
Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/1365016.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Rape/Non-Con,
      Underage
  Category:
      F/M, M/M
  Fandom:
      A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire_-_George_R._R._Martin, Game_of_Thrones_(TV)
  Relationship:
      Cassana_Baratheon/Steffon_Baratheon, Aerys_II_Targaryen/Rhaella
      Targaryen, Lyanna_Stark/Rhaegar_Targaryen, Robert_Baratheon/Cersei
      Lannister
  Character:
      Steffon_Baratheon, Rhaella_Targaryen, Monterys_Velaryon, Rhaegar
      Targaryen, Jaime_Lannister, Cersei_Lannister, Lyanna_Stark, Arthur_Dayne,
      Lewyn_Martell, Gerold_Hightower, Tywin_Lannister
  Additional Tags:
      serious_fic, AU, Alternate_Universe_-_Canon_Divergence, Allusions_made_to
      all_sorts_of_morally_ambiguous_or_evil_things, Allusions_to_Suicide,
      Dubious_Consent
  Stats:
      Published: 2014-03-25 Updated: 2014-03-27 Chapters: 3/? Words: 6761
****** If Winter Comes, can Spring be far behind? ******
by Basileus
Summary
     'Duskendale had been his finest hour, yet the memory tasted bitter on
     his tongue.'
     Or a world where Ser Barristan fails at Duskendale and Tywin
     Lannister underestimates a woman to his peril.
     Rhaegar Targaryen, First of his Name, ascends to the Iron Throne at
     the young age of seventeen-and a different Westros follows.
Notes
     O.K, long rant explaining rationale behind this story. You may ignore
     if you simply want to get to the meat of the matter.
     When I look at Westros in the closing years of the Third Century
     (AL), I only observe a state of advanced decay. Individual regions
     might be flourishing, but the concept of an United Realm is
     essentially dead. The state machinery is basically ruined, only a
     bunch of lords jockeying for power in a fashion never seen before.
     Most people still have not given up on the concept of the Seven
     Kingdoms, but it is essentially dead-especially on account of the
     short sight exhibited by those in power to remedy it.
     This can be directly related to two events: the collapse of the
     Targaryen dynasty, and sheer incompetence of its last King, Aerys. A
     collapse of a long-lived (and the Targaryens were certainly long
     lived for a dynasty of absolute monarchs-by our standards) dynasty at
     times when regional/feudal identities define loyalties and an
     accompanying deficit of people with vision can be disastrous for the
     whole state. There is also the question of what defines Westrosi? Who
     are the barbarians we need to be different from? The Wildlings are
     far off the wall, and for many Southrons they are not that different
     from Northmen (religion being a big factor) and the Essosi have no
     desire to conquer Westros. Without a need to define a distinct
     Westrosi identity in the face of external troubles, the division was
     inevitable.
     It was simply delayed by the sheer static nature of Westrosi society,
     caught in what seems to be a Medieval age for ~3000 years at least,
     and keeping same old royals (Stark, Durrendon-Baratheon, Lannister)
     etc for ~8000 years. Therefore, even though the Dance deprived
     Targaryens of their one key weapon, the Westrosi were content to keep
     the system going. Trade at least had flourished, and non-militarized
     Lords did not mind the peace. The extraordinary incompetence of Aerys
     led to an uprising, but then who? Incest had greatly limited the
     number of possible successors who could be seen as far off from Aerys
     but close enough to the main-line. Fortunately, they did have such a
     stop-gap candidate but the alliances built then lasted only one more
     generation. And then it all broke down completely.
     Could this have been averted? Barristan Selmy, the man who lived
     through the whole age of decay seems to think so, and I agree. With
     the right circumstances, Selmy’s failure could have easily been the
     Nation’s gain-if only to buy a little more time that might lead to a
     change in circumstances.
     There have been several instances in the fic where I do allow very-
     very favorable circumstances to happen. These were in some sense
     inevitable-else my plans of giving a chance for an united realm to
     form will not happen.
     This fic will not have huge battles being fought; the true game will
     be played in the Shadows and Chambers. I will also attempt a proper
     pairing in this fic, something which I have not done so far (no its
     not Rhaegar/Lyanna-sorry, I have not yet added the tag). Lets see how
     it works out. Feel free to guess the pairing in the comments :P
     Final words: 'A function reaches its minima when it simply cannot
     decrease any further (dy/dx=0) and can only go up (d2y/dx^2>0)'-
     Author.
     'If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?'-Percy Shelley, Ode to
     the West Wind.
***** A Game of Thrones *****
Chapter Summary
     The Stags hears about the woes of the Dragons.
Chapter Notes
     I own nothing.
     For those who are curious: Defiance of Duskendale: http://
     awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Defiance_of_Duskendale
     Steffon Baratheon's mother was Rhaelle Targaryen, Rhaella's aunt.
     Robert never shows it, but Steffon was quite close with his cousins,
     going to Essos to find a bride for Rhaegar (and drowning in the
     return voyage).
     Westros is generally deurbanized, I think there are only 5 Cities
     (White Harbor, Oldtown, Lannisport, Gulltown and Kings Landing), and
     thats why many people think of Kings Landing as just 'The City'. A
     real life example is how Constantinopolis/Constantinople morphed in
     to εις την Πόλιν(istimpolin) in Greek ('to the City/Polis'), which
     has resulted in the name Istanbul today. Steffon thinks the same way
     about KL.
     Quick age summary: http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/
     Years_after_Aegon%27s_Landing gives the years.
     In short:
     Rhaegar-17
     Viserys-1
     Brandon-15
     Robert&Ned-13
     Lyanna-9
     Stannis-11
     Renly- -2
     Willas- 1
     Jaime&Cersei-10 (Also Lysa)
     Elia- 19
     Catelyn-11
See the end of the chapter for more notes
276AL
Lord Steffon Baratheon pulled the reins and commanded his horse to move even
faster, barking orders at his men to get their act together. We are almost
there, but we must not slow down now, he thought, marching through the night.He
had considered calling his banners and moving on to Duskendale as soon as he
had heard that Aerys was held captive. But Rhaella had asked him to stay
put.The number of men needed to overwhelm Duskendale is not much, and yet we
can do nothing while Darklyn holds the King hostage. It would gladden me if you
were out there, but Tywin would see it as a vote of no-confidence against him
and therefore I implore you to stay put for now, as it makes no difference, she
had written.
But the circumstances had changed. He had received a letter a few days ago from
Rhaella, that stated that Tywin was making some plans with regards to
Duskendale, and Ser Gerold was to take all the Kingsguard over. She had
resisted and managed to keep Ser Arthur and Ser Lewyn, both of whom had shown
an extreme reluctance to cooperate with Tywin. Nonetheless, it was a clear sign
that things were worsening and he had to move in to help his cousin maintain
her authority.She asked her uncle to come as well, but Lord Alyn is near
seventy. Still, Alyn Velaryon would have probably made it to King’s Landing
before him, and the presense of that old man could make all the difference if
things worsened. Nonetheless, he had to be present-as both the King’s cousin as
well as Lord Paramount to keep Tywin in check.
He looked ahead and froze. A horseman was riding down as fast as he could,
silver hair shining in the moonlight. Rhaegar? No, Rhaegar will not leave the
City. Lord Alyn’s son? But he saw the white cloak of the Kingsguard as the man
drew closer, Dayne then, but why is he here. Fear welled within him as he
spurred his horse onwards, why is he not with Rhaella and Viserys?
Arthur Dayne stopped when he noticed the host before him. Their eyes met, and
he knew that Dayne had recognized him. He beckoned Dayne to come closer and the
knight moved forward.
‘The king is dead.’ whispered Ser Arthur Dayne.
There is no time to grieve now. We need to move to the City right now.
===============================================================================
They reached the City at dawn, and Tywin’s host was nowhere in sight.Thank the
Seven. He was glad that Ser Gerold had moved out as soon as was apparent that
the King was dead, against the direct wishes to Lord Tywin, and made it back to
the City to alert the Queen. Ser Arthur had immediately been sent out to find
him, and the man confessed that he had not expected the Baratheon host to be so
close. Lord Alyn was already there, with a sizable number of men, should it
prove necessary.
What was Tywin thinking? Sending Selmy in to try to rescue the King? It had
almost worked except Darklyn’s sellswords had caught them while they were
exiting the town, and both got killed in the skirmish.
Yet it seems a bit too good to be true. I am not entirely sure if our Lord Lion
is blameless, and he does stand most to gain. He was aware of the tension
between Tywin Lannister and his cousin, and he was also aware that Tywin
nurtured dreams of making his daughter a Queen. ‘Over my dead body,’ Mariah
Martell had declared, after mentioning Tywin’s grand plan to him. The death of
a King who could have stopped him from gaining more power, ensures that the
succession passes to a seventeen year old boy, who can hardly afford to
antagonize his Lord Hand, no matter how popular he is and how badly the Hand
has failed. I can certainly see it working in his favor, telling Rhaegar that
he needs an heir other than his brother, a babe of one who can fall victim to
many things like accidents or childhood maladies. Who better than the daughter
of the Hand, especially since he has no sisters?
Except Rhaella will not let that happen, but he would hardly know that, will
he?, he thought as he rode up to the Red Keep. Rhaella had kept a low profile
since Summerhall, and only the family knew there was a bit more to the Queen
than a scared, silly woman. Good for deceiving Tywin, bad for situations when
she needs to show that she is in control. Nonetheless, I am here, to obey as my
Queen commands.
He was led to the library, and he saw Ser Lewyn guarding the door, nodding in
acknowledgement. Another ally in this city of worms. He stepped inside to see
Ser Gerold was already inside, as was Lord Alyn and his son Moneterys. Rhaella
was inside, as was the new King.
‘I am sorry for suddenly dragging you out, but these turned out to be
extraordinary circumstances,’ spoke the Queen Dowager.
He returned a weak smile, ‘Cassana is sorry that she cannot be here.’
‘And so am I indeed, but this is an emergency. We need to act against Tywin
right now.’
Direct and to the point. ‘I am surprised he is not here already.’
‘Busy destroying Duskendale, as if that changes anything,’ spoke Ser Gerold.
‘Wanted me to help but I told him that my job was defense of the King, not
being the Hand’s lapdog. I am certain he did not know you and Lord Velaryon
will be coming, else he would have rushed.’
‘Am I the only one who suspects foul play?’
‘I think we all do,’ spoke Lord Velaryon, ‘but we cannot prove anything.’
‘Regardless, he cannot continue as Hand,’ asserted Rhaella, ‘which is why I am
glad that you are here, cousin.’
Oh.‘He will not take it too well.’
‘Which is why I need to know, what do you think are our odds of winning against
him are?;’
‘He commands an army made up of people from the Crownlands, not his Westermen.
They would carve him up should Lord Alyn command them to, to say nothing of you
or Rhaegar.’
‘I wish it were so, but the Rains are rather infamous, especially in light of
Aerys’ weakness.’
‘Tywin has failed. His job was to rescue the King, and he has failed, end of
the story. Ser Barristan has paid with his life, and Lord Tywin should consider
himself grateful that he is only losing his job.’
‘I don’t want war though, can that be averted?’
‘Storm’s End stands with you, till the end. I think he will find us mightier
than Reyne’s and Tarbeck’s should it come down to it.’
‘As for the rest,’ continued Lord Steffon,’Princess Mariah will probably empty
Dorne of fighting men if she could get revenge on Tywin for that slight two
years ago.’
‘It was very unwise of Lord Lion to offer the Imp for Princess Elia,’ smirked
Lord Velaryon. ‘No matter whatever ambitions he had for his daughter, wedding
Jaime would have cost him nothing. It would have been hard to find a suitable
bride of better breeding in any case.’
‘The Reach will stand with you,’ declared Ser Gerold. ‘Lord Luthor Tyrell hates
Tywin, his grandmother was a Reyne. Besides, his children are already wed, his
heir to my niece. There is nothing that Tywin can offer him to change his mind.
And House Hightower is with you, now and forever.’
‘I am surprised that a honorable man like you is here plotting with us, Ser
Gerold’, observed Lord Alyn.
‘I have already made myself an enemy of Tywin by defying him, so I intend to
see this through. Besides, there is nothing honorable outside the man to begin
with.’
‘Expedient means, eh?’ smirked Velaryon. ‘As for the Vale, Jon Arryn will stand
with us. He is as honorable as his father, and is not known to be too fond of
Tywin’s machinations. If Tywin does not accept the verdict regarding his
failure, the Vale will aid us through this. What worries me is House Tully,
Hoster has two girls who can be betrothed. I hear negotiations are on with the
North regarding a match between Brandon Stark and the elder, but Tywin can
betroth Jaime to the younger, creating a sticky situation, especially as Genna
Lannister is wed to a Frey.’
‘We already have half the Riverlands standing with us, I do not fear that
Fish,’ declared Rhaella. ‘Lord Darry will hang him from his own walls if that
man dares cause trouble.’
‘Unless Winterfell sends aid. Rickard Stark has southron ambitions, and while I
would hesitate to call him dishonorable, the man is not cut from the same cloth
as Jon Arryn,’ spoke Steffon Baratheon, recalling his communications with
Winterfell.
A gloom of silence descended upon the room, bringing down the largest, fiercest
and most monolithic army against them was not something anyone wanted. There
has to be a way to placate Rickard Stark. And the answer flashed in his head,
damnition, there goes all my plans for Robert. All for the realm.
‘Your Grace,’ he said, directly addressing Rhaegar who looked uncomfortable at
the salutation, ‘have you considered a prospective marital alliance? The realm
does require a heir other than your younger brother, and we both know that we
don’t want Robert anywhere near that thing.’There might have been worse Kings
than what Robert could become, but none of them founded a dynasty. The
Targaryens were made by great men, and a shaky start to a potential Baratheon
rule will finish the Seven Kingdoms.
‘I confess that I have not put much thought into it,’ admitted Rhaegar,’do you
have any suggestions?’
‘Your father wanted to send Lord Steffon to Essos for finding one, but
considering the current political climate, a Westrosi bride will be for the
best. I did not give you a sister in time, and neither Lord Baratheon nor Lord
Velaryon has a daughter of the right age. So we might as well give up on
preserving dragonblood. However, it needs to be from a proper, royal House, no
upstarts like Tullys or Greyjoys’ spoke the Queen.Or Tyrell.
‘That leaves us with two options-Elia Martell and Lyanna Stark, as none of us
here want to grant Tywin his wish,’ spoke Steffon.
He leaned closer and whispered to Rhaella, ‘Can Lewyn hear us?’
‘The doors are too thick. No one can hear a word from outside, which is why I
chose this room.’
‘While Elia comes from the line of Daenerys Targaryen, I would strongly advise
against her. We will have Dorne to play against Tywin without this alliance as
well. While she is of marriageable age right now, and can perhaps secure the
succession-I fear she is too sickly to actually survive the process.’
‘That leaves us with nine year old Lyanna Stark, who can be wedded and bedded
in five—‘
‘At least seven!’, Rhaella spoke harshly, interrupting her uncle, Lord Alyn.
‘A bit too far to the future, but can seal a good alliance for us. With the
North aiding us, Tywin will have nowhere to go. Lord Rickard will hardly refuse
the ultimate Southron alliance either.’
‘How do we know she is available?’, asked Rhaegar.
‘Because I was trying to negotiate a match with Robert. I can tell Lord Stark
that as Hand, I decided the realm needs his daughter more than my family or
such, and flatter him to agreeing.’
‘I am sorry Steffon,’ Rhaella said, regret sincere in her voice.
‘Eh, we are family anyways. Leave a daughter for my family sometime, Rhaegar,’
he said, winking at the King, who blushed and looked away.
‘Besides, I do have a plan. I heard Tywin’s daughter is in the Capital?’
Rhaella’s eyes widened. ‘That is certainly a great sacrifice you are offering
to make.’
‘Not that big a one, options for Robert were limited to begin with. We fire
Tywin, deny him his wish, hold his daughter captive here and then wed her to
Robert when the time is right. Tywin will be told that should any unexplained
accident happen to any of us, his daughter will be short of her head. He
already has a bad reputation thanks to the Rains, and if we even make an
accusation of treachery, he will have little to fight back with, especially
after his spectacular failure in Duskendale. Too few allies for our lord Lion.
Westerlands never had many men to begin with, and he will have difficulties
buying sellswords, as we on the Eastern Seaboard have all the right contacts in
the Free Cities.’
‘I concur,’ added Lord Velaryon. ‘No company will help him except the Golden
Company. I do not fear them, we have defeated them too many times. Besides,
there are far too many exiled Lords in the Golden Company for some of the
current ones to feel comfortable. I propose we offer Tywin a deal, tell him to
resign taking moral responsibility, which we accept and then betroth his
daughter to the King’s cousin for his service. The said daughter stays as a
handmaiden for the Queen, like right now. If he refuses, we fire him, and make
him short one head. Then we take care of his brother should they not get the
message.’
‘That certainly seems to be a wise course of action,’ spoke Rhaegar.’I only
hope Tywin has no secret cards to play.’
‘He is not stupid, he will know he has lost when he the sees the Capital filled
with loyalists. His only mistake was thinking that we would be sitting in our
homes and not already moving in. That move of yours saved us, Rhaella. He might
as well concede defeat and move on, else I will explain the consequences to
him. I am not a Reyne to be cowed by him.’
‘Nevertheless,’ Velaryon added, ‘Lord Steffon and I will be the ones to meet
him. Both you and Rhaella must stay removed. Plausible deniability, claim we
pressured you as we are family etc. He cannot rule without a dragon, and
Viserys is too young to be viable. One disease and Tywin is done for. Therefore
he must keep you alive, and that is your greatest asset. Use it well.’
‘I do not see this going badly though, Tywin is the one in hostile territory
here.’ spoke Steffon. ‘Nonetheless, I wholeheartedly agree with what Lord Alyn
said.’
There was a loud knock on the door, as Lewyn yelled, ‘Tywin and men sighted.’
And so it begins,Steffon thought locking eyes with the violet orbs of the
seventy year old Sea Snake.
Chapter End Notes
     And so it begins.
     Comments and kudos will be greatly appreciated.
***** The Queen from the North *****
Chapter Summary
     The ordeal of being Lyanna Stark.
Chapter Notes
     I own nothing.
     We jump five years forward. And the we jump a bit more.
     Lyanna was hard, and pairing was even harder-I am not sure this is
     anywhere close to my usual standards.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
281 AL
Lyanna tried to pretend that she was not being awed by all the things they were
seeing as they moved south. It was after all the first time she had come South
of the Neck, but she could not admit that she was affected by the vastly
different landscape, Septa Catelyn will hold that against me too.
She wondered who had thought it would be a clever idea to come to Riverunn on
the way to Kings Landing, and meet up with the Lannisters. The thought of
travelling with so many southrons for the rest of the journey was frightening.
At least Old Lord Frey did not send some of his men along, although I do not
think the King cares whether or not they come. She smirked when she remembered
the look on Lord Frey’s face, as he tried to convince their father that Ned or
Ben could perhaps marry one of his daughters. Her father had kept a passive
face as he promised to give the matter ‘his most sincere consideration’ but Lya
knew there was no way she was getting a Frey as a goodsister. Thank the Old
Gods for that.
Nonetheless, travelling with the delegation from the Riverlands and Westerlands
was a frightening prospect, especially as she had so few people to talk to,
besides Ben and Bran. She wished that Ned was here, he had been fostered in the
Vale and could help her get used to it all. But Ned was already in Kings
Landing, with Lord Arryn and the groom. Travelling by ship from Gulltown was
faster after all, and she wondered why they simply did not sail from White
Harbor too. Probably because father wanted Bran to meet his Septa, she thought,
smirking, but if all southron women are like this, I will cut my hair and run
away to Dorne.Ser Jonothor had assured her that it was not really the case,
that there were many strong and independent ladies amongst the Queen’s
handmaidens but she was not sure whether to trust him or not. He is probably
just trying to not let me down, the silly wild girl he had been sent to defend.
Still, Ser Jonothor had introduced her to his family, which turned out to be
the most courteous of the southrons. His youngest brother, Raymun seemed
extremely awed by her, and nearly worshipped the ground she walked across.
Nonetheless, Raymun Darry was the closest thing she had to a friend amongst the
Southrons, who apparently could not believe that she was going to be their
future Queen.
I didn’t ask for it!, she wanted to scream. Even now I wish I could just run
away from this all! But she couldn’t, not with Ser Jonothor around her, and his
brother staying around her and Ben. She had basically resigned herself to her
fate by now, to be reduced to the perfect Southron wife, popping babies and not
amounting to anything in life. Although it could have been worse, I could have
been the one to wed Robert instead of Cersei, she shuddered. Even though the
King was four years older than his cousin, there had been no talk of bastards
at all. No, Rhaegar Targaryen was the perfect man, a competent King who kept
talented advisors and had strengthened the realm; well educated, wise and
talented in playing the harp; said to be a good swordsman, but never took part
in tourneys after being crowned; a man who by all accounts deserved a
beautiful, prim-and-proper wife, who would secure the succession, not a
horsefaced barbarian from the North. Someone like Catelyn Tully or Cersei
Lannister.The fathers of the two women certainly felt so, and had made little
attempt to hide their indignation around her.
She did know why she had been chosen after all, her father had made it very
clear to her in order prevent her from getting any wrong ideas. He has no
sisters or cousins, and Lord Tywin failed to save his father. The Crown felt
that an alliance with the North mattered far more than one with the Riverlands.
Be mindful of that, and realize any impropriety on your part will shame all of
us Northmen.And her father was right, the judgmental looks thrown by both Lord
Tywin and Lord Hoster had made it clear what they thought of her, to say
nothing of the snobbish tones of the Tully sisters. Her father had barely
contained his rage, although it was not directed at her this time.
Do not forget that you are a Stark of Winterfell, a descendant of Brandon the
Builder. We have been Kings for eight thousand years and have beaten down every
one of these southron Andals. We did not need to deceive our way to power like
the line of Lann the Clever nor did we need an Aegon Targaryen to give us
freedom like those fish. Keep that in mind and ignore them, for the King and
his council felt that their daughters were not half as worthy as you, her
father had told her the night before, the first time he had said anything
positive in years. She had silently listened, fuming within, what difference
does it make when that still means I just have to be a womb? Who cares what
these Andals think, when Visenya Targaryen and Queen Nymeria defeated their
menfolk down? But she knew her father would not listen, as proud as he was of
their blood, he did have different ideas regarding role of women. In her
defeat, Rhaenyra Targaryen took all of us down.
Nonetheless, her father had told her that she could ride with the men instead
of going in the wheelhouse with the Tully sisters. So that Ser Jonothor can
keep an eye on you,he had said, matching smirks on each other’s faces. Father
and daughter might have had differences in opinion in the far North, but they
would present a united front to the Southrons.
It was not going to be too bad, as Ben and Bran would be with her, along with
Ser Jonothor’s brothers. Jaime Lannister too was much better company than his
father, as he at the very least did not seem to hold horse-riding against her.
Cersei was much the same, he had said, a wistful smile on his face, though I
have not seen her in five years.
And I will not see my family for the next two years,she thought wistfully.
After Cersei and Robert were wed, she would remain in Kings Landing as a
handmaiden to Queen Rhaella, learning the ropes while awaiting her own marriage
in two years. She was glad that she did not have to wed before turning sixteen,
and felt a stab of gratitude towards her future goodmother. Maybe the blood of
Visenya Targaryen is not gone after all.
===============================================================================
 
283 AL.
Today was her wedding day, and she was surprised to realize how calm she was.
Kings Landing changes us all, but at least I had a good teacher. The Queen had
been her greatest mentor in this City of Vipers. She was still in awe of her
ability to play this game, even after watching her for two years. One would
mistake her for a Septa, all clothed in white and busy looking after Viserys,
while playing the Game of Thrones like a master. Rhaella Targaryen had been
very good to her, teaching her that there were more ways of getting around
social obstacles than directly bulldozing through. She was certain that she
could now drive Catelyn insane even without having to resorting to
violence.Maybe I should test that on Cersei and not my goodsister, just so that
Bran has domestic peace. Although Catelyn will be easier to tackle, one year
married and I am still not an aunt, while Cersei did pop a baby within a year
of her marriage.
The thought of becoming a mother was much less frightening than it used to be,
mainly because of Rhaegar. She had been frightened when the King had walked
into the place where she was sparring with Ned, but he had not reacted as they
had feared he would. Ned had stammered and tried to pretend that it was his
fault, but Rhaegar had simply silenced him by asking her if she would oblige to
spar with him. They had sparred every evening since then, Ser Arthur or Ned or
the Queen watching. Ashara and the Queen had even tried to join in once, but
they ultimately had to be paired against each other as neither had enough
practice to go up against her or Rhaegar. She grinned when she thought of it,
the Targaryens were much different than what she had feared. Rhaegar let Ned
stay throughout as well. She thought it was simply a concession at first,
letting her have a brother close, but apparently Rhaegar had plans with Ned. He
is a part of their little group now, Arthur, Jon Connington, Monterys Velaryon
and Rhaegar. She and Ashara nagged their brothers about it, but they both knew
that Westros was not yet ready to have women in the Small Council, which was
what Rhaegar was shaping that group into. Rhaegar at least kept her informed
about what was going on, and she was sure Ned was telling Ashara everything,
they were marrying soon after all. She knew that was important, having a
closely knit ruling structure to maintain control. Lord Steffon and Queen
Rhaella already did that, and the new era would need a similar power structure,
built on trust that ran deeper than words.
She knew her role in it, and it did not frighten her too much. I need to secure
the succession, but I am not expected to be a bed-slave.She was still free to
do what she wanted, as long as she did that part of her duty. She suspected she
would have still resented it, but the fact it was Rhaegar made her soften quite
a bit. I don’t have to pretend to be someone else around him at least, no
matter how much I have to act before the world.Little Viserys had softened her
quite a bit as well, I think I will enjoy sparring with you in the years to
come, goodbrother. That is assuming your brother does not waste more effort
into trying to make a better musician out of me.
Her father came in and told her that it was almost time to leave for Baelor. My
last moments as Lyanna Stark,she thought wistfully. But so be it.
===============================================================================
 
The wedding was not the way she had imagined it would be, in a Sept and not
before a Heart-tree. We need to show our piety, thought she, looking at her
smug goodsister, don’t think you have won, Septa. There was a great feast, with
all the Lords coming to offer them gifts. Tywin looked quite a bit shocked to
see her now, and she took extra care to be extra polite with him, ensuring his
early departure. Then again, it might have simply been the presence of Ser
Jaime Lannister. Her husband had caused a major coup by getting him to join the
Kingsguard the day after Cersei’s wedding, an act that deprived Tywin of his
heir. Tywin had been furious, but had ultimately been unable to do much, after
Olenna Tyrell made a public barb about ‘whether this Lannister can keep this
King safe’. Tywin had stormily returned to the Rock and had not ventured out
till then, until the royal wedding itself. He even missed Joffrey Baratheon’s
birth.
Both Cersei and Robert were staring at them the full time, and she was suddenly
glad to have conjured the excuse of a twisted ankle to avoid dancing, and that
Rhaegar had graciously agreed to keep her company. Brandon was dancing with
Ashara, and Catelyn stared angrily at them. She briefly wondered if she should
ask Ned to bail Catelyn out, but Ned was already busy dancing with Elia,
Ashara’s goodsister. Lord Dayne had pleaded out of the event, on account of the
handicap he had sustained from his childhood malady, but he was smiling at the
whole scene. The Queen sat serenely at the table, ultimately agreeing to one
dance each with Lord Steffon, Lord Arryn and her father. Olenna Tyrell and
Cassana Baratheon acted much more freely, an act she suspected was greatly
scandalizing her goodsister.
The bedding had been an interesting experience to say the least, if only
because of Robert. Arthur has probably broken a few of his fingers, but Robert
deserved it. Lord Steffon looked horrifyingly embarrassed by the actions of his
son, and she was sure that the Lord Hand would be apologizing to her the next
day, asking her to forgive his drunken offspring.
But it was now just her and Rhaegar, after an eventful day, to say the least.
She did not like the way Cersei had been eyeing her husband but now she was
sure that she was no better.
‘We can delay this if you want,’Rhaegar tried to say weakly.
‘Shut up, we could have done this a year ago if you were not such a great
prude.’
Afterwards, she decided that being wedded to Rhaegar Targaryen was not a bad
thing in any way. Pity our official duties start tomorrow and we simply can’t
just run off to Dragonstone.
===============================================================================
 
284AL
The birth had ultimately been a painful process, but it was over and she was
suddenly a mother.Thank the gods that it was a son, that way the succession was
secured. She and Rhaella had come to a deal over the name, the official one
would be Jaehaerys, after Rhaella’s father while the family would shorten it to
Jon, after the Kings of Winter. Her son had features of his parents, grey eyes
and silver hair, and she suspected he would be turning quite a few female heads
in the years to come.
She knew she had to rely on Rhaella much more in the years to come, as she
needed to educate her son properly. They will soon be clamoring for a spare
too. I hope they will give me at least two more years.
I wonder if Ashara had her babe yet.Ned and Ashara had decided to spend some
time in the North before coming back here, and Ben had taken the black. Brandon
was still yet to have a kid, something that was beginning to distress their
father, who had dragged Ned back soon after their wedding. The Lannister woman
also probably had her kid, funny how she always gets pregnant when she deigns
to visit me.She did hope that it had nothing to do with Cersei’s unhealthy
fixture with Rhaegar or Robert’s fixture over her.
She entered the nursery and walked to the crib to feed Jon. She looked down at
her son, sleeping, clutching his first toy. Then she heard the crack and looked
closely.
And then she screamed.
Rhaella Targaryen was the first to run into the room, followed by Rhaegar and
Ser Arthur. The Dowager Queen took one look at the crib and her face paled.
‘Do not let anyone in here, Ser Arthur’, she thundered. ‘We need to leave for
Dragonstone tonight. Tell everyone that the Queen has fallen ill after the
birth and the island was a better place for recovery.’
‘Keep quiet about this Rhaegar, no one is to know other than Steffon. I think
the two of you will have to do without me for the next few years, ‘ concluded
the Queen.
Chapter End Notes
     Comments/kudos welcome.
     So what do you guys think?
***** The Dragon Queens and their companions *****
Chapter Summary
     The Women of Westros
Chapter Notes
     The first toy given to a Targaryen babe is a dragon egg. Normally
     adults kept watch (you know, kid and scaly carnivores go well
     together), but everyone thinks all of these are fossilized. Till,
     well the event itself.
Alright, you will have to bear with me here. I re-read the last chapter and
realized it looked totally cray. Part of the problem is that I did Lyanna more
realistically than I thought, as a young girl (trippy as L_Cloudy accurately
described it).
We need to understand the way one main character, Rhaella Targaryen is working.
However, she is not going to break into long reflections on her psyche here;
unlike in the Weirwood and Volcano (my other fic), she is not preparing for
death. Rhaella here acts in a particular way, and she is not very reflective on
all her past. But we do need to get inside Rhaella’s head, which is impossible
under the POV model.
Thus I will go third person here to talk about five women so far, where they
stand etc.
Rhaella Targaryen (240AL-): Firstborn child and only daughter of Jaehaerys II
Targaryen, second son of Aegon V. Raised as heir to Aegon V for long, on
account of her uncle Duncan’s reluctance to marry, and her father’s ill health.
Her younger brother Aerys was not considered by their grandfather, as he
believed that post the Blackfyre defeat (Ninepenny Kings&Maelys the Monstrous),
it was possible to replace the agnatic succession system forced by the Dance
with the older Valyrian system (where gender did not matter, like in Dorne).
Circumstances however, would serve to deny her the Iron Throne. Her Uncle
Duncan wed a commoner, Jenny of Oldstones, and got thrown out of succession,
apparently cementing her position as heir. But nearly all her family burns down
in Summerhall (Aegon V, Duncan, her other uncle etc), making her father king.
Jaehaerys II had insufficient political capital left to actually change the
succession, so it was Aerys who inherited. After her father’s death, Rhaella
retreats indoors, so as to avoid undermining Aerys. It was conscious political
decision and sacrifice on her part, the Targaryen line was nearly wiped out
save her immediate family and she did not want to create further issues. She
lets Tywin and Aerys rule, though she was increasingly fearful of the way
things are moving. Duskendale tips her hand, as she comes out of her self-
enforced exile to govern the realm, as she does not trust her son quite yet to
tackle the likes of Tywin Lannister.
Life has made Rhaella a harsh person. Once, she dreamt of knights in shining
armor, but had to marry Aerys instead of Bonnifer Hasty because of a prophecy.
She watched her uncles marry for love and nearly ruin the realm, and endured
her own loveless union with her brother. She made a choice on the first day she
learnt she was widowed, by choosing to stay and rule instead of running away
with Bonnifer Hasty or trying to find peace with Jon Arryn/Rickard Stark. The
closest person to Rhaella is probably canon Cersei but there are crucial
differences. Cersei’s weakness is family and power, whereas Rhaella does not
have anything similar. Rhaella was taught to choose the Realm over family and
happiness long ago, a lesson even more firmly entrenched by Summerhall and
seeing her father allow himself to be broken by the Iron Throne. The fate of
the Targaryens and that of united realm are too firmly entrenched for her to
plan for situations where she has to literally choose the life of her whole
family over that of the realm. However, if it is just one of her sons in return
for peace, she will do it.
Rhaella also lacks Cersei’s insecurities-she was born to be a Queen and never
felt inferior to any woman (Cersei has always people like Lyanna, Elia and even
Joanna Lannister to compete with). Rhaella is not willfully malicious, and is
capable of compassion. She is just incredibly ruthless in doing what she
believes the realm needs. So she dons white gowns, pretends to be the caring
mother helping her family while running the whole machinery to ensure that
lords stay in line. Castrating Tywin is a big part of it, as she wants to break
him down to nothing, for daring to imagine that he could be comparable to the
Targaryens (via wedding Cersei to Rhaegar). Her suspicions over his possible
role in Aerys’ death (that man was still her brother), and her discovery that
the throne was borrowing a bit too much from the Rock further makes her despise
Tywin. She cuts the crown’s expenses drastically to repay the debt to the Rock
(which Tywin had allowed to build up to get leverage). People may think getting
Ser Jaime to join the Kingsguard is Rhaegar’s coup (certainly his wife thinks
so) but it was the Queen that engineered it all. Right down from asking Ser
Jonothor (Lyanna’s guard) to speak about the glories of the Kingsguard to Jaime
while riding to King’s Landing from Riverunn (the Stark-Tully-Lannister
combined travel was her idea too) to getting young Ser Arthur and Ser Oswell
further bully a Jaime broken by his sister’s wedding. You might even find
traces of some drugs in Ser Jaime’s drink to affect his rationale. She had
Cersei as a hand-maiden for five years; she knows what Jaime’s weak points are
(except the biggest, which everyone misses again). After Jaime takes his vows,
and Tywin unable to stop him in fear of shaming his House before all, she gets
her plans to near fruition with the Imp in the position to inherit. One little
accident to the Imp, made easy by Tywin’s own hatred for the child, and
Steffon’s grandchildren inherit the Rock.
Her grandson changes things. Jaehaerys is ultimately her validation, for when
the egg hatches, she realizes that perhaps all her life had not been a waste
and there is promise to the prophecy after all. She leaves the realm to Steffon
and a slightly wiser Rhaegar, while she trains her grandson (she is best placed
after the unavailable Maester Aemon and Bloodraven). She knows a dragon is
worth far more leverage than moving a few pieces in KL, which her cousin and
son could do competently enough. Here she stands now.
Lyanna Stark: People say Arya is Lyanna born again. Certain things in canon
suggest Sansa inherited just as much, love for songs etc. Lyanna is a young
teenager and has issues, inferiority complexes with older women like Catelyn/
Cersei, who have already bloomed. She is very much a daddy’s girl, her mother
having died when she was young (Benjen’s birth). However, going south, she
begins to get an inferiority complex, especially as she is to be Queen. It was
easy to deal with clearly evil people like Hoster, Catelyn, Tywin, Robert etc,
but how to deal with kind people like Rhaella? She can stick Tywin with the
pointy end, but what do to when the only Mother figure in her life is
disappointed, and is still kind? Sansa was manipulated by Cersei despite having
a mother and Rhaella has Lyanna eating out of her hand with ease. Rhaella in
fact has it easier, for she is naturally kind and doesn’t have to fake it. So
she lets Lyanna spar with her son (Rhaegar found out about the whole sparring
thing from her who heard from Ashara who heard from Ned) as she doesn’t see
anything wrong with it. She does not fear a more beautiful younger Queen to
cast her down (contrast canon Cersei) and if granting Lyanna that little
freedom makes her even more grateful then why not? Rhaella plain and simply
plays on the emotions of Lyanna Stark to keep her malleable. She after all
wanted exclusive rights to educate her grandson, dragon or not. Lyanna later
wisens up, but still cannot hate Rhaella for the old woman is not doing it for
personal profit and is still unflinchingly kind. This is who Lyanna is, at this
moment-a teen slowly seeing the other face of the dragon after hypnotically
dancing to it.
Cersei Lannister:Not that different from canon, except the name Lannister has
become a joke. Likes that Jaime is KG and will never wed, and enjoys some fun
in her KL visits. Marriage to Bob a disaster as ever, with both fixated on the
King and the Queen. Cersei underestimates Rhaella to be a kind woman who asked
the other girls to hush after they made jokes the expense of Tywin, but doesn’t
realize how much secret Lannister info she had leaked to the dowager Queen over
the years. Children: Joffrey so far, another on the way. In short- a bitter
bitch as ever, just with far limited power, having a super-stern goodmother
(Casanna)
Ashara Dayne:Loyal to the Queen, and the chief intelligence officer for her
within the Keep. Serves her as she respects her independence and firm will.
Enjoyed humiliating Cersei when they were just handmaidens together. Marries
Ned Stark just because she likes him (and apparently he is not that bad a
shag). Is quite fond of Lyanna as well (as a bratty kid sisterish way). A kid
on the way.
Catelyn Tully:I pity her here. First her father grumbles about how that wee
slip of a Northern girl was chosen to be Queen (in canon, Elia was old enough
for Hoster to not really have issues, as Elia could immediately pop babies
unlike Cat or Lyanna). She is singularly unimpressed by Lyanna (Sansa+Arya
again), and hates it when the Northmen match her up against their daughter.
Neither Lord Rickard nor Brandon have any interest in building a Sept for her.
Children rather unlikely, considering Brandon Stark’s limited success in that
department. Has to deal with two scandalous goodsisters, Ashara and Lyanna. She
simply wastes in the North, amidst barbarians, often wishing she wed the second
son. However, Lysa (who marries some minor Riverlord in the end, who else wants
one who is not a virgin?) has difficulties with having kids, her mother had
issues and so no one blames Brandon (including she herself and her father). A
lot of self-flagellation followed by devotion to the Seven (up in the North)
follows.
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