Here is another update! Also please read the author's note!


Rhaegar IV

Arthur catches a hold of him as they are leaving the court after their night and tells him, "She is good for you and the realm."

Rhaegar doesn't disagree in the least but he is curious and it shows on his face.

"She is right, Rhaegar. You cannot fit things into the prophecy. If the prince who was promised is meant to be born, they will be born. The realm needs their king to guide them. She could have flattered your sense of self by agreeing to your prophetic ideas but she did not. She told you the bitter truth in a very honest manner even though it might not have endeared her to you. She also did not dismiss your concerns of the long night. She offered practical solutions that you as prince can undertake. She cares for you. She might not know much of the realm or belong here but she has given it more thought than most lords do. She made you see reason. I have been trying that for so long but I guess my words were not as powerful as hers. I was too careful around you. I think you should heed her advice regardless of everyone barking about her outside influence. It is not her ambition that has led her to court but her affection for you." Arthur tells him honestly.

Rhaegar is taken aback.


They bring Arthur into fold of some of their planning.

Azalea has suggestions on economic reforms and crops. All of them will take years if not a decade, she says.

North, she says is being wasted as a resource, so are the Stormlands and the Vale. Her biggest peeve, though, is the discord and scanty trade relations in all seven great houses and regions.

"They are a part of kingdom. They have a duty to each other, which they do not realize right now but they should. The first step is increasing trade and exchanging techniques. They are one kingdom. They cannot pit themselves against each other."

South has food. North has experience in how to survive and thrive in harshest winters.

She proposes more glasshouses in North and she tells him that the crown should agree to pay for it. She has also paid heed to his communication with his great uncle Aemon and insists that a few be established near the Night's watch castles.

"Your father has pyromancers. Employ them for creating fuels that can warm the glasshouses. Nothing as wild as wildfire but I am sure they are capable of producing things."

North, she says, should have oil and coal mines. Cold places usually do and she has marked 4 regions that she thinks do have oil, based on the study of geography. But the consensus and terrain description, she has used is old.

The Stormlands, she says could benefit from learning fishing techniques from across the ocean and from the northern counterparts, such as Manderlys.

"They need to know how to provide a staple food in summer and winter."

And then she proposed Terrace farming for the Stormlands, which is cutting mountains to create farms and she has ideas on how to achieve irrigation with ease at the heights.

She proposed that Vale could use the technique too and supply it to the harsher north and the Stormlands, should need arise. And something needs to be done about Mountain clans. North could help because they have that in common with Vale and the mountain clans of North are loyal to House Stark unlike the vale counterparts who actually kill Valemen any chance they get

The Reach and the Riverlands could benefit from learning the farming techniques that North uses in mild winter. If they work in north, they would work in Reach. And Reach can supply food, so much of it.

The Westerlands can use a population of people to mine gold, so it would be prudent to think and encourage migration. North has room for the mining of coal and oil, but they lack funds.

The Crownlands, she says are too reliant on trade. They need some form of food that they grow themselves.

Dorne, she says can open more orchards.

And she suggests a land survey to look for crops that need less water. She has a list but her noble eyes are no match for a farmer's lived reality and experience.

Arthur is impressed. Rhaegar is mostly proud.


In private when it is just him and her, she has more suggestions.

Most of all, she suggests a canal like the Kingsroad, which links all Kingdoms.

And in interim, she also asks him to think of rebuilding castles or encouraging it, particularly Moat Cailtlin. Shelters are important in wars and winter. And well, Moat Caitlin is the entrance to north.

And she also suggests starting planning about a standing army for the crown.

"It is very expensive. This is going to cost a lot of money, apart from the negotiations that we will have to undertake. I acknowledge that and I am willing to provide the gold, should we reach an agreement with the lords." She says finally.

He gives her a blank look and then he is taken inside the layers of her trunk.

She has several glasshouses inside, only she calls it greenhouses. It has most of the herbs she needs for her herbal medicines. She also has a dueling arena, where she practiced combat.

There is a lab where she makes the potions. There are other rooms, but he is dragged away before he can make a sense of it.

"We will be here for ages if you go through this so minutely."

