News in Westeros
Quick reminder: In this story, the vernal equinox in Middle-earth and News Year in Westeros, are intended to be on the same date. Mostly for making things a little easier for myself to remember as the author. / Rogercat
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The equivalent to March 17 in Middle-earth, the Old Palace in Sunspear:
Upon hearing from her uncle and cousins that Théoden had fallen in battle, Arianne had not hesitated to order a memorial service to the now late father-in-law of he aunt Elia. Given that there was still a massive war going on with no one being able to say how the War of the Ring would end, it was the best way for House Martell to show their respect for Rohan and its loss of a former ruler.
"Bless his soul, Mother Royne. Bless this man who sired the husband of Princess Elia, now the Queen of Rohan. Grant him peace in death, River Mother, to be reunited with his loved ones in the afterlife…"
From his seat beside Mellario and Ihsan, Doran knew that the death of her father-in-law had been a hard blow to Elia and her whole family. After the disaster that was her first marriage, with only Rhaenys and Aegon being the good things coming from it, the House Eorl had proved to be far more suitable, enjoyable and welcoming in-laws for Elia.
"It is truly regrettable to lose such a valuable man in times like this, but he lived his life with few regrets and led his people in difficult times. He will be remembered fondly for future generations if we manage to defeat Sauron."
Doran himself had enjoyed the company of Théoden, proving that despite being to different generations and other forms of differences, there could always be something in common to start a ground of friendship. He had seen the close bond between the widowed former King and his son, and how both had accepted Elia despite first not knowing that she and her children hailed from a completely different world.
Upon leaving the Prayer Hall with its holy water pools, a messenger asked to be allowed to come through to the Ruling Princess.
"News about events north of the Red Mountains?"
"Yes, Princess. Nothing that suggests any suspicions against Dorne or the like, but still a little alarming."
Taking the written reports to read them herself, Arianne could see why the spies had mentioned this as needed to be sent directly to herself.
"The Westerlands is under the threat of a possible civil war due to House Lannister losing their role as not only the Lord Paramount, but as the leaders of the Westerlands itself?"
Of course, the fall of House Lannister would be a spark that started a long-term fire of chaos and instability, unless King Robert hurried to publicly appoint another noble family to take over.
"Wow…it may not have been a goal of Khamûl when he killed off most of House Lannister, unless he really is behind that mysterious drought that have made the commoners in the Westerlands flee towards the Reach, the riverlands and the North in the hope of avoiding death by starvation and finding new lands for farming there, but he truly have given Tywin Lannister a infamous legacy: The last Lord Lannister to rule from the now blown-out-of-existence Casterly Rock, the same Lord Lannister who is going to be associated with "punishments from the Seven" for whatever horrible deeds he have been during under his life, AND the Lord Lannister who got removed as the leader of the Westerlands by King Robert himself!"
That was a quite good summation of what sort of legacy that Tywin Lannister would have in the future. After all, Jaime and Tyrion Lannister was already living in exile somewhere in Essos, not out of doing some horrible crimes but out of fear that the commoners would have tried to harm their wives and children during a riot because they were blood relatives to the hated Tywin, and with said travel distance between Essos and Westeros, there was a high chance that neither of them may even know of that Casterly Rock no longer existed, among other things.
"Even if Jaime and Tyrion try to lay claim to the leadership over the Westerlands on the grounds of their lineage, I doubt that they would be very successful. Not only by the travel distance they first need to cover, but also that they have been in Essos for several years already. It is a long time to be out of touch with recent events in their birth home. Furthermore, it is not guaranteed that the descendants of Tywin would be able to escape his shadow."
Picking out his trusty old wax tablet from inside a pocket of his robes, Ihsan used an iron pin to write down all the possible troubles that the two sons of Tywin could face.
"Anyway, we better remind King Robert about the Westerlands needing a new Great House as soon as possible, if only to keep things stable for the time."
