A relatively short chapter. To my American viewers, happy early Memorial Day! To everyone else, just have a happy regular day! Now without further adieu, enjoy the new chapter. :)
Author's Note: Swearing, suggestive themes, and some mention of blood and gore ahead.
149 AC - 150 AC
Peace and calm came about after the wedding of Lord Rickon Stark and Princess Alyssa Targaryen. Well, peace and calm for Alyssa's kinsmen, anyway. With their daughter married off, Jace and Baela hoped and prayed that their new son-in-law would make Alyssa an honest woman and help her turn her back on vice. Their hopes dimmed somewhat when they saw how cold Rickon and Alyssa were to each other as they sat in Winterfell's great hall during breakfast. Baela spotted what she thought was a love-bite peaking just above the collar of Rickon's tunic.
"Their first night together must have been a little rough." Baela thought. "They just need to take their time. Hopefully they will warm up to each other eventually..."
Rickon and Alyssa did not talk to each other, but they did talk when spoken to by their relatives and the wedding guests. Conflicted about her feelings still, Alyssa felt obligated to try and make the marriage work. Alyssa was not doing this for her own sake, and yet at the same time, she not sure who exactly she going to try for. Obviously for Rickon's sake, right? Not really; she liked him, but did not love him.
Serena and Sansa? Most likely. Alyssa was affectionate towards to the two young girls, and if they are to have a happy childhood, they would need happy parents. Lord Cregan Stark wanted a grandson who carried both the Stark name and Targaryen blood through his veins. The additional pressure of bearing a son for Rickon made Alyssa even more anxious about her marriage.
What if she couldn't live up to her end of the bargain? Rickon had fulfilled his part by marrying Alyssa, a marriage that preserved what was left of her honor. All the princess had to do now was get pregnant with and give birth to a son. But in order for that to happen, Alyssa felt that a mutual attraction had to exist between her and her husband. And then there was her father's expectation of her doing the exact same thing: bearing Stark heirs.
"I will try. I will try. I will try." Alyssa chanted to herself. "I must, and I will. Personal happiness be damned..."
The heir to Winterfell also shared his new wife's resolve.
"How can I get her to be more comfortable with me in the bedchamber? How can I get her to become closer to me? What do I do? What can I do?" Rickon thought to himself as he mopped up egg yolk with a piece of bread. The Targaryen's stayed for a few more days before making their way back to King's Landing.
Alyssa flew around in the sky above Winterfell with her family holding either her nephew or one of her stepdaughters on her lap. When on the ground, Baela offered her best marriage advice to her daughter, reassuring her that the marriage would work and to just give Rickon a chance. The man himself, meanwhile, felt confident from his experience during his first marriage that he could win the heart of the dragon princess. As if sensing his brother-in-law's resolve, Aelyx rode up to Rickon when they went on a boar hunt in the Wolfswood.
"Just give her time. My sister will come around to you eventually. You've seen how she acts around your daughters. Alyssa simply feels out of place. Just show her kindness and be gentle towards her, that will get her to warm up to you more." said Aelyx before thinking the following thought. "You better treat her well. Because if I hear that you are treating Alyssa badly, I will have Macetail burn you alive where you stand."
Rickon nodded in agreement and thanked Aelyx, who smiled at his oblivious brother-in-law. The day the Targaryen's left Winterfell was a bittersweet one for everyone involved. Warm embraces and well-wishes were exchanged as tears were shed as the crown prince and his relatives bid farewell to Alyssa. Seeing how forlorn his wife was as her family departed Winterfell for White Harbor, Rickon wrapped an arm around Alyssa's shoulders. The princess flinched when she felt Rickon's arm, but she reached for his hand with hers, and held it, a gesture that made Rickon happy and feel like he was making progress with Alyssa.
Later that night, a hailstorm visited the region, and Winterfell was bombarded with hard balls of ice whose sizes ranged between being as a small as a marble to as big as an apple. Unable to sleep at first because of the noise, Alyssa was able to tune it out after a while, something that Rickon told her would happen after the first hailstones descended upon the roof of Winterfell's great keep. But peace would not greet Alyssa once she closed her eyes. Not too long after she had closed her eyelids, Alyssa bore witness to the most bizarre and unnerving dream she had ever had. It started off pleasantly enough.
She was riding atop Aemma. Her wings were flapping over white clouds and blue sky. The morning sun shined over both the princess and her dragon. All was peaceful until a roar resounded from Alyssa's left. Turning to see where the roar had come from, Alyssa was greeted by the sight of another blue dragon, Tessarion the Blue Queen, flying quickly towards her with a screaming maw full of huge white teeth.