The bottom layer is where she stores her gold. There is a lot of gold, a lot more than they need to take care of all of their plans. Now, he gets why she had not minced in voicing out her ambitions.

"Wasn't there a bank in your world? Gringotts? Or was gold not precious…"

"I had a disagreement with them when I was 14 and I withdrew everything from all my vaults. I had recently taken care of Valor and I found that they kept a dragon as a slave, blinded him and did other atrocities including borderline starvation. I was furious, I asked for a release, was denied it and then, I acted. I took out all of my gold and artifacts and everything. And then I freed the dragon. He died because of everything they did despite my attempts to save him, but he died free outside under the sky and on grass, not in a pitiful dungeon." She tells him and he is taken aback by the force and emotion in her eyes.

And then he remembers what she had told him, she would not mind giving him dragons, if they were taken care of. He suddenly gets her insistence to get that promise.

"We cannot use up all of it. We will create discrepancies in economy if too much gold flows in. But we can use some and I think that would be enough. Moreover, I followed your advice on reading up on Gwenyth and Peverell and Serpens and I figured out that if Targaryens had an account in Iron Bank of Braavos, chances are my ancestors did to. So, I wrote to them, requesting a meeting. I cannot go to Braavos, but I wondered if they had any representative traveling to Westeros. I have not received a message back yet, but I am hopeful. Even if I do not, we can just say we are using my family holdings that were there. Iron bank will not divulge things."

"This is your gold. I cannot take it." Rhaegar says immediately.

"And what do I do of this gold, make a golden palace and hope that Others love it and leave it alone when they come for me?" She says rather sarcastically.

"Azalea, this is a lot of gold. We cannot just take it for the benefit of…"

"We will not. We propose and negotiate as hard as we can about the richer lands footing some portions and other contributing in some form of labor, but as Crown is proposing it, the crown needs to bear some percentage of it regardless. Now, I am not sure of how good the royal treasury is. Even if it is, we can only touch it after your father is deposed. It cannot be your personal gold all the time because Aerys will suspect things. We might need to start putting in funds before if some lords demand some proof that you are for the realm. And even then, we cannot empty the royal coffers. If you are so concerned, consider it a loan and pay it back once you sit on the throne of swords, slowly once taxes from this start pouring in…"

Rhaegar nodded. But his thoughts were running.

He would repay this monetary loan to her, but however would he assuage the remaining and constantly piling debt that he felt he owed her.


Now, that he had seen the dueling arena and Azalea was completely fine from her injuries, she had requested that he spar with her.

He had not liked the idea of raising weapons against her.

"Would you hesitate to do this against Arthur?" he asked himself in his head. Well, you don't love Arthur. A treacherous voice had whispered.

But he knew that Azalea would like to spar and denying her that because of his conflicting feelings was not fair to her.

The fact was this was an issue in Westeros only. Old Valyria had happy female warriors. He would not discriminate like that.

So, they started sneaking in a few training sessions.

She was rather brilliant, actually. His game improved massively sparring from her. He thought it was such a shame that such capability would have been smothered in westeros.

Rhaegar also had an inkling that she was holding back. He asked her about it.

"I learned to survive at any cost, Rhaegar. There were days when I trained from before dawn to until next days' dawn. I fought not to embellish or get glory. I fought to save people, save friends. I have been through some rather ghastly training regimes. And yes, I am holding back, not because I do not consider you a worthy opponent but getting into the mode, I am afraid of what I will be unleashing." She tells him as she drinks water from the skin.

She always wears breeches and long tunics when they fight and her silhouette is extremely emphasized. Rhaegar tries not to watch too much, but sometimes, it is difficult to pull away when she does what she calls 'warm-up' exercises.

He asks her to show herself, the untamable warrior side of her.

She says she won't.

He senses fear, of what he will think of her. He says so. It is so terribly easy to confess things to her and ask such questions.

"I am, a little." She accepts, "But I know you. I know you probably will not hold it against me in the least. I am more afraid of entering that mode because it would be like…it reminds me too much of the world I have left behind, the people I have lost. That is what I meant by unleashing things. I am actually very sane in battlefield. I was the only one amongst our entire camp who took more prisoners than killed. My magic was wilder, so I meditated a lot. I am very grounded in battle."

