A/N: As much as our dearest SI Marge may make her plans, there's a very relevant saying that applies here: "No plan survives contact with an enemy." Even with her game plan laid bare, there are going to be a LOT of twists and turns in her future that will complicate things, even if she does get the man she marries.


MARGAERY II

"Margaery! We need to play! You've been reading for too long!" A voice called out.

I sighed, putting my book down, and stared into a pair of round, brown eyes, looking eagerly at me.

"Loras, I was just finishing this book. Give me a minute, please?" I chastised my slightly-older brother, while carefully rearranging my expression into something more miffed.

"But Margie! You never play with me. You're gonna become as old and boring as Old Lomys and then you'll leave me alone!" Loras pouted, purposely making his eyes even rounder, knowing that his kicked-puppy look would get me to give in.

"Loras!" I cried, and my eyes began to water in fake hurt. Loras, like everyone else, fell for the fake tears routine quite often, and I doubted that he'd be able to hold out for long.

"Margie! Don't cry!" his distress at my apparent tears showed, and he began to tear up himself in sympathy.

We stood there, with our faces almost exact mirrors of one another, playing an invisible game of chicken and practicing our faked expressions. I'm sure if Mother or Father came in and saw us like this, they'd acquiesce to whatever demands we made instantly.

"Now what has my two little roses staring at each other like that?" we heard, just as Loras was about to burst into actual tears.

"Willas!" we cried, and I ran towards him with my arms outstretched, an "OOMPH!" coming out of Willas as we tackled each of his respective legs in a hug, Loras following a second after me. We stared at him curiously, two pairs of round, brown eyes, with eerily identical-looking faces, and Willa's face softened into a smile.

"Margie won't play with me, because she's reading her book and Gar's still stuck with Old Lomys right now and I couldn't find you-"

Willas laughed merrily and ruffled Loras's hair, looking like the unconcerned, carefree boy he was at three-and-ten. My heart ached a bit at the thought of "Willas the Wilted" , the nickname given to my brother a year later, through no real fault of his own, and I reaffirmed to myself once again that I would find a way to prevent the accident that would leave my brother so drained of life.

"Margaery? What are your thoughts on this?" Willas asked, smoothing my hair.

"I'm almost done with this book. Mayhaps I will be able to join you and Loras in a minute, if you let me finish…" I trailed off.

"Ah, the Little Queen pricks her lords yet again!" Willas joked, poking fun at my serious demeanor, and my similar nature to grandmother. "We should leave, Loras, before her thorns grow and entangle us as well."

I giggled at Lora's mock-horrified expression, detaching myself from Willas as he grabbed Loras's hands. They proceeded to walk out, Loras's clumsy gait matching step with Willa's longer gait. Once they had disappeared from the study, I grabbed the book again. It was time to create a plan for the future.

My lack of knowledge of Westerosi history was a weakness I needed to resolve immediately, in order to best contextualize my actions with the world around me and checking that the series really was accurate in its depictions, or else I would be faced with useless knowledge and no idea of what to do with it. That said, Westerosi history held some pretty interesting components: succession precedents, past examples of rulers and wars, and cultural knowledge that would tie my understanding of the world better than anything else could. If I wanted to survive Westeros, it would require me to read up some more accounts of Westerosi history directly from the source, and so I was slowly using some historical and genealogical works in Highgarden's massive library to inform my knowledge. At this point, there was still much more to learn, but I was confident I had enough to create a skeleton of the plan that I would have in place.

House Tyrell held a pretty interesting position in the Seven Kingdoms. On one hand, we weren't dynastically tied to any of the other Great Houses, as our focus on internal consolidation within the Reach was really the first step to creating a dynasty. Particularly in the Reach, where politicking was key to consolidating your position, it wasn't as though House Tyrell could command utter loyalty in their bannermen the way that House Stark did, for instance. Any given House in the Reach was almost constantly surrounded by rivals that were searching for a reason to oust one another and claim each other's positions, mainly in part due to the remnants of Gardener legitimacy and the natural inclination towards politics in the wealthy and well-supplied houses of the Reach, which never really worried about anything.

Legitimacy and politics were the currency of Reach power, which is why, for instance, even if Bronn, at the end of show canon, had managed to be given Highgarden, his lack of political acumen in the face of discontent Reach houses would have likely led to a quick and easy assassination by an ambitious Lord, looking to fill the gaps left by House Tyrell. Within a generation, a series of succession crises that would have eventually ousted his House, ousted a bunch of other Houses, and led to an uncertain future until one house decisively destroyed all rivals.

