New Rulers
"He is growing well, Princess, they both are."
Elia gratefully accepted her son from the wet-nurse and balanced him on her hip. Forgetting the realm for a moment, she matched his curious eyes with a smile. They were a clearer purple than Rhaegar's indigo and together with his pale hair made Aegon look as Valyrian as any Targaryen, living or dead.
His fingers were in his mouth then and he began to babble happily. It was a welcoming sound to hear, a product of simple joy, as was the laugh that followed when she tapped his little nose.
She produced another, even louder laugh when she began bouncing him slightly, allowing him to feel a moment of weightlessness.
Nearby, Rhaenys abandoned her stuffed dragon and got to unsteady feet by balancing against a low stool. She toddled over, a nursemaid hovering over her anxiously but never having to step in.
When her daughter had reached Elia's skirts, her small fingers tightened in the material for a moment, before she stretched her arms upwards with all a toddler's insistence. "Up."
Pressing a kiss to her son's forehead, she handed Aegon off to the nursemaid and bent down to pick up her daughter with a small laugh. Rhaenys grasped onto her shoulder and the front of her dress, dark eyes bright as they looked around the room from the increased height.
"Are you jealous again?" Elia asked her smiling daughter, who immediately pressed her face into her neck to hide away.
These were moments of much-needed relief, being here with her children. Unfortunately, it made her think of the other child in Maegor's.
Viserys was in his chambers with his mother at the moment, guarded by her uncle Prince Lewyn, who was tasked with insuring that the boy not leave the holdfast for now. It was a precaution, mostly, but a necessary one. With no word or sign of Rhaegar, there were those in the Red Keep who would rather crown his younger brother now and be done with it than wait and hope.
The boy was often querulous and angry since his father had been killed, especially since the cremation was still being delayed and the prime suspect for the deed was still alive in a cell. Telling him 'no' obviously never improved his mood either.
Even Queen Rhaella did not always find success in her attempts to make him behave during meals, though she could at least calm him somewhat and keep him company without being rejected at the door.
A knock on the door broke Elia from her thoughts and made her turn around, Rhaenys still held in her arms. Gerold Hightower's booming voice sounded from outside the chamber. "Lord Varys wishes a word, Princess."
Frowning, she tried to imagine what the spymaster wanted from her now. The Essosi simpered and bowed with the best of them, but the eunuch was dangerous in a way few in the Seven Kingdoms could rival. "I will be right out."
Her daughter did not wish to be handed off, small fingers tightening against the nursemaid's pull.
"It's okay." Elia ran a soothing hand through Rhaenys' brown locks, gaze searching the room for some distraction. She spotted a suitable one in the furry black form curiously pawing at the dragon toy her daughter had abandoned not long ago. "Look who is back."
Rhaenys released an excited squeal, all thoughts of protest forgotten, and struggled to be let down immediately. "Blerion!"
Elia watched her toddle over to the black kitten on careful feet, lingering in the chamber for a moment longer. Rhaenys attempted to grab for her pet, but even if young, the cat was much quicker than her daughter, easily evading the grasping fingers coming for her tail.
Rhaenys was not discouraged, beginning another game of catch, no matter that she had never managed to succeed.
"I will be back later," she addressed the maids in the room, before turning again and making for the door. Before pulling open the heavy oak, Elia took a deep, settling breath and squared her shoulders.
"Princess," Ser Gerold and Lord Varys echoed upon her exit, both of their heads bowed.
"Lord Varys," she replied cooly once the door had been shut behind her. "What brings you to me at this hour?"
"Please excuse my interruption, Princess, but certain matters simply require your attention." Varys bowed his shaved head again, his hands hidden in wide sleeves. Before he could begin explaining, she motioned for him to walk with her, leading a path away from the nursery. She did not like the eunuch close to her children, rational or not.
"What matters would those be?" Elia asked once they had turned a corner in silence.
"Trouble is brewing in the Faith, Princess. No trial for Ser Jaime and no funeral rites for our so dearly departed king are making the septons anxious, which is not helping matters in the city."
She sighed, exasperated and annoyed in equal measure. That ruling was no easy thing had been clear to her before she had even married Rhaegar, but ruling while not truly ruling was simply bothersome.
"Should you not bring their anxieties to the Queen?"