Rhaegar understands instantly. She has buried her grief of being torn away from the world she knew and she is afraid of confronting it.

That also explains how she is so busy all the time. She has not given herself the room to go through with it.

In the next few days, he encourages her to talk, just generally about people who were important to her by talking about people who were important to him.

He does not mention that sometimes he feels that he would put her before all of them.

She does not say much about this world anymore. But her eyes slowly come alive, and their sparring only gets better. So much better that Rhaegar only wins barely the first day.

Then he notices how she moves, how she strikes and gives back in the same fashion until the victories and losses even out.

He looks forward to it. Every day. The Court is getting dreary with the factions of small council. Tywin has tried to do his best but Aerys is still not the best ruler, even though Azalea's presence has tempered his behavior somewhat.

Azalea gets along with the ladies, to an extent. It helps that Cersei has left. From what his mother tells him, it is because she did not want Rhaegar to see her in gowns that were not as good as Azalea's, so she went back to Casterly Rock to get better things commissioned. He is very grateful for the deed.

Azalea is kind and gracious, and she has a deft hand at stitching but embroidery is beyond her. And even then, she cannot take the chatter after a certain time.

Her interests are different; they were shaped by a war. She values practical things; combat, reading, strategy, hunting, cooking, stitching to survive and mend clothes in camps and healing.

She has seen glimpses of this world in her training as a lady but this is different.

She makes excuses about how she was not expected to know embroidery because she had seamstress who take care of that. But she can hold conversations on dresses and jewelry.

What she dislikes is women gushing about him. She thinks it is uncouth and annoying.

He agrees. However, the way she sarcastically recounts all his qualities in high voices and faux giggles in front of Arthur and him, he is a little loathe in admitting that he would have liked some appreciation of them from her.

She defeats Martell solidly in game of Cywasse for a week and he is star-eyed.

Whent is already quite respectful of her, since the time at Dragonstone.

Darry thinks she is not very lady-like. Hightower is amused by her presence and in some way, appreciative of her politics. Selmy also enjoys her jabs.

And then they write letters. The first letter is to the wall, asking after official numbers. The others follow.

It is a land survey of sorts through the lords. They need to know the lands rather well if anyone rebels after all. That's the reasoning he gives his father.

It is Azalea who puts for the argument clearly in front of Rhaegar so he can twist his father's sense of importance.

Dayne is skeptical of that, "Is feeding his paranoia just?"

"We are not feeding his paranoia. We are accepting that his worries might have some proof and preparing. In fact, it should curb his paranoia down to think that his family is siding with him."

She is right. His father trusts him more.


He sneaks out to Flee Bottom one day. After a long day, he sits at an inn near the end. The food is homely. There is singing and dancing and it is so relaxed. Rhegar loves being with smallfolk, knowing the people. He hears news and stories and worries and joys that he would never hear in the red keep.

Tonight, they speak of an illness that fast spread among the children on streets and in the orphanage through the sennight.

Rhaegar tenses. He should be able to do something, maybe Azalea would know something.

But then they spoke of a cure that a peasant girl in search of her younger brother in the orphanage had left behind to the in charge. She had even spared her last silver to buy broth and bread for them, in hope that someone would be kind enough to do that for her brother.
"I never thought cheap tavern gossip and food would bring a smile to your face, Rhys. I would have insisted that you take a trip earlier." He hears a feminine voice and someone cloaked settles in front of him.

It is Azalea in a peasant dress. Her hair instead of a lush black are a dark, untidy brunette and her complexion is rather different. But it is her, all the same with her emerald eyes.

"Allie," She discreetly murmurs.

Ah, her pseudonym. Just like the one she had called him, Rhys.

"What…"Rhaegar is shocked. She was supposed to be busy studying today.

"I have always had a soft spot for orphanages considering my... I was not sure if you would approve of me venturing outside. I came here a few days ago after Martell told me about the one here. The children were ill, so I gave them something to help with …I came back to check if they needed anything more." She whispers rather quickly, looking guilty but not apologetic.

