Goldfish
Friendly Spider-Fish Abomination
- Location
- Formerly of the Far Realm
When Dragons Fish
Tenth Day of the Fourth Month 294 AC
In her youth, Rhaella Targaryen never thought much of Hoster Tully, in the most literal sense of the word. It was not that she disliked the man over some slight or fault, she merely counted him a fixture of the realm. He performed no better than expected at dealing with the endless feud of Bracken and Blackwood and no worse than anticipated at keeping the Kingsroad in good shape and the arteries of trade open. All that had changed when she had heard news of the Trident, how her son had died fighting among other rebellious lords, Hoster Tully looking to marry his daughters up. That was when she realized the old Lord Paramount may have been more adept than she gave him credit for, and that was when she started to hate him.
Hate was a strange and many layered thing, the former queen knew as she donned her dress of black velvet and cloak of enchanted silk. She had hated Robert Baratheon with every fiber of her being for killing Rhaegar, for dealing the blow that broke her world, and Jon Aryn for being the architect of the usurpation, but now they were both dead and beyond the reach of any mortal's hatred. She had hated Eddard Stark for being there that day, even irrationally for being the brother of the woman Rhaegar took leave of his senses with, but the Lord of Winterfell had kept Rhaegar's son alive and for that the fires of her hate had cooled, transmuted even into something like respect, if not liking for the man who had been Baratheon's closest friend.
But Hoster Tully, oh he had not been the villain of the tragedy that had claimed Rhaella's family, two men vied for that role, one still alive, if not for long, and one mercifully dead. But the Lord of Riverrun had been there that day at the Trident when the waters ran red and he had thought to profit from it all. As she set the arcane crown upon her brow, Rhaella Targaryen did not feel the least bit merciful. Fortunately, she was not to deliver merciful news.
***
The rose tea was just the way she took it, had taken it at least at court, the fire burned cheerfully in the hearth and candles lit up the study with a warm golden light, yet the man sitting before her looked pale and timeworn, his eyes bloodshot, his lips thinned with worry. Was he trying to evoke sympathy? Rhaella wondered, as pleasantries and greetings were exchanged. Or was it simply a consequence of the position he now found himself in?
"The king accepts your oaths in the spirit they were given," she began with careful emphasis to leave no doubt in his mind that she spoke of the desperate straights his House found itself in. With a smile, she added, "You are hereby invited to His Grace's Coronation where you might present your fealty in person. As the Count of Riverrun, you shall be permitted an escort of..."
"Count?" the old lord asked, his voice growing scratchy with sudden concern. "Who then is to rule the Riverlands?"
I might be enjoying this a touch too much, Rhaella admitted to herself, knowing too well the instincts below the music, below the magic. Pushing a touch more warmth into her expression, she explained. "No one is to rule the whole of it. The time has come to mend the errors Aegon has made. The Seven Kingdoms as they are now are unwieldy and unruly, lead by those who are all but kings themselves. The Rebellion has proven this cannot stand."
For a long moment the old man looked at her. "For one so young, your son is a harsh man."
"As harsh as the years have made him," Rhaella replied. "And as practical. There will be chances for House Tully to rise in other ways in the years to come, because you had the wisdom to kneel even now." Glancing at the window towards the west, she added simply, "Others will not receive the privilege of doing so."
They spoke then of other things, those every lord wished to know of, the laws of the realm, the training of sorcerers, and the ways of strange gods, common enough rumors to dispel and truths to elucidate. Lord Tully blanched when she mentioned that blood sacrifice was a punishment for those who delved beyond beyond moral malfeasance, but by then he was well and truly committed. In parting, she mentioned hat it might be good to move his youngest daughter and her son out of the Vale, given the unrest there and the imminent succession war over the defunct Arryn main line. "We are, of course, willing to carry the two of them to wherever you may deem safe, be that Winterfell, here in Riverrun, or elsewhere."
Hoster Tully looked for a moment like he had just eaten an exemplar of his House seal after it had sat too long in the sun, but he swallowed his objections and thanked her for the offer, choosing Riverrun.
What next?
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OOC: It's been a long time since we had a Rhaella interlude and I felt Hoster deserved to have this scene on screen given that he is a major lord (for now at least). Not yet edited.
Really great Rhaella chapter, dude. I enjoyed that almost as much as I would have a Bonifer interlude with him having to do the Walk of Shame, creeping out of her quarters one morning only to be caught by Viserys or Dany.
