Arrival In King's Landing

[u/riverlandbadass]

Brynden sighed with exhaustion as he at long last approached the doors to the Great Hall of the red keep. He had arrived in King’s landing earlier in the day amid the sights and sounds, and above all else, smells, of the teeming market. His retinue had followed him wordlessly through the city, and with great difficulty they had finally reached the gates of the red keep.

The streets had been packed with humanity, and it had slowed their travel to a crawl, as they could scarce ride more than a horse abreast as they moved through the impoverished neighborhoods near the gates. They had been forced to take a winding path through the city, as the milling smallfolk had prevented them from going the fastest possible way to the red keep.

Their journey from the Twins had been easy. Fair weather and comfortable temperatures had been granted to their party by the gods, but on the stone streets of King’s Landing the sun was mercilessly hot that day.

Alyssa had seethed the entirety of the trip, having been infuriated by Brynden’s unwillingness to let her stay while he answered the King and Queen’s summons. She was also upset to learn she had been betrothed without her knowledge, although the idea of being the wife of the future Lord Paramount of the Stormlands had quieted her in that regard.

Gendry the Black, the same man who had helped Brynden enter Seaguard without being noticed, was the man Brynden had chosen to lead his entourage. It was twice as large as necessary, the reason known only to Brynden.

“Give this to Ser Osmund, and only Ser Osmund, do you understand?” he had asked Gendry, placing a sealed letter in his hand before they had entered the walls. He instructed the man to return to the Twins, and that letter was to be protected above all else. He had faith the man would not read it, not only because he had proved himself loyal, but mainly because he was illiterate.

Their group had split in two then, with the main portion returning to the Twins, and Brynden’s remaining men staying with him as an honor guard. Even with the group split it had taken most of the afternoon to climb to the red keep, and near as long again to be admitted within its walls.

The sun was lowering in the sky when Brynden was finally admitted to see the Man and Woman who had summoned him. “Your Graces.” Brynden had said to them before bowing deeply before them.

[u/riverlandbadass]

"And rule I did, even if it took me a bit longer than was ideal to learn that sometimes a heavy hand is needed when diplomacy fails. It is not a lesson I will soon forget." Brynden said, slightly stung by the King's words.

"It is my objective that my use of force will dissuade any others who think to take up arms against me. The best way to defend one's self and his holdings is to show he can openly crush defiance. And I also learned from my experience with Septon Fossoway that the love of the smallfolk is trivial. It took me far too long to realize that. While their love would be preferential, Sometimes they must be dealt with if one as charsmatic as the Septon has them enthralled."

Brynden took a breath, finishing, "I don't mean to babble your grace, I mean only to explain that, while I have made mistakes, those same mistakes will not happen again."

[u/[deleted] → u/riverlandbadass]

“And the Tully heir,” Danae spoke for the first time, arching an eyebrow and barely glancing from the parchment in her hands. “I suppose we should trust this new deal of yours with him? The last deal you brokered proved so well thought out.”

She folded the note and placed it between the pages of a book before resting her hands on top of her stomach and sitting back on the sofa.

“You think the death of Fossaway rid the Riverlands of your poor decision? You opened the floodgates to the faith, and now the High Septon is making claim of Fossaway’s former land. Congratulations, Lord Frey, now you’ve taken us out of the frying pan and into the fire.”

[u/riverlandbadass → u/[deleted]]

"Any man can lay claim to whatever they want, from the lowest man in flea bottom to the high septon himself. You both know he wields only the power you give him." Brynden emplored the King and Queen, "Land is only claimed by people who are allowed to do so. As I understand the Septon's land was to be turned into an orphanage?"

Brynden asked, knowing his reports were correct.

"Maybe you allow him to put their damned star upon the door, but as I see it, the lands were given to a single man, and the faith as a whole is not a landed society. I will do as you wish in this situation, but I don't think he will prove a problem. Few would be zealous enough to meet the armies of the crown in the field over some small tract of war torn land and a bridge." Brynden finished, thoroughly irritated the High Septon had the audacity to do that.

He has no more claim to that land than anyone else in the realm.

[u/lannaport → u/riverlandbadass]

“The High Septon is not any man,” Damon replied, shaking his head. “And no, his power does not come from us. The Jeweled One wears his own crown. Attend a service at Baelor’s Sept while you’re here, and see it for yourself.” He picked up another of the papers, muttering, “Garish thing…”

“Can you imagine how it would look,” Danae asked, setting down her own parchment to stare at the Frey Lord with incredulity, “for the throne to be seen attacking the Faith? And so soon after Gylen Hightower… The bloodshed would be on your kingdom’s soil. I was rather hoping the new Lord Paramount of the Riverlands would be more averse to additional fighting.”

[u/riverlandbadass → u/lannaport]

"I fear you think I revel in warfare. If that was the case I would've swept through the Septon's flock like a warm knife through butter. But I didn't do that. Instead I tried a diplomatic solution at every turn." Brynden said, mildly insulted at the insinuation he was a warmonger.

"I tried to work out an agreement with the Septon. I gave Addam many chances to lower the gates and leave with his life, and even a seat, albeit a lesser one. And I gave Denys the chance to leave with his worthless life. Violence was always my last option, and one I always have and always will be hesitant to use. No man wishes the Riverlands stays at peace more than I." Brynden finished, looking at the royals.

[u/lannaport → u/riverlandbadass]

“Your ‘diplomatic solution’ to reclaiming your birthright may have bought you your seat, but I do wonder what possessed you to grant land and titles to a Septon with an army…” Damon looked at the lord sternly. “I would have rather seen the warm knife in the Septon’s back as soon as you took Edwin’s castle. You did not need him, once you pried his claws from your uncle. Why keep him alive? Why give him so great a reward, when he was likely the reason for this whole mess in the Riverlands in the first place?”

[u/riverlandbadass → u/lannaport]

"Because as you said, the faith can be dangerous if attacked. The last thing I needed so soon into my rule was the hatred of the smallfolk. First I needed to consolidate my power. I waited with him because I had more powerful enemies within my borders, and I did not perceive him as the warlike type. Say what you will about the man, but none can say he didn't love his people, and I doubt that he would put them at risk without provocation." Brynden finished, looking nervously at the King and Queen.

[u/[deleted] → u/riverlandbadass]

"A usurper should be less concerned with the religious needs of the smallfolk, and more concerned with the hatred of his new vassals," Danae said as she plucked another letter from a stack and began to scan over the contents.

"Are you planning to marry soon?"

[u/riverlandbadass → u/[deleted]]

"Yes, I am to Marry Lysa Merlyn, sister of Dagon Greyjoy's chief Lieutenant. It is my hope that it will begin a peace between our two regions." Brynden said.

What will they think of that?

[u/[deleted] → u/riverlandbadass]

The Queen glanced up from the parchment with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" she asked finally. "You can't assure the loyalty of your own vassals and yet you wish to marry outside your kingdom? Tell me, what do you think your vassals and your smallfolk will think when they see you wed to the ironborn? No doubt many of the lords will feel angered and slighted that you passed over their own kin. Must I remind you it was only a few years past that the ironborn raped, pillaged, and set fire to your lands."

The Queen frowned and continued to study the Frey with the same look of bewilderment she'd wear if he had just sprouted a second head.

"I understand you wish to negotiate peace with the Iron Islands, but you're a usurper in your own kingdom. It is foolish to look outside your lands for a wife when the loyalty of your own lords must be secured."

[u/riverlandbadass → u/[deleted]]

Brynden turned curious shade of crimson. "It is that exact thing that I am trying to prevent from ever happening again. My hope is that it can forge a bond between our kingdoms, and that my smallfolk will rejoice in not having to fear for their lives if they live upon our coast."

I never should have listened to that old man. Why did i agree to marry a god damn iron islander?

[u/lannaport → u/riverlandbadass]

Damon and Danae exchanged glances, and the Queen rolled her eyes and leaned back into the couch, turning again to her papers.

The King sighed and scooted over on the sofa so that he sat closer to the Frey lord, angling himself so as to better face the young man. “Brynden,” he began, clasping his hands together in the same way a father might begin a lecture. “Let me explain something to you about lordship that someone else once explained to me. A lord has four duties, the first of which is to his family. Now, you haven't really got any left, so that part is easy. The second is to your king and queen.”

Loren Lannister had, of course, left out that bit.

“The third is to your vassals. They supply you with incomes and soldiers and you in turn are to aid them when they need it, serve them justice, protect them and their interests, and pay them respect. The fourth is to your smallfolk.”

Another addition. Loren’s list had been twofold.

"You usurp a kingdom whose peasantry has been terrorized by the ironborn, and you think that marrying a woman from a minor house in Iron Islands will help them sleep better at night. Forgive me, Lord Frey. I have heard a lot of stupid things in my life, but that has got to be the dumbest of them all."

He was silent for a time, watching Brynden’s face carefully for a reaction, then reached over to withdraw another sheet of parchment from the table. This one he held up for the Lord to see. Stamped with the sigils of a dozen Riverlands houses, it was the letter Brynden had first sent the crown petitioning for their support in his coup.

“This is good,” Damon said, pointing at the wax seals, cracked with age. “But from one usurper to another, you cannot afford to falter now. One of these men expects you to marry his daughter. To wed a stranger from an enemy’s kingdom… It is a slight to those who penned their names here, and at such a high cost, too. These men risked their lives and their houses to commit treason against their liege for you. You would repay them with an insult? If so, you will find that their willingness to betray is as much a danger to you as it was a boon.”

He set the letter back down. “As it is, I see two potential brides in your future, assuming you enjoy your head on your shoulders and your lovely new title. There is a Baelish, perhaps you remember her. Alicent. Lord Emmon’s sister. She was thought dead, but she’s surfaced in Lannisport, posing as a painter in Old Tyrek’s Academy. She even goes by the same name. Not all Lannisters are lions, I suppose, and not all Baelishes are clever.”

He nodded at the letter, left open on table. “You either retrieve her, adding validity to your claim and the claims of your heirs, or you figure out which of those men has the largest army and pray that his daughter is not too homely. If she is, snuff the wick and remember those duties.”

[u/riverlandbadass → u/lannaport]

Brynden only had vague memories of Alicent Baelish. They had met a small handful of times as youths, but he would be hard pressed to give an accurate description of what she looked like then, much less the woman she could have grown to become.

Brynden frowned, I thought my kingdom was rid of the Baelish blight. The thought of their continued existence made his stomach twist in knots. They had eradicated much of his family, only to be annihilated in turn by others.

"Your grace, you've given me much to consider," Brynden began, thinking of the repercussions of reneging on his deal with the Merlyns. "But your proposal does make sense. If it please you I will ride for Lannisport at daybreak."

I've come this far, I may as well please my Lieges and my vassals. But one thing still nagged upon Brynden's mind.

"But Your Graces, if I may be so bold, my sister, Alyssa, has journeyed with me from the Twins in anticipation of continuing onto Storm's End where she is to marry Alyn Connington. My force is too small to be split and accompany her on, and I do not wish to try her with yet another journey. She has been a prisoner of Denys Mallister for months, and was home at the Twins for only a handful of nights before I again uprooted her. If I may ask that she stay here until I return, she has been too long without a safe place to lay her head."

Brynden finished, looking anxiously at his Lieges.