Even now, in this era of peacetime, if House Tyrell wasn't careful, we would be ousted by the Baratheon-backed House Florent, which meant that the survival of our house depended on carefully planning around domestic and (inter)national politics, and not, for instance, support some rebel faction unless we were certain of victory, or a chance to improve our standing. The founder of our House, Harlen Tyrell, had not surrendered Highgarden to Aegon the Conqueror by accident, or by surrender - it was likely he had known that betraying the Gardener Kings would improve his House's standing in the new status quo of Targaryen kings, and dragons.

On the other hand, we weren't dynastically tied to any of the other Great Houses in recent history, meaning that we had the potential to tie ourselves to any of the Houses as we wished. Combine that with the greatest army in Westeros, and the largest storage of food resources for struggling factions, and House Tyrell was essentially the Seven Kingdom's greatest free-agent. If we allied with one cause, particularly in the upcoming War of the Five Kings, our forces would certainly pave the way towards victory, barring any supernatural circumstances or the flying WMDs that we call Daenerys's dragons, and every side would most likely need Highgarden sworn to them if they wanted to hold the Seven Kingdoms.

There was an interesting balancing act that House Tyrell would have to play, in order to take advantage of opportunities, and yet, still keep our internal legitimacy and stability strong, so that we didn't face rebellions from angry bannermen, looking to seat themselves in Highgarden. Especially as House Tyrell was a young House, and the only House, other than the Tullys of Riverrun, who were not directly connected to the Kings of the past who had ruled Westeros before Aegon's Conquest, it was important that we ensured our legitimacy, especially when we had powerful neighbors such as House Hightower. In that way, Garlan and Loras's marriages, particularly, would be in service of internal stability in Reach politics, but Willas and I's marriages would be two big chess moves that would allow our house to expand, and define the future of our house, essentially.

This led me to my skeleton of a plan, I suppose. At first, when I had arrived in Westeros and had worked out who I was, I had dreamt up some ambitious marriage options to advance my standing. Maybe Jon Snow, provided he was the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna as per show canon, or Aegon VI, regardless of whether he was a Blackfyre or a Targaryen, and consolidate power as Queen with dragons, the singular piece on the board that could not be beaten, to back our House's political capital, and decisively win me my place on the Iron Throne. However, those plans quickly fell to the wayside as I contended with the possibility of opposing Daenerys. Daenerys Targaryen, the mother of three powerful dragons, the only guaranteed dragon rider in canon, one who would most certainly not be interested in a marriage with any man, much less of House Tyrell, after her storyline played out, other than possibly Jon Snow or Aegon VI Targaryen.

To be married to any Targaryen other than Daenerys made your side one of her rivals, especially if you were an opposing Queen challenging her claim on the Throne, and if she brought those dragons to Westeros, that would mean imminent death and destruction of the house for anyone facing her, regardless of the effects after the fact. Even if you could poison Daenerys (and Seven help you if you were caught in the process), her death would spark a chain of destruction among whatever surviving dragons there would be, which essentially meant that it was impossible to defeat her without risking massive, and frankly, untenable collateral damage, unless technology uplift really did happen, something I knew for a fact I would not be able to do with my lack of modern knowledge.

As much as being Queen of the Seven Kingdoms would have been great for my ego and for House Tyrell's legitimacy in the Reach during my lifetime, as long as Daenerys Targaryen existed, there would be no safe measure for me to take to truly claim the Seven Kingdoms as Queen without risking absolutely everything in the process. Father would have to be content with the reality that I would become Lady Paramount of a Great House instead, with the possibility of my children on the Iron Throne. Particularly with the Long Night in the works, it was important to play it safe to ensure that House Tyrell and I survived, and truly set down our roots, and claim acclaim akin to the other Houses in the Age of Heroes, in the hopes that we would be able to claim true legitimacy and pave the way for a dynasty lasting thousands of years.

Which Lord Paramounts to be, then, would be the best option? I couldn't marry Willas for obvious reasons - we were not Targaryens, and it would be a waste of a perfectly good move. Did I mention that he happened to be my older brother? Yuck.

House Baratheon and Lannister were equally unconscionable in the face of an almost assured Targaryen victory. Any House married or allied to either of the two Houses, mayhap save for Tyrion or Renly, would quickly become charred dragon food in the face of a likely Targaryen Restoration.

In terms of House Baratheon, Robert and Stannis were horrible options, as Robert was already married and likely to die at any point from Cersei induced shenanigans, and Stannis hated our house after the Siege of Storm's End - he would likely attempt to murder me if I even dared seduce him, and besides, did not possess the power or charm to prevent himself from burning to death at the hands of Daenerys. Finally, Renly had no true claim compared to Stannis, and would not see much sense in bending the knee to House Targaryen if he could be King instead, which made him a dangerous option. As Loras's potential future lover, being in between their dynamic in any way was a bad idea. I still wasn't sure if I wanted to interfere to prevent that, because even if Loras had loved Renly very much, my brother had faced much heartbreak in the series as a result of it.