Prince Daeron the Daring was seated on her back fully armored. Before Aemma could engage Tessarion, the Blue Queen's jaws came down upon her neck. Alyssa would be spared the sight of her beloved dragon getting mauled, but the images that followed would not be as merciful. She could see someone getting smothered to death with a pillow, their hands desperately grasping and clawing at the arms of their assailant; a knight getting decapitated by a single blow of a sword, his head falling at his feet; Princess Jaehaera running down a hallway carrying a child in her arms, a look of abject horror on her face, and Uncle Aegon standing in front of an open door with his mouth agape and his dark purple eyes widening and filling up with tears. Everything then turned black, Alyssa felt a falling sensation, and she soon heard a heart-wrenching wail of anguish.
The wail was loud enough to wake Alyssa from her nightmare. Her heart was pounding, and her skin was moist with persperation, causing her nightgown to stick to her body. Alyssa had gasped when she woke up, causing her husband to awaken as well.
"Are you alright, Alyssa?" he asked in concern.
"Yes. Yes." Alyssa nodded. She flinched when Rickon touched her shoulder. "I just had a nightmare."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Rickon asked, to which Alyssa shook her head.
"No, not tonight anyway. Let's just get some sleep..."
Made restless by that disturbing nightmare at first, the sound of the hailstorm soon lulled Alyssa back to sleep. The following morning, as the hailstones began to melt under the growing heat, Alyssa wrote a letter to her family, who should have arrived at White Harbor by then, to see if they were alright. A raven bearing a letter from Lord Torrhen Manderly arrived a few days later. His response to Alyssa's letter was very relieving. The Targaryen's had departed from White Harbor in good-spirits and fine health despite the hailstorm.
Alyssa felt much better after reading that letter, but the bloodiness of that nightmare still haunted her. Thankfully, married life and caring for Serena and Sansa distracted the newlywed Alyssa, and the dream began to slowly fade from her memory. Returning home to King's Landing two weeks after the wedding took place, the Black Targaryen's began focusing on living out the rest of 149 AC as quietly and peacefully as they could. Their wish would be granted. Normalcy returned to Queen Rhaenyra's reign as gossip revolving around the Duskendale Scandals had pretty much ceased altogether by the time Alyssa got married.
The month after the Stark-Targaryen wedding would provide another topic for people to talk about. With a dragon princess married to a wolf, Rhaenyra recalled the melee at Duskendale, and decided that it was time to marry a dragon prince to a lioness, another first for the Targaryen Dynasty. Working together with Lord Loreon Lannister and Dowager Lady Maris Baratheon, Queen Rhaenyra created a betrothal between her grandson, Prince Daemion Targaryen, and Lady Tara Lannister. Both Daemion and Tara were thrilled about their betrothal. Daemion would get to marry the woman whose favor he had won during his grandmother's Twentieth Year Tourney, and Tara would get to marry a prince. The wedding was scheduled to take place the following year on Daemion's sixteenth birthday.
Excitement for the future Lannister-Targaryen wedding was dampened somewhat by a sudden death that took place later that year. Ser Erryck Cargyll failed to rise from his bed one morning, and a closer examination revealed that the old man had died in his sleep from a stroke. Erryck's disgraced and mute twin brother, Ser Arryck Cargyll, had passed away about a decade earlier, and hopefully the two brothers could reconcile in death, a chance that was denied to them in life. A replacement was soon found in Ser Connor Darklyn, the younger brother of both Ser Wyllis and Lady Myrine Darklyn. Wyllis and Myrine smiled as they watched Connor receive his white cloak and recite his vows before Myrine's mother-in-law, becoming the sixth Darklyn man to swear their sword to a Targaryen sovereign.
Connor was popular with his niece and nephews at the Red Keep, and he soon found himself teaching swordplay to Aerys, Little Daemon, and Raynor in the training yard. Connor's induction to the Queensguard was the last notable event of 149 AC, and the rest of the year passed by calmly. 150 AC was welcomed with open arms, and hopes were high that it would be a much better year for the Blacks. During the first few days of both 150 AC and the new decade, Rhaenyra realized that she had not embarked on a royal progress in ten years since the progress to the Reach in 140 AC. Getting up in age, the queen wanted to see as much of the realm as she could before she was physically unable to.
