to become Queen. It was really for the best that Oberyn had not come, he surely would not agreed with Mothers plan and Elias willingness.

She looked up then, reminded herself once again to stop thinking about her family at home and to concentrate instead on the now time and that was not a unwelcome task for sure. The King was a rather beautiful young man, well read and of good temperament. Of course she had known Rhaegar before, he had visited his friend Arthur Dayne once and they had then visited Sunspear together. Elia remembered that visit a few years quite well and that the then Prince had been a pretty boy, albeit one who was completely uninterested in her. She really hoped that had changed now and remembered that in the letter he had send to Sunspear, he had sounded quite interested in her, Elia.

She looked once more to Doran and then let her eyes wander through the Great Hall. She already knew that the Stormlanders had already been here in King's Landing for a couple of days, that they had arrived before the Wildfire in the Red Keep had destroyed the Tower of the Hand. And wasn't that a strange Event to happen? Doran and she had already tried to find out more about the reasons for that Wildfire but since they just had arrived this morning, this far the only information to that had only been that it had costs the lives of Ser Gaunt of the Kingsguard and of a couple of Goldcloaks and that the King had ordered to cover the ruins as best as possible, to not to disturb his Guests with them. A Courtier told them that the King had given command that all work to clear the place from the ruins had to wait till the Guests were away again.

Elia reminded herself that she would soon enough get more informations about that event and concentrated at the task at hand.
So the Stormlanders were here for the longest time from all invited regions but since Lord Steffon was the only Cousin to the late King Aerys, that was no wonder.
Elia was curious if King Rhaegar had already searched for a possible bride among the Stormlander daughters but quickly dismissed that notion. None of the unmarried Ladies were high enough born and since the Stormlands were the last region that had gotten royal blood, it would also be illogical by the King to take a wife from there.

Elia looked to the Lords and Ladies of the other regions. The Valemen and the Riverlanders had already arrived yesterday and while Lord Arryn himself had no children of his own at all and the next highest standing Houses of the Vale had either already married daughters or those barely old enough to be out of their swaddling clothes, the Riverlanders were not so unlucky.
Well, the Lord Tully's daughters were just ten and nine namedays old, that was true but since the new King was just fifteen himself, he might not be against the Chance to make the offer for the oldest and already quit beautiful troutgirl and thus have the opportunity to let the Queenmother carefully guide her own successor into the role as future wife and Queen, something that would be quite less possible and needed with an already grown up woman like Elia herself as Bride.

The dornish Princess sighed after that thought but then her eyes met those of one of the Ladies from the Reach, the region whose Nobles were the only ones who arrived after Elia and her own people. The Lady who stared back at the Princess had been just introduced as Lady Mina Tyrell, the oldest of the young sisters of Lord Mace Tyrell. Elia looked at her. Yes, this was a real danger, way more than the Riverlander Girls could be. Lady Mina was beautiful and fourteen years old and flowered as her loudmouth of a brother had just loudly told the King and thus everyone else in the Great Hall too. The girl had kept smiling even when her older brother had embarrassed her in such a way, but Elia had seen the little eye roll the Girl had done at her brothers words.

The King had seen that too and had actually smiled slightly at the girl after that. Then Rhaegar Targaryen had stepped directly to Lady Mina, took her hand and had kissed it. Elia had to force herself to not loose her courtly smile while seeing this. The King had not given her, the daughter of the Princess of Dorne, this kind of greeting. She felt Doran shifting besides her, they both knew now who would be the biggest opponent for the marriage to the King.

She looked to the King now stepping away from Mina Tyrell and just in that moment, Elia's and the young Tyrell Lady's eyes met.
Lady Mina looked to her with laughing eyes but worse, with eyes that were as sharp and intelligent as her own. It sadly seemed that the Girl was a lot smarter than her loudmouthed brother and Elia hoped that the Reachwoman would not be an unbeatable opponent.

...

RHAEGAR POV

After he had kissed the Lady Tyrell's hand and welcomed her and her brother along the next highest of the Reach Nobles, he went back to the stairs of the Throne. Now would come the welcoming speech again, this time with nearly all of his Nobility at place. For this speech though, he would have to be seen by all, to be heard by all and to stand above them all. He calmly went up the stairs, turned around without haste and looked down to all of the many people who are now looking up to him. Time to show them that he was their King and not a young Prince anymore.