House Lannister was even worse. Between Cersei's inability to share power, Joffrey's madness, and Tommen's weakness, as well as their lack of claim, it was easy to explain exactly why Margaery blew up in the Sept in canon. Tywin Lannister had pretty much every other sane actor hunting for his blood after his shenanigans in the Red Wedding, and any power would fade with him after his death into a violent extermination event for Houses Tyrell and Lannister, with fear of Tywin's wrath gone. Tyrion was the best option out of House Lannister, but even then, Tyrion's storyline would not play out had he been reasonably married, most likely pushing him further and further into Casterly Rock, and never giving Tyrion reason to improve his character arc in any meaningful way that would convince the other side to spare him from a horrible death, and me, with it.

House Martell was unlikely, if only for the long enmity they held with House Tyrell, as well as the fact that I wouldn't stand to be a part of the ruling family with Arianne Martell as Lady Paramount of Dorne unless Viserys or Aegon somehow won the Iron Throne and placed her as their Queen. Even then, if Aegon VI was a legitimate king, Doran Martell would immediately moves to tie his daughter, Arianne, directly to Aegon VI, regardless of her wishes, and so Queenship wasn't a possibility, and becoming Lady Paramount of Dorne was at best, a coinflip that would not fall into my favor, with more attractive options for Quentyn. This meant that there was no way House Tyrell could interfere save for tying Garlan to Arianne in a betrothal as recompense for Willas's broken leg in the near future, but my heart ached at the idea of accepting my bold, brave brother's fate as a cripple for the rest of his natural life. Furthermore, that would most likely be a sinking ship, considering that Garlan would suddenly be much more vulnerable to any number of Dornish poisons in Prince Doran's quest to place Arianne on the throne, which meant that House Martell was a no-go politically and personally, for the safety of my brothers in the future.

The last two Southern Great Houses on the list were not exactly ideal, either. House Arryn had a Lord Paramount that was too young and unstable, in the case of "Sweetrobin" Arryn, who could potentially be a bastard child of Petyr Baelish or dead of poison in a few years. Even if I married Harry the Heir, there was a 50/50 coin flip as to whether ruling the Eyrie would even happen to begin with, which really didn't boast anything attractive other than knights.

House Tully was probably the best of the three matches, but even then, the Riverlands were almost consistently war torn and House Tully had about as much claim as we had to our respective regions, given that House Tully was only given Paramountcy by breaking away as vassals and supporting House Targaryen, which meant that there wasn't much point or personal advantage in tying myself to Edmure Tully, unless I was in a desperate situation and wanted to be Lady Paramount of any realm. If we wanted a match that would secure our dynasty for years and years on end, House Tully was certainly not the answer.

I would not marry any lower of an option than the heir of a Great House, as the most attractive option physically and politically in that realm, save for another person inserted into the series who could turn their fortunes around very quickly as the heir of a lesser house. Even then, the chances of that happening were infinitesimal at best, and it would put me at a disadvantage, and in order to survive both the Long Night unfrozen, and Daenerys's conquest unburnt, I needed to become either the Lady of a Great House or Queen.

The only real option, if I wanted to not only survive, but thrive, in the world of Westeros, was to back House Stark by marrying Robb Stark. There were plenty of reasons for this pairing. Firstly, House Stark was, first of all, the longest reigning House within their region and had the oldest, most stable bloodline of all the Lord Paramounts. They were loved by their people, enough so that Sansa and Jon, in show canon, had mustered an army to retake Winterfell, at what would have been their death knell, solely out of their love for the House. Robb was also the safest option in the case of the Long Night. Stark expertise was absolutely critical towards preparing for winters, with more than 8000 years of experience surviving harsh conditions, an attractive option for a Southern house needing to endure the Long Night. Furthermore, House Tyrell's easy infusion of people and grain complemented perfectly with House Stark's need for resources in fighting the White Walkers, and there was plenty of space to develop the North further with Tyrell coin and influence.