Brainstorming ideas with her small council resulted in the decision that the next progress would see the queen and her retinue traveling to both the Riverlands and the Westerlands. Two of Rhaenyra's grandchildren-in-laws were Tully's, and she had a future granddaughter-in-law who was a Lannister. Marriage was one way to build better ties between the Iron Throne and the Rivermen and Westermen, making an appearance in their homeland was another. But as planning for the progress took place, Rhaenyra soon began planning to add a matchmaking aspect to this future progress as well. This was inspired by a discussion that the queen had had with her second oldest grandson, Prince Aeric Targaryen.
Aeric had come to visit his grandmother while she was in her solar sometime during the second week of 150 AC with a question.
"Grandmother, what would you think of me becoming a Gold Cloak? I could be like grandfather was during his youth."
"I think that is a wonderful idea, Aeric." answered Rhaenyra I. "But you are turning... how old again, I am sorry?"
"Eight and ten."
"Eight and ten. Yes. The Gold Cloaks are usually comprised of men who are a little older than that. Why do you want to join them?"
Aeric raised the corners of his lips and sighed.
"I am bored, grandmother. All I do is train in the yard, mill about here, eat, and then sleep. Patrolling the city streets and punishing criminals will give me something more meaningful to do during the day."
"I understand, darling." Rhaenyra said kindly. "But what if you were to get married in the near future? You would not have much time for your wife if you are out catching thieves and making sure that the citizens of King's Landing are safe."
"I don't think I will ever get married, grandmother." Aeric said sadly as he cast his gaze down at the floor. "What woman would want me? I am a prince, but I do not look like the dashing prince that the singers and fairytales exalt. I am too tall, and too plain looking.
Daemion looks better than I do and is a little shorter, too."
"Oh, my sweet, sweet, lad." Rhaenyra said softly. She got up out of her chair and walked over towards her grandson. "Do not despair. Come with me during the progress to the Riverlands and the Westerlands.
It is expected to take place next year. I will be visiting so many places. Maidenpool, Riverrun, Fairmarket, Harrenhal, Golden Tooth, Ashmark, Casterly Rock, Lannisport, and so many other places, and there will be lords who would be more than happy to give away one of their daughters in marriage to you. Just be patient, Aeric. Let your grandmother handle it."
"Thank you..." Aeric said with a stiff nod. "But why do you want me to hold-off on joining the Gold Cloaks so badly? I can still be a member and be married at the same time."
"Because you and your future wife may not want to be apart from each other. This girl might be so remarkable that you will not bear being away from her for even a moment. My great-grandparents were inseparable, my grandparents were inseparable, and your Uncle Aegon and Aunt Thea are inseparable. But, if you do not like being around your wife, like your grandfather was with his first wife, Lady Rhea Royce, then you can join the Gold Cloaks. You would be an excellent addition to the city watch."
"Thank you, grandmother." Aeric said with another stiff nod, but he had an appreciative smile on his face. While both the Riverlands and the Westerlands offered a plethora of noblewomen who were of marriageable age, the queen had two noble houses in mind from which to find Aeric a wife: Houses Piper and Crakehall. The Piper's had been one of Rhaenyra's closest allies ever since her investiture in 105 AC, and the late Lord Petyr Piper was one of the many noblemen who swore fealty to her that day nearly half a century ago. Loyalty aside, the current Lord of Pinkmaiden, Stanton Piper, had fought alongside Aeric and his younger brother during the melee at Duskendale the year before, helping Prince Daemion to win the favor of the woman who was now his fiancée.
The Crakehall's were one of the more prominent bannermen sworn to Tara's family, but it was their distant blood-ties to Aeric and Daemion that the queen was most interested in. The brothers were third cousins to the current Lord of Crakehall's children, and Rhaenyra hoped to find a Crakehall girl who was just as big-boned, tall, and kindhearted like Aeric. Rhaenyra couldn't wait for the progress to begin so that Aeric would accompany her. Joffrey, Nell, and Daemion were also excited for Aeric, and they too were planning on joining the queen during the progress. Any potential bride for Prince Aeric was going to be vetted thoroughly by both his grandmother and mother!
As Rhaenyra I and Nell grew giddy over the prospect of finding a wife for their beloved Aeric during the first moon of the year, Lord Lyonel Tyrell's wife of nine months, Princess Saera Targaryen, gave birth to his first trueborn child with both her mother and mother-in-law by her side. That child was a strong, healthy, and beautiful baby girl who was given the name Lady Daena Tyrell. Although Daena was the byproduct of an affair, and was the reason why her parents got married in the first place, the young Lord and Lady of Highgarden both happily welcomed their first child together. Dowager Lady Mary Crane had tears in her eyes when she held her granddaughter for the first time, as did Prince Daeron Targaryen and Lady Bethany Hightower. Daeron took a swaddled Daena in his arms to introduce her to her Aunt Vaella and two of her uncles, Princes Valerion and Valarr Targaryen, when they were brought inside their older sister's bedchamber to see their newborn niece for the first time.