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The Golden Hall of Meduseld, in Edoras:
Out of all his birthdays so far in his young life, Aegon felt that today, his fifteenth one, was the worst one. Normally, with his birthday falling three days before the vernal equinox, both sides of his family would be gathered, either here in Edoras or the Old Palace, there would be a feast and other forms of enjoyments no matter the weather.
"It feels even worse with Ealderfeder dying only two days ago…"
Today, however, it was all grief in the Golden Hall, over the death of his step-grandfather because of how fresh the sorrow was for everyone in the House of Eorl. In fact, Aegon was not even in the mood to mention that it was his birthday, because of all the focus on the Great War.
"I am just going out to check the horses out in the stable," he told one of the maids serving his mother, so they would know where he went. Looking over his shoulder just in case, he saw Rhaenys hugging Aégnor and Andréth as the twins once again had started to cry over the fact that they would never see their paternal grandfather alive again. offering to bring them to their parents if that made the twins feel better.
The stables were peaceful, and he found a quiet place up on the hayloft to be alone with his thoughts. Out of habit as he realized that his gift of foresight was acting up, Aegon sat down with crossed legs, closing his eyes.
A young woman, around her twenties, if he guessed right, standing out in the endless sea of grass that was the home for the famed horses of Rohan. Tall and mighty, like most people of Rohan, her black hair caught in a long braid. She was dressed for travel, and in her saddle bag, there were several pieces of finished embroidered cloth, perhaps intended for sale along the road so she could get some coins.
"If there is no hope left for a better future or escape from a horrible situation, then the enemy has already won."
Her voice, strong and full of life, sounded almost like a strange long-forgotten memory, and as she turned around, there was little doubt of who she was.
Elfhilda.
Opening his eyes again, Aegon did not know why he was crying, despite the joy of seeing Elfhilda as an adult and showing no signs of living under the terror of Mordor and its Dark Lord. Not from grief over Théoden, but he still felt a strange sorrow in his heart.
What Aegon did not know, was that he had heard the voice of his paternal grandmother Rhaella from one of the few memories of her that he had gotten of her, and that his tears came from the grief of never getting to really know her outside the tales and personal memories that Elia could share.
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Winterfell, the North:
It was not the sort of news that Catelyn Stark wanted from Robb, her firstborn, about how things were back in the south.
"Where are the girls…?! Sansa, Arya…where are you!?"
It was agony, to know that her two older daughters were still missing ever since that horrible attack on the capital, and knowing that she could not leave Winterfell to search for them herself. Bran was not even seven years old, Rickon had not seen his second birthday yet, and Saya, her sixth and newest child…
A newborn baby in the cradle.
She could not leave her three youngest children all alone, even with the trusted servants here in Winterfell. Not only would her maternal instinct cause her guilt over such action, even if Saya could survive with a wetnurse, but the whole North needed her as the Lady Stark, remaining in one place, as Eddard and his heir was down south.
Where were her missing daughters?
This fear for Sansa and Arya kept haunting Catelyn both day and night, not helped by how there was still no information about a possible ransom or any other information about their well-being. She could accept the suggestion of her husband that they had been kidnapped, but as revenge for the part in which the late Lyanna Stark had played in the Rebellion?
Nonsense! It was a very strange revenge, if Catelyn had to say her own thoughts on the matter, kidnapping the next generation for something that had happened long before their own births! If there still were royalists who wanted to see House Targaryen restored as the royal family of Westeros, kidnapping only Sansa and Arya as hostages outside most of the current royal children would be a weird act. If anything, it had made more sense to grab Robb as well, him being the heir of House Stark!
"Besides, why leave behind Princess Myrella and Prince Tommen as well? To put pressure upon the King to have only two direct heirs left outside Lord Stannis and his two daughters? Unless he was quick to remarry to a new queen…"
Looking out through the window, the sight of Bran training with a wooden sword against the master-at-arms, Ser Rodrik Cassel, and Rickon who amused himself with the help of a mud puddle despite his nurse's amused protests, reminded Catelyn again of that she had to keep herself focused on the daily life in Winterfell.