Even before the War of the Five Kings, Robb was also an attractive option, placing us solidly within the Stark-Tully-Arryn-Baratheon alliance, and giving Father and Grandmother the illusion of the most attractive match for a child of Sansa, a Stark and Tully, with her Baratheon and Lannister King. There were only three real options for Joffrey's hand politically: House Stark, House Tyrell, and House Martell. With Robert Baratheon's influence, it was unlikely that he would reward the two Houses against him in Robert's Rebellion, and with King Robert's fondness for Lyanna Stark and Lord Eddard Stark, a betrothal between a Stark daughter and Prince Joffrey was practically inevitable, and even something Tywin Lannister would see sense about, in order to cement the Baratheon dynasty's dynastic ties to Houses Stark, Tully, and Arryn. A betrothal to Robb was mayhaps a less attractive option than a betrothal to Joffrey before the War of the Five Kings, but it was a very respectable match, and the best option long-term. Why?

During the War of the Five Kings, Robb's performance against Tywin Lannister in the South was stellar, winning every battle against a commander with at least thrice Robb's experience, save for two major weaknesses: a lack of basic political acumen in Southern politics that would lead to the Red Wedding, and a lack of resources to cover the multiple battlefronts his army was assaulted in - the West, the South, and the North, with the Ironborn Invasion. This was something I, Margaery Tyrell, could easily remedy, with the largest standing army of Westeros, and personal training on the Queen of Thorns's knee in Southern politics and propaganda. Granted, Grandmother wasn't a perfect player herself, but her skill at managing House Tyrell easily put her in the top five players of the Game, alongside powers such as Littlefinger, Varys, Tywin, and Doran. I would need to be nothing less than the successor to the Queen of Thorns to survive in this cruel world, and if there was anything House Stark sorely needed, they needed a player as good as the Queen of Thorns to cover their backs in the Game of Thrones, to give them the room to succeed militarily and personally, and avoid assassination via discontent actors.

Interestingly enough, Robb was also the only option where Queenship was still a reasonable possibility, save for a male Targaryen, such as Jon, gaining dragons before Daenerys. If Robb's secession of the North was accepted by the monarch on the Iron Throne, or defensible enough in which the North actually succeeded in beating back the South, Robb would need a Queen of the North comfortably versed in politics, and could bring about personal advantage to the House itself, which was a perfect role for me.

There were, of course, a few major obstacles to the plan.

Firstly, I would have to convince Father and Grandmother that it was a good idea. Father wanted primarily to make me Queen, an option that would look likely before the War of the Five Kings, with the rich bounty of the Reach, and for all that Robb was, Robb was not that. Without any context, Grandmother would be wary as well at my hesitance to make a move that would place me in the position of the most powerful woman in Westeros, and I wasn't sure if I was ready to confess my knowledge to the Queen of Thorns without sounding like a madwoman.

Secondly, I was unsure how House Stark would look upon that match, considering that Ned Stark may look toward internal marriages for his children to stabilize the region, and with Sansa almost certainly betrothed to Joffrey pre-series, it was uncertain as to why Ned would allow for a second Southern Lady of Winterfell, unless the betrothal came with a dowry that would provide massive benefits to Northern households, and keep discontent bannermen happy. Not only that, Ned would be suspicious of a house at neutral terms at best offering a betrothal contract between their prized 'piece' and his son, as even if Ned Stark wasn't a perfect player of the Game, he, and his wife, Catelyn, were no fools, and would suspect Southern plots at work. Unless the betrothal idea came from Robb itself, or developed organically, there would be no chance of House Stark accepting the offer in favor of a more palatable Northern lady wife to the Heir of Winterfell.

Finally, Robb himself would need to be genuinely attracted and charmed by me, in order for the marriage to actually work. Robb, in canon, was passionate, and honor-bound, meaning that he was likely to make stupid mistakes and fall for the wrong woman, such as Jeyne Westerling, if I did not keep him on the right track, or interested enough in me so that he didn't commit adultery. I would have to be a Northern lady that wouldn't raise suspicion, and besides, I personally did not want to suffer through a loveless marriage if I could avoid it, even if it was the most logical option. This meant that I had to get to know Robb on a personal level before requesting a betrothal, or charming him so quickly during the process that he was attracted to me, and me alone.

The plan seemed solid enough, but all of the possibilities of failure seemed daunting. At the same time though, were the alternatives really any more palatable, if I wanted my family to survive the nightmarish events that would happen if I stood by and didn't interfere? I wanted to survive and thrive in this new world, and that meant playing the Game and using my knowledge for the betterment of myself, and my House, then I would do it happily.

With that thought, I closed my book and headed down to join my brothers. I had been stuck in this room long enough - it was time to head out into the sunlight.


Highgarden was an absolutely majestic castle. Even if it was my home, the majesty of the keep itself was breath-taking, and the white stone, enormous to my young eyes. I could not have arrived into a better place for my second life, in what seemed to be a permanent spring, with flowers, fruits, and nature as far as the eyes can see. Between the briar mazes, the climbing roses vines, and the three inner walls that separated the various districts of Highgarden, my ancestors knew exactly what they were doing in the creation of this keep, for what could penetrate its walls, save for dragon-fire?

