Aelinor

Winter had come to Westeros; the Starks were always right in the end. One Blackfyre rebellion had been put down, thus securing the Targaryen and her son's hold of the Iron Throne for the time being. How long the peace would last, Aelinor did not know. Her son was but a child, though he was quickly growing into a fine young man that was not what worried her though. Maekar and her son's namesake were both ageing rapidly, they had just celebrated Maekar's fiftieth nameday, and her brother was showing the signs of old age just as clearly as their father had been when he too had reached that age and yet there was still so much to do.

Her son needed guidance in the ways of ruling, he was but a boy still though he had seen three and ten name days, he was as old as Daemon had been when he had married the Strickland girl, Aelinor knew that, yet she could not help but want to shield him from the harsher realities of the world, that would one day demand his attention as King of all the Seven Kingdoms. And for that to happen she needed Maekar to be around, her brother seemed to be the only other person that could completely control Brynden, her son was active and boisterous like all thirteen year old boys were wont to be, but as he was also King of Westeros, more people were likely to let his lapses go undisciplined, which would only lead to bad things to happen further on down the line. Aelinor of course knew she could be strict if she needed to be, but of course she was not always around to provide the discipline her son needed, given that she was often quite busy with the small council, and Maekar himself was busy as master of laws on her son's small council. This had consequently meant that it had fallen to Egg to provide some sort of guidance for her son.

Just as her thoughts began to drift away from her son and her concerns for him, Maekar walked in, looking tired and bedraggled. He huffed as he sat down and poured himself a glass of wine. "Honestly, you would think that with winter here those god forsaken Lannisters would be happy with what we have given them."

Aelinor arched an eyebrow at her brother, and waited for him to reply. "They want more leeway to go trading across the narrow sea. Lannister says that it will allow him to source out where that blasted Blackfyre and his brothers are. Personally I do not believe it for one second." Maekar said tiredly.

"And why is that Maekar?" Aelinor asked, though she suspected she already knew the answer.

"Because Lannister is still angry from the time when father had to keep him and his godforsaken brother hostage to ensure that their father didn't rebel with Blackfyre. He wants us to let him go and sail across the narrow sea so that he can give men to the Blackfyres and the Golden Company. I won't allow it." Maekar said.

Though she had suspected that there would still be some sort of lingering resentment amongst the Lannisters for the actions- necessary as they had been- that her and Maekar's father had taken during the Blackfyre rebellion, she did not expect Tybolt Lannister to still seriously wish to side with the Blackfyres, whichever one was sent to haunt Westeros once more. And so she voiced these thoughts. "Is Lord Tybolt not happy with his heir's marriage to Daenys? I would have thought the lion would have been happy with the news that his son and good daughter have had two children since their marriage begun."

Maekar sighed, "He is happy alright. But of course you know these Lannisters; they always want more and more. And Bloodraven's spies have reported that this new Blackfyre, what was his name, Maegon? Has offered his son's hand in marriage to whoever gives him the most support. The Lannisters want their daughter as a queen, we did not give them Brynden, we gave them a Princess and a tie to the royal family true, but not the claim they want. Lannister wants to be grandfather to a king, and we did not give him that. Maegon will."

"And what will the small council do about this?" Aelinor asked, fear beginning to pile up inside of her, they had only just crushed one Blackfyre rebellion; would another one come up so soon?

Maekar sighed once more. "Nothing, the rest of the small council do not have these suspicions. Only I and Bloodraven do. It will be a long time before the Blackfyres can mobilise their troops again to plan another invasion, and with Bittersteel and Haegon dead, I do severly doubt whether or not they will actually try again."

Nodding, Aelinor decided to move the conversation onto another topic. "How are Egg and Rhae doing then brother, is their child well?"

She saw Maekar's eyes light up as they always did at the mention of his grandchildren. "Egg and Rhae are doing well, they left for Summerhall this morning, Duncan has become a terror for them, the boy keeps running around like a madman, he reminds me so much of Baelor," her brother trailed away then, getting the faraway look he often go when he spoke of their eldest brother, but he soon came back. "Jaehaerys is doing well, he is much better now than when he was last time they were in King's Landing."

She noticed, as she often did that Maekar had deigned not speak of Daeron's daughter, nor of the children that Aerion had sired in his time in exile. The children who could very well be the cause of yet another civil war should they ever turn their eyes toward Westeros.

Maekar spoke once again. "There will be a tournament to celebrate your boy's fourteenth nameday in a few moons time. All the lords of the realm have been invited as have, all the knights and their other people. It will be in King's Landing and your boy wishes to compete in it."

Aelinor said nothing for a moment, thinking over what her brother had said, she knew that Brynden was getting to the age where he would wish to compete and show off his martial prowess, though he would hopefully never have to fight in an actual war. But still there was something about Tourneys that had never quite sat so well with her after the Tourney at Ashford. "Do you think he is ready to compete? She asked her brother.

Maekar took a long moment to reply and when he did, he gave her the answer she knew he would though she still dreaded it all the same. "He will never be ready unless he tries Aelinor. Practice makes perfect, and your son is king, he will need to prove himself, especially with those accursed Blackfyres still across the narrow sea."

Aelinor nodded then, and they sat in silence for a moment more, before Maekar got up to leave, before he did, Aelinor grabbed his hand, and squeezed it. "Thank you Maekar, thank you for everything." She said. Maekar said nothing he merely nodded though he did squeeze her hand back.

The next few months were spent discussing the state of the kingdoms, trying to repair Westeros after yet another failed Blackfyre invasion. Dealing with the increasing concerns of Maekar and Bloodraven that Tybolt Lannister may betray them at any moment, as well as helping to prepare for Daella's second wedding. Her niece had been married to Rodrick Baratheon, but the man had died during the third Blackfyre rebellion, leaving her niece a widow with no children, and so she had decided to marry Lord Arel Dayne, Lord of Starfall and nephew to Ser Oberyn Dayne of the Kingsguard, theirs was a marriage for love as well as for convenience and it seemed that Lord Arel made Daella quite happy, and so there could be no complaints there.

Eventually the day of the tournament to celebrate her son's fourteenth name day arrived and with it came the splendour of King's Landing in full, along with the tourney came the pretty much all the nobles from Westeros, with the exception of Myriah and her Stark husband, given that Myriah was with child again and their daughter was too young to travel without her mother. There was to be a jousting competition, as well as a melee and archery competition, as well as a competition amongst the squires (which she had learnt from Maekar, Brynden would be taking part in.)

The first competition to be held was the archery competition, and after several hours of watching both men and women alike fire arrows at targets, both moving and stationery a winner was declared in Ser Edmyn Tully of Riverrun, brother to Ser Garlan. The next day the melee was held, and the competition seemed to go on for days not hours, she saw how enraptured Brynden was with the whole spectacle, and had to remind herself several times that her son was only fourteen he was not yet a man grown, and had yet to experience the horrors of life, hopefully he never would have to.

Then came the melee of squires, and her son, the King of the Seven Kingdoms walked out to a deafening cheer from the gathered crowd, dressed in black and red armour, the three headed dragon of their house embedded proudly on his chest plate, wearing a dragon shaped helm, with his sword in hand. After the death of Ser Roland Crakehall during the last rebellion, Ser Edrick had been named Lord Commander, and it was he who announced the beginning of the melee. Aelinor watched with baited breath as her son and the combatants he would face strode forward, each with their own weapons in hand.

She nearly cried out, when she saw a boy with the Two Towers of House Frey swing his sword straight for her son's head, but Brynden was quicker than he appeared and raised his sword up to block the other boy's swing. The two boys duelled for what seemed a long time to Aelinor, as she watched her son swing and hack at the other boy, beating him back, and beating him with his sword, though the Frey was twice as big as her own son, still her Brynden held his own, enough that when he had eventually knocked the Frey squire to the ground enough times, Ser Edrick eventually declared the Frey out of the melee. The next foe her son faced, was from House Reyne. A tall lad with a big broad build, the lad swung his hammer fiercely at her son, and she gasped when she saw that he had hit Brynden, knocking him to the ground however, briefly. Her son got back up on his feet, and the two engaged in yet another duel. Swinging and missing, dodging and ducking, Aelinor's heart was in her mouth throughout the whole event, and she let out a breath she hadn't even realised she had been holding, when she saw Brynden knock the Reyne boy down to the ground and heard Ser Edrick declare the boy out of the melee. The other competitors had either been knocked out or too badly injured to fight on, all except for one boy, who bore the sun and spear of House Martell. This lad was most likely Aelinor's Aunt Daenaerys' grandson, if she remembered correctly, he was a few years older than Brynden and it showed.

He beat Brynden back many a time, he dented her son's armour many a time, he knocked her son to the ground many a time, and still Brynden kept getting up and fighting even though it looked like he was severly overmatched. The worry must have been clear on her face for Maekar leaned over and whispered to her "He is doing well Aelinor, do not fear yet."

It seemed her brother's words had some sort of prophetic quality to them for, as soon as he leaned back into his own seat, Brynden began a fierce counter attack of his Dornish cousin, slashing and stabbing and jabbing, he drove his Dornish cousin onto the back foot and eventually made the boy surrender. Thus making Brynden the winner of the competition. The crowd cheered loudly, as their king was named the winner, and when Brynden took of his helmet, and Aelinor saw his sweat covered head look toward her, she felt such pride for her little boy, it was almost too much for her.

Brynden helped his cousin up and walked toward the royal box where she was sitting with Maekar and Bloodraven. He nodded toward them and then took something from one of the servants who stood at the front of the stand, and in a deep voice said. "Mother, if you could come down to the front of the stand please." Curious as to what her son was going to say to her she did so. Brynden then leaned forward and placed a crown of roses on top of her head, and said in a loud voice for all to hear, "I would name my mother Queen Regent Aelinor as the Queen of Love and Beauty."

The cheers of the crowd still echoed in her head the next day as she sat next to her son and watched as all those who competed in the joust including three knights of the Kingsguard fell to Arel Dayne, and then when Arel crowned Daella as Queen of love and beauty, she smiled at her niece and the obvious love she felt for Lord Dayne.

Once the tournament ended, life went on as normal in King's Landing, there was still work to be done, Westeros needed to be made whole again, after the effects of three Blackfyre Rebellions, the Great Spring Sickness and the drought that had followed it. Winter had given way to spring now, a short winter it had been, but still there was work to be done, including discussions of whom her son should marry. As Brynden was now approaching manhood the discussions became ever more important and her son began to attend council meetings more regularly.

It was during one such council meeting that the question of marrying Brynden to one of Lord Arryn's daughters came up. It was Bloodraven who brought it up first. "Your Grace, my lords," he said. "As we are currently tied to two of the Great Houses, one in the west, one in the north, would it not be prudent to also tie ourselves to the East as well?"

There were mutterings of consent from the various nobles, Brynden remained silent waiting for his namesake to go on. "The Arryns have always been steadfastly loyal to the Iron Throne, and is it not time that they be rewarded for their loyalty with a marriage?"

Again there were more mutterings of consent, Aelinor remained silent, but Brynden did not. "And when would you propose I marry this daughter of Lord Arryn's, Lord Brynden?"

Aelinor watched as Bloodraven turned his eye onto her son, and felt herself shudder internally, there was something about Bloodraven that unnerved her, even after all these years, and there was a sense of foreboding when she heard him reply. "Why, when you turn sixteen Your Grace. It would not do, to wed a daughter of Lord Jonor Arryn to a minor now would it?"