"Lady Stark, Maester Luwin says that there is a message from the Stormlands. No news about Sansa and Arya, I am afraid, but still important for you to know about," the voice of Jeyne Poole called to her, and the young girl held up the nursery door for Maester Luwin, who gave Catelyn a letter to read.
Lady Selyse Baratheon has given birth to a son, named Steffon, in honor of his late paternal grandfather.
The date of the birth was three days ago.
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Meanwhile, in King's Landing:
Now with Tywin Lannister way out of earshot, not to mention brought along by the King to an unknown place because for some reason, the enemy on those flying beasts had wanted him in exchange for the kidnapped royal children, there were a lot of people who were less scared about speaking their minds.
"...reminds me somehow of those strange, humanoid creatures that showed up at the wedding of his oldest son…"
"I thought so too! We were never able to find out where they came from, only that it seemed to be from the mines near Lannisport of all places!"
"Both those creatures and the long-lasting drought in the Westerlands are the Gods punishing Tywin Lannister for his pride!"
In the past, Tywin had used both his own reputation as a ruthless man, gold as a bribery and the threat of execution though beheading with a blunt sword for spreading false rumors to cause social unrest, to shut people up about the strange events that had happened at Jaime's wedding. Even septons who dared to mention the orcs as a punishment for Jaime committing kingslaying and breaking his oaths as a Kingsguard by killing the mad king Aerys, had found themselves thrown in the dungeons of Casterly Rock as a way to make them silent. But now, there was no one to stop all this from being revealed.
Eddard Stark had healed a little from his concussion, but he was shaken to learn that Sansa and Arya were still missing.
"I have to travel to Dorne and House Dayne, Robb! I need to revisit the Tower of Joy, to confirm that I did not commit a massive mistake back then…!"
It was the only thing to make sense, he thought, that the stillborn daughter of Lyanna and Rhaegar was haunting him like a wraith because he had not given her body proper burial rites to lay her soul to rest, or even a name to have the same function. That had been a foolish error for him to do, in his grief to hurry back home to Winterfell with his infant nephew Jon Snow and the body of Lyanna, and the Targaryen-looking wraith had wanted to punish him for that neglect by taking away Sansa and Arya in a manner that triggered his own trauma about Lyanna and her last year of life.
"Father, lay back down and rest! You can not go anywhere with that broken leg of yours!"
Robb hoped that it was the milk of the poppy that made his father act like this, so unlike his usual self, because if Lord Stark did not change his behavior soon, people would start thinking that he was less mentally stable than he really was.
"I really mean it! I MUST go there!"
As if to mock her uncle that no one believed his strange words about her as a resentful ghost that would harm her own, living cousins, the dismissive face of Visenya flashed by in the drinking goblet standing on the small table next to the bed of Lord Stark.
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Author note: Remember chapters 33-34 in Foreign Lands, when orcs from Moria ruined the wedding of Jaime due to a random portal temporarily opening up between Moria and the mines of the Westerlands, because Rhaenys was too young and untrained in controlling her awakened magic back then? Based on how Tywin is a control freak in canon, I can really see him very forcefully trying to prevent the spread of various rumors about what really happened
The idea of Eddard thinking that Visenya is actually a wraith and haunting him from not having been buried with proper rites or even a name, is partly inspired by the Myling, which in Swedish folklore refers to the ghost of an unbaptized newborn child murdered by its mother and hidden, sometimes even under the floor of the house, to hide an unwanted birth. According to stories, the child can be laid to rest by either being given a proper name, or by burying the small body or bones in consecrated soil in a cemetery. Given that the North follows the Old Gods and have different customs, I think it quite logical that they would have quite a superstitions about what can happen when you don't bury someone as you should, even without the Others and their ability to turn corpses into living wraiths
Given that Eddard himself have tried to hide the truth about Lyanna dying in childbirth with the bastard child of Rhaegar, now he gets to taste the negative side of his choice by people starting to wonder WTF he is talking about with a "Targaryen ghost" and the events at the Tower of Joy. Visenya, of course, enjoys how he is making a fool out of himself because no one will believe his claims about her unless Eddard shows proof of her existence.