As the center of culture, education, and chivalry in the Seven Kingdoms, being exposed to the majesty of Highgarden at a young age made it easy for me to adapt to this new world, and even beyond the perfumed gardens and the beautiful mask of the keep itself, there was information to be learned at every part of Highgarden. I wanted to learn more about chivalry and Westerosi culture? Simply observing the daily affairs of the people serving House Tyrell, visiting the Sept to learn more about the Faith, and asking smart questions to family members or household staff with the innocence of the Lord Paramount's only daughter made it easy for me to learn. I wanted to improve my knowledge of anything I could get my hands on? Easy enough, with the third largest library collection in the Seven Kingdoms, behind Oldtown, and the library in King's Landing, maesters eager to teach a precocious young noblewoman the information I needed to know, and tutors specifically hired by the Queen of Thorns to secretly fill any gaps in my knowledge, and ensure her granddaughter was not raised a fool. If I wanted to understand the people of Highgarden I served? I could ask my mother to escort me to the city, and talk to everyday traders, smallfolk, and so on, under the watchful gaze of the guards specifically hired for me. There was simply too much to do in Highgarden, and I had as much time as I needed to explore my new world as thoroughly as I could.

Even as a lady, I still had amazing access to information, with my grandmother's influence, was not limited to the information traditionally taught to the men of Westeros. I had dominion over the people of Highgarden by virtue of my birth, a fact that still shocks me to this day, and between the guards stationed in the castle, and the personal guards hired for me, there was no world in which I, or my siblings, were ever truly unsafe. Because of this, I had developed a habit of walking around Highgarden by myself, something that worried my mother to no end, but was simple, and easy to accomplish.

I let my feet instinctively take me to where I knew my erstwhile brothers would be, moving with the easy confidence of a person who knew their realm. Perhaps I should have been less surprised as to what happened next, but unfortunately, my bad habit of walking alone made the next event all too easy.

"My lady, would you, mayhaps, be in need of an escort?" someone whispered in my ear. I turned around warily, only to hear the word "BOO!", to which I jumped back and shrieked loudly. Garlan the Gallant, my, loveable, boneheaded, idiot brother stood there laughing at me, after giving me the fright of my life. I did the only reasonable thing I could do in that situation; I slapped his arm ineffectually and then pouted, which made Garlan laugh even harder as he hugged me close to his person.

"Gar! You scared me!" I grumbled.

"Sweet sister, you looked so serious there. I thought you had suddenly become grandmother for a second!" Garlan joked. "Let's go find Willas and Loras."

I smiled happily at him, interlocking my arm with his, and he began to walk the path that would lead us to the tree at the center of the briar maze all four of us usually hung out at.

"So Gar, how was Old Lomys? Did you learn anything interesting?" I asked him, as we walked together, arm in arm.

"Old Lomys somehow turns the most interesting subjects boring," my brother of one-and-ten grumbled. "Battles should be interesting, but all of his lecturing about weather conditions nearly put me to sleep a few times. I know that weather is important, and that I ought to be aware as a commander, but I'd rather swing my sword at the training field and practice."

"But Gar, how are you going to lead Willas's army with that mindset?" I asked. Garlan paused and raised an eyebrow at me, a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"You mean, your armies, Marge?" Garlan pointed out, smirking. "You'll be Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, after all."

I grimaced internally at the joke, but tried not to let it show on my face. Queenship was well and good, but if my brothers kept that notion any longer, it wouldn't be long before I was shipped off to Renly.

"I mean, yes, but what about internal disputes? It's not like the queen can exactly interfere every time and-", I lectured, losing myself in a world of politics and intrigue for a moment.

My response cut off as I noticed something dangerous: my brother had moved even closer to me than usual.

"Gar, don't you dare pick me u-AAHH!"

Garlan placed me atop his shoulders in a piggyback as I shrieked, and apparently, my brother's lessons had been working out, because he managed to hold me easily. Then again, I was only five, so I suppose I was just tiny.

"You and Willas are too similar," Garlan mock-lamented. "Sitting with Old Lomys for moons on end and thinking too deeply….is it a wonder that your other brothers need to distract you from your work? I'll have to escort Her Grace to get some sunlight, lest she wilts in the dark like some wilted flower."

I grumbled a bit, but Garlan knew I secretly enjoyed it, so he proceeded to run with me on his shoulders, and my shrieks and his laughs together brightened up the whole of Highgarden, as we headed out to sunlight, and to Loras and Willas.