Although happy to have a (trueborn) daughter, Lyonel still wanted a son who would inherit Highgarden, and he impregnated Saera again less than four months after Daena's birth! Shortly after the Lady of Highgarden announced her second pregnancy, Princess Alysanne Velaryon gave birth to her and Prince Baelor Targaryen's second child together. Having become pregnant for the third time the month after Alyssa married Rickon, Alysanne fulfilled her uncle/father-in-law's wish by giving birth to a daughter who was just as strong, healthy, and beautiful as Daena. Baelor and Alysanne named their newborn daughter Princess Elaena Targaryen, and they were overjoyed with her birth since Elaena had been preceded by a miscarriage the year before. The princess's birth was a source of great joy for those who lived at the Red Keep, and little Elaena was happily greeted by her parents, older brother, aunts and uncles, grandparents, and great-grandparents.
As if welcoming her first great-granddaughter wasn't enough joy for the Dragon Queen, she later learned that she was going to have both another grandchild and great-grandchild early the following year of 151 AC! Prince Maelor and Princess Visenya Targaryen had announced that they were expecting the day after Elaena's birth, and Princess Megaera Velaryon wrote to her grandmother telling her that she had finally become pregnant at long last by her husband about a week after her half-aunt's pregnancy announcement. Queen Rhaenyra was the merriest she had ever been after those three events. The Thoredando's were ecstatic when they learned that they were finally going to become grandparents, and Armanno and Juno prayed fervently to R'hllor that the baby that was growing in their daughter-in-law's womb was going to be the grandson that they had been longing for. It was a good time for the Black Targaryen's.
Sadly, the Green Targaryen's experienced a death in the family at Oldtown that year. Her health declining for some time due to her old age, Vhagar, the last of the trio of dragons used to conquer Westeros, passed away from natural causes at the age of two-hundred and one. She had outlived Meraxes by a hundred and forty years, and Balerion by fifty-six years. Vhagar's last rider, Prince Aemond Targaryen, was by her side during her last moments, and he deeply mourned her death. Heartbroken over the death of his beloved dragon, Aemond became irritable and easier to anger in the days following Vhagar's passing.
Thankfully, Aemond One-Eye was able to find some distraction from his grief. His young second cousin, Ser Reginald Hightower, married Lady Vivian Costayne, a daughter of the Lord of Three Towers. During the wedding feast, Reginald stated his intention to name the first two daughters he would have after his late sisters, Ladies Lilith and Regina Hightower, who had both been dead for four years by 150 AC. Hearing the names Lilith and Regina alongside Samantha, the name of Reginald's half-niece, again at the Hightower would be a strange yet wonderful thing. But before Reginald and Vivian could become parents themselves, the former's only living older half-brother, Lord Lyonel Hightower, and his wife, Lady Patricia Redwyne, welcomed another child of their own.
Eleven years after the death of their second born son when he was only three hours old, the Lord and Lady of the Hightower welcomed another baby boy near the end of the ninth moon of 150 AC. Unlike his late older brother, this baby boy was strong and healthy, and he lived past his third hour of life. The overjoyed Lyonel and Patricia named their handsome little boy Garth, his full name being Lord Garth Hightower, his namesake being the legendary Garth the Greenhand. So happy to have fathered a healthy son, as well as a spare, Lord Hightower held a tourney at Oldtown to celebrate. Lyonel sent invitations for the tourney throughout the Reach and to his cousins at King's Landing.
The widowed Princess Helaena Targaryen accepted her second cousin's invitation, and she and her family were all going to travel south to Oldtown for the tourney. Lyonel had also sent invitations to Helaena's half-sister and her family, but this was done out of "reluctant courtesy rather than out of any real desire to invite them. Rhaenyra's eldest and youngest children, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon and Princess Visenya Targaryen, were the only Black Targaryen's to accept their invitations. Lyonel could barely hide his scowl when he saw Jace and Visenya. He still nursed a grudge towards the half-siblings' mother over what had happened after the Black and Green Wedding of 146 AC, with Lyonel's belief that Queen Rhaenyra had poisoned his stepmother and younger brothers and half-sisters being steadfast as always.