"That was very kind of you," He murmurs, still taken in by her peasant garbs. She is still the most beautiful thing he has seen.

"I did not do it to be kind…" She protests immediately, "I had actually hoped that you would not find out. I only came to this inn to get some normal food, the richness of the food I have lately been having is…I almost turned tail and ran when I saw you. But then I realized that you were dressed as a peasant too, so I stopped. You could not very well disapprove of me when you are in the same boat."

That was true. He could not, but he did, 'What if something happened, Az—Allie? Women are easier targets."

"I have knives strapped to my leg." She gives away and then gets distracted by his drink, "Is that ale?"

Rhaegar merely makes a confused noise but she has already picked his mug and taken a long swig.

"It was a long day," She says defensively, "There were over 50 children to examine and then the butcher had cut his thumb and infected it and there were—I could not leave it alone" She trails off, her forehead lined.

He just calls out to a serving girl, "Me wife an' I had a long day. Can ya send another ale and more of this stew and bread?"

Azalea is gaping at him.

"You need to eat, Allie, considering your long day." He murmurs.

"You are not going to yell at me."

"I have been on the receiving end of that lecture too many times with Arthur, and it is unpleasant, so no. You were safe and you were not causing any mischief or grief, so no." Rhaegar says gently.

'What are you doing in Flee bottom?' She whispers back.

So, he explains why he frequently ventures into the common folk as one of them and even though, she never asked, he also tells her the common way to speak like smallfolk. It helps in fitting in.

They dip their breads in stew and eat, sipping ale and watching people. It was so easy with her, not just acting like a commoner but acting to be husband and wife.

It does not take too much to take up the role of teasing or bickering or even acting possessive when a drunkard watches her too closely.

She watches the country dancing with a smile and he mostly watches her. He is tempted to ask her to dance, right there with him but he doesn't. Something about the smile, the wistfulness of it stops him.

She notes it and tells him quietly, "It reminds me of my surrogate family. The house and later their tent was always full to the brim and there was so much noise and people and yet, it was the joy that…"

"How.."

"One was killed by a snake, one by poison, one by a curse, one by a werewolf. The others fell in battle in rage and the remaining died in an attack on the funeral. I would have died if I had not flown away."

She doesn't give him names.

"And was Hermione one of them?" He gently asks.

She looks at him in shock, but he quickly explains, "You murmured her name when you were recovering."

"Not really. She was my best friend and then a sister though. She sacrificed herself and saved millions that day…" She says simply, her smile absent and her eyes vacant.

Rhaegar feels remorse suddenly. It was a perfect evening by all means and his curiosity had taken it on another sorrowful tangent.

He carefully took a sip of his ale, "What ailed the children of orphanage? Perhaps I could offer assistance through the keep."

"It is a flu. You can do nothing about that unless Maester Pycelle is willing to come down here. It is those rats. They are everywhere and they carry disease. Flee Bottom need overhauling. Too many people, too much trash and waste. Why does the city have no sewer system?"

"One of my ancestors began it, but it never got completed and no one was inclined to take it up. I take it, it would help."

"Immensely," She nods.

"I will add it to our list,"

"They do not have resources. It is summer and they are starving. I also thought that people from brothels have been eyeing the children…Do you think…nevermind," She trailed off.

"No, tell me." He requested.

"Could we arrange a food supply? I know you cannot show favoritism to one section as crown prince…but children..?" Her words are pleading.

"I will see what I can do." He says firmly.

That does not cheer her up in the least, but she does not say much.

But then, he remembers her sweet tooth and asks her to come along.

The pastry shop is about to close but he manages to convince the shopkeeper to give them a couple of hot cakes.