"I welcome you all to King's Landing my dear Prince and Princess of Dorne, my dearest Lord Warden of the South alongside your lovely sister, I welcome most honorable Lord Warden of the East and with you, your heir and your fostersons, I welcome you Lord of the Riverlands and your young daughters and last but certainly not least, I welcome you again, my dear Uncle, cousin to my father and mother and most trustworthy shoulder to lean on during these sad times. My dearest Lord of the Stormlands, welcome again to my Hall.

I welcome you my Lords and Ladys of the Reach, of Dorne, of the Stormlands, of the Vale, of the Riverlands and of mine own Crownlands. All of you are most welcome and have my gratitude for standing in front of me, for showing me that I can trust you to stay strong and trustworthy in ill times and that you welcome me as your King."

He paused and let his gaze wander over the noble crowd for a moment. He could nearly smell the greed that inhabitated nearly everyone of them. The lust for power, the hope to sell their daughters of sisters to him, the hope that they could him, him the King, make believe in to really trust them and to so furthermore enrich themselves through him, to fulfill their own meaningless agendas and desires. This speech would let them think of him as so foolish a boy, that he could go behind all of their backs without them really understanding it till it was too late for them to rebel.

"My dear Lords and Ladys, my honorable Knights, I had not wished for the Crown placed to be so soon on my Head, I had not wished to sit so soon on the Iron Throne but my dear father's way too early death had tragically forced me into this position.

As you all can see, dear honorable Guests, not all the Lands of Westeros are represented here right now. The North with the most honorable and stalwart House Stark is yet not here for a couple of reasons. The most embarrassing one, the one that is surely my fault, is that I had simply not the Ravens left, due to an illness among the birds, to sent for our loyal and unshakable Lords and Ladys of our biggest Lands. But I see here a young Northman standing by Lord Arryn 's side and will ask the son, young Eddard Stark here, to write to his Lord Father for the Lord's forgiveness of my failure. And we have finally a a murder of trained Ravens back here in the Red Keep. We all know that the Honor of the Starks and of their unswerving Bannerman is with us here though, represented by the young Lord Eddard. I also admit and will ask the Lord Warden of the North for his Understanding of this reason, that i felt like the Lord Protector of the Old Faith would be uncomfortable with the Ceremonies of our Sevens-that-are-one which were of course used for my Crowning and will be used for my Wedding."

Rhaegar looked to the not yet eleven namedays old, second son of the House Stark while he said that. Quite a lot of the Lords and Ladys looked at the boy too, most only surely out of curiosity but quite a few surely also to see how the boy behaved himself.

"I want to make it clear to all here and to all in my Kingdoms that even though i am a loyal and believing follower of the Seven, i nonetheless honor the Old Gods and their rules and will protect all of their believers and followers. Their rules are for their lands and the rules of the Seven are for all other lands. I, as King on the Iron Throne stand for that and wish for all my Lords and Ladys, for the High Septon here with all of his Septons and Septas, to stand for that too."

Rhaegar could see the clear relief the long face of the Stark boy upon his words. The boy looked up to him then with wide Grey eyes full of gratitude and admiration. Eddard Stark would become useful for him, that Rhaegar could clearly see even now. He nodded gracefully to the boy and said boy blushed and lowered his head while the Lord of the Vale put then an arm around the shoulders of the boy and Steffon 's oldest son grinned happily. Time to lighten the mood for a moment.

"The reason for not inviting the Lords and Ladys of the Iron Islands though is of course the simple fact that none of us here are really sure if we should and could trust them. I am sure you agree with me my Lords and Ladys." Rhaegar said this with the hint of a smile on his lips and the reaction was a chuckling from the assembled Nobles. Then the King lost the smile and forced his features into a mixture between sadness and anger.

" The reason why all of the Westerlands are not here though, the reason for that is a horrible one. My dearest father had not died out of accident or sickness but he was murdered. Murdered by a man who he had trusted like a brother, a man who had been his Lord Hand for many a years and who had lost his mind quite surely after the death of his wife. Yes, you heard from my own mouth just now my Lords and Ladies, Lord Tywin Lannister, the Warden of the West murdered my father out of madness. He had ripped open my father's throat like a Lion does to a deer. So great is the Lannister 's madness, that he behaved like his own heraldic wild animal."

And there arose a great uproar in the Hall after the young King's words..

Rhaegar knew then that he had them in the palm of his hands, for Tywin Lannister was disliked and feared enough that the people loved to believe this.