Jace and Visenya did their best to ignore their host's coldness towards them during the tourney by mingling with the other highborn attendees. The crown prince was keen on meeting with the High Marshal of the Reach, who was also in attendance at the tourney. Although he had long hoped to marry Prince Aemon Targaryen to any younger sister of his, Jacaerys had a change of heart by the time Elaena was born. He had considered wedding Aemon to his Aunt Alyssa's oldest stepdaughter, Lady Serena Stark, but after the birth of Lady Daena Tyrell, Jace had another idea. What if the scrapped (Black) Targaryen-Tyrell betrothal could be revived?
Thankfully, Lyonel Tyrell was still receptive of the crown prince, and the two men discussed the possibility of betrothing their respective daughter and grandson to each other in the near future. As if the idea of baby Daena becoming Aemon's queen in the far-off future wasn't sweet enough, Jace agreed to promise Elaena to Lord Tyrell's second born child if it was a boy. Agreement for the double Targaryen-Tyrell match pending on the sex of Lyonel's unborn child, both he and Jace were nevertheless satisfied by the terms, and they toasted to each other's health. Unlike her eldest half-brother, Visenya could not distract herself from the Hightower's since they were members of her husband's extended family. Maelor and their daughter Rhaenys, as well as Rhaenys's cousins Gaemon, Aegon, and Aeva, did offer the princess some distraction, the coldness she felt from the Hightower's was all but palpable and hard to ignore.
Making matters worse, Visenya often found herself in close proximity to her step-grandmother, Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower. Having become an alcoholic in the years following her eldest child's death, the usually refined and courtly Alicent became crude and nasty after drinking a little too much wine. Her crudeness and nastiness alienated the dowager queen from most of her family, and even Aemond found it difficult to be around his mother, especially after his dragon died and with him now being easier to provoke. Alicent's longtime maidservant, Petra, and her daughter-in-law, Bethany, were pretty much the only two people who could "fully" tolerate her anymore. On the night of the ninth day of the tenth moon during the tourney, Alicent's worst characteristics were on full display after she drank what appeared to be enough wine to fill a bathtub with.
"Look how fat Lady Uffering is. Her husband must like sleeping with a pig."
"Lord Serry is such an insufferable and needy little bastard..."
"If any of Lord and Lady Meadows's urchins run around here screaming again, I will have Lydus feed them to Seasmoke! Their parents should be fed to him, too. People like that should not be allowed to breed..."
But this was only the tip of the iceberg. Alicent went on a roll once she spotted the Lord and Lady of Brightwater Keep. They both looked miserable, especially Florence, and she barely ate or drank anything. Alicent smirked at the sight.
"And speaking of people who shouldn't be allowed to breed, there's a good example right there." Alicent gestured towards Florence with her wine cup. "She shamelessly cavorted with another woman. Either Lady Florent is barren, or the gods themselves have rendered her husband impotent to prevent "impure" children from being born. I suppose the same is happening with Princess Alyssa and Lord Stark's boy. Want to bet that she has probably slept with all the serving girls at Winterfell by now?"
"Mother!" a mortified Helaena hissed. Visenya overheard what was said about her half-niece, and her skin soon turned red with anger.
"Please try to ignore her, Visenya." pleaded Maelor as he tried to soothe his pregnant wife. "Think of the baby that is growing in your womb. Anger could hurt him."
"I know that, Maelor." Visenya grumbled. "But that bitc-, I mean, your grandmother, is insulting my niece!" Angry as she was, Visenya, who was five months pregnant at the time, rubbed her bulging belly after she felt her baby kick. She had a feeling that she was carrying a boy, and both she and Maelor planned on naming their son Aerion, but if the baby turned out to be another girl, they were going to call her Aerea.
Visenya sighed. She knew she had to be careful during her pregnancy. She did not want to suffer another tragic premature birth. But alas, Alicent made it hard for people to not get angry at her. Making it worse, she now set Visenya in her sights.
"Maelor. Visenya." Alicent loudly called out. The couple flinched when they heard Alicent calling their names.
"Yes, grandmother?" answered a nervous Maelor.
"Is everything alright with the baby? I see your wife rubbing her stomach."
"He's fine. He was just kicking."
"He? You think it will be a boy?"
"Yes. Visenya thinks it will be." The princess flashed an angry glare at her husband. She did not want Alicent to pay any more attention to her than needed. The drunken dowager smirked.
"Best pray your son looks like you, Maelor. Your wife is her mother's daughter after all. I remember telling your Aunt Rhaenyra's first husband a very long time ago to keep trying on getting a son who looked like him. Needless to say, he never did."
Everyone within earshot of Alicent froze in their seats and stared at her wide-eyed with their mouths agape. None of them could believe what they had just heard. Visenya clutched her belly, as if her hands could deflect her step-grandmother's slanderous words from entering her womb. Hurt by Alicent insinuating that she was an adulteress, and outraged that she was calling her child a bastard, Visenya quickly regained the power of speech and she roared at the dowager queen.
"Shut up, you miserable bitch!"
The once noisy great hall became quiet after Visenya's outburst. All eyes were now on both her and Alicent.
"I beg your pardon?" growled Alicent, who increased her grip on her wine cup. Maelor tried to calm his wife, but she ignored him. Helaena, Daeron, Bethany, and Jaehaera tried to calm Alicent too, but it was to no avail.
"You miserable bitch... Dowager queen or not, you are nothing more than a pathetic, self-pitying drunk whose only source of pleasure now is to tear people down to make yourself feel better. You slandered my mother with every chance you got when my grandfather was still alive, and here you are doing the exact same thing to me. Nothing about you has changed since the era of the Young King. I would pity you, Alicent, but I can't even bring myself to feel even the least bit sorry for you."
"Pity? Me?" Alicent all but spat. "I don't need your damn pity, little girl. You're the one who deserves to be pitied, not me!
You are the daughter of a whore and a niece-fucking bastard, both of whom being usurpers as well!"
One could hear a pin drop after Alicent made that statement. Visenya attempted to rise from her chair, but Maelor stopped her.
"That is enough!" Jacaerys shouted. Standing out of his chair, along with Lord Hightower, both men ordered for their relatives to be separated. Sers Glendon Goode and Connor Darklyn of the Queensguard escorted Visenya back to her bedchamber to calm down, and her husband and sister-in-law followed her. Two Hightower guards escorted Alicent back to her own quarters to sleep off the wine, and they were followed by Helaena, Bethany, and Petra.
After the women had both left the great hall, the silence slowly began to dissipate as the musicians resumed playing their instruments and the guests began talking again. However, the awkwardness remained. The dowager queen had just called the queen and king usurpers. Not even the passage of twenty-one years could help to completely bury Alicent's fury over the Black Conspiracy. If she was still angry about that, who else in attendance at the Hightower who were Greens in the past still carried resentment over Rhaenyra inheriting the Iron Throne before her younger half-brother in 129 AC?
Maelor wanted to remain with his wife after she was escorted back to her room, but Jaehaera told her younger brother to give Visenya some space until he went to bed that night. Helaena and Bethany wanted to remain with Alicent, but the drunken woman told them to leave and give her peace, including Petra. The Targaryen's resumed socializing in the great hall, and they did their best to forget what had happened earlier. Although Maelor did not look like it, he was actually furious with his grandmother over how she treated Visenya and their unborn child. Jace bore a scowl for the rest of the evening, and he was seen to be solemnly glancing at the contents of his wine cup as if he were contemplating it.
Dusk soon turned to night, and everyone lost themselves in food, wine, and the evening's entertainment. At some point during the festivities, Maelor decided to bring some food up to Visenya just in case she was hungry. Jaehaera accompanied her brother. Visenya was still awake, but was in a slightly better mood when her husband and sister-in-law visited her. She happily ate some of the food that Maelor had brought up for her, and the prince promised to check on Rhaenys, who had gone to bed a few hours earlier. Jaehaera offered to check on Rhaenys in Maelor's stead.
She wanted to check on her own sleeping children, plus she wanted to see how Alicent was faring. The nearly two year old Rhaenys was sleeping peacefully in her cot, and her cousins were also fast asleep in their beds. Smiling at the sight of the sleeping children, Jaehaera steeled herself as she made the long journey up to her grandmother's room. Sometime later, the usually quiet hallway where Alicent's room was located resounded with the sounds of Princess Jaehaera Targaryen screaming and crying hysterically. She all but collapsed into the arms of a guard who came to investigate the noise.
"My lady, what is wrong?! What has happened?" the concerned guard asked.
"My... my... my grandmother..." babbled Jaehaera as tears streamed down her face. "She... she's dead! Someone has killed her!"
Quite a turn of events, huh? Just have to wait and see what happens next following the publication of the next chapter. By the way, Blake Parsons, thanks for the idea about potential royal progress location. It was much appreciated.