Then, he takes her towards the harbor, "Every year more people arrive in the city through here. More people but no more space. The last time any change to King's Landing was brought was a few generations ago. Aegon the Unlikely was too much into people, too generous. He forgot that sometimes feeding the helplessness of people is not the best way. But others were worse, did not raise one finger to help. They complain loudly about it: Criminals come from Flee bottom. My father has had thoughts of burning it. Blight in King's landing, they call it. They forget the role the people play in creating those circumstances. They forget that people of Flea bottom are people as well. It makes me sad. It always has. I do things sometimes, but I have to be careful lest word reaches Father. He will not hesitate to burn things just to get back at me. I hope to make a better world Azalea. I hope to help the realm like a ruler should. I would have forsaken that if you did not remind me the pitfalls of the prophecy. I know you feel helpless, seeing those people. I do too, but trust me, you have done much more than a lot of people do by just getting through to me…I had intended to wait for a few years to call forth a Great Council until you convinced me otherwise. You have made a difference Azalea, so do not judge yourself so harshly."

They walked some more, Rhaegar engaging people in some talking with his common language.

They even ran into a goldcloak, who scowled very heavily and was harassing someone.

Rhaegar and Azalea could not help but stare at it and he decided to turn to them.

It was only after Rhaegar apologized profusely, repeating M'lord again and again that he let them go.

"Did you catch his name?" Rhaegar asked Azalea, who gave a resolute nod.

"They are quite corrupt. I have over a dozen fired already for similar instances. But every time I come out, it is the same. Only thing left is a systematic reworking and that is beyond me right now. I apologize if he unnerved you but he will be out of his position very soon." Rhaegar said.


Arthur was the one who greeted them when they entered the keep back through Rhaegar's secret entrance. Azalea had given Arthur a quick, "Ser Dayne" and slunk away.

It was a good idea because Arthur was not impressed that he included Azalea in his tryst into the city.

So Rhaegar explained that it was not his doing at all.

"She escaped the palace guards?" Arthur was incredulous.

"Twice apparently…" Rhaegar informed him, "She would not have even revealed herself to me had she not been curious about my presence in the tavern…"

'It is not safe, Rhaegar. Anyone could catch and kill her…or rape her. She already has enemies because she has Valyrian blood. Lannisters are quiet right now but.."

Rhaegar sighed and just said, "I will let her know and accompany her should she want to visit the city again."

Arthur gave him a look, "That is not what I meant at all."

"I am not asking her to stop. One, she is not going to stop because I said so. Second, it would not endear myself to her. Third, her safety would be my concern. Four, I cannot tell her off for something that I do frequently."

"You are a man."

"Arthur, I told you she is unique that day. I need you to trust me on this. She won't like it if we keep her away from the city, certainly not on the basis of an argument that is based on the fact that she is not a man."

There was an utter silence between them for a few moments.

"Oh Seven, you are smitten, aren't you?" Arthur broke it rather unabashedly.

Rhaegar raised his brow.

Arthur raised both of his in response.

Rhaegar was far too composed to groan into his hands, but his embarresment must be apparent because Arthur had a victorious look.

"I hate you Dayne." He muttered.

"Of course you do, all your love has been taken up by a Valyrian beauty," Arthur shot back easily.

Rhaegar gave him a severe look.

"For what it is worth, I think she is worthy of it and more." Arthur conceded.

"That she is," Rhaegar's face got thoughtful and then he sighed, "If only she returned the feelings."

"What are you speaking about? She did agree to the match in some way. The ritual is a formality."

"She is stalling," Rhaegar confessed, "We planned it. We are distracting Father so he does not realize that as I proceed to call a Great council. She did not seem keen on marrying, much less me."

"Wait, what?"

So, he explained yet again that how Azalea had sworn to be his protector and advisor and that protecting him from being torn away by Lannisters and Martells was a duty.

'She said I could have a pick of what I wanted once…and I know she did not include herself in it" Rhaegar sighed.

"Please don't marry Cersei. It was a foolish political move by your Father but it was a favor. She is such a hassle and trouble in court, I haven't heard good things."

"I do not intend to marry either." Rhaegar said firmly.

"Azalea does not return your affections?" Arthur said.

"No," Rhaegar looked defeated.

"She will come around. I think it is only a matter of time. She clearly cares for you."


So, the first arc is completely written and I will post it all steadily. I am not sure if I want to extend it.

But lovely response and REVIEWS. I love you all!

Also, I would not mind having a Beta on this because I am a little too attached, so if anyone is interested, dm me.

Best,

Katoptris