Eighth Month of 278 A.L. Harrenhal

Summer was back in fashion and as Rhaegar Targaryen stared out of his window in Harrenhal he could not but help and think that perhaps this might be the summer of change. His father was steadily growing more and more insane, Duskendale had worn tracks in King Aerys sanity that Rhaegar doubted would ever be fixed, some small part of him also thought his father didn't want them to be fixed. His mother continued to suffer through his father's advances and her screams kept him up at night, he did his best to protect her and Viserys from the king but he worried that it was not enough; sending them to Dragonstone only gave them so much protection. That was part of the reason why he had encouraged Lord Tywin, the hand of the king and Lord of the Rock to pursue the match between his eldest son and heir Jaime and the only daughter of Lord Rickard Stark, Lady Lyanna. That match would give Rhaegar three houses who were in a solid power base, and though Rhaegar had known for some time that Lord Tywin had wanted Rhaegar to wed his daughter Cersei, but of course Rhaegar himself had not been very keen on the match, he had met Cersei Lannister and he had not liked what he had seen. And so he had been relieved when his father had announced his betrothal to Elia Martell, and even more relieved when Tywin Lannister had finally announced to the court that his son was betrothed to Lyanna Stark.

Though Cersei Lannister remained at the fringes of the court now, Rhaegar spent more of his time getting to know Elia. He found his betrothed to be a sweet lady, smart and intelligent and someone he was able to have significant amount of discussions with, but there was again a fear in the back of his mind that she would not be so receptive to what he had planned with regards to their children. There was also the fact that she was frail of health and as such Rhaegar wondered if she would be able to bear him his three heads or if he would need to look elsewhere, of course more often than not he pushed such thoughts from his head and tried desperately to speak with her in such a way that did not give away his plans.

Of course right now he had other things to think about, he had come to Harrenhal to speak with Lord Rickard and Lady Olenna about their alliance and other things. He nodded to Ser Oswell and soon enough the two people walked in, once they were seated Rhaegar nodded at Ser Oswell and once the white knight was outside Rhaegar spoke. "My lord, my lady. Thank you for coming. I trust you have found Harrenhal to be to your liking. Before we begin, I must offer my congratulations to the both of you on the wedding of your son and daughter. I hope they find many years of happiness in their marriage." He paused took a sip of water and continued speaking. "Now that that is out of the way. We may move onto business. What exactly is that you wished to speak with me about that you found it so urgent?"

Lord Rickard speaks first his tone grim. "Well Your Grace, we have come to offer the support of our houses to you should you attempt to take the throne from your father. We all know that the king is steadily sliding into madness. The burnings of Lord Brune, Lord Farring and other minor lordlings from the crownlands bodes ill for the stability of the king and the realm. We believe that you would make a far better King than your father in his current state and we would be more than willing to give you any aid that we can."

Rhaegar considered this a moment and then said. "You are aware that what you are saying could be viewed as treason, and that were I a good Prince and son I would have you arrested and brought before court." He sees both Lord Rickard and Lady Olenna swallow then and pushes on. "But be that as it may, you are in luck. I happen to agree with you, my father is growing steadily worse, and the fact that he sent Lord and Lady Baratheon on that suicide mission to Essos only confirms that it is becoming less and less likely to save him. And so, if I were to go ahead and accept your offer what sort of things would you want from me?"

Lady Olenna speaks then. "Well Your Grace since you have put it so bluntly I do believe I shall do the same, no point beating about the bush eh? In return for our support, we would like for you to give both Winterfell and Highgarden access to the more high profile trading contracts be it within the kingdom or with the free cities. Most importantly we would like a slight reduction on the amount of tax we have to pay with regards to certain aspects of our trade and commerce. Furthermore we wish for more positions at court for members of our families and our bannermen, if we are to work as a fully functioning alliance we must make sure we have representation at court. The positions do not have to be something huge or significant, but positions that will ensure that our voices will not get lost."

Lord Rickard nods and then he says. "It would also be good if there could be more recruits sent north to the Wall and the Night's Watch. The watch performs a very admirable duty by defending us from what lies north of the wall, and it is beginning to fall into disrepute. I would ask that not only do prisoners and other undesirables get sent north but also any lordlings who wish to find some sort of glory or honour also have the choice to join north and are actually encouraged to do so."

Rhaegar takes a moment to take this all in and then says. "Very well, I can agree with you Lord Rickard about the importance of having more lordly men sent north to the wall. After all there are dark tidings coming soon enough as your own house words remind us, and it is important the watch is prepared for this. Now as to your other two demands, the positions at court can be easily organised. I shall speak with Lord Tywin and have him look into that. I will need a list of all the people you wish to send to court by the year's end. And with regards to the trading tax, that is something you shall need to take up with the master of coin when the time comes. Trade contracts is another issue, what trade contracts do you want?"

Rhaegar observes Lord Rickard and Lady Olenna look at one another briefly before Lady Olenna speaks. "Well we know that the throne has sole rights to trade with Pentos and Myr. But there are some lucrative deals coming through from Lys and Tyrosh we would have the rights to those contracts and the ability to charge whatever rates we feel appropriate for the setting."

Rhaegar is silent a moment and then he says. "Done. Once the changeover period is complete you may have the exclusive rights to the deals with Lys and Tyrosh. Not before though, otherwise we shall arouse suspicion. Now what more do you wish to know before we depart?"

Lord Rickard speaks then. "When will there changeover begin? Your father grows more and more mad by the day and his atrocities grow in number. Sooner or later some lordling will rise in rebellion and then there will be chaos. It is better if chaos is organised."

Rhaegar is silent a moment and then in his most kingly voice says. "Once I am wed and Princess Elia has borne me a child that is when the changeover shall happen not before. I must make sure all is in place before I attempt what I plan. Only then will the world know the right way for rule. Not before."