[Please read the previous chapter, Chapter 22: Viserys and Myrine, before reading this one. Apparently the new chapter alert scrambled up the order they were published in.] I am going to say this now, but this will be a long but happy chapter. Rhaenyra has finally reached her tenth year on the Iron Throne! Yay! By the way, thank you Master Solo for your mentioning of House Strong being descended from the First Men. I somehow overlooked that, and you have given me some ideas for future chapters!
139 AC
Queen Rhaenyra I Targaryen could scarcely believe that a decade had passed since she had ascended to the Iron Throne. It all went by so quickly. Ten years is a long time, but it felt like only ten days had gone by. Those years were certainly eventful ones too. Years that were marked with triumph, conspiracy, foreign wars and domestic disputes, political intrigue, scandal, plague, and the forging of new alliances and the reaffirmance of old ones.
House Targaryen saw a growth in numbers in both King's Landing and Oldtown between the years 129 AC and 139 AC. Other than the births of princes and princesses, the Targaryen's also welcomed the hatching of new dragons. And when there is birth, there is also death as well. The queen bid farewell to steadfast allies like Lords Lyman Beesbury and Corlys Velaryon to old age and sickness, marked the passing of one of her enemies, her step-grandfather, Ser Otto Hightower; lost a councilman, Lord Tyland Lannister, to winter fever when he was at his prime; and suffered the tragedy of losing five grandchildren: one to stillbirth, one to a cradle death, and three to miscarriages. A harsh six-year long winter season tested the realm alongside the winter fever epidemic, but when spring finally came, the Iron Throne and its queen came out strong and all was well.
The Seven Kingdoms were prospering by Rhaenyra I's tenth year. The economy was doing well, there were no signs of discontent, fields and orchards promised bountiful harvests, and the people held their monarch in high-regard. This prosperity was dimmed by a recent tragedy that had occurred the following year in 138 AC. That year, Prince Joffrey Velaryon and Lady Nell Beesbury welcomed their third child together. After two sons, a baby daughter was finally born to the couple, who happily named her Princess Maegelle Targaryen.
Maegelle was born with brown hair and eyes just like her older brothers. Rhaenyra was delighted with her newest grandchild, and she congratulated her third born son on finally having a daughter being born to him. The baby girl was born healthy and strong, and she grew bigger by the day and delighted her family with her cute giggling. Three months after Maegelle was born, a wet nurse came to check on the infant princess during her naptime when the woman noticed how still she was. Examining the baby revealed that she was not breathing, and the frantic wet nurse immediately rushed Maegelle to Grandmaester Gerardys, who made the tragic confirmation that the princess was deceased.
Gerardys wrote down the cause for the princess's untimely and tragic demise as being a cradle death. Nell collapsed and began wailing when she learned of Maegelle's sudden death, and she had to be administered sweetsleep to calm her down. She was bedridden for most of the year, only emerging from seclusion to attend the wedding of Prince Viserys Targaryen and Lady Myrine Darklyn. Joffrey did his best to not break down in front of his family, but he wept bitterly in the Red Keep's godswood when he was alone, or when he spoke of his sorrow with one of the Red Keep's septons. Aeric and Daemion were six and four years old respectively when their baby sister passed away, and their family did their best to gently explain the concept of death to them and why Maegelle had left them so suddenly.
Aeric was able to grasp the fact that his little sister was gone forever, but his brother still could not understand the finality of death. Daemion kept asking when he was going to see Maegelle again for a month after she had died until he finally realized that she was never coming back. Although they were still young, Joff and Nell swore off having any more children after what had happened to their infant daughter. Lady Beesbury became paranoid about losing her sons, and she began having them sleep with her at night just so that she could be with them if anything happened. It was truly a parent's worst nightmare come to life.
Thankfully, the marriage between Rhaenyra's youngest son and the youngest sister of the Lord of Duskendale brought a happy end to a year that saw the loss of two children through miscarriage and a cradle death. And speaking of marriage, the queen's twin half-nephew and half-niece opened a new chapter in their lives together. Prince Jaehaerys and Princess Jaehaera Targaryen turned fifteen near the end of 138 AC, and their father declared that it was time for them to get married. Just as he had married his sister, Prince Aegon the Elder arranged for his twins to marry each other.
Jaehaerys and Jaehaera had two wedding ceremonies. They had a small one in the Red Keep's chapel so that their half-aunt and her family could attend, and a larger one at the Starry Sept in Oldtown so that their grandmother, Uncles Aemond and Daeron, and their families along with House Hightower could attend. Princess Helaena Targaryen wept at both ceremonies. Alicent was seen to be dabbing her eyes as she watched her two eldest grandchildren get married. The twins were a sight to behold in their wedding garments as the High Septon presided over the ceremony, and they walked down the aisle hand in hand happy as could be after they were pronounced man and wife.
Shrykos, Morghul, and Meteor flew around the Starry Sept after Jaehaerys and Jaehaera exited the cathredral. Although married to Black princes, Jaehaera's companions and dearest friends, Ladies Thea Celtigar and Myrine Darklyn, including the newest addition to the princess's inner circle, Lady Falena Stokeworth, traveled to Oldtown to attend her second wedding. Princes Aegon the Younger and Viserys wanted to go with their wives, but both their mother and half-aunt agreed that it would be for the best if they did not travel to the "Green capital" and possibly cause waves. Thea and Myrine, thankfully, did not suffer any bullying by their mother-in-law's half-brothers and stepfamily, although Alicent, Aemond, and Alys were cold towards them. Prince Daeron Targaryen and Lady Bethany Hightower were cordial with the two girls, though, which made up for the coldness of the dowager queen and her one-eyed son and his witch of a mistress.
Regardless of the couple's hospitality, Thea and Myrine were immensely happy to return home along with the royal hostages after the wedding festivities at Oldtown had ended. Two weeks after they were married, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera announced that they were expecting their first child together. It was now time for Alicent to become a great-grandmother, and for her two oldest children to become grandparents. Aegon and Helaena were overjoyed when they learned that their first grandchild was on its way. Jaehaera was both excited and nervous about becoming a mother, and she became very dependent on her own mother for advice and support.
While this was all happening, Rhaenyra I was planning her Tenth Year Tourney. Planning for this grand affair had begun earlier in 138 AC. The tourney was to be held outside the walls of King's Landing just like the Coronation Tourney was ten years earlier. Flocks of ravens were dispatched from the Red Keep to the nobility of the realm and in Essos to invite them to the Tenth Year Tourney, and flocks of ravens returned to the Red Keep bearing a colossal amount acceptance letters and a scant few polite declinations. To organize the invitations, Grandmaester Gerardys and the other castle maesters, even Aegon the Elder's Maester Orwyle, placed the responses in piles relegated to great houses and which region the other noble houses came from.
All the major great houses were coming, even House Greyjoy of Pyke from the Iron Islands. The Lord Reaver of Pyke, the infamous Dalton Greyjoy, who was also known as the "Red Kraken", was going to come to King's Landing and bring his three sisters, salt wives and numerous salt children. The Ironborn preferred to stay away from the politics of the mainland in favor of trying to keep their proud and ancient tradition of reaving alive by raiding along the faraway shores of Essos. But while seeing the Greyjoy kraken on a wax seal was surprising in itself, there was one seal that caught everyone by surprise. One of those seals depicted the Hightower Pharos.
Gerardys's blinked twice when he saw the pharos stamped on that wax seal. He quickly broke the seal and opened the letter to read its contents.
"Your royal grace, Queen Rhaenyra I Targaryen,
I hope this letter finds you well. My name is Lady Samantha Hightower, and I am the daughter of Donald Tarly, the Lord of Horn Hill, and the second wife of Ormund Hightower, the Voice of Oldtown. Yes, I am the cousin-in-law of your stepmother, Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower. It would be pointless of me to remind us both of the bad blood that lingers between you and Alicent, but it needs to be addressed nevertheless. You have been queen for ten years now, but you have not once made a progress to the Reach.
The betrothal of your granddaughter, Alyssa, to Lord Lyonel Tyrell was received well by the Reachmen, but they still remain hesitant to offer any form of reconciliation to you yourself. After much persuasion, I have convinced my husband to accept your invitation to your Tenth Year Tourney. Ormund's four children from his first marriage, as well as the three little ones I have given him, and his grandchildren will be accompanying us as well. Even your youngest half-brother, Prince Daeron Targaryen, the husband of my stepdaughter, Bethany, will be coming with us. He will serve as a representative for his mother and older brother in Oldtown, who have, needless to say, declined your invitation.
While Alicent, Aemond, and the rest of the Hightower's are hesitant to mend the rift between you and them, I will reach out to you on their behalf. Do you not believe that the tension has gone on long enough? It is my most sincerest wish to see the Seven Kingdoms unified again; the deep divide between Black and Green must end. The next generation should be allowed to grow up in the light of peace rather than in the shadow of tension. If it is possible, I would be more than happy to meet with you in person so that we can talk further woman to woman.
I look forward to attending the tourney. And before I forget, congratulations on reaching your tenth year on the Iron Throne. May you live to celebrate your fiftieth.
Sincerely,
Lady Samantha Hightower
Gerardys reread the letter before rushing off to show it to Rhaenyra I. The queen's eyes widened when her Grandmaester told her who the letter was from, and she all but snatched it from the man's hands, quickly unrolled and began reading it. A stew of conflicting feelings filled Rhaenyra's being after she read the letter. Her first thought was to silently refer to Samantha as "that Hightower hussy." But she made so many good points in her letter, and it made Rhaenyra think.
She loathed the Hightower's with every fiber of her being. Samantha, however, was not a Hightower by birth. Her father had actually courted Rhaenyra during her youth when she accompanied her own father during a royal progress in the year 112 AC. Rhaenyra remembered Lord Donald Tarly as being a courteous gentleman, and it was that past fondness that encouraged her to consider his daughter's written words, especially in regards to their descendants both current and those yet to be born. The queen sighed.
"Lady Hightower is right," Rhaenyra murmured. "this has gone on for too long."
"Your grace?" asked Gerardys, but his words went unheard by his queen as she began thinking out loud.
"But what if this is a front for an attempted regicide? Daeron could use Tessarion to incinerate the tourney grounds, trapping us all with cobalt flames while Hightower archers pick us off one by one. He could then crown his brother Aegon as king before my body is even cold."
Rhaenyra frowned before turning to face Gerardys.
"Gerardys, summon the small council to convene within the next half-hour. This letter must be discussed in more detail with them."
As the maester turned to leave, the queen spoke once more.
"Oh, Gerardys."
"Yes?"
"Thank you for bringing this letter to my attention."
"You are most welcome, your grace." Gerardys said with a nod.
Within the next thirty minutes, the small council chamber filled up. Sadly, Lord Gormon Massey could not attend due to poor health, and his fellow councilmen feared that due to his advanced age, Gormon's fated visit with the Stranger was due to occur in the near future. When everyone else was assembled, Rhaneyra read the letter out loud to her councilmen. There was a brief silence that followed after the queen had finished reading, and she found it to be somewhat awkward. The Hand of the Queen was the first to break the silence.
"Mother, I think that this is wonderful news. It means that reconciliation between the Reach and the Iron Throne is possible."
"So is an attempt on my life and yours, Jace. An attempt on all of our lives." Rhaenyra countered. It was her uncle-consort's turn to speak up.
"We have more dragons than the Green Targaryen's, Rhaenyra. Even if Aemond One-Eye were to accompany Daeron and Tessarion with Vhagar, our beasts will make quick work of them."
"There's always poison." muttered Mysaria.
Everyone turned to look at the Mistress of Whisperers after she spoke. Rhaenyra felt herself going pale.
"Wine mixed with powdered greycap. A dagger coated in manticore venom. Aren't Hightower women rumored to be sorceresses? I've heard that black magic can be used to prolong the effects of manticore venom so that the victim does not die right away so that they suffer in pure agony until the toxin reaches their heart."
"Misery!" snapped Daemon, and his former mistress stopped talking and she gave him an affronted look.
"Her grace has food tasters, Daemon." Mysaria retorted defensively. "And there is the Queensguard. It is in the same vein as your mentioning of the Black dragons. The queen cannot be any safer."
"You still do not need to scare her!" Daemon snarled. "And besides, Lady Samantha is a Tarly by birth, not a Hightower. The Tarly's are one of the few Reach families that are loyal to my wife."
"One does not need to be a Hightower to machinate a poisoning, Daemon." snipped Mysaria.
"Enough, both of you!" ordered a rattled Rhaenyra as she twisted the ring on her left index finger. The one-eyed Rogue Prince and the White Worm ceased their bickering after they heard their queen's command. The rest of the small council began offering suggestions about the situation.
"Would you like an escape route planned, my lady?" asked Lord Bartimos Celtigar. "I can arrange for a ship to be on standby at the docks to whisk your family away from King's Landing if anything goes awry."
"I could put aside some coin for emergencies if needed." suggested Ser Jason Belmore.
"I could arrange for my contacts to spy on the Hightower party throughout their stay here for the tourney." said Mysaria.
"Ser Luthor Largent can probably assign some Gold Cloaks to accompany the Hightower's wherever they go when they are here." suggested King Daemon.
Poison. Sorcery. Escape routes. Spies. So many things to consider and worry about, so little time.
There were a lot of good ideas, but they had to be gone over piecemeal. The usual royal precautions would be implemented, and Rhaenyra wanted all of her sons to carry their swords with them just in case. As for her only daughter, Rhaenyra wanted Visenya to be with her at all times too, and she could not be with Maelor unless a member of the Queensguard was with her. If the worst was to happen, that knight was to take the princess and rendezvous with the rest of the family at the city docks for evacuation. Pleased with these plans, Rhaenyra then commissioned Grandmaester Gerardys to look into the Lady of the Hightower's background to see who her relatives were.
Her fears were reassured when she learned more about Samantha's family tree. According to Gerardys's research, Samantha's mother was Lady Jeyne Rowan, the niece of Thaddeus Rowan, the much loved and two-time widowed Lord of Goldengrove. The Rowan's were another of Queen Rhaenyra's few allies in the Reach. Adding more to Rhaenyra's comfort, she later learned through Nell that her first younger sister, Lady Allison Beesbury, was betrothed to the Lady of the Hightower's younger brother, Lord Alyn Tarly. All of this information comforted the queen.
Planning for the tourney continued nevertheless amidst the royal drama and intrigue. 138 AC gradually faded away into 139 AC. During the first month of the year, Gormon Massey, the Lord of Stonedance and the Master of Laws on the queen's small council, passed away from natural causes due to old age. Myrine mourned for her grandfather alongside her Massey relatives, but not to the extent that she had when her father died. Gormon was old, and his time had come, whereas his son-in-law was relatively young and was fit and healthy when he passed away so suddenly.
Replacing Gormon as Rhaenyra I's new Master of Laws and Lord Justiciar was nonother than her third born son, Prince Joffrey Velaryon. Only twenty-two years old when he joined his mother's small council, some contemporaries grumbled about nepotism on Rhaenyra's part. Joff's in-laws from House Beesbury, however, were not complaining since his promotion from idle prince to active member of the government helped to give them more recognition and prestige. Becoming Master of Laws was also meant to help Joff in trying to distract him from his lingering grief over his infant daughter's death as well. The job did just that for the most part, but it could not help to completely heal the grieving father.
Months passed, and soon, the wait for the Tenth Year Tourney whittled down to mere days. At their mother's request, Princes Lucerys and Joffrey Velaryon, flew atop their dragons to meet the Hightower party at Stonebridge with a sizeable host on the pretext of escorting their half-uncle and his family and cousins to King's Landing. The ulterior motive was to see if the Hightower's were bringing a host of their own with Prince Aemond Targaryen and Vhagar in tow. The three princes met at the bridge which gave the town of Stonebridge its name with their hosts behind and all eyes on them. It was the first time that the three men had seen each other in ten years, but there was no warmth to be found in this reunion.
The men exchanged curt greetings as their dragons hissed at each other from across the bridge. Neither Aemond or Vhagar were spotted. The Hightower knights that were accompanying the prince and his family did not compose a serious enough force that would warrant Queen Rhaenyra's concern. Satisfied with this, Lucerys and Joffrey escorted Daeron and the Hightower's the rest of the way to King's Landing via the Roseroad. The Greens were received by a welcoming party that was headed by the queen herself at the Red Keep's main gate after they had arrived in the city and the dragons were stabled at the Dragonpit.
Prince Daeron Targaryen got a good look at his half-sister and her family after he dismounted from Tessarion. Rhaenyra looked a little heavier than she did when she was crowned as queen regnant in 129 AC, and she looked older too at two and forty. Faint lines of crow's feet fanned out from the queen's purple eyes, and her silver-gold hair seemed paler too. King Daemon was fit and healthy at eight and fifty, although his hair had turned a ghostly white, and Daeron could see more lines on his uncle's stern face. He also found it so strange to see Daemon wearing an eyepatch over where his left eye had been.
Daeron's first cousin once removed, the sixty-four year old Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, stood on Daemon's right by the Lord and Lady of the Tides. She looked magnificent as ever in her old age; Rhaenys's Baratheon black hair had turned completely white, which complimented her pale violet eyes. Rhaenys looked every inch like the queen she should have been. She not only looked regal, but matronly, powerful, fierce, and benevolent all at once. What would Westeros be like now if the princess had ascended as Queen Rhaenys I Targaryen after her grandfather's death in 103 AC instead of her cousin?
Cousin Rhaenys may not have been crowned queen just like her grandmother had hoped, but at least Rhaenyra was able to fulfill Queen Alysanne's dream. If Daeron could go back in time to change the course of the future in regards to which whoman should have been crowned as queen, he would have chosen Rhaenys over Rhaenyra. It was the first time in ten years that the two half-siblings had seen each other, and their relationship was still as cold and distant as ever. Being queen, it was up to Rhaenyra to break the ice.
"Welcome back to King's Landing, brother." Rhaenyra I began, her tone sounding mature but lacking any hint of sisterly affection. "I hope that your journey was not too long and arduous."
"It was not, dear sister." Daeron responded, his tone also sounding mature but devoid of brotherly affection. "We were blessed with pleasant, sunny weather and great hospitality throughout our journey on the Roseroad. Lucerys and Joffrey provided a superb escort."
"I am glad to hear of that. I expect nothing less than superb from my children."
"I have heard nothing malign about my nephews and niece, your grace. The realm adores them" Daeron replied as he glanced around at his half-sister's family. "People view your grandchildren as being the darlings of the Seven Kingdoms as well."
The Velaryon Princes had matured and grown a lot since Daeron had seen them last, and he had gotten a good look at Luke and Joff when their host met up with the Hightower's at Stonebridge. "Seven above, they are the spitting image of their real father." thought Daeron as he observed his three oldest half-nephews. Twenty-five year old Jacaerys, befitting his rank as crown prince, was the tallest of his full-blooded brothers at 6 feet, and he towered over his squire, Percival Wylde, who stood next to him on his right. He wore a gold circlet that was studded with pearls on his brown hair, was resting his hands on the pommel of Blackfyre with the tip of its blade dug slightly into the earth, and on a lesser note, Jace also proudly bore a mustache on his upper lip.
Twenty-four year old Lucerys was cleanshaven with shoulder-length brown hair, and he stood at 5'11, the same height as Daeron. He proudly wore clothes in the colors of House Velaryon: sea-green and white. However, Luke was not as ostentatious as his older brother, and the only jewelry he had on was a silver aquamarine ring on his left ring finger. Twenty-two year old Joffrey resembled both of his older brothers in appearance with a goat-tee and long hair that he tied in a ponytail that hung down his back (his height was 5'9). He did not wear any rings or circlets.
Eighteen year old Aegon the Younger was an inch taller than his eldest half-brother, but he was not as strongly built as the "Strong Princes" were. His silver-gold hair went well past his shoulders, and he had the well-trimmed beginnings of a beard growing along his jawline. Seventeen year old Viserys was the shortest of all of his brothers at 5'8. His silver-gold hair was cut in a pageboy style, and his build seemed to be a little stronger than his older brother Aegon's. It was amazing how quickly the five brothers had grown from boys to men.
Ten year old Visenya, the baby of the family, stood in front of her mother, whose hands rested on her youngest child's shoulders. This was the first time that half-uncle and half-niece had met. Daeron had only ever known Rhaenyra as being old since she is seventeen years older than him, however, seeing her young daughter's face gave the prince an inkling as to what Rhaenyra may have looked like as a child. Pale-skinned with her silvery hair shimmering gold under the sunlight, Visenya appeared to be frowning at her half-uncle with a contemptuous lavender-eyed squint.
"A girl-queen without a crown or throne." Daeron thought. "I would not be surprised if Rhaenyra acted like this when she was Visenya's age."
Daeron then observed his half-nephews' wives. Twenty-three year old twins Baela and Rhaena stood beside their husbands. Baela, who had normally kept her silver-white hair cropped short so that it would not blow in her face as she rode on the back of Moondancer, had grown it long enough for it be styled into an ornate braided bun. A mother of three, Baela's figure looked both lean and fit, although her red and black ensemble may have obscured any weight gain from the pregnancies. Even Rhaena looked lean and slim despite the fact she had given birth to five children, and she looked as beautiful and graceful as ever in her sea foam-green and white dress. Daeron thought that his twin cousins were both magnificent.
Twenty-five year old Nell looked a little thicker after having three children, and she was two inches shorter than her husband, whom she had towered over during the first few years of their marriage. Eighteen year old Thea looked beautiful as ever as she stood beside Aegon the Younger, who's left arm was wrapped around her shoulders. Fifteen year old Myrine stood solemnly next to Viserys with her hands pressed together and fingers intertwined, and her Myrish crown resting atop her head. Daeron's glance then fell upon Rhaenyra's beloved grandchildren, his half-grandnieces and half-grandnephews. Ages ranging from nearly eight and a half to four and a half, Daeron noted the eclectic mixture of First Men and Valyrian features amongst Baelor, Alyssa, Aelyx, Alysanne, Laena, Megaera, Corlys, Aeric, and Daemion.
"Definitely the grandchildren of Ser Harwin Strong for sure." Daeron concluded. "No doubt about it."
Standing off to the side of the Black Targaryen's were Daeron's two eldest siblings and their children with the diligent and loyal Ser Edmund Naeryon watching over them. The Green Targaryen's acknowledged each other with smiles and nodding. Thirty-two year old Aegon the Elder was the spitting image of his late father, although he was fitter in comparison to the Young King, who was paunchy during his own youth and died obese, and he sported a wispy mustache on his upper lip. Thirty year old Helaena looked as plump and sweet as ever, especially since she had learned that she was going to become a grandmother for the first time three weeks before. Her brother-husband, meanwhile, did not share her glee outwardly, although Helaena had written to the Greens that he had embraced the twins and toasted his unborn grandchild thrice the night he heard that his daughter was expecting.
Fifteen year old twins Jaehaerys and Jaehaera made for a lovely couple. Jaehaerys was the same height as his father at 5'10, but was more handsome in comparison. The prince had medium-length silver-gold hair and was beginning to grow a mustache to emulate his father. Jaehaera was an inch shorter than her mother, but thinner and more beautiful with long, wavy silver-gold hair that went past her shoulders. Being only three weeks pregnant, Jaehaera showed no noticeable signs that she was with child, although she seemed to have that "glow" that women were supposed to have during pregnancy.
Twelve year old Maelor stood beside his older sister, his head reaching her shoulders. Daeron could not help but be amazed on how fast his nephews and niece had grown. Time flew by so quickly. It felt like it was only yesterday that the twins and Maelor's ages were in the single digits. Now, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera were getting their family started, and Maelor was on the cusp of manhood.
Rhaenyra and her family in turn observed Daeron and his family and cousins. Considered handsome at age fifteen, Daeron was the definition of striking at five and twenty. His silver-gold hair and sideburns were short, his eyes a brilliant bluish-purple, and he was the same height as Lucerys. Daeron proudly wore black and red clothes, and he was holding the monogrammed gloves that Bethany had given him after the Greens were exiled to Oldtown. And speaking of Bethany, she exited the wheelhouse that she was traveling in with her children, and all four of them walked up to their patriarch. Rhaenyra did her best to subdue a jealous frown when she saw her half-sister-in-law's figure.
Twenty-one year old Bethany had given birth three times a year apart each, and yet, just like the Disgraced Queen, Bethany was still as shapely as she was before her marriage.
"Mysaria is right. Hightower women must be sorceresses. How else can they stay so thin after popping out one child after another? Alicent still retains a maiden's slenderness after bearing four babes while I look like a sow."
Rhaenyra's bitterness over her weight quickly evaporated when she moved her gaze towards her little half-niece and half-nephews. Four year old Saera and three and a half year old Valerion both peaked out nervously from behind their mother's skirt. Three year old Aeryn was being held in Bethany's arms. As Daeron turned to face his approaching family, his youngest son outstretched his arms so that his father could collect and hold him this time, a wish that Daeron was more than happy to grant. With her hands free, Bethany reached behind her to cajole her two oldest children to come out of hiding so that they could see their estranged extended family.
Rhaenyra thought that her youngest half-brother's three children were absolutely beautiful. They all had Valyrian features, and were darling in every aspect of the word.
"Say hello to your aunt, children." Daeron commanded in a fatherly tone. A soft and innocent "hello" rang out collectively from the lips of little Saera, Valerion, and Aeryn. Even Rhaenyra I could not help but smile at the sight.
"Aren't they dear?" she remarked as the three children looked bashfully away.
A sizeable crowd built up behind Daeron and his family. Lord Ormund Hightower and Lady Samantha Tarly walked up behind the prince with their children in tow. Eight year old Lilith walked in front of her mother while her twin younger siblings, four year old Regina and Reginald, were being carried by their mother and father respectively. Ormund's eldest son and heir, Ser Lyonel, approached the group with his four young children: twins Priscilla and Samantha, Willem, Ilia, and Cecily. His lady wife, Patricia, was absent since she stayed behind Oldtown due to being heavily pregnant with their sixth child.
The arrival of Lyonel's two younger brothers, Martyn and Garmund, along with Martyn's wife, Lady Jeyne Merryweather, completed the group. The couple had also brought along their own two young children: Brandon and Kyra.
"Sorcery may still be up in the air, but one cannot doubt that Hightower men and women breed like rabbits. Maybe they retain their fertility through the generations with magic?" contemplated the queen as she observed the size of Ormund's family. Her main focus was not the Voice of Oldtown or Daeron, but Lady Sam. But Rhaenyra knew that she could focus on the woman later.
The Hightower's had had a long journey, and they needed to rest. Being both a courteous queen and hostess, Rhaenyra led the whole group into the Red Keep. Sometime later, after everyone had made themselves comfortable, the queen requested Lady Sam's presence in her solar at Maegor's Holdfast. She was escorted to the royal solar by Ser Robert Darklyn of the Queensguard. When Robert opened the door for her, Samantha found Rhaenyra seated inside the solar on a chair flanked by two knights of the Queensguard.
An empty chair with scarlet cushioning was placed across from the queen, and a table stood between the two chairs. A big bowl containing apples, oranges, and two bunches of grapes both red and green along with an ornate set of silver goblets and a flagon rested on the center of the table. Samantha curtsied when she saw Rhaenyra I, who smiled at her guest.
"Welcome, Lady Hightower. At last, we meet."
"It is an honor, your grace." Samantha replied.
Still smiling, Rhaenyra gestured towards the empty chair with an outstretched hand.
"Come in. Take a seat."
Nodding softly, Samantha made her way towards the chair and she sat down in it. A fresh spring breeze blew through the large windows, bringing with it the faint scent of the sea, and the temperature in the solar was cool but comfortable. Outwardly poised and stoic, inwardly, Samantha was excited like a little girl. The Queen of the Seven Kingdoms was seated just a few feet away from her and was going to converse with her! Excitement aside, the whole thing seemed so surreal too.
"Would you like some wine?" asked Rhaenyra. "It's Arbor Gold."
"Yes, please." responded Sam, and the queen poured the pale gold wine into their goblets. The sight reassured the Lady of the Hightower, who had a nagging, and ridiculous, suspicion that Rhaenyra would try to poison her. Her relief became greater after she saw the queen take a sip of wine from her goblet. Sam drank from hers too, and the sweet flavor of the Arbor Gold seemed to taste much better.
Rhaenyra observed Sam as she drank her wine. The Lady of the Hightower had golden blonde hair like a Lannister, bright reddish-brown eyes, and peach colored skin. She was a little overweight due to giving birth to three children, but it made Sam look motherly, something that gave both her and the queen common ground to stand on. Rhaenyra spoke first.
"I was not able to say this during our initial meeting at the main gate, my lady, but your children are lovely."
"Thank you, your grace." Samantha said as she put down her goblet. "I hear that quite a lot. My mother laments to me in her letters on how she wishes she can see her grandchildren more. Your children and grandchildren are lovely too, especially Visenya.
Such a beautiful girl."
"Heh, Daemon says all the time how much Visenya resembles me when I was her age." said Rhaenyra. "I have a feeling that she may one day be crowned as a Queen of Love and Beauty."
"I believe you might be right, your grace." Samantha said. A moment of pause followed before Rhaenyra spoke.
"And now, with the pleasantries aside, Lady Hightower. About reconciling the Reach. Most of the lords there still retain their passionate support for my half-brother's claim to the Iron Throne even though he had renounced if after my husband seized the Iron Throne following the Black Conspiracy. Alyssa's betrothal to Lord Tyrell was well-received for the most part, but my Mistress of Whisperers has told me that there have been some Reachmen grumbling about Lady Regent Mary Crane being a sycophant to the Blacks. Lord Ashford was heard to have referred to her ladyship as a "traitorous bitch" during the week after the betrothal has been agreed upon."
"Hmph. Of course, Lord Ashford would say that." Samantha said contemptuously. "I believe he is another of your stepmother's numerous cousins. But a few grumblings should not keep you away from the Reach, your grace.
What is a lord to a dragon? You have the Bloodwyrm and the Red Queen on your side along with the other dragons that reside here in King's Landing."
"I am well aware of that, Lady Hightower." Rhaenyra said a little tetchily. "But grumbling lords can hire assassins to slit my throat and those of my family as we sleep even if we are under the protection of guest right." Rhaenyra then remembered Misery's rambling about poison, and she considered her goblet, which was now half-full with Arbor Gold. "Greycap, nightshade, and wolfsbane can be added to our wine or ale too for a lethal toast in a lord's great hall."
"Your grace." Samantha said in a reassuring tone. She then clasped her hands together as if she were about to pray. "I understand where you are coming in regard to your fears. But I can assure you that not all of the Reachmen grumble about you like Lord Ashford does.
Yes, while some of the Reach lords still hold your ascension in some contempt, most of them have come to accept you as their queen. They will accept you more if you more if you were to visit the Reach on a royal progress. Let the lords and smallfolk see you in the flesh. Visit us and we will all open our gates to you and your family without question. Bread and salt and the bounty of the Reach will be offered to you.
Sail down the length of the Mander on a Tyrell pleasure barge. Drink cider with the Fossoway's that is pressed from the apples that are grown in their orchards. Hunt for deer around my family's domain of Horn Hill. Gaze upon the beauty of the flowers that blossom around the Grassy Vale in the spring. Taste the honey from House Beesbury's hives.
Regardless of whether their heraldry depicts flowers, apples, grapes, or even the Hightower Pharos itself, the Blacks will be made welcome, your grace. The Reach should know you and not be ignored. Reconciliation is the sweetest fruit of all, and we should all be able to taste it at some point in our lives. Do you not agree, your grace?"
Rhaenyra sat still in her chair as she listened to Samantha speak. The woman had a way with words, and she spoke so intelligently and concisely. Sam had the charisma of a septon, and the rhetoric of a statesman. Her words were like a net that drew Rhaenyra in like a fisherman's catch. The queen was greatly impressed with Lady Tarly.
"You speak impeccably, my lady." replied Rhaenyra after she drank the last of her wine. "You have done something that not even my eldest son could do. Ten years have come and gone, and I have yet to make a royal progress in my own realm. I believe that the Reach will be the destination of my first Westerosi progress.
I am willing to reconcile with your homeland, Lady Samantha. It is long overdue."
Samantha smiled proudly and nodded as she listened to the queen speak.
"My heart is overflowing with happiness that you have agreed, your grace. Shall we drink to that?"
Rhaenyra smirked.
"Certainly, Lady Samantha. This is a cause for celebration."
As the queen reached for the flagon again, Lady Tarly spoke up.
"Your grace, you do not have to call me Lady Samantha. You can call me Lady Sam if you wish. That is what everyone else refers to me as."
"Very well then, Lady Sam." Rhaenyra responded as she refilled their goblets. "And you can call me Rhaenyra if you wish. Titles and pleasantries can be a boring thing if they are used too much. Don't you agree."
"Definitely." Sam said. The two women then tapped their goblets and drank. As the final preparations of the Tenth Year Tourney were being made, an event of great historic importance had taken place in the queen's solar in the Red Keep. In a world where men had the final say, two women from different generations and backgrounds, a queen and a high-ranking noblewoman who were sixteen years apart in age, sat down together for a drink and to negotiate diplomacy and to resolve past grievances without their husbands or other male authority figures present except for the knights of the Queensguard.
Queen Rhaenyra I Targaryen and Lady Samantha Hightower nee Tarly became inseparable after their first meeting. The next day, on the tourney's opening day, the great crowds were very surprised to see Lady Samantha Tarly seated by their queen in the royal box. While Ormund looked uncomfortable, and the Blacks confused, Samantha and Rhaenyra appeared to be both happy and content as they watched the jousts and melees. As if a seat in the royal box by the sixth Targaryen monarch wasn't enough, Sam even had a place of honor by Rhaenyra I's side during the feasts, went hawking and hunting with the queen in the Kingswood, and took part in the launching of a new warship that had been commissioned by Lord Bartimos Celtigar in Rhaenyra's honor, the aptly named "Queen Rhaenyra". The two women had become so close that the queen even took Lady Sam for a ride on Syrax's back!
Talking about reconciliation is one thing, actually putting into action is another. During the seven days of the Tenth Year celebrations, Rhaenyra I attempted to get her younger grandchildren to play with Saera, Valerion, and Aeryn. However, this attempt did not work since Daeron's children were very shy around their Black half-cousins, and they preferred playing with their Hightower relatives instead. Daeron, despite the lingering animosity that remained between him and his half-sister, also tried to get his children to play with their cousins, but decided not to push them too hard due to how young they were. Sadly, reconciliation could not happen overnight; it was going to take a lot more time than that, possibly decades.
While trying to create better ties between the Blacks and Greens through their children started off on the wrong foot, the opposite happened when the queen's grandchildren played with Lady Sam's children and young cousins from both Houses Tarly and Rowan. Princess Alyssa became fast friends with Lady Florence Rowan, the six year old great-granddaughter of Lord Thaddeus Rowan. The two girls made for a pretty pairing, with the seven year old Alyssa's straight platinum white hair and indigo eyes contrasting sharply with Florence's curly wheat blonde hair and brown eyes. The two girls played together, and Alyssa happily introduced her new friend to her brothers and cousins. When Florence introduced the princess to her family, Alyssa, in her usual impulsive frankness, pointed at the great belly of her friend's great-grandfather and loudly stated, "You have a big belly!"
Thaddeus blinked, his kinsmen's eyes widened, and a sanguine Baela admonished her only daughter through gritted teeth for insulting his lordship. Thaddeus proved to be a good sport however, for he let out a great rumbling laugh and he patted his great girth with both his hands.
"Ha, ha, ha! Children can be so direct, can't they? Your daughter meant no harm, my lady; she was only being truthful. I do have a big belly, and I got it from eating too much meat and drinking too much wine during my long life!"
"I thank you for your kindness and understanding, my lord." responded Baela. "But my daughter still should not have said that." she then turned to look at Alyssa. "Apologize to Lord Rowan, young lady."
"But he said that there was no harm-" protested the little princess before her mother put her foot down.
"Alyssa." Baela hissed menacingly. Taking her mother's tone as her que to cease being petulant, Alyssa resigned herself to utter a quick apology.
"Sorry." Baela smacked her daughter's back to goad her into saying a more elaborate apology, which worked. "I am sorry for what I said."
"Apology accepted, my lady." Thaddeus said cheerfully as a frowning Alyssa rubbed the spot where her mother had smacked her.
While one small reconciliation was made between a scion of Rowan Gold-Tree and a dragon princess, one was attempted between Baela and her former companion, Lady Maris Baratheon. Jacaerys informed his wife when he learned from the royal maesters that House Westerling was going to attend the Tenth Year Tourney, and that the Lady of the Crag was coming to King's Landing along with her oldest stepson and step-grandson. Her second husband, Lord Roland Westerling, had been suffering from poor health lately due to his old age, and so his wife, heir, and eldest grandson traveled to the capital in his stead. Maris was also bringing her own son, her second born child, with her too. Baela, hoping that the passage of five years since she had drunkenly embarrassed Maris's younger sister Ellyn at her wedding in 134 AC was a long enough time to at least make the second of the Four Storms more approachable, set out to make amends with Maris.
Baela invited the Lady of the Crag to go out hunting with both her and Alysanne in the Kingswood with the royal party during the Tenth Year celebrations. Much to Baela's delight, Maris accepted the invitation. Having both Alysanne and Maris with her again made Baela hope that she could relive the good old times that she had had with the two women in the past before 134 AC. However, it became plainly obvious very quickly that things were still cool between the princess and Maris. Five years of being apart from her former two companions had given Maris other things to concern herself with that left no room for her old friendships.
Things like taking care of an aging husband whose health was steadily declining, bringing up a baby boy at the Crag while trying to maintain a long-distance relationship with a six year old daughter who lived in Casterly Rock, and dealing with resentful stepchildren all the while doing her best to run House Westerling as its matriarch. Maris did not divulge much about her stepsons and stepdaughters, but going by how she hissed Johanna's name whenever she brought her up, it was easy to figure out that Maris had the tensest relationship with the Lady of Casterly Rock. Maris reassured her old friends that despite the drama, her marriage to Roland was a good one, and she had a much better relationship with his grandchildren. Although it was clear that rekindling the relationship was not going to happen, Baela was pleased that her interactions with Maris were civil and cordial. Baela and Aly got to see Tara again, and Maris introduced the two to her nearly one year old son, Lord Tyland Westerling, whom she had named after her late first husband.
Lady Tara Lannister had grown from a cute cooing toddler with a head of curly blonde hair to a beautiful six year old girl with long wavy gold hair who looked to be a proper lady in the making. Her baby half-brother had brown hair and their mother's Baratheon blue eyes. Tara seemed to be aloof with Tyland, and she clearly lied about liking being an older sister when Alysanne asked her about it. Maris claimed that her daughter's aloofness was Jason and Johanna's doing, claiming that they were trying to turn her daughter against both her and Tyland, but Baela and Alysanne doubted that. Tara probably just felt jealous that her mother had another child that she was paying attention too.
While a complete reconciliation could not be made, Baela was pleased to have restored some amiable ties with Maris. The Lady of the Crag had also mended the rift between her and her mother during the Tenth Year Tourney, and Lady Elenda Caron got to see her Lannister granddaughter for the first time in five years, and her Westerling grandson for the very first time. The tourney also served as the venue for the reunion of the Four Storms and their baby brother Royce. Each sister was the matriarch of their husbands' households (or in Floris's case, was going to be in the future), and their children bore a diverse range of hair and eye colors that were indicative of their families: brown, gold, silver-gold, grey, green, blue, and purple. Lord Borros Baratheon was not present at the tourney, but Maris was not sad that her father was absent, and she was content on never seeing him again due to his behavior.
Elenda had told everyone that Borros could not attend the tourney due to not feeling well, but her daughters and their husbands, along with the rest of the royal family, hypothesized that the Lord of Storm's End's "illness" was actually his addiction to milk of the poppy. Intel from the White Worm hinted that Borros's face had become quite puffy over the years due to his heavy reliance on the medicine to soothe his migraine headaches, and that lately he had been losing himself to the "poppy's fog". Rumors had been circulating in the villages near Storm's End that governance of the Stormlands had fallen into the hands of Lady Elenda and her husband's maester as Borros fell deeper into his poppy dreams. While Borros's supposed decline was unconfirmed, the thought that such a powerful and proud man was slowly becoming the shadow of his former self was difficult to process for the Four Storms. They thought that their father was the strongest man alive during their girlhoods, and that he could fight and defeat the fiercest storms with just his bare fists, but as real life had shown, Borros was just as infallible as any other man.
While one illness spelled the decline of one life, another would announce the beginning of a new one. Lady Myrine Darklyn came down with nausea during the tourney. Suffering from sporadic bouts of vomiting during those days of celebration, Myrine was examined by Grandmaester Gerardys, and it was he who confirmed the happy news to the royal family after he had made his diagnosis. Lady Darklyn was pregnant with her and Prince Viserys Targaryen's firstborn child, and the baby was due to be born during the first moon of 140 AC. It was quite a shock for Myrine at first, but she soon became excited over her crossing the threshold into motherhood; Jaehaera was very excited to learn that one of her companions was now expecting alongside her.
Beginning inauspiciously with House Hightower accepting their invitation, the Tenth Year Tourney of Queen Rhaenyra I Targaryen ended as a tremendous success. Those seven days of celebrations helped to lay the groundwork for something hopeful and wonderful, the reconciliation between the Iron Throne and the Reach. The queen and Lady Sam's private talk before the tourney's opening day finally got the ball rolling. The first stepping stone to be put down for this reconciliation was announced by Rhaenyra during the night of the tourney's closing feast. After much more talk during the days that the two women had spent hunting, hawking, and sailing together, Rhaenyra I and Lady Sam created betrothals between their relatives.
Rhaenyra's two youngest grandsons, Princes Aelyx Targaryen and Corlys Velaryon, were promised to Samantha's two daughters, Ladies Lilith and Regina Hightower. Mending the rift between the Targaryen's and the Hightower's was the main goal of this conciliatory double betrothal, ending the rivalry between the lords of Oldtown and House Velaryon came in second. Feelings of great felicity were rampant amongst the royal family and the attendees of the tourney after the double betrothal was announced. Lady Sam and the queen parted as friends after the tourney had concluded. Goodwill was left behind by the Hightower's in King's Landing, and goodwill was given to them in turn by the Black Targaryen's.
The future for Westeros had never looked so bright.
Looks like things are starting to look up for peace to be made between the Blacks and Greens after so long, huh? What do you guys think will happen in the future in the next decade? The next chapter will be an appendix to list and detail the characters that have appeared during the ten year span between 129 AC and 139 AC. I am currently working on it, and it should hopefully be out in the coming days I hope. I wanted to publish it alongside these chapters, but I have decided to publish the first two chapters since you guys have waited long enough for them.
Plus, I have a lot of characters to list! Anyway, thanks for reading and please review! :)