Varys remained quiet for a moment, slippered feet nearly silent on the stone floor as they moved towards the draw bridge that was the only entrance to Maegor's Holdfast. Keeping him in her peripherals was easy enough, with her small stride, and she saw his shaved head turn towards her.
"I believe there is no need for games between us, Princess. Our Hand found it a simple enough matter to influence our gentle Queen upon her husband's passing, the poor woman." His sympathies sounded honest enough, but they lacked something important, though she could not name it. "Before you arrived in the city and took over from him, treasonous as it may sound, it was Lord Chelsted who ruled, just as it is now you. At least until Prince Rhaegar finally returns."
They passed the draw bridge into the Red Keep and Elia accepted the greetings of the two Targaryen guards on the other side with a nod of her own.
"Very well. How far does your network extend in King's Landing, Lord Varys? Truly?" Elia asked, never breaking stride.
For once, it seemed like the eunuch had truly been caught off-guard. He did not sputter or even show an observable hitch in his stride, but his dark, cat-like eyes looked sharper than before. Then he giggled, high-pitched and sudden, one sleeved hand rising to cover his mouth.
"Is it my effectiveness you question, Princess, or my loyalty, I wonder?"
"Neither, I assure you. Your service to the Iron Throne has been exemplary as I understand it." She left the matter at that. She had not forgotten Harrenhal. "I will meet with the High Septon this following week and talk of a Crone's or Father's Day, but I would have you spread reasonable voices in the city as well, or at least their words."
"Until our king returns to King's Landing, any trial will have to be postponed, for Aerys II was Prince Rhaegar's father, and it falls to him to judge his father's killer. Surely no godly man would deny a son that right, not to mention a king."
They stopped just before turning the next corner, where the chambers of her ladies-in-waiting were located.
"As for funeral services. I will speak with Queen Rhaella and Prince Viserys, so that a compromise might be reached."
Varys bowed his perfumed head. "I will see it done."
Considering the conversation over, Elia made to leave the spymaster in the hallway. Before she could take a step away, Varys cleared his throat, soft, pale hands peeking from the large sleeves.
"Little birds from further south have brought me grave news. Our young Lord Robert has grown tired of hunting and feasting it seems, and marches with his full strength. Preparation are being made to set out. Soon, perhaps even today." Then he turned and walked away on silent feet, the air of rosewater and lavender lingering in the air for a moment longer.
Elia watched his retreating back carefully, until he vanished around the bend at the other end of the hallway. She wondered what had truly driven Aerys to make a foreign eunuch his Master of whisperers for a moment, before dismissing the line of thought. It did not matter, in the end. Lord Varys was effective, of that there was little doubt.
There was no end to the other things she could spend time worrying about.
Enemies all around, not to mention those within the walls of the city, her fragile hold on order and the Small Council, the mirrored division among the nobles, Rhaegar's continued absence, and now the Faith as well.
With a deep breath, Elia turned the corner, fingers massaging her temple for a moment, and then entered the second of the doors in that hallway.
Larra was heir to Blackmont and except for the Yronwoods, they were the most powerful Dornish House after the Martells.
The Red Mountains were rich in resources, and their bounty far easier to access near the Torentine's tributaries than it was further south, near High Hermitage or Starfall. Not to mention the comparatively short way to the Reach and its fertile fields, though the importance of that had been significantly reduced more than a century ago.
The Daynes were as, or even more prestigious by virtue of Dawn, and the Manwoodys, Wyls, and Fowlers maintained larger household guards, but the Blackmonts had the riches, lands, and manpower to outmatch them.
Larra's chambers, therefore, were appropriately grand. And also the perfect place for all of them to meet without drawing any particular attention.
When Elia entered the room, Larra was looking over a large map of the surrounding lands, small wooden figurines marking the positions of armies. Morra stood on the opposite side of the table, with her back to the door, one hand trailing east over the Western Hills as she spoke.
"–reached about here by now. Had they marched further we would have reports from Lords Cressey or Gaunt of outriders in their lands."
Jeyne Jordayne, silently observing from where she sat at the side, made to stand for a greeting, but Elia waved her off. She had no wish for decorum behind closed doors right now.
"Elia?" Larra asked in curiosity. Black diamonds in gold twinkled around her neck and her dress was pale pink and yellow silk. "Here so early?"
"Something drew me away. I was made aware of certain troubles with the Faith. By Lord Varys, if you must know."
