I do not own Game of Thrones
The tourney of Harrenhal was the first time in forever that 'The mad king' Aerys Targaryen had left his home.
If you could call the pit of snakes called King's Landing a home, that is.
A lot of weird things had happened there. Something about a knight of laughing tree and some plots of his son and Tywin secretly cursing him and whatnot. The fresh air returned a bit of his sanity, even if only temporarily. Or maybe it was just his madness taking another form.
He saw Rhaella after returning but was horrified by what he had been doing for so long. Even if he felt trapped in the marriage, she was still his sister and a dragon. How could he ever harm her like that?
The worst part was that he knew she was neither weak or meek enough to be so easily cowed by cruelty. She was likely tolerating it precisely because he was her brother, not because he was her husband. He decided to redeem himself by giving the throne to his sister-wife and take the black.
No. On second thought, he realized that a female ruler would not be easily accepted. It could create another dance of the dragons without the dragons.
If he was going to do this, he would have to go all out and make a law of matriarchal succession for all the lords. Either it would create chaos or a revolution, either way he would have to stay the king for now. Rhaegar was a failure like himself from what he could see.
"By royal command, Westeros will now practice matriarchy. Daughters will now inherit before sons. Sisters will now inherit before brothers. All lords of the seven kingdoms will name their eldest daughter as their heir. Those who don't have daughters can still name the eldest sons but there will be a penalty of lands."
Elia was the happiest she had ever been. She finally had a chance to leave the man that she had been tolerating for so long.
The succession of Dorne was more liberal than other kingdoms but even that wasn't feminist enough to put women over their elder brothers.
She normally didn't care much about ruling but she would do anything to get away from the Targaryen pair of father and son. She took the first ship she could for Dorne with her children.
She was still undecided about taking her children away from their birthright but her decision was made thanks to Rhaegar crowning the young stark as the queen of love and beauty.
What she felt wasn't jealousy but simple anger on behalf of her children whose life it will negatively affect in the future. The more he messed up the succession, the more risk her children would be in.
She knew Oberyn would support her. She just hoped that Doran would not plot something. Either way, even if Doran poisoned her, he would never harm her children which was more than what could be said about the capital and Rhaegar. Children were held sacred in Dorne, far more so than things like guest rights which they had already violated.
Robert had left Vale and ridden hard for his home. He immediately summoned Stannis as soon as he reached there. The first words he said after waving the courtesies off were ...
"Stannis, become a woman."
Stannis's jaw dropped for the first time in anyone's memory and Robert would have laughed if he himself wasn't so serious. But his brother soon started gritting his teeth.
"Robert, this is not a joking matter. You are humiliating me. This could be grounds for an honor duel."
"I am not joking. I don't want to be a lord, you do. If you are a woman, you will be ahead of me in the inheritance of Storm's End. A duel will only let me beat you black and blue."
All these were important point, but privately Robert also thought that teasing a female Stannis would be hilarious. Stannis was gritting his teeth again.
"Come down from your fantasy and learn how to rule. Stop dreaming of the impossible."
"It is possible. A red priestess I met said so."
"And you just believed her?"
"I watched it happen. Connington turned into a woman. She was talking about marrying someone but I didn't pay attention after that. The priestess made a simple deal of helping do it to you in exchange for me having sex with her thrice. Something about our blood and shadow or some shit."
Once again Stannis's jaw had dropped. Why weren't others here to see this? Robert was lamenting such funny expressions going to waste.
"You needed convincing to have sex?" Stannis asked in disbelief.
"What do you think I am? I don't stick my dick in everything. She was a gorgeous fiery red head and those tits looked glorious but my gut told me that she was trouble. Not as much as being a lord though."
"What about your betrothal?"
"She will be lady of Winterfell. I needed a wife as a lord but now its not necessary. If she wants to marry me, then fine. If not, i'll just go to Essos and be a sellsword."
Stannis calmed down and pondered before saying
"Do it to Renly then. I'll just be the regent for now and see how he grows up. If he sucks at ruling like you, then I'll have to accept a gender change as well."
Olenna Tyrell had never been this happy, not even on her wedding night.
She had chosen her oaf of a husband as he would be easy to manipulate but then she had given birth to an oaf of a son as well. She was worried for the future of her family but this royal order would reverse their fates. Janna remaining unmarried would now be a blessing rather than a curse.
Not to mention their greatest opponents, Florents, Tarlys and Hightowers will be denied their best heirs. Just the thought of that ugly chin Selsye ruling Florents gave her such joy.
Hoster did not know if he should celebrate or not.
On one hand Catelyn could no longer marry into North and fix the alliance, on the other hand she would now be his heir rather than Edmure.
His son was not a bad person or lord. If anything, he was really kind and a good lord for peaceful times. He really cared about his people. Unfortunately it blinded him to simple tactics of battle.
Catelyn was dutiful and good at logistics. She also knew when to make sacrifices to win, but she was also a hothead who was very likely to start conflicts without thinking about the consequences.
He will have to educate her a bit more and also ask Brynden to stay home more. Also get rid of Peter for good measure.
Cersei and Lyanna were the only two heirs who truly rejoiced at the change. They had no hesitation that came from understanding the weight of ruling a kingdom.
Meanwhile their fathers were holding their heads. The common thought that both Rickard and Tywin had was
"Gods save our kingdom."