Alyssa II
25AC
Alyssa Velaryon could hardly believe her eyes as her good brother removed his helm. She had expected all the possible different faces behind that damned mystery knight's helm but to see her goodbrother nearly made her heart stop. ' He is not even four and ten, ' was the first, baffled thought that came in her mind.
She had been watching this tourney with great interest. It was held for the first name day of her son Aegon after all. Her perfect little prince, her husband's heir, and the future King of The Seven Kingdoms, named aptly after his grandfather and the current King. Alyssa had given her favor to her uncle, Ser Corlys Velaryon, from the very beginning. He swore to win the tourney and crown her as Queen of Love and Beauty. He was the finest knight in the realm, the first kingsguard, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, a veteran from the conquest. He was favored to win, though not without challenge.
Of the four finalists, the only one she genuinely believed could best her uncle was Ser Robin Darklyn. The famed Darkrobin was perhaps the only other knight in the kingdom who could boast of feats similar to her uncle. He was famous for winning dozens of tourneys and he also participated in much of the conquest.
Their match had given her a real scare. It was touch and go from the very beginning and nobody could tell who would win. She was not the most knowledgeable in the skill of jousting. Regardless, even she could tell that her uncle and the Darkrobin were nigh evenly matched. Her husband said it was essentially luck that decided the match that day and thankfully, the luck was in her uncle's favor. ' If only it were the same now, ' She thought with bitterness as she looked at the crown of roses that lay in the lap of the one person she hated more than anything.
Queen Visenya Targaryen had gone out of her way to make her life as difficult as possible. Ever since her rightfully diverted powergrab she had happily humiliated her at every opportunity. First of all, she completely withdrew from the governance of the realm and the entire court felt the impact. Especially when King Aegon was on his progress to the North.
Alyssa tried to step in and help with the governance during the absence of King Aegon and Queen Visenya but her efforts bore no fruit. First, she tried to get Aenys involved. There was only one person besides Queen Visenya who could fill King Aegon's role. His son was the obvious choice, she tried several times to get Aenys to do something, anything to take the edge off but she failed. Her husband feared stepping out of line and angering his father.
She also tried to help in her own way. Queen Visenya dealt with all sorts of paperwork, namely petitions but there was still an endless stream of documents that needed royal approval. She tried a few times to get some of this work done, she had the permission of her husband so she was not acting out of line, but she just was not cut out for the work. Her father had not included these types of matters in her education. As a result she was woefully unprepared and she likely created more harm than good, which Queen Visenya oh so helpfully, and loudly, exclaimed. This coupled with her becoming with child once more and thus ended her meager attempt at governance.
Queen Visenya then took the chance to tear down her father's coalition of power. Lambasting the entire Small Council for their ineptitude but mostly focusing on Lord Alton Celtigar. The Celtigars were one of their closest allies and House Velaryons had family ties with them for generations. Lord Alton had held the position of Master of Coin since his father died in the office six and ten years ago. He was not particularly adept at it but the realm was running smoothly so there was no cause for concern. Then both sovereigns left and the gold dragons stopped flowing. It was a huge scandal once the laborers at the Dragonpit stopped getting paid and Queen Visenya vocally let everyone know it was Lord Alton's fault. Upon King Aegon's return, he dismissed Lord Alton from the position and placed Tion Tarbeck in the seat. A house with close ties to House Lannister and the western houses through them.
Her father's words rang true in her head. Their position was falling apart, and their near complete control of the Small Council ended summarily as Ser Osmund and Tion Tarbeck vocally called out the failures of the Small Council, agreeing with Queen Visenya. King Aegon then decided to look back at his councelors to see if they were truly qualified for the positon. The absence of the Queen made it clear that he needed a more capable council, Lord Triston Massey was soon removed and replaced with Lord Martyn Hightower, brother of Maegor's betrothed. The only seats they were guaranteed to keep was Master of Ships and Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, all the other ones were either in flux or against them.
Even the birth of her son, which should have cemented their power did not feel like the decisive victory she wished it had been. Her son Aegon was born healthy and big, noticeably bigger than Rhaena but the birth was difficult. She had labored for almost an entire day before her son was finally born and the birth left her bedridden for three sennights. Grand Maester Gawen told her that she would have to take a break from having more children. "If you have any more at this time it could kill you, My Lady," Grand Maester Gawen said and her heart sank.
She had only the best education a Westerosi woman could ask for. She was taught that her primary duty was to give her husband healthy heirs and spares to ensure the succession. To hear she had also failed in that she wanted to do nothing but cry. It was only made worse when Queen Visenya hit her again, she called out her supposed weakness over being bedridden. Citing her own labors only required her to rest for a few days. Despite Maegor being much larger than even Aegon was.
She received some solace when most of the court was outraged at what Queen Visenya said but it was too late to stop the humiliation. The vermin around the court began whispering about it and all Alyssa wanted was for them to shut up. Going on a royal progress was meant to be a nice reprieve from the cruel court but even that did not work as planned. Queen Visenya continued to not help rule the realm so King Aegon had to leave the progress early so she was suddenly expected to take a much more involved role in the progress when it was supposed to be a sort of retreat.
Queen Visenya had another avenue to humiliate her. Namely, raising her goodbrother Maegor as high as she could. She had been suspicious of Maegor ever since the proposed Rhaena match but now she knew he was working in accordance with his mother's wishes. He was constantly in the yard, displaying his skills in swordsmanship to all the lords of the court. More and more lordlings began to follow him around. The young men still tended to coalesce around her husband but the sheer number of lordlings around Maegor was frightening.
She had tried many things to get the lordlings to drop Maegor. The only way she could strike back against Queen Visenya was through Maegor. The Queen had nothing that she could lose, there were no lords to peel off and there were no friends to slander. The only avenue of attack for Alyssa was Maegor.
She had been able to peel off many different lordlings from his retinue. With help from her father, lessons with the Kingsguard and squireships with knights were powerful motivators for many lordlings and she was relieved to see Maegor's retinue reduce in number markedly. Many still coalesced around him and she would continue to do this for more time, until she could be certain her son would be safe, but she was not totally successful.
Maegor had built up a small posse of loyal lordlings who would not drop him no matter the discrete bribes and promises. The most vexing of them all was her little brother Aeron. They had seemingly hit it off instantly from the moment he met Maegor and the two were thick as thieves. Aeron was specifically brought to court by her father to get some eyes on Maegor. Her father liked to be prepared for everything and getting ingratiated with her goodbrother felt like a good idea at the time. She regarded it as folly ever since Queen Visenya had turned against their family.
The final tool that Queen Visenya wielded to poke Alyssa with was Shiera Qoherys. She had summarily dismissed the girl from her retinue a year and a half ago but she was not removed from her life. Queen Visenya had taken her on as a lady in waiting, her only lady in waiting, and had taken to flaunting her around court. All of it only stoked Alyssa's paranoia and humiliation. ' I cannot even throw out a snake from my home, ' she thought as she glanced at the ghost-like girl sitting next to The Queen. She had suspected that Shiera was in collusion with Queen Visenya after their ill-fated luncheon but she was shocked at how oh-so very correct she was.
The current Queen openly giving her favor to a girl other than the future Queen sent a powerful message and seeing the girl's blood-red eyes stare at her with hate and betrayal unsettled Alyssa. She had hoped to be rid of the ghost-like girl but Queen Visenya could not pass up the opportunity to humiliate her.
All of her problems were supposed to vanish or be reduced with this tourney. Her uncle would win with her favor and because Maegor was on Dragonstone, there was no way he could shift the event in his favor.
She had been relieved once the mystery knight was unhorsed. Her uncle had won, as he promised. Then the mystery knight called for a duel, to continue their match on foot. She was wary, the mystery knight was bigger than her uncle but her uncle wielded their house's sword, Seascale. ' How could he lose? ' she thought as she watched him draw the beautiful black blade.
Then he lost, he was disarmed, and then thrown back first into the mud. His perfect white cape was sullied with the mud and horse shit of the arena. Then Maegor removed his helmet and all of Alyssa's hopes had been dashed. Queen Visenya had gotten her again. This event, which was supposed to be her rebound and put the feud in the background had been resoundingly stolen by the Queen and her son. She could only stare at Maegor atop his black destrier after the crown of flowers was placed in The Queen's lap and deafening cheers resounded from the crowd. Chants of "Prince Maegor!" and "Prince of Dragonstone!" filled the air.
…
As Maegor turned his horse around to get off the muddy field and presumably clean himself up King Aegon spoke.
"Halt" his word silenced the crowd and Maegor stopped his horse from moving. He turned to face his father and sat still as a statue.
"Kneel, Maegor," King Aegon said and he sent a glance back at Queen Visenya. She could not see the look on his face but he was smiling once he looked back to his second son.
Maegor dismounted his horse and kneeled in the mud of the field. King Aegon descended from his high seat and stood before Maegor before he drew his great Valyrian Steel sword, Blackfyre .
He laid the flat of the sword on the armored pauldron of Maegor and then spoke the words she was dreading. "Maegor Targaryen, do you swear before the eyes of gods and men to defend those who cannot defend themselves, to protect all women and children, to obey your captains, your liege lord, and your king, to fight bravely when needed and do such other tasks as are laid upon you, however hard or humble or dangerous they may be?"
"I swear, Your Grace," he spoke just loud enough to be heard.
"Then rise, Ser Maegor of House Targaryen, The Prince of Dragonstone!" He roared and the entire crowd joined in the roar. More chants of "Prince of Dragonstone" and "Ser Maegor" filled the air and Maegor rose to his full height. He was shorter than his kingly father, if only barely. At a glance they were almost the same height and he was certainly taller than Aenys.
She turned to look at Queen Visenya and she saw the damned smirk on her face. ' This was all one of her schemes, ' Alyssa thought with bitterness. This was all an elaborate scheme to get on top. This tournament was supposed to be a celebration of her son's first name day. Now it was a celebration of Maegor and his knighting. Maegor getting knighted was another jab at her. Her husband was not a warrior, he cared little for combat and had never sought a knighthood. She had allowed herself to get complacent and Queen Visenya had won this round. She would have to rebound somehow. 'I need to speak with Father' she thought as the sounds of the crowd began to die down.
…
The feast was to be held later that night but many had decided to accost her goodbrother before then. Maegor had hardly gotten out of his armor before her husband wrapped him in a hug. He had departed the royal box and wanted to go see his brother, she decided to tag along.
"Maegor!" Aenys shouted as he brought his younger brother into a hug.
"Ah, Aenys. How are you feeling?"
"How am I feeling?! How are you feeling Maegor? You are the one who just fought Ser Corlys Velaryon and won. You are a knight now!"
"Oh, ha ha. I suppose I am. I kind of feel like shit, probably smell like it too. Ser Corlys's lance certainly struck true," he said with a smile and rubbed his ribs. Her uncle had landed a very well-placed blow and it seemed even the indomitable Maegor was feeling it. He was correct about his smell. He was covered in sweat, mud, and shit. All things considered, she could barely stomach standing near him.
"I thought you were on Dragonstone Maegor. No sighting of Terrax was reported either, where is your dragon?"
"Terrax remains on Dragonstone. I sailed here."
"What!? Then how did you remain hidden? This tourney went on for a number of days. Surely someone must have noticed you."
"Well, I was in my armor for most of the last few days. I got into it on Dragonstone and I did not take it off until I was safely in an inn."
Alyssa was suspicious of her husband. He had sworn that he had no clue about Maegor being the mystery knight and it seemed she was unreasonably suspecting him. ' He truly knew only as much as the rest of us, ' she thought with shock, she thought surely Aenys would be clued in. Despite her best efforts, the two were still thick as thieves.
"So what will you do about Terrax? You are here yet your dragon is on Dragonstone."
"After I bathe, I will attend the feast. Then, on the morrow, I will sail back and retrieve my dragon."
"Are you sure? I could fly you there if you want."
"I appreciate the offer nephew, but I will fly my son to get his dragon" Queen Visenya suddenly appeared and Alyssa was shocked stiff.
"Mother?"
"I will fly you there now. It will give you enough time to bathe there and then fly back."
"Alright Aunt Visenya, have a safe flight!" Aenys responded with a smile and the look on Queen Visenya's face did not change as Aenys turned to walk away. Queen Visenya and Maegor also turned to walk away and she caught only a bit of their conversation.
"Are you sure mother? I would not want you to suffer my stench the whole trip."
"Oh please, I have suffered far worse smells. Plus it is a fairly short flight. Vhagar is plenty fast."
Alyssa turned to follow her husband and she could not help but be suspicious of Maegor. She heard that he sold his sword and was going to sell his armor, along with all his winnings from the tourney. He declared that he was going to spend the gold on a number of wells throughout King's Landing. Much to the crowd's jubilation. The smallfolk were quickly growing to love Maegor, especially after his stunt and declaration.
She thought it was another play by Queen Visenya. Making Maegor beloved by the smallfolk was unorthodox but it raised Maegor higher again. He was looking more and more threatening by the moment now. Where she had essentially eked a tie in the first round. Having peeled off most of his little retinue and given her husband a son. Now it seemed Queen Visenya had rebounded spectacularly. ' This game is not over yet. '
…
Before the feast, she went to speak with her little brother. She was already making new plans and this one was not only easy to do but it would also sting. She had to get her brother on her side. If only to salvage some sort of victory on this oh-so-terrible day.
"Aeron," she did not bother knocking as she pushed open the door to his room.
"Sister," Aeron said but he did not look up from his seat. He was writing in some sort of journal or book.
"What are you doing?"
"Do you really care?"
Alyssa was sort of taken aback by his snippy reply. Aeron had always been a timid boy and to hear him speak so disrespectfully shocked her. She was also hoping to ease her way into this conversation.
' Is he still mad over that? ' She thought with annoyance. She had tried to apologize to him for the quip on Driftmark but he had rebuffed her. She assumed he would just let it go but he still cared even years later.
"I said I was sorry Aeron."
"I already told you I do not care."
"I truly am Aeron, I was not thinking…"
"I agree"
'Rude,' she thought but she needed to get Aeron on side. She could stomach his hanging off Maegor like fruit from a tree no longer. "Please Aeron, can you not forgive me? I need your help."
Aeron shook his head, "Go find one of your friends to help you. I am busy."
"Why are you being so unreasonable?"
"Unreasonable? In what way am I being unreasonable? You are bothering me when you have a thousand people who can help you. Why do you even want my help? And why should I bother giving it?"
"Because I am sorry."
"Yet you will not forgive Maegor or Queen Visenya."
She narrowed her eyes, "Queen Visenya has harmed our house Aeron. She has humiliated me at every turn. You will not help your big sister?"
"Why should I help you? You already have everything you could ever ask for. Go find help elsewhere."
"I could talk to Uncle Corlys and ask if he would squire you?"
"No, thank you."
"What? Why not?"
"I do not want your handouts, I want to earn my knighthood, not be given it by my uncle. After seeing his fight today, I realized that I need more time before I can even consider a knighthood."
' What happened to my brother?! ' She could hardly even recognize the boy in front of her. On Driftmark, Aeron had been obsessed with getting his knighthood and exploring the world. What changed?'
"So do you have another bribe? Or will you stop bothering me?"
"You are being rude Aeron. I am your elder sister, you should treat me with respect." Alyssa scolded on instinct before she caught her mistake and placed her hand over her mouth.
Aeron narrowed his eyes immediately at the scolding. "Respect? What respect have you shown me, sister?"
"Aeron please, I didn't mean-"
"Let me guess, you want me to stop spending time with Maegor?"
"..."
"I thought so, so you come here and ask me to abandon my best friend for you ?"
She was caught speechless. Aeron was not the little boy she used to tease. He had matured greatly from his time with Maegor and she would need to reassess her strategy.
"..."
"I will not help you. Maegor is my best friend, I will not leave him because the Queen is being mean."
"Aeron please."
"No, I am going to the yard, I have a match against a squire I intend to beat. Alyssa," his last words were a sneer and he stood from his desk and moved towards the door.
Alyssa stepped out of the way and she was gobsmacked. Aeron had always been such a nice boy. He used to follow her around on Driftmark. He was her little brother, she would tease him and then he would follow her around when he was not swinging his wooden sword around. ' Is he really that mad about Driftmark? ' She could only ponder as she had to come up with a new plan. Her father would sway Aeron and then her goal would be achieved regardless.
…
The feast was a grand one, though the excellent combination of spices and sauce atop her lamb tasted bitter in her mouth. This whole event was meant for her son. He just turned one year old and this was supposed to celebrate Aenys's heir. Now this event was lost to her. Celebrating her goodbrother instead of her son. Coupled with her conversation with her petulant little brother, this whole event had lost all of its potential joy.
Said goodbrother was nowhere to be found. He and his mother had departed the Aegonfort earlier in the day yet they had not returned. The flight to and from Dragonstone should have only taken a little over a quarter of the day at most, accounting for Maegor's bath at Dragonstone she had a hard time believing they could end up this late. ' Unless a storm hindered them, ' she pondered aimlessly. Storms were dangerous for a dragonrider. They could easily throw them off course and the rain made it harder for younger dragons to fly. She and Aenys were twice grounded during their progress to the Stormlands. If Quicksilver was not yet large enough to ignore the effects of a strong storm then she had trouble believing Terrax would fare better.
Resolving to try and enjoy the feast to the best of her ability she left her table to find her husband. He left the table the moment the feast started. He was speaking with Alyn Stokeworth and Guy Lothson at a different table.
"Aenys," she broke into the conversation. Waiting for a proper entrance would only waste time and she had no intention to just listen in.
He brought her into a side hug. He was considerably taller than her so it worked well. "Alyssa, what is going on?"
"Nothing is going on, is it a crime to want to be with my husband?" she said with a raised eyebrow and smiled at the blush that appeared on his face. Alyn coughed and then they were brought back to attention.
"So as I was saying earlier, did you really not know Prince Aenys? You two are so close, I figured you would know."
Aenys laughed nervously and that piqued her interest. "I swear, I had no idea my little brother was participating in the jousts. If I had I would have placed bets."
That got a laugh out of Aenys's two friends but she was still a little put off. She had tried to stop the two from spending as much time together. It was the final blow she could hit Maegor and thusly Queen Visenya with but she was largely unsuccessful.
The two were still spending as much time as they could together. Maegor was more busy and so was Aenys so they did not interact as much as they probably wanted to but Aenys had no reservations about speaking with Maegor.
Alyssa was too scared to bring up the topic directly. Aenys was not confrontational but he and Maegor were indeed very close. They had many a private chat and flew together atop their dragons often. She did not want to earn his displeasure so she tried to merely get him to do other things. Spending time with her, with their burgeoning family, taking her flying. She tried all sorts of these things to get Aenys away from Maegor.
Even with her efforts, Aenys spoke to his brother jovially at every opportunity like there was not a storm of politics happening around him. Then he just insulted her uncle? Saying that he would have thought Maegor could beat him?
She had rationalized Maegor's victory in a number of ways. Trying to find an angle that made the event take place. She centered around the terrain. The mud had trapped her uncle and that was why he lost. Had the ground been dry then her goodbrother would have lost and she would be Queen of Love and Beauty.
Then the wide doors to the hall opened and it seemed that Prince Maegor and his mother had returned. She was shocked it had taken so long but maybe now people would stop talking so much about it and could get to enjoying the fine food.
Then she saw the thing that truly ruined her night. Maegor was dressed in fine courtly clothes. It was kind of strange seeing him dressed that way. If Maegor's opinion was heard then he would attend every event in either armor or riding leathers. It was not his attire that troubled her so. It was the item on his hip.
On her goodbrother's hip rested a beautiful longsword. A slender hilt with a pommel shaped like fire. The ruby embedded in the handguard made it overwhelmingly clear what sword it was. Queen Visenya had made her final play of this round. She had given her famed Valyrian Steel sword to her son. Prince Maegor Targaryen now wielded Dark Sister.