The heir to Blackmont grinned widely. "My sympathies."
"Where is Alyse?"
"Busy with the accounts, and no doubt quietly cursing Lord Chelsted some more," Morra answered.
She nodded, half expecting that to be the case already. With no current Master of coin, someone else had been needed to handle those duties in the interim. Since she did not trust even the ladies in the Red Keep eager to join her circle of companions, there had been no better choice than Alyse, at least until a new appointment was made, whether temporary or not.
Indulging any of the suggestion that would only strengthen Lords Chelsted and Staunton was obviously out of the question, and upsetting matters even more by actually appointing Alyse to the post would drive support in that direction even faster.
Stepping up to the table, Elia took stock of the setup. Mostly, it was only the few miles any army was likely to have covered in the last day that they updated, but sometimes word of new movements or different routes reached them. "Did anything important change?"
"Nothing to the north." Morra shook her head. "Harrenhal is still surrounded and everything west of the Gods Eye is being patrolled by the Blackfish. He might have come as far south as the Rush's joining, but by now he will be on the way to Stoney Sept again. Or maybe north to the crossing."
There had been some doubts that the North and Vale would keep the peace, without exact terms being formally agreed to by both sides, but it was good that those turned out to be baseless. A few of the prisoners they had taken on Dragonstone had already been exchanged, as terms continued to be adjusted and sent between King's Landing and Maidenpool.
Perhaps she should have Ashara wait with the remaining prisoners, to maintain at least some incentive for continued non-aggression on that front. A few weeks of guarantee at least, perhaps a month. She'd have ships sent to Dragonstone, Elia decided, to bring Ashara and the remaining prisoners to the capital, now that she had established some control here.
"You were speaking of Tywin Lannister's movements before," she said, glancing at the two standing at the map with her. Two lion figurines stood on the Gold Road, now past the part of the road protected by the western hills.
"Word still places his force on the Gold Road, but that information is some days old. Not past this point," Larra's finger traced a line barely inside the border of the Crownlands, "but that is only if he did not deviate from the road. The question is still his exact goal."
With Aerys' death, it had become even harder to predict what Tywin Lannister might do.
Before, him joining the rebels had looked possible, if not likely, considering his soured relationship with the late king, but things had changed.
Aerys was dead, and Rhaegar had no quarrel with the Lord of the Westerlands, but Jaime Lannister sat in a dungeon and guilty or not, Elia did not think that the man responsible for the Rains of Castamere would accept that lying down, not when he so clearly despised his next option for an heir.
Which was also the main reason that there had been neither trial nor execution for Jaime. Symond Staunton might reasonably call for justice to be observed, as was his due as Master of laws, but with the Reach forces still far away, her brother's armies stuck in the passes, and only the Crownlands, and what parts of the southern Riverlands not already cowed or beaten, to defend the Crownlands from north and west, caution and restraint seemed the wiser choice to her.
Rhaegar was welcome to deal with the matter as he wished, once he chose to reappear.
"Lord Tywin will not leave the matter to doubt much longer, I wager. There will be riders, or a raven, soon. Though Pycelle maintains that he had been managing positive communications between Aerys and Casterly Rock before the former's passing." A dismissive wave put the matter behind them for now. "What else?"
"Mace Tyrell has almost gathered his bannermen to begin marching, though Lord Hightower remains in Oldtown with much of his own strength. He and the Shields are ready should Lord Quellon fall victim to his health."
The Lord of the Iron Islands was a friend to the ports on the western coast, his rule marked by a notable improvement in trade relationships for the Ironborn, but none of his sons were said to share his ideas, all of them warriors and raiders to the bone. With the a change in ruler a marked possibility soon, wariness was entirely appropriate.
Most likely, Tywin Lannister had left significant forces in the Westerlands to guard the coasts as well, should things change.
It meant reduced numbers from the south, but Mace Tyrell still commanded considerable forces, that, together with their own, would be capable of matching those to their north.
Elia ran her fingers over the Rose Road, following the path north to King's Landing. Dunstonbury and Highgarden, then the first crossing, Appleton, and eventually the second crossing at Bitterbridge, before it met the King's Road south of the city.
Robert Baratheon had lingered at Storm's End after his victories at Summerhall, but any attempt to simply take the King's Road north would be thwarted at the border. Lord Wendwater had manned his river with their blessing and support, and his hunters and outriders had eyes on any known crossings farther from the road.
