Viserys did indeed issue a decree the day after their return home that they had been attacked by savages who had disfigured his dear wife and had taken her hands. However, the Lord's of the realm were skeptical since the King himself seemed to be fully unharmed nor had Corlys or Rhaenys been harmed.
It was the same day that Viserys issued his decree that Corlys and Rhaenys took Laenor out to one of the smaller islands within Blackwater Bay to tell him the true story of their adventure and to find out how things had been for their son while he had been in Westeros.
"Rhaenyra has definitely developed a bit of a savage nature over the years," Rhaenys began with a smile. "She deliberately avoided Their Grace's for the first few days we were in her village before enticing them to follow her and her husband into an alleyway behind their alehouse where they apparently decided to fuck. They were fully going at it against the wall of their business when Viserys and Alicent caught up to them and they just kept going without shame much to Alicent's disgust and Viserys' shame."
"Yes, we learned very well while we were there that your cousin and her husband have an extremely hands-on marriage and that's one of the reasons why they have so many children and they want more. The Queen absolutely hated that."
"So what actually happened to the Queen?" asked Laenor.
Rhaenys and Corlys shared a look and a laugh.
"I guess she believed she was as much above the law in Mercia as she is here," replied Corlys.
At Laenor's confused expression, Rhaenys explained, "Alicent tried to kill Rhaenyra and her family by burning their house down as they slept and this in in addition to deliberately knocking down multiple lit bazaars on a windy night, endangering many other homes and structures in the village. When Rhaenyra's family managed to escape their burning home unharmed, she freaked out and confessed in front of multiple villagers, Rhaenyra and her husband. She was caught but then managed to wiggle free from the hands holding her and then attempted to stab Rhaenyra with someone's blade. Rhaenyra blocked it but it did slice her arm pretty badly.
After that, Alicent was bound and gagged before being carried to the local Lord, Lord Uhtred's Hall. Lord Uhtred, being a good friend to both Nyra and her husband Sihtric, was enraged when he learned what had happened. We, alongside Viserys were summoned to the Hall where Viserys was appalled by how his wife was being treated, never mind that she had attempted to kill his daughter, twice, that night and all of his grandchildren. Viserys tried to use his title to get Alicent free and prevent her from being punished to no avail.
When Sihtric and Nyra finally arrived at the hall, after Sihtric saw his wife's wound cared for, Nyra wound up shouting at her father while your father and I helped decide on Alicent's punishments. We all would have loved to have seen her dead but it was decided that she would be stripped and whipped, burned, have both eyes burned out and would lose both hands for her crimes, publicly.
The next day, Alicent screamed out her confession of all of her many crimes and how she was 'doing the work of the Gods' in front of Viserys and the entire village. Nyra also confessed to how her family escaped their burning house. Apparently, the Fourteen Flames have given her, her husband and their descendants the gift of being unburt. Viserys still tried to defend Alicent despite her confessions and was told that if he interfered, he would face the same punishments. Sihtric got to be part of the whipping of Alicent and Nyra got to burn her which made Viserys call her cruel.
Somehow, despite how Viserys refused to acknowledge Alicent's crimes, Rhaenyra's happy marriage and how Viserys called Rhaenyra 'cruel', he expected to have her and her family see him off. Your father and I did get to go and say our farewells to them at the site of their home without issue but Viserys and Alicent were forbidden from going anywhere besides the inn where we had stayed and the docks."
"So the King remains blinded by the Hightowers even now, I suppose," replied Laenor. "Well, most of the realm is now very opposed to the Queen and her ilk since I got word spread around."
"So our plan is working then, son?" asked Lord Corlys.
"Very much so, father," Laenor replied. "I shared the evidence, as planned, first with Lord Strong who passed the information along to both of his sons. Ser Harwin has spread it among the Gold Cloaks and the small folk while Lord Larys has spread it discreetly among the nobles. I also shared the full contents of the evidence with Lady Jeyne and her loyal bannermen in the Vale, Lord Cregan and his in the North and several of our other allies in the Red Keep like Lord Beesbury and Lord Caswell. Now, once people learn that the Queen was not actually attacked but punished for crimes and the King is trying to cover it up, well, we may just have a revolt!"
Soon after Rhaenys and Laenor left to share the story of the King and Queen's trip with the nobles in the Vale and North while Corlys met with Lords Strong, Beesbury and Caswell to let them also know the truth.
It took less than a week before the Realm was buzzing with rumors that the Queen was mad, that she had committed multiple murders in Mercia and that the former princess had been horrifically maimed by the Queen while the King stood by and watched.