(Disclaimer: I do not own A Song of Ice and Fire nor its characters. Those all belong to George R. R. Martin, aside from my OC.)


(Willas Tyrell POV, Harrenhal)

He was annoyed as their entourage set out. His age had confided him into the wheelhouse alongside his mother and grandmother. The relationship between the two had been less cordial, as mother blamed his grandmother for the loss of Aunt Janna and sweet Margaery.

Garlan had wisely remained silent on the matter, while Loras simply stared curiously at their surroundings. Father had made sure to they were all dressed in their house colors, wanting to show the rest of the Reachmen the 'Pride of House Tyrell'.

Though his mother's scathing remark of the whereabouts of the 'Rose of Highgarden' had cut through his impromptu speech.

As they rode through the Roseroad, he couldn't help but contemplate the situation. Lord Erlend was regarded by a significant portion of the nobility as King in all but name. Grandmother had pressed upon him the fact that Lord Erlend was a descendant of King Jaehaerys twice over, once through Viserra Targaryen and the other through the line of Saera Targaryen.

Both princesses had given birth to a child for Lord Edger, though only Viserra's line was considered legitimate. It's known that the descendant of Princess Saera's line would eventually marry back into the main Mudd branch later on, merging both claims.

There were also rumors of Shiera Seastar marrying into the Mudd branch but that was never confirmed. Grandmother said that it was highly unlikely as Bittersteel wouldn't have stood still if that was true.

Another rumor was that King Aegon the Unlikely had promised his youngest daughter Princess Rhaelle to Lord Tristifer Mudd, but it has yet to come about due to Prince Duncan's action. Ironically enough if true, then it allowed House Tully to finally tie itself to House Mudd, even if it was not the way they'd have hoped for.

Considering the fact that House Targaryen had gone out of its way to keep both Tully and Tyrell reliant on them, it should've been a slap to their faces for the Tullys to finally gain some legitimacy and actual control over the Riverlands through that marriage, even if it was temporary since they were marrying into the Mudds.

It was rather bizarre how better connected the Mudds were to House Targaryen compared to a majority of the Houses in Westeros, considering the actions of Lord Aryan 'the Dragonslayer' but it at least allowed him to stave away his boredom thinking about it.

It took quite a while to finally reach Harrenhal, they had to make several stops throughout the journey as many Lords both minor and major joined up.

He could sense more than a few hostile gazes and a lot of fake smiles on their faces. He'd correctly guessed that they were less than pleased about the fact that House Tyrell still retained their position but could do nothing about it.

Lord Mathis and Lord Desmond had also linked up with them, alongside the other supporters of House Mudd, the tension ever had been near palatable between his father and his 'bannermen'.

They did their best to maintain a facade of civility, especially when near Mother, Uncle Baelor, and himself. According to his grandmother, it was because they feared retaliation from his maternal House.

Of the Houses within the war, House Hightower had come off the best, only losing a few thousand men who Mother claimed had already been replaced. Not to mention the favor Lord Erlend had shown them by taking his Aunt Malora as court tutor.

It was a new role specifically created for his Aunt, though he had only a vague idea of what it entailed. All he could get from it was that House Hightower like always managed to gain favor with the new ruling House. Just as they had done with the Gardeners and Targaryens, they did so with the Mudds.

The good news is that his Aunt would have a hand in Margaery's education and at least steer her towards a more favorable image of either House Hightower or Tyrell.

Other significant changes would be that Lord Erlend had been sending not-so-insignificant amounts of gold to his new vassals to help them recover from the war. Making sure to improve their strength and levy capabilities.

This wasn't just the former Reach Lords, but he heard the Lords from the Vale and Riverlands also received a bit of support to help them recover from the conflicts.

His musings were interrupted by the voices of the bickering Lords.

"Obviously House Osgrey has contributed more, we were the first to raise our banners for Lord Erlend." Boasted Lord Desmond.

"You mean took advantage of him to finally settle things between yourself and the spiders..." Sneered Lord Mathis, the contempt in his eyes clear for all.

"Please if it wasn't for House Rowan's constant interference the dispute would have never occurred in the first place."

"I suppose marrying his widow gave you a certain satisfaction eh..." Lord Rowan pointed out, ignoring Osgrey's statement.

"You leave my marital status out of this you golden shit!"

Before the two could come to blows, Lord Tarly interrupted the two, it was interesting to see some of the two most influential Lords present being intimidated by a single look from the old Marcher Lord. Willas was both curious and wary of what an angered Lord Tarly would be like.

...

When he first laid eyes upon Harrenhal, he'd expected to see half-melted towers and monstrous curtain walls. Yet there was no such thing, the castle looked grand, large in scale, and rising over God's Eye.

Rumors had spread after Lord Erlend's conquest of the Riverlands that he intended to rebuild Harrenhal and take it for his own. Many had scoffed at it, calling it foolish and incredibly naive.

He couldn't help but agree with them after hearing tales of the castle from his father. So it was a shocking sight that greeted him, it wasn't crumbling walls and melted towers, but a grand fortress that both intimidated and awed him. The grandness and larger-than-life feel to it that Father described was still there, yet it lacked the haunting and dreary aura that made one feel as if death was only a breath away.

Most noticeably though there were still men milling about carrying beams and moving stones around the castle. They were still in the middle of re-building, he realised.

Murmurs and whispers were going about, especially among the Lords and Ladies within the entourage who had visited the castle before.

"The wrongness in the air, it's finally gone."

"Oh my, Lord Erlend certainly didn't waste his time on this."

"By the Seven, Lord Erlend has been blessed!"

"The Curse. The Curse. The damned Curse is gone!"

"Don't be silly Roger…"

"Whatever the case, this isn't the Harrenhal we know." Mathis Rowan silenced the Lords with his words.

"Lord Erlend's men certainly work fast," Willas remarked quietly.

His mother hesitated before a soft smile spread across her face. "They certainly do," she said, a sigh of relief escaped her mouth.

Willas knew one of the reasons his mother was worried, was the apparent 'Curse' that plagued Harrenhal and those that lived in it.

Eventually, as the entourage stopped, they were greeted with what seemed to be a sea of tents around the Fortress.

As they moved passed by the other Reach houses that had arrived before them, though there were so many sigils and banners, it was near impossible to put a name to all of them.

The closer they got to the fortress, the more apparent the changes to it showed. It was no longer simply a castle, he genuinely wondered who would be foolish enough to try and besiege that titan. He could swear he saw a couple of catapults on top of some of the finished towers.

A few sigils he recognized began to appear, there were those of House Roote, Erenford, and Blanetree. There were also a few northern ones, such as House Forrester, Cerwyn, and Flint. Though he had no clue which branch of the Flints it belonged to.

His eyes wandered at the many people gathered around the fortress walls and resting near their tents.

"Surprised?" was the amused tone of his grandmother.

"There are so many Houses Here," He said, surprised so many showed up to what amounted to summons.

"Lord Erlend has nearly one-third of Westeros under his control and more than half pacified, only a fool would ignore his summons," Grandmother explained.

She became silent as they reached the main gate, and a group of men approached the entourage.

"My Lord and Ladies," one of them said, giving them a respectful nod, "On behalf of Lord Erlend, welcome to Firmridge."

Father looked eagerly at the man, recognizing him, "We are delighted to be here, Lord Horton." he said.

The rest of the Lords and Ladies bobbed their heads in agreement, like hens he couldn't help but compare bemusedly.

Though he wondered where the name for the Fortress came from, his grandmother for her part had raised her eyebrow at the name change but remained silent surprisingly enough, usually she would be sending scathing remarks at anything that moved.

After a bit of small talk, mainly from Father's side, the head of House Redfort nodded and motioned for the portcullis to be raised, allowing them entrance.

Curiously Lord Mathis said nothing, outside of greeting the Lord somewhat familiarly. They were already acquaintanced it seemed, most likely during the war.

The courtyard wasn't as opulent as that of Highgarden, and the towers that flanked it were more intimidating rather than grandiose. It was clear Lord Erlend sought practicality over luxury.

As they made their way through the Fortress, Lord Redfort explained that the Fortress was named after Oldstones, at least its original name. Willas had found that interesting, then again if there was anyone who would know the ruin's original name, it would be the Mudds.

The fortress despite its lack of luxury was still remarkable, there were statues of what he assumed to be former Lords of House Mudd being crafted.

One of the men with Lord Horton had been kind enough to explain to the gathered Lords that the Fortress was still in construction and that there were also statues of the Ladies of House Mudd being made and were to be placed within the gardens.

Along the inner walls of the Fortress, there were various Banners of the Great Houses of the Riverlands, House Mudd being the most prominent, but there was also that of the Fishers and Justman.

Farther from that, though a bit lower, he could see the golden lion of House Lannister, the blackened stag of House Baratheon, the grey direwolf of House Stark, the red Sun of House Martell, and the golden rose of his House.

The Greyjoy kraken was nowhere to be seen, nor was the banner of House Teague. It was obvious what Lord Erlend's thoughts were on those houses.

House Tyrell, Rowan, and Hightower had been allowed to stay within the castle, alongside the rest of the major Houses.

As for the tents camped outside the fortress walls, they were either for the Minor Lords, Landed Knights, or other such vassals. The Fortress was more than large enough to house a significant portion of the Lords and Ladies, unfortunately, due to the rebuilding process, only the major lords were provided rooms.

That didn't mean that the minor lords and vassals were provided for, because they were. It was they had to do with tents for quarters, rather than actual lodging, otherwise everything else was provided.

Thanks to Aunt Malora and Aunt Janna, the chambers they were given were directly adjacent to Margaery's.

Willas was excited to see what the coming days would bring.


For early access to arcs and other interesting works, make sure to join the Den of Fics using the code 'denoffanfics' on Discord.