Fighting there would be costly for the young Lord of the Stormlands, who could not rely on all available forces if he intended to keep the passes through the Red Mountains closed. No, Robert would go west again, in the direction of Summerhall, before wheeling north.
This time around, with Lords Fell, Cafferen, and Grandison won to his side and any other dissident voices convinced, his path would be without obstacle all the way to the border of the Reach. The rest depended on his exact path.
Sighing, Elia moved the wooden stag from the spot it had been occupying. She raised her head to meet the eyes in the room. "Robert Baratheon marches, though his exact goal is not clear."
Larra pursed her lips, one hand playing with her necklace as she pondered the map. Jeyne, still sat at the side with a piece of parchment and a pot of ink, grimaced heavily. As the youngest she was usually the one least involved in their meetings, and this topic suited neither her interests nor her abilities, but it did not take a master strategist to understand the significance of those words.
"Ha," Morra sighed, arms crossed. "Here I was hoping he would linger some more."
"I did as well, but it cannot be helped now. Lord Wendwater will have to be informed, and men sent south. A direct strike seems unlikely, but I would not leave things to chance."
The question was leadership. A Kingsguard would serve, ordinarily, but sending any of them from the capital now did not appeal to her. Support from them, she could count on beyond most others, and there were those outside the white cloaks who could fill the role.
Jon Connington might serve as well, young and capable, and loyal to Rhaegar beyond doubt, but against his liege he might be too rash. Ser Willem Darry, perhaps. A solid, loyal man, who was old enough to let patience join his plans.
A knock on the door broke her from her thoughts.
"Come," Larra called, though they expected no one else to join them at this time. The door opened and a familiar woman stepped inside.
"Sarra? What brings you here?" Elia asked the woman from the southern Crownlands. She was the daughter of some landed knight and a few years her elder, but most importantly her uncle's secret paramour and therefore a suitable go-between and source of information.
Her hair and eyes were hazel, and her light skin right at home in the city, but the slant of her forehead was as Dornish as the Red Mountains.
Sarra did not bother with any niceties beside a small bow of her head, before stepping close and whispering in Elia's ear. "Another attempt. No insignia, no names. The Queen is on the way, but uninformed."
Thoughts whirled, about possible instigators and plans, and about what might have been the motivation for this particular one, but there was little to be done now. Her uncle would have already handled everything necessary from his side.
"Thank you, Sarra."
Weeks later a raven arrived, then riders announced and preparations were made. And before long the time had come.
Elia waited in the main courtyard with the Small Council and Queen Rhaella at her side, though she would not hold the title for much longer now. Ashara, Larra, and the others stood on her other side, separated from them by Ser Jonothor Darry.
Lords and ladies, knights and guardsmen, and a multitude of servants all waited in the open space with them, anticipating the announced arrival.
A horn sounded and the first riders passed beneath the gates of the Red Keep. They were only gold cloaks, riding in a group of four at the head of the company, but they served to make the coming arrival more real than it had been before.
Behind them followed two knights in surcoats of House Caron, followed closely by a group of mounted crossbowmen and another duo of knights.
The next man that passed beneath the murder holes rode by himself, but he was the first that Elia identified immediately. Wild blonde hair swayed with his horse's steps and Naruto smiled as he came fully into view, his eyes immediately searching out Ashara.
A knighthood was more than earned by now. The Blackwater had already warranted one, and he had given good service for the third time now. Some lordship, perhaps, but it was no longer her decision.
Naruto beckoned his black mare towards the side, where weeks ago an intruder had been hanged, and where the riders that came before him had gathered into an orderly group, his gaze never straying from his wife. Elia's mouth twisted slightly.
More Caron knights and soldiers followed, but before long a herald made the announcement and the man of the hour rode into the courtyard. It had been more than half a year by now, since her husband had chosen to disappear.
Silver-blonde hair shone in the noon sun, and the red three-headed dragon of his house blazed on Rhaegar's chest as he stopped his horse right in front of them.
A young stable hand accepted the reins so he could dismount, and Elia spent a moment wondering where Ser Arthur and Ser Oswell were. She had expected them to be in Rhaegar's company upon his return, but if they had been part of the group, they would have ridden directly with their charge.
Men and women knelt to their king, uncrowned or not, and bowed their heads.
Lord Chelsted, adorned with a chain of linked golden hands, stepped forward before falling to a knee as well. "The Red Keep is yours, Your Grace."
"Thank you, Lord Chelsted," Rhaegar acknowledged once he had closed the remaining distance, giving the unsaid signal to stand. "Call a meeting of the Small Council, so that we might properly deal with this rebellion now. I will join you shortly."
"Immediately, Your Grace." The Councillors bowed, all in their own way, and turned to leave.
He walked over to them, expression serious, and faced Rhaella. "Mother. My condolences for your loss," he said, even though it was just as much his, and not a great one to begin with. "I hope the last weeks have been kind to you."
His mother smiled a tremulous smile, her black mourning dress and veil making her look paler than she truly was. She was a slight woman, though still taller than Elia herself, but she did not think the Queen Dowager had ever looked stronger than now at any time while Aerys had still lived.
"As kind as they could be, Your Grace. It is good that you are here now." Rhaella hesitated, unsure, slowly wringing hands held in front of her body.
Rhaegar was the one to step forward and gently embrace his mother for a few moments. Elia watched the others around them instead. Stable hands handled the many horses and servants under the steward's command began organising the riders and how they would be settled for the time being.
There was still a slow trickle of riders entering the walls of the keep, even if the first were already being shown to temporary quarters decided by station. Naruto crossed the yard, his mare handed off to be stabled and fed, and Ashara did not wait for him to come to her.
They greeted each other enthusiastically, unconcerned about watching eyes as their lips met for a moment or listening ears as they exchanged quiet words. Elia looked away just as her own husband turned to her.
"Your Grace," she said coolly, meeting his eyes for only a moment, before curtsying as was polite and appropriate while greeting the king.
"Elia," Rhaegar greeted in turn, with the smallest inclining of his head. "I would ask you to join me and the Small Council."
I hope you enjoyed chapter 39. I had a lot of trouble with this chapter, and I can't even say why. I hope the next chapters will be done more quickly again. Two Naruto chapters, in my current plan.
Rhaegar returns to King's Landing and armies are closing in. Nightsong is the closest castle to the Prince's Pass/Tower of Joy, and their connection to songbirds and position made them a fitting inclusion into Rhaegar's actions in my view. Obviously Aerys' death would motivate Rhaegar to return earlier than he does in the books.
Elia is in a complicated position in King's Landing. Rhaegar may technically be next in line, but he is absent without any word for months. Rhaella is ruler, for now, but Viserys is right there and would need a regent for years. It is in Elia's interest to keep everything calm and controlled until Rhaegar is found. Rocking the boat too much would just give others the ammunition to take over. Remember, she does not directly control any significant number of men. The Kingsguard is on her side, and the parts of the Crownlands that prefer Rhaegar over Aerys, but the longer he is missing the more that support dwindles.
Jaime mentions that the white cloaks knew that Prince Lewyn kept a paramour in King's Landing despite the oaths of the Kingsguard, but no name is ever given. Elia would have definitely known about it, so I included Sarra.
Quellon is Balon's father (Theon's grandfather) and was a progressive Lord of the Iron Islands who married from the mainland and brought Maesters and books while focusing on trade and the like. The New Way to Balon/Euron/Victarion's Old Way. He dies during the Rebellion, undecided whether he should interfere, and the Ironborn only hit the Reach under Balon pretty late into everything.
Robert wins at Summerhall and returns to Storm's End to feast, hunt, and celebrate his victories. Afterwards, the Lords he defeated and then befriended fight with him at Ashford against Randyll Tarly's vanguard.
The path he takes north from there, to Stony Sept for the Battle of the Bells, looks weird on the map. I'm not sure how George envisions some of the rivers, or if he really looks at his maps when describing those things. Rivers seem both impassible and easy to ford at the same time. Taking the Riverlands would be an absolute disaster if, King Tristifer IV Mudd for example, had ever thought to build something nifty like border forts.
The army sizes in the rebellion are quite a bit smaller than in the Wot5K. Tywin has 12000 men for the Sack, for example. Smaller numbers are easier to supply and gather quickly, which hopefully makes the relative speed of Ned's movement south more palatable. He doesn't have as many men as Robb did when he came south, and his army didn't come with him to Riverrun. They took the King's Road south.
As always, thanks for reading and reviewing, and keeping up with